Birthday Party-Take Two

The birthday celebrations continued Saturday afternoon and evening with our families. Carter and Callen couldn't have been more excited to have all of their cousins there to celebrate with them. This is the whole crew in the bounce house!

After a delightful dinner {thanks Nick, Debbie and Aunt E}, we got to dive into cake #2. {Which, if I am honest is probably more for me than for them...Olexa's cake. WOW. My absolute favorite. This is from the same person who did our wedding cake. I use any excuse to order one of her cakes.}

Uncle Steve and Mary Reese gearing up for the Happy Birthday song with the birthday children.

Digging in to the birthday cake!

It was a wonderful weekend celebrating our two favorite little people. Thanks to all who helped make it special!

Birthday Party-Take One

These two precious children celebrated birthdays last weekend. Callen turned two on Friday and Carter turned 4 on Saturday. We started off the celebration by taking cupcakes to school on Friday to celebrate both birthdays there. Since Friday was Callen's birthday, we let her pick where we went out to dinner and she wanted to go out for pizza. So, pizza it was.

Saturday morning, bright and early...about ten 'til seven...this was delivered to our house...
As you can tell, someone was pretty enthralled. He woke up and was peeking out the front door as they were setting it up and he couldn't wait to try it out. Once they got it inflated, he was eager to try it out {in his PJs, nonetheless}.

We spent the next few hours getting ready for Carter's party {I thought Callen was probably too young for a friend party yet}. They were all ready and eager for the bounce house to be re-inflated for the party.

Yea! Our friends are here and ready to celebrate! There was A. LOT. of bouncing, and there were very few tears {I think I counted three incidents and one was Callen...no one told her she is two and they are four}.
There were some folks who preferred to play sports...we had a basketball goal and a soccer goal so those who weren't bouncing could play, too. Carter was THRILLED that his good buddy, Will, who just started going to a new school, came to help him celebrate!

Lots of children and parents enjoying a relatively nice August morning and the breeze that was a welcome relief that morning!

Callen taking a break with Big Pat before lunch and cake.

We cleared out our living room to make it into a dining room for the party-goers. After a light meal of chicken fingers and goldfish, it was time for cake!

Carter wanted a Bu.zz Light.year birthday party {hence, the Toy St.ory bounce house}, and that requires a Bu.zz and Woo.dy cake.

Carter was so excited to have everyone sing Happy Birthday and get to blow out his candles!

After the party, he was excited to open his presents and see what his friends picked out for him. He was very thankful for all the new toys and excited to get to open and play with them.

He loves all of his gifts, but this one was one I just couldn't help but take a picture of!

The best part of the day was that evening when we were putting away lawn chairs, balls, and other sports equipment after Birthday Party-Take Two {post soon to come}, Carter said, "It was a wonderful day."

True.

Almost as wonderful as the same day four years ago.

Almost.

Take Two

I was out of town last week for work from Monday afternoon until Friday night. I was in Indianapolis for a week of training. Wednesday at 1:39pm, I get a text message with the picture below and this message: My day...he is fine.

Needless to say, I bolted from the training class to call Nick {and must have looked panic stricken because I got a text from a colleague asking if everything was ok}. I found out that Carter had been in an accident at school, and Nick had been called to take him to see if he needed stitches to close the cut. They were at the doctor's office, the cut had been cleaned and they were waiting on the doctor to come in, evaluate the cut, and decide if he needed glue or stitches.

Still bandaged from school

He did indeed get 4 stitches to close the wound. I probably would have been much more freaked out about not being there if this had been the first time this had ever happened. {Please don't take that to mean that I wasn't incredibly bothered about not being there. Luckily for me, my husband is amazing!}

So, after they stitched him up, they wrapped his head to ensure that the wound stayed clean while it started closing up. When I got the next texted picture, I felt so bad. He looked like a wounded warrior. I found out later that the shot they gave him to numb his head made his eyes look droopy. :(
And, for being such a brave little fella, Daddy took him to "Aunt Stacey's ice cream shop" for super.man ice cream {which he ate little of; he preferred Daddy's}.
The next day with head bandage removed, he was raring and ready to go. By the time I got home on Friday night, other than having the stitches covered with a large bandage, he was our same ol' Carter. He even seemed proud to tell me about his injury. ALL. BOY.

Leo's First Birthday

Sunday we headed up to Decatur to celebrate Leo's first birthday. He seemed pretty happy to have so many friends and family there to celebrate his big day!

Leo checking everything out

His cousins were pretty excited to find that there was a bounce house complete with a slide in Leo's front yard for the party. My children, under Mary Reese's supervision {they LOVE Mary Reese and always want to know where she is and do what she is doing}, managed to hop right in and jump until both were beet red and sweaty.

Luckily, Leo's parents know how to take care of party guests in the heat with plenty of COLD refreshments--for parents and children! The lunch was a yummy barbecue with burgers, hot dogs, and BBQ with all the trimmings! We celebrated in our Cat in the H.at party hats and ate yummy cake and ice cream as well.
Both of our children had second mini-naps on the way home they had so much fun! Happy Birthday Leo!

Callen's First Haircut

This past Friday the children's daycare was closed for teacher training, so I took the day off to be with them. I scheduled a haircut for Carter, and while we were there, I asked Mandy what, if anything we should do for Callen's hair.

Callen doesn't really have enough hair to need a true haircut, but the curls in the back had gotten long and unruly and she had some crazy pieces in the front, too. Mandy said she really just needed the back trimmed to the same length and the front cleaned up.

I wasn't sure how she would react to the whole haircut scenario, but she did great! In fact, she seemed to love it. I think most of all she loved seeing herself in the mirror!

Not one tear! Her hair doesn't look all that different, but at least it doesn't look mullet-ish when it is wet anymore!

How is he ready for 4K?!?!

I have no idea where the time has gone! It hardly seems possible that this is Carter's last year of preschool before he goes to Kindergarten. His 3K class has been fabulous! I think he has made tremendous strides in terms of learning and has grown both in height and in maturity. I know he is ready for 4K, but it still makes me just a little bit sad that my first baby is growing up so fast!

Wednesday, they had a pizza party lunch at school, and I was able to go and celebrate the end of the year with him. My child is so funny because while other children shoveled in pizza, mine picked at his pizza while shoveling in cheese puffs and fruit snacks! Oh, well; at least he was full.

His teachers have been fabulous! They are probably the best teaching team he has had to date...and I don't say that lightly because he has had some great teachers. About 2/3 of his class is moving up, but several of his good friends won't be in the class until later in the year. I know he will do well with the transition and look forward to seeing him continue to learn and grow!