Celebrating Alex

Alex had a party at an indoor inflatable playground, one of many ideas he went through in the weeks leading up to his birthday.  Good thing for me that a 3-year old's memory can be pretty short because his original idea was for a big waterslide in the backyard didn't work out because I didn't book a rental in time.  That turned out to be fortunate because the party day was rainy, so everything worked out perfectly.  We didn't keep up with any of his buddies from school so this party was just our good friends from our street.

Alex was so excited to have his first party!

 

The slides were a big hit with everyone and this guy never lost that big smile.

Ben, Austin, Alex, and Trey climbing together.

The boys loving on their Grumpy.

 Group hug with the next door neighbors Cole and Therman.

 

Ben, Aaron, and Michelle.

Alex and his doppelganger!  Occasionally people say Alex looks like me (which I never believe, except for the eye color), but I think there is no doubt he favors his Grandpa more than anyone else.

 

After the kids were sufficiently worn out, it was time for cake and ice cream with Monkey Joe.

 

Alex was serious about blowing out those candles because he couldn't wait for some cookie cake!

 

 

The whole gang...and I love this picture because the party host (in the striped shirt) is grabbing his crotch.  I guess he hasn't learned yet that every moment of a kid's birthday party is caught on someone's camera...ha!

The kids also got some ice cream, as though the powerade and cookie cake didn't have enough sugar to keep them up all night.

Next, it was time for presents!

Ben, Maddie, Alex, and Michael all enjoying their treat bags with some loot that the boys carefully selected at the dollar store.

Alex and Mama, waiting for our takeout after the party.  Every once in a while I insist on a picture to prove that I exist.

On Alex's actual birthday, he got to open a few more presents, including tickets to the circus from the family and a new car track from Scott and Lou Anne.

Then we hit the local cupcake bakery and the kids each picked out a sinful cupcake.  Alex really just wanted the candy and a few bites of icing, so I selflessly helped him polish this off.

 

Ben went with the most chocolatey one he could find.

Yuummmmm!!!

 

You can't truly enjoy a cupcake of this size without getting a little on your mouth, nose, cheek, chin...

Damage DONE.

I still can't believe my baby is four and I wish we could pause time right now.  The boys are both so much fun and still so sweet and innocent.  Most of the time, anyways.  Life is easier now because they can do a lot of things on their own now, like get dressed and get in and out of the car, but they're still small enough that many things can be fixed with a hug or a kiss.

My Baby is FOUR!!

My sweet, sweet Alex,

How is it possible that you are already four years old?  And yet I can barely remember the days before you completed our little family?  You were also born earlier than we would have liked but you were still a big boy (6lbs, 10oz at just 36 weeks) and that has never changed.  You've always had a big personality, a big heart, and a big head (hee hee! but that means you'll be smart!).  You were one of the biggest babies in the Gleneagles nursery since you had a couple pounds on most of the Singaporean newborns.  You have always been such a warm, cuddly boy and I hope that never changes...it's hard to beat your hugs and kisses.  No matter how old you are, you will always be my baby.

 We celebrated your first birthday in Singapore during our last month there.  I was shocked that you didn't like your cake, especially since you were such a big eater and loved almost everything we put in front of you.  That distaste for cake and icing didn't last long, though, and your sweet tooth grew as fast as you did!

Your second birthday was a fun family party with all the grandparents at Chili's during a visit back to Texas.  You loved all the attention almost as much as the ice cream sundae.  

Your third birthday was celebrated just days after moving into our new home in Texas and you discovered the joys of cookie cakes.  You also discovered the fun of presents, especially the big ones that don't have to be packed into suitcases.

 

 And now, four years old!  And still in the same house!  That's something of a record for one of our kids.  It's hard to believe you're so big because you still have your precious baby cheeks but you're already wearing size 5's so no doubt you're growing.

Alex, you are such a joy and an endless source of entertainment.  You have never met a stranger and love talking to just about anyone.  Your beautiful smile and big laugh can brighten any room.  You think you can do just about anything the big kids do, and sometimes you're right.  I believe you can do anything you put your mind to in your life!  You are a blessing and we love you and thank God for you every single day.  May He continue to bless you.

Summertime

We have been loving our summer!  Lazy mornings, not much on the schedule, and lots of fun at home and with friends.  Ben and Alex have played a lot together (and fought a lot together) and invented all kinds of new games.  I have really enjoyed having time with both of them, with the exception of the hard days when I'm losing my mind and desperate for 10 minutes alone...but that's motherhood, right?

Ben is an office supply junkie and I regularly find things like paper, tape, and pens migrating to his room.  This paper was destined for a slightly different purpose - slippers to "keep his feet warm", as though 103F outside is getting chilly!

 

 We found this cute little guy at the pool and the kids begged to bring him home.  Let's just say he hasn't been as hardy as the grasshopper we've had since March, but he was fun for a week.

The kids and I made a trip to Dallas to help their cousin Reid celebrate his second birthday.  First stop was the great splashpad and pool in his neighborhood.

The boys were so adorable together!  Reid learned a lot from his cousins (hopefully good things) and even wanted to join them at their little table for meals.

Ben and Alex had a great time with all of Reid's toys, as usual.  Size doesn't seem to matter to these guys.

Even after an afternoon of swimming in the big pool, the little backyard pool was still lots of fun.  I love watching these three play together.

I didn't get any pictures of the party or Reid blowing out his candles, but I can promise you that the cake was enjoyed by many.  Especially this guy!

 

 Back home, we've been hanging out with our neighbors and keeping cool in several pools.  We had a fun playdate with several other families at our neighbor's new pool one afternoon.  The game of jumping and screaming never got old!

We made a day trip to Galveston to enjoy some sand and surf and it was a lot of fun.  The kids are both taking swim lessons twice a week and their swimming is coming together really well.  Both boys had so much fun playing in the waves and digging in the sand.

 

It's hard to believe June is nearly over!  Even though the days seem long and lazy the time is flying past.

We Have Liftoff!

Ben got an awesome rocket for his birthday and it was killing the boys to see it sit on the counter while we waited for a good day to try it out.  Our side of town is flat and generally pastureland and it's almost always windy.  Alex kept looking out the window and telling me it wasn't windy, but the grass in the backyard isn't always the best indicator.  I knew one morning when I saw hot air balloons in the sky that we had perfect weather, so we grabbed all our things and headed out to the field behind our neighborhood.

 Lots of questions and investigations, and it was time for a launch.

It was so fast that the kids didn't know what to think!  I should have recorded the second and third launches when they were really cheering it up but I was enjoying the view myself. 

 

 Alex got to launch it the second time and he thought it was pretty awesome.

Blastoff!

 

Thank you, Scott and Lou Anne, for such a great gift for ALL the boys in our family!  Speed, smoke, and fire always equal a good time to these guys.

Costa Rica Wildlife

One of my big reasons for wanting to visit Costa Rica was to see some of the amazing wildlife and it definitely didn't disappoint!  We didn't manage to get pictures of everything but we saw wild scarlet macaws, 3-toed sloth, amazing butterflies, lots of howler monkeys, some kind of possum, many different crabs, a few snakes, frogs, a family of falcons, and birds every color of the rainbow.  It seemed that everywhere we looked there were creatures and insects living and thriving in the jungle.  I enjoyed it immensely but I was very glad we weren't camping!  Especially after we saw a decent sized (non-poisonous...whew!) snake going straight past the porch of our casita and followed it to make very sure it didn't detour inside.  We also had several crabs come near the door and while I thought they were cute, I didn't want to share my space with them.

Just after white-water rafting, we crossed a bridge on the way to lunch and saw this caiman crocodile sunning himself in the middle of a river.  I was very glad that was NOT the river we'd just left!  (click to enlarge)

 

While on our nature tour, we saw lots of animals through the spotting scope.  We came much closer to other howler monkeys but this was the first one we spotted in the trees.

Costa Rica has something like 50 species of hummingbird and we were lucky to see several beautiful ones.  They loved certain flowering bushes all around but they only time they were still enough for a picture was at the feeder.

This was a gorgeous Blue-gray Tanager

The clay-colored Thrush is the national bird of Costa Rica.

This crimson-collared Tanager and his mate were quite the lovely couple.

This is the outside of a blue morpho butterfly in a large habitat.  We tried many times, very unsuccessfully, to get a good picture of the beautiful blue on the inside but it still felt like cheating since it wasn't wild.  I was thrilled to be enjoying the waterfall at Montezuma when a wild blue morpho lazily flew by a few times.  Again, couldn't manage a picture but I sure enjoyed the moment.

A red poison dart frog...very cool! 

The red-eyed tree frog, also very cool.  He was so sleepy those big red eyes would just drift shut on their own.

This little eyelash viper was curled up in a tree right off a path.  It was only our second day in country but I knew immediately I wouldn't be wandering through the woods anywhere!

Leaf cutting ants were blazing their own trail across the path.  I discovered that they also really like to bite brown flip flops but very fortunately got them off before they found my toes.

We really enjoyed spotting this gorgeous toucan and would have loved to get closer to him!  Even from a distance you could spot that beak with the naked eye and immediately identify the bird.

We saw lots and lots of iguanas.

Crabs in the ocean, crabs on the sand, hermit crabs and these land crabs everywhere else.  They were pretty interesting but I started wearing shoes after dark when I realized they were wandering in the grass beyond our porch.  

 These green parakeets were nesting in the trees near our resort.

It was such a great trip.  God's creation is so amazing.