++Hold onto your hats++

Ladies and gentlemen, you may not believe your eyes but I was there, it actually happened, these photos have not been altered (I didn't even edit them because I am feeling super lazy).  My son PERFORMED on a STAGE in front of an audience!  It only took about three years but it happened. 

They were singing along to some song about what Jesus would be like if he walked with us on earth.

 This was the rock star part.

 Not sure what this was all about.

 The real point of this was his gymnastics show and tell.  It's so fun to get to see Wyatt in his school element.  He loves it.  And, he appears to be a pretty good kid at school (he saves the riff raff for home, I guess).

 This was a proud moment as well.  We went to Little Gym for over a year and he never touched the parachute.

 Way to come around little guy!

++Heartbreaker++

Wyatt's "girlfriend" at school, Malia, moved at the end of last week.  He picked her out early in the year and was quite smitten.  She is pretty cute if you ask me.  I'm not quite ready to share him yet.  Wyatt made her a goodbye card.  It melted my heart.

Don't you love that they are holding hands?  And the belly buttons?  I love that kid.

++Go Daddy Go!++

Dad and Uncle Brett ran the Mercer Island half marathon this past weekend.  If you ask me, they had the best cheering section ever (Claire was there too...just sitting in the comfort of her stroller snacking).  What you can't hear is the boys chanting "go daddy go" over and over again.  They made quite a few weary runners smile.  They also got their fair share of high-fives.  

 Finally the Daddys emerged from around the bend..right on pace! The best part is that they said they heard us before the saw us (we were kind of the only group cheering at that stretch of road). 

Cora cried when her Daddy kept running.  Poor thing.  They did great!  Way to go guys!

++Sports Star?++

Our community center offers some great sports classes for the kids.  Wyatt took one this spring that was all about basketball and t-ball.  It's serious stuff, let me tell you.
They start out with stretching.  Clearly essential for a four-year-old who hasn't moved much all day (ha ha).

 I think we may have some work to do on the tricep stretch (notice the kid who is two feet taller than everyone else?  His mom was about two feet taller than me.)

 Water breaks are essential.  Easily three or four during the 45-minute class.  More water than he drinks during the rest of the week combined.

 After they are all warmed up they get down to the SERIOUS business of playing the game.

 Finally, all that hard work should not go without recognition so certificates must be handed out (he took the class with buddies Ryan and Owen from his preschool class last year--who sadly are in the other 4-year-old class this year.)

Watch out sports world...here they come (untied shoes and all!)

++Why I love having a boy++

There was never any doubt in my mind that I would like having a girl.  Having a little buddy just like me to shop and do girly things with.  The clothes, the crafts, the dolls.  Yes, it's fun.  On the flip side, I wasn't quite sure what it would be like to have a boy.  I was just excited to have a baby.  I knew I would love him...I just never knew how much fun it would be to have a boy. 

++Hugs and cuddles from boys (especially 4 1/2 year-olds) are less expected so they mean so much more. 
++I love when he gets all into my daily routine.  He knows the order in which I put my make-up on and likes to hand me my "supplies".  It was exciting for him that I finally replaced my old and crumbling blush.  This morning he was trying to fix his hair with a round brush just like me. 
++My eyes have been opened to so many things I've never thought about before.  Trucks, rescue vehicles, tools, dirt.  The list goes on and on.  I've learned to love and celebrate them too. 
++Whenever I put on something the slightest bit dressy, he tells me I look pretty.  I ask him what kind of car he wants when he turns sixteen in return (it's a pickup truck for the record).
++I love watching how he adores his father.  Adores may be an understatement.  I know how important it is for boys to have a strong male role model and he sure is lucky he got his dad.  He'll have to look elsewhere to learn stuff about cars and tools, but other than that, he's got it made. 
++I love sports.  Boys love sports. This could work!
++If I were four, I would have a crush on him.  Ok, I have a crush on him anyway.
++Boys, especially my boy, are good for me.  I'm learning how to let go and focus on what really matters.  Let him get dirty.  Let him pick out some less than lovely shoes.  Maybe even be ok with the mess boys leave in the bathroom (ok, that may be pushing it). 

Boys, gotta love them!

++A Party for the Little One++

This year I decided to make Claire's party all about Claire's favorite things: music, the color purple, and lollipops.  It became a bit of a challenge to pull it all together but I managed.  I didn't intend to make the invitations (I found in a lot of cases it ends up costing more and being so much more work) but there really aren't a lot of purple lollipop invites to be had out there.  So here's a little recap of the partay. 


The spread.  Very simple on purpose.  Two-year-olds don't eat.  Especially if there is cake.

The lollipop cake.  For the record, Claire only ate the frosting.



Sprinkles are great.  Kids love them and they cover a multitude of sins.

Cora and Claire decorating their musical instruments.

Kerri and Sarah (Moms Club friends).

Amy and Lily (MOPs friends)

Here's Claire in her element.  Her music teacher came to her house for her party and she got to do all her favorite songs--and even got the purple ribbon wand!

James.  Our neighbor and Claire's future husband.

At least Mark and I got the memo to look at the camera for a photo.

We practiced blowing out the candles for a few weeks leading up to the party.  She took a HUGE breath in but just couldn't get the job done.  Even with Owen's help (busted!!)

She even tried going at it from another angle.

The big brothers were a little more interested in the gifts than the two-year-olds.

I tried to get a shot of the guests but just ended up with all the big brothers. 

Here's our pretty two-year-old!

And her brother who couldn't be left out of the fun.

And her cousin who we would happily adopt into our family (she spent the rest of the day with us while Susan went to see Larson ski--that's also why he's absent from the photos.) 

And just like that we have a two-year-old.  Crazy.

++Fun with Grandma and Grandpa++

We were lucky to have a quick visit from Gandma and Grandpa just in time for the birthday.  The weather wasn't the greatest (remember the snow in the previous post?  Well, Seattle doesn't do snow so well).  We managed to find plenty of things to keep ourselves busy though.

Grandma remembered Wyatt's fascination with his state quarters that he discovered while counting the money from his piggy bank (remember THIS?) so she brought him a book and they organized them all.  For the record he's missing Ohio and Guam so if you come across one of them--send it this way!

 We decided to tackle the garden show since we know how much Grandma loves gardening.  They actually had a lot of fun things for the kids to do as well.  Wyatt can't ever get enough pretend tractor riding (we've learned this from our trips to Home Depot).

 They had this great kids garden with all these little wheel barrows and bins.  The vegetables were real! 

 Moments like these are a great reminder that we're not dealing with Wyatt junior here.  She couldn't get enough of these and wanted me to take her picture. 

 This little lamb could follow me to school any day!

 They had these big bins of dirt and flats and flats of plants that the kids could plant.  Wyatt was being schooled by a master gardener a.k.a. Grandma.

 We spent the rest of the weekend building Claire's birthday present.  Being able to build it was a treat for Wyatt.  Not so sure Dad and Grandpa would say the same. 

As always, their visit went by too fast and the kids were sad to see them go.  They sure are blessed to have such wonderful grandparents!