4th of July Birthday Boy!
I'm so glad Daniel turned 5 on Sunday because it has taken a special occasion such as this to help get me blogging again! It is so fun to have a 4th of July birthday in our family because it always makes it feel that much more festive and there are always fun things going on.
On Saturday our neighborhood held its second annual 4th of July Parade. It was a lot of fun to participate even though barely anyone from the neighborhood came out to watch as we paraded around. And the few who did came under acute attack from some over-zealous kids who wanted to throw candy out to the "crowd." That'll teach 'em to support our neighborhood kids :). Anyway, even without many onlookers, the parade itself had a great turnout and it was a lot of fun to get together with neighbors and friends. Our family even ended up winning a prize (totally unexpected)! It was for "Best Team Effort" on a float. Here is our "float"
That evening we took the kids to Out of This World Pizza to do the non-Sunday portion of our celebration. Sorry no pictures. I brought the camera, but it seems like we've been often enough that it would feel unnatural to take pictures. I think Lucas being in a terrible toddler mood may have had something to do with it as well. Sorry to make excuses, but either way I didn't get any pictures. Joshua and Daniel had a great time though and we were so glad.
On the actual day of, we went to church where Daniel got to do some birthday stuff in Primary. When we got home we forced the boys to have lunch first and I put Lucas down for his nap and then we got down to some serious present opening. Daniel was so excited about everything he got and I'm so glad that little kids are open books in a lot of ways and that we know what we can get that will make them happy.
Daniel designed these birthday cupcakes completely himself. I actually made them, but he chose the flavors, the colors and even the pattern of sprinkles! I think they turned out really fun.
We ended the day with my doing a little extra reading to them at bedtime. Daniel chose a Berenstein Bears book and then I read them a little extra in Harry Potter #4. We just started the chapter with the Yule Ball and my guess was confirmed that Viktor Krum was Hermione's date. I knew it! My guess was either him or Dobby. The kids seemed to intuitively know somehow that it wouldn't be Dobby, but I wouldn't have put it past Hermione. The boys were interested in the idea of a "ball" and I told them that someday they would want to take a girl and go with their friends to a ball. Joshua responded with a squirrely , "No! I won't want to do that!" Well, we'll see if he changes his mind. Anyway, our reading stoked the flames even hotter for their getting to play Daniel's new Lego Harry Potter Wii game the next day -- a smash-hit of a present (like I said, an open book...)!
I am so thankful Daniel joined our family 5 years ago. It feels like it's been longer, almost like he's always been with us. He is such a neat, special person and we are so blessed to have him. I'm very glad we could show him how much we love him and that he is such an important part of our family all on his special day.
P.S. Jake and I "caught" Lucas playing with one of Daniel's presents, the Titanium Command Rig. One would typically think that toddlers and Legos don't mix very well, but he was actually playing with it instead of just ripping it apart. I think we're seeing progress here, folks! (Believe me, this is a huge step in our family!)
On Saturday our neighborhood held its second annual 4th of July Parade. It was a lot of fun to participate even though barely anyone from the neighborhood came out to watch as we paraded around. And the few who did came under acute attack from some over-zealous kids who wanted to throw candy out to the "crowd." That'll teach 'em to support our neighborhood kids :). Anyway, even without many onlookers, the parade itself had a great turnout and it was a lot of fun to get together with neighbors and friends. Our family even ended up winning a prize (totally unexpected)! It was for "Best Team Effort" on a float. Here is our "float"
That evening we took the kids to Out of This World Pizza to do the non-Sunday portion of our celebration. Sorry no pictures. I brought the camera, but it seems like we've been often enough that it would feel unnatural to take pictures. I think Lucas being in a terrible toddler mood may have had something to do with it as well. Sorry to make excuses, but either way I didn't get any pictures. Joshua and Daniel had a great time though and we were so glad.
On the actual day of, we went to church where Daniel got to do some birthday stuff in Primary. When we got home we forced the boys to have lunch first and I put Lucas down for his nap and then we got down to some serious present opening. Daniel was so excited about everything he got and I'm so glad that little kids are open books in a lot of ways and that we know what we can get that will make them happy.
Daniel designed these birthday cupcakes completely himself. I actually made them, but he chose the flavors, the colors and even the pattern of sprinkles! I think they turned out really fun.
We ended the day with my doing a little extra reading to them at bedtime. Daniel chose a Berenstein Bears book and then I read them a little extra in Harry Potter #4. We just started the chapter with the Yule Ball and my guess was confirmed that Viktor Krum was Hermione's date. I knew it! My guess was either him or Dobby. The kids seemed to intuitively know somehow that it wouldn't be Dobby, but I wouldn't have put it past Hermione. The boys were interested in the idea of a "ball" and I told them that someday they would want to take a girl and go with their friends to a ball. Joshua responded with a squirrely , "No! I won't want to do that!" Well, we'll see if he changes his mind. Anyway, our reading stoked the flames even hotter for their getting to play Daniel's new Lego Harry Potter Wii game the next day -- a smash-hit of a present (like I said, an open book...)!
I am so thankful Daniel joined our family 5 years ago. It feels like it's been longer, almost like he's always been with us. He is such a neat, special person and we are so blessed to have him. I'm very glad we could show him how much we love him and that he is such an important part of our family all on his special day.
P.S. Jake and I "caught" Lucas playing with one of Daniel's presents, the Titanium Command Rig. One would typically think that toddlers and Legos don't mix very well, but he was actually playing with it instead of just ripping it apart. I think we're seeing progress here, folks! (Believe me, this is a huge step in our family!)
posted by Leslie | 1:23 PM
2 Comments:
Whoa- in that last picture, I think Lucas knows he getting away with something. I am impressed with his self control to play instead of destroy.
Happy B- Day Daniel!
What cute pictures. I can't believe how fast they are growing up.
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