Goodbye, September.

I don't know where the month went, but the last post I wrote was saying hello to September, and here we are, waving goodbye to the month.

I usually blog on my lunch break; I may take a day, close the door to my office and leisurely eat my lunch at my desk and type up a few posts at one time and schedule them to go out automatically throughout the week.

Unfortunately, my co-worker resigned late in August and we have not yet replaced her.  I was devastated on a personal level, as we had become great friends over the past 5.5 years of working together. She took a position that put her back into a field she really wanted to be in, so while I'm happy for her, I'm sad for me!  The office is lonely, and she happened to leave during one of busiest times of the year...the start of the new school year.  There were only 2 of us in the department, so it's down to just me....needless to say, my lunch breaks (if they exist at all) have been very short and I'm normally reviewing a resume while I eat, instead of leisurely  writing blog posts. I'm not complaining, and I'm of course happy to have a job, but I am SO ready to have someone else in here!  That process is slow going, so I'm just taking it one day at a time for now.

So there's the catch up on my work life, I'll try to get caught up eventually on our home life, too!

Liam started Preschool 2; he's still in the same center and same classroom, but this year will be more focused on kindergarten prep.  He is always talking about how excited he is to go to school and ride the big bus with Jake next year, so let's hope that excitement holds on when next August rolls around!

Speaking of school, Jake has managed to have 3...yes 3....sick days already.  2 for a random virus that involved a sore throat and swimmer's ear, and one that was a stomach bug.  Let's hope that he got that out of his system and that (maybe!) we will have a healthy cold and flu season!  Here he is, during a healthy time, being silly at a friend's Oktoberfest party recently:

 Other than trying to get back into the swing of school stuff and after school activities, we've been outside a lot, enjoying the warm temps and lack of rain!

A bonus to your dad building you a treehouse and having leftover wood is that you can make some sweet bike ramps :)

Jake had "favorite team jersey" day at school---Hail to Pitt!!

 

 

He likes to keep the front porch of the treehouse free of debris.  A kid after my own heart.

Sometimes we head inside to dress up like Pirate Cowboys or play a board game....

 

Our neighborhood association put out flags for 9/11, and I had a little helper for my block:

 

Brian and I had a few hours to ourselves at a recent wedding...it was at a farm and even though it was a bit on the chilly side, it was a gorgeous day to be out!

And then we celebrated our own wedding anniversary last week!  Thumbs up to 9 years of marriage!

The boys are back in Sunday School after summer hiatus, and I'm always happy to snap a picture of them looking so spiffy on the way there:

Earlier in the month, we celebrated my dad's 60th birthday together with my parents and Nate, Katie, and Luke.  It was so nice to spend the day with everyone...we had good food, played some games, and got to love on baby Luke!

 

Uncle Nate, showing Jake how to fly a drone

It's all fun and games until the drone gets stuck in a tree!

 I always thought I was a baby hog, but I have some stiff competition with Liam around....this kid would hold Luke all day if we let him!

 

Brian finally got a turn....

And in swooped Liam, trying to steal him!

And just in case you needed a little heart-melting today, here is a video of Liam singing "You are my sunshine" to Luke.

Happy 60th birthday, Pappy!!!

So, that's been our September!!!  I hope everyone is enjoying fall so far!

Paw Patrol is on a Roll: Liam's 4th Birthday Party!

This birthday was a big one for Liam...his first friend birthday!  The advantage of having a May birthday is that I will have a bit more flexibility in terms of where to have his parties (as opposed to the poor winter birthday boy, Jake) so I figured since the guest list was pretty small we would be brave and have it outside at our house.  Liam made a very firm decision quite some time ago that he wanted a Paw Patrol birthday party....so we made it happen!! 

invitation (details removed for privacy)

There's always a risk when planning an outdoor party that the weather may not cooperate, and that was definitely a fear that day, as everything was soaked from rain the night before and some showers that morning...dark clouds kept coming and going and finally going back and forth (and maybe having a small anxiety attack over the whole thing), we made the executive decision to have it outside (thanks to my mom and dad for dealing with my craziness and helping us relocate the entire party to the patio...and thanks to my friend Marissa for donating some of her Paw Patrol supplies to me!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, that is how I marked the bathroom door.

After all of the kids arrived, we herded them back to the table to make their craft/favor; they were each "adopting" a stuffed dog and coloring it with fabric markers.  To be honest, I wasn't sure how this would go....I didn't know if they would be interested at all, or if they would lose interest after just a few minutes....but they all loved it!  It held their attention for quite some time, and then I came around with adoption certificates so that they could officially name their new dog. It ended up being super cute!  Stuffed dogs available from Discount School Supply ($21.99 for 12 dogs)

 

Adoption Certificate:

After that, the kids ran around for awhile longer then we called them back again to play "Pin the Badge on Marshall" before the pizza came.  They weren't quite as into this activity, but quite a few did play.  The game can be found as a free printable on the Nick Jr. site!

 

After making an attempt to have the kids eat pizza (this was not really successful) we decided it was time to stuff them with cupcakes!!  These ended up being some of my favorite pictures of the day...I love the look on his face in both of them:

"Are you seriously telling me I can't eat this yet??"

THAT SMILE.  

 

 

Then it was time for more playing, followed by present opening.  I love how no matter what the age, present opening time at parties always results in a mob-like situation with the party-goers. 

As the party was winding down, Brian was pushing some of the kids on the swing and one started yelling "THIS IS THE BEST PARTY EVER!", so it's always good to hear positive feedback from your target audience :)

After the guests left, GG and Pappy stuck around for a bit and Liam enjoyed opening his gifts from them:

While typing all of this out and adding pictures, I've realized I did not get a single family picture the entire day!  *sadface*  However, even more gratifying than a family picture was the conversation I had with Liam when putting him to bed that night.  We were chatting about the party, and saying how nice it was that all of his friends came, and he wrapped his little hands around my neck, gave me a big squeeze and said, "Mommy, thank you for my Paw Patrol party...it was the best ever". 

You are welcome, little man.  You are so welcome. 

******************************************************************************

Click on the names below for all of the FREE printables!

Paw Patrol Cupcake Toppers
Paw Patrol Food Labels
Paw Patrol Adoption Certificate 

Other Supplies:

Dog food bowls: Dollar Tree
Polka Dot Straws: Target
Paw Patrol Napkins: Target
Stuffed Dogs: discountschoolsupply.com
Pin the Badge on Marshall: nickjr.com

Happy 4th Birthday, Liam!

Dear Liam,

4 years and 1 day ago, you were still in my belly as I sat holding your daddy's hand, listening to a doctor explain to us that even though it was over 3 weeks early, having you was the best option at that point.  We were scared and excited, all at the same time.  It turns out, we had nothing to be afraid of, as you came into this world just fine...perfect just the way you were at that moment. We were amazed by how...well, how ready you seemed to be there with us.

Now, here we are, 4 years later, and we are still amazed by you!  You have grown into such a kind and caring child.  You may be stubborn and frustrating at times (as all preschoolers tend to be) but you also have a heart of gold, and would give a hug to everyone you come across if you could.  I often have other moms stop me at preschool to tell me that it makes their day when they drop their own child off in the classroom in the morning, and see you them coming and go running over to pass out hugs (you are an equal opportunist, too, you hug both the kids and the moms!)

You are thriving in school; you can write you name, you know your ABCs, all of your shapes, identify nearly all of the letters, and you can count to 20.  You have one more year of preschool, and I know you will be more than ready for kindergarten when the time comes (even if I'm not!)

You love to play outside, but you also really love art projects and coloring.  Your favorite shows right now are Paw Patrol, anything on Disney Jr, and you love to watch some of your big brother's shows, like Ninjago :)

Speaking of your big brother, the two of you are inseparable sometimes, and even though you may fight and argue at times, you really are the best of friends.

Liam-3 days old, Jake - 3.5 years old

Liam-11 months old, Jake-4 years old

Liam-15 months old, Jake-4 years old

Liam-18 months old, Jake-4 years old

Liam-2 years old, Jake-5 years old

Liam - 2 years old, Jake - 5 years old

Liam- 3 years old, Jake- 6 years old

Liam- 3.5 years old, Jake- almost 7

Liam, it's been so much fun to watch you grow into your own person.....I know 4 is going to be a great year for you, and we are so excited see you grow even more! 

 

just a few hours old :)

6 months old

1 year old

18 months old

2 years old

2.5 years old

3 years old

3.5 years old

allllllllmost 4 years old :)

Happy birthday, Liam Joseph!  We love you very much!!