Happy Birthday, Matthew!

Yesterday our sweet little Matthew turned three years old! He is such a joy to our lives...our little class clown. He is always looking for ways to make somebody laugh, and especially loves playing with his brothers. He definitely looks up to Daniel, always wanting to be able to do whatever Daniel does. He is very sweet with Aaron, helping him get things and even sharing coveted toys with him. Matthew is still very much into cars and trucks, and has been known to sing the theme song to "Fireman Sam" anytime he sees a fire engine or helicopter go by. He is Mr. Independent right now...he wants to do everything by himself and is really good at letting us know what he wants. The whole "I'm leaving you if you don't start walking with me" parental ploy doesn't work with Matthew, he enjoys being on his own anyhow.

Here are some pictures from Matthew's various birthday celebrations.

Something new...a birthday tribute on the mantle.

A couple weeks ago we had a circus birthday party for Matthew. Here's the ringmaster with his assistant...I mean, brother.

 Daniel tests out the ring of fire.

Mad rush on the clown-faced cupcake cake. [Thank you to Fr. Jordan, Matthew's godfather, for getting the cake!]

Matthew received some super-cool camping themed gifts!

Love all the boots!

This might just be the cutest picture EVER. Matthew checks out a friend's owie, very concerned that she may need a band-aid.   Melt. My. Heart.

Yesterday's birthday breakfast--smiley face pancakes!

 No birthday is complete without birthday brother wrestling.

 

 The circus party may be over, but these guys are still clowning around.

 So excited for cake!

Making a wish.

 Biggest bite ever.

 Hmm...Daniel has a big bite too.

 Where are they learning this?

Oh. That's where.

Are those PRESENTS???!!!!  

[I wish this photo wasn't blurry...the pure joy on his face is unbelievable.]

 Notice the frosting-less cupcake...

 This boy is very much into cars. Here's one from Mommy and Daddy.

Matthew always wants to use Daniel's binoculars, so Daniel's gift to Matthew was his very own pair!

Happy Birthday Matthew! We love you so very much!

Spokane Weekend

We left town a couple weekends ago to see Chris' cousin Trevor graduate from Gonzaga University. We head east of the mountains often to visit friends in Zillah, but this is the first time we'd traveled farther than that as a family of 5. It was quite the trip. All things considered, the boys did pretty well. Aaron did not like being confined in his seat for that long, but we did our best to take breaks so he could move around. We weren't in Spokane for very long, but we had a wonderful time celebrating with Trevor and the family and spent a little time exploring the riverfront before heading back home.

 Marching in.

 Super happy graduate!

 A rare photo of us.

 Daniel and Aaron don't seem to share Matthew's enthusiasm for pictures.

 Whee! Aaron loves slides, and this big radio flyer wagon slide was the coolest!

 Hanging out under the wagon.

 Three boys on the stairs.

 Three boys on the slide.

 Three boys on blocks. [BTW, I have the utmost respect for people who photograph children, especially multiple children in one shot. It is IMPOSSIBLE to get everyone looking at the camera, nicely, at the same time.]

 Things started to get silly.

 And sillier.

 Matthew running with the Bloomsday runners...the wrong way.

 Hmm.

 Being Mother's Day weekend, the boys all took pictures with me. By this time, though, only Daniel was in the right mood to smile. Thanks, Daniel, for making me a mom (and for smiling so nicely in this picture).

On the way home. This kid was tuckered out.

Yikes

It's been awhile...as usual, I suppose. We are busy busy busy here. Thankfully, it's been a good kind of busy, though today Aaron is sick. Boo. We've had some amazingly nice weather lately and have been able to spend quite a bit of time outside.

 Airplane!

 The water table returns to the backyard.

 Making cappuccino. (They are their father's sons...)

Heavy lifter.

Happy Easter!

Wishing everyone a happy Easter!

The Fam

Daniel

Aaron

Matthew

Our risen Lord!

Back outside

It's still pretty cold, but since it's been mostly dry we've been able to play outside a bit more. The boys love being outside and now with Aaron getting sturdier on his feet he can join in on the fun!

 Daniel has lots of tricks on the swings. This time he was practicing swinging upside down.

 Matthew is pretty good at superhero swinging.

I want to swing, too!

Matthew earns his keep by mowing the lawn.

Aaron is all over the place outside. If he's not going in and out of the playhouse, he's climbing the ladder to the top of the structure and going down the slide. I prefer he stay on the ground--he is only 15 months old after all.

Blurry, yes, but I love the mischievous look on Matthew's face as he watches Aaron try to get in.

We can't wait for warmer weather so we can play outside even more!

Recycled Art

I've always had the tendency (curse?) of holding on to things to use for something else. For the past 6 months or so I've saved lots of small items to use on a rainy day with the boys--lids of various sizes, paper tubes, fun containers, empty thread spools, wire hangers, etc.  They came in handy on Monday. It was not raining outside, but it wasn't even 8:30 before I knew it was going to be a rough day if we didn't change gears quickly. So I plugged in the glue gun and brought up our box of recycled crafty things and the boys went to town creating.

 Things started off slowly with the boys checking out the contents of the box.

 It didn't take too long before everything was on the floor.

 Hard at work.

One of Daniel's finished creations.

Matthew's collage.

Aaron loved playing with all the supplies, but enjoyed his muffin break more. :)

He's growing up...

...and losing teeth! Daniel has been wiggling his two bottom front teeth for a little while, and Sunday during dinner the first one came out. He was super excited, as was the rest of the family present to witness the milestone. Since I knew this was going to happen soon, I made sure to take a few pictures of Daniel before his smile would change forever.

February 27, 2013

March 3, 2013

Daniel had his first visit from the tooth fairy that night. Teeth are worth more here than they did when I was a kid. I remember getting quarters from her. She brought Daniel a dollar coin. Inflation? Matthew is now convinced that his teeth are falling out, too.

You know you're getting old when...

At dinner I was helping Daniel understand how to say years, like "2012", "2013", "1995" and so forth. He was having a hard time understanding why you said "nineteen ninety-five" versus "one thousand, nine hundred and ninety-five".

Trying to give him more examples I said, "For example, Daniel, Daddy was born in 1981. Can you say 1981 and one thousand nine hundred and eighty one?"

Daniel: "Oh!!! 1981! The year they discovered Dinosaur bones!......no wait, that was 1986."

Dad, 1981

Picture Source: http://www.printactivities.com/ColoringPages/Dinosaur_Coloring_Pages/Cartoon_Dinosaurs/Old_Dinosaur.gif

Daniel's Favorite Things

The other day Daniel started listing his "Favorite Things". It was pretty humorous so we wrote it down. In order of favorites...

1. Jesus
2. Mommy
3. Daddy
4. Matthew
5. Aaron
6. Pumpkin Muffins
7. Lemon-Zucchini Muffins
8. Lime-Coconut Muffins
9. Army (as in the US Army)
10. Pumpkin Pie
11. Lime-Coconut Bread
12. Lemon-Zucchini Bread

Yes, this is exactly how he listed them. And yes, 6 of 12 are baked goods, mostly variations on the same theme. As Daniel said, however, "Muffins and bread are totally different." 

A glimpse of Matthew

Matthew is all boy. We've known this for awhile, but the other day I spent a good amount of time just watching him, amazed at the little man that he is. He had picked out his own clothes (half pajamas), put on his boots, and was lost in his own little world with his airplane (or "airprane" as he calls it).

I hope I will forever remember Matthew as he is in these pictures...so intense but amusing at the same time. Sweet sweet Matthew.