Birthday Fun Week

Blake's birthday week was FANTASTIC.  So much fun celebrating our Blake turning FIVE!  He started off the week celebrating at school and got the customary birthday crown.  His teacher said most kids keep it on for a few minutes, but Blake kept it on the entire day.  And at home.  And again the next day.  Brady felt so left out I had to make him a crown out of construction paper.

We started off Blake's actual birthday the following day, with his favorite...donuts!  I let him pick out what he wanted and one of the donuts he picked was an old fashioned.  He wanted to try something "new" since he is five now.  This boy makes me laugh.  Of course he had to eat the donuts with his crown on.

And then was one of Blake's favorite parts... opening presents!  Here he is opening Aunt Rhonda's present, which was a kid appropriate book all about the body and how it works.  Since he wants to be a doctor he found this waaaay cool.  Such a cool gift!  (ignore the messy house in background)

And then came presents from mommy and daddy.  He had been asking for two things for months.  A cake set and a doctor set.  So he got both and was a very happy boy.  

Blake's birthday fell on a Tuesday and we were super psyched that daddy was able to take off work and spend the day with us!  Brad = Blake's most favorite person in the entire world.  After donuts and presents we headed to the Perot Museum, a place has been asking to go back to since we went in January.  We had such a great morning there!!  So much fun.

After the museum we headed to lunch.  And since it was the day of all of Blake's favorite things, we headed to Taco Bueno.  He was happy.

After Bueno the day of Blake continued to get one of his other favorites...frozen yogurt.  My friend Kristin told us about the greatest place on earth, a frozen yogurt place that has the best indoor playground ever!  Yogurt and playing was heaven to Blake and Brady!!

Then we headed to Grandma and Papa's house for piano lesson and play time.  And then we let Blake pick wherever he wanted to go for dinner and he chose the world's most random place (at least to us).  Dickey's BBQ.  So to Dickey's we went!  

And then, we were all so worn.out.  What a special day!!  
The fun continued later in the week and we headed to the spray ground park near our house with Blake's two best friends in the entire world.  

And then we wrapped up the birthday fun week with the BEST DAY EVER!  (That is what Blake called it). His party, that he requested to be at Pump it Up.  We had a great time!

Sweaty but happy Blake

Brad getting in on the fun too

Wind booth.  Most fun ever apparently.

 

Cutie Patooties

Group shot

So much fun!  Such a great week!  And Blake is very proud he is a BIG FIVE YEAR OLD BOY!  He loves telling anyone and everyone he is five now.  

Mother's Day

We are coming off a great week.  We had a few special birthday fun days for Blake this week.  And, Saturday, in the words of Blake, was "The BEST DAY EVER!"  I think that is one successful birthday celebratory week if I do say so myself!  And I will do a full recap of our birthday festivities, but for now, this post is all about ME.  Just kidding.  But seriously, I hope all the moms and those who serve a "mom" role in people's lives, had a special and happy day!  My mothers day lovin started Friday morning.  I left Brady at home with Brad and had a special date with my first born at his school.  We had muffins together (or my big, growing five year old ate his muffin AND my muffin) and he showered me with gifts he lovingly made at school.  Blake handed me the biggest gift first, a flower pot he painted special that had pictures of our family on the "flowers" inside.  He said, "I made this for you to make you happy."  Love him.  The class serenaded all their moms in the room with a cute little song, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", except at the end, when the words say, "Ain't no river wide enough could keep me from getting to you babe" they took out the babe and said "mom" and pointed to their mom.  It.was.adorable.  And I got teary eyed for sure. 

Then we had to guess which portrait was the one hanging on the wall our child had done of us.  On the top of the picture was  "She loves to...." And each child filled in the blank.  I went to the wall to try and find the picture my son had drawn of me and as soon as I saw the answer to the question on a particular drawing I KNEW it was Blake's.  Cracks me up.  He calls Kroger "the blue store" and Market Street "the black store".  Apparently I just LOVE to grocery shop!  

It was such a special morning and was such a treasure to me to get spoiled with little handmade gifts from Blake and have some one on one time together that I never have with him.  

Today we got to have a nice brunch with my parents and grandmother and we really enjoyed our time together as a family!  This was the best picture with my boys we could manage.  Comical.  Oh well.

And as much as I adore my time with my boys, I think what helps me be the best mom I can be, is some time away from mom duties from time to time.  Once we got home, Brad took my grocery store list and sent me off to a movie.  I did something I've always been too embarrassed to do for some reason, see a movie by myself.  But I LOVED IT.  I enjoyed the movie, I enjoyed the quiet, dark theater for a few hours just relaxing and then I came home to my house filled with groceries, some beautiful pink tulips on the table and boys I couldn't wait to hug and love on!!  I am beyond blessed.  There is nothing I wanted more in this world than to be a mom and I hit the mom jackpot getting to be Blake and Brady's momma.  It is the hardest thing in the world, to be a mom, but the absolute most joyous and rewarding thing as well.  I am so very grateful.  I am grateful for Brad's mom for helping raise the best partner in all of this I could EVER have.  And even though we don't get to see each other as often as we'd like due to geography, she is always there for us and makes up for lost time with the boys when we see her.  I am also so grateful to my mom.  She's shown me how to be a good mom and is such a great grandma to my boys.  She instilled confidence in me as a new mom when I wasn't sure if I was doing things "right".  She continues to always encourage me and tell me what a good mom I am and sometimes, on the hard days, when you think maybe you're not doing anything right, those words always mean so much.  And I hold onto them to lift me back up and brush myself off and start new the next day.  
And these three guys make any of my worst days still full of sunshine.  O.So.Grateful.

FIVE!

Blake,

I have to admit I've been pretty sentimental the last few weeks thinking about you turning FIVE.  I enrolled you for kindergarten.  KINDERGARTEN!  Five is going to be a big year for you Blake, but selfishly a really big year for me too.  Soon you’ll be starting your school career and you’ll be leaving my side.  In my head I know you are so ready.  But my heart is having a harder time knowing that.  I look back at your baby pictures and your pictures over the last five years, and it’s like I blinked and now you are five.  And I guess my heart knows next time I blink you’ll be ten, and then again and you’ll be out of the house.  Why does time have to go just so fast Blakers?! 

You’ve blossomed and grown so much this past year.  You absolutely love your school and have made such great friends there.  It kind of breaks my heart knowing you are all going to different schools next year.  You don’t really quite get that yet and I know you’ll be bummed when you realize it.  But you have always made friends easily and I know you will absolutely rock kindergarten.  Your teachers this year have witnessed and told us what we already knew about you, that you have an incredibly big heart.  That has continued to be one of my favorite things about you.  One of my absolute favorite stories exemplifying this happened just this past weekend.  You were invited to a birthday party that Brady was not invited to.  You went with your daddy while I stayed behind with Brady.  The party was at Main Event and after you were done playing all the games your game card would pay for and had won all the tickets you could win, you went to cash them in for your prize.  Without any prompting whatsoever from your daddy, you suggested you use some of your tickets to get something for Brady too.  “I want to get Brady that blue slinky, because blue is his favorite color.  I CAN’T WAIT to see the smile on his face when I give this to him!”  I melted into a pile of mush when your dad retold this story to me.  You handed Brady his prize which absolutely lit up Brady’s face and you said, “HE SMILED!  HE LIKES IT!”  That’s the kind of heart you have and have always had.  You are such an awesome big brother and while you two have your moments like any siblings do, you and Brady are the best of friends.  I prayed so much while I was pregnant with Brady you and your brother would get along, like I did with my brother, and I’m so incredibly grateful that has come to fruition.  I love watching the two of you together and your relationship grow.  My heart is happy knowing you two will always have each other. 

Your teachers have also noted on your “report card” how excelled in math you are.  This is the subject I have a feeling you will soar in.  You get this gift from your daddy.  You love doing math problems, which kind of cracks me up.  Oh, how different we are when it comes to this!  You also excel in your memorization skills.  You have always blown your daddy and I away when you blurt out a memory from when you were two.  But you also apply this to what you learn.  You can count to thirty right now in Spanish, when your classmates are still counting to ten.  You also apply this to your piano playing.  After playing a song with your teacher once or twice, you commit it to memory.  This skill, your teacher states is one of great talent but also drives him nuts because you’re not reading your music!  I love hearing how your piano playing has come along and can’t wait for your first recital next month! 

And of course one thing that has still stayed the same in the entire five years of your life, you are sports crazed.  You love playing any and all sports.  You love watching sports on tv with your daddy too and LOVED getting to go to your first professional sporting event with him last month.  The only sport you play in an organized league currently is soccer, and you are so good at it.  You improve all the time and you are extremely passionate about it.  While on the sidelines, some of your teammates are busy goofing off, but you are watching the game intently begging the coach (your dad) to put you back in.  I love that about you! 

Blake, you continue to make me and your daddy so incredibly proud of you.  You make us laugh all the time and bring so much love into our lives.  We love being your parents more than you could ever know and can’t wait to see what the next half a decade brings our way as you blaze your trail in this world! Happy fifth birthday my sweet Blakers!!!!

Love,

Momma

Birthday Slideshow
Blake's First Five Years