Grow up now My darlin Please don't you grow up too fast And be sure, darlin To make all the good times last
For the soon-to-be Birthday Girl! I can't write anymore than that because tears are blocking my view of the monitor.
My Darling - Wilco Go back to sleep now My darlin And I'll keep all the bad dreams away Breathe now, think sweet things And I'll think of all the right words to say
Because we made you My darlin With the love in each of our hearts We were a family, my darlin Right from the start
Grow up now My darlin Please don't you grow up too fast And be sure, darlin To make all the good times last
Because we made you My darlin With the love in each of our hearts We were a family, my darlin Right from the start
It's officially Fall here. I know that for a couple reasons.
1) We've just had a stomach bug go through the whole family (with the exception of Syda, thank you Breastfeeding!) and 2) It's rainy, cool and dreary here and will be for the next three days or so. I take these as classic signs that the fall has begun and it's time to take refuge inside more often.
To entertain myself and the kids today, I pulled out the homemade stops. I started the day making Play Doh at 8am. That only took about 10 minutes to make and has given Nate close to two hours of enjoyment. We then went on to making Chocolate Chip cookies. Not the easiest thing with preschool and toddler assistants, but fun and yummy in the end!
We'll finish the day up with some homemade pizza for dinner. This crust is our new go-to recipe. The whole family loves it! It's really tasty and super easy, even though bread machine dough is easy to begin with, this one is just perfect! Now, the rush to finish up some homemade birthday gifts for the young lady of the house - that'll start long after dinnertime though.
I'm going to knit myself a sweater. A sweater that will keep me warm at night. Just how many days here must I weather? Just biding my time... 'cause when I call you on the phone, I'm still lost, I'm still alone. Who's going to make it right? (Oooh wah ooh) Who's going to make it right? (Oooh wah ooh)
I'm going to write myself a letter. A letter that will make me feel alright. I'll read it to myself five times or seven. But I can't deny I'm going to need a little more than just some thought that I adore to keep me warm at night. (Oooh wah ooh) To keep me warm at night. (Oooh wah ooh)
Nine days don't amount to much when you cross them off a wall. And I thought I was out of luck 'til you came along and made me fall. Now there's nothing more to say, since you left and gone away. And I just don't think I'll get through the night.
Because I need a little more than just some thought that I adore to keep me warm at night. (Oooh wah ooh) Oh keep me warm at night. (Oooh wah ooh)
Because I need a little more than just some thought that I adore to keep me warm at night. (Oooh wah ooh) Oh keep me warm at night. (Oooh wah ooh)
Well, we're in the thick of it now folks! It's the middle of September, which means two birthdays down, one to go. But who's counting? Well, our little boy was up until a few days ago. Actually, he's still counting, the question has just changed from, "When will I be four?" to, "How many days have I been four?"
First up was Dada's birthday which featured Monster Cupcakes. We honor all cake requests on birthdays and Tim decided he wanted monster related cupcakes (NOT cake) for his celebration. He and the boys did a fine job creating some funny, creepy and weird looking dudes. I think it's safe to say they had more fun decorating than eating them because each monster was stripped of his/her decorative marshmallows, twizzlers and candies before being consumed. My guys are purists I guess, frosting and cake only.
Nate's cake was furnished by the Dada bakery. He did all of the frosting and decorating. I had fully expected Nate to go for the Perry The Platypus cake that I was planning to make him, but the week of his birthday he changed his mind and insisted on Batman. I'm really not sure where the sudden interest in Batman is coming from. He doesn't watch Batman cartoons (or ask to) but this year, a Batman cake was a must. I'm still hoping for a Perry cake sometime, maybe I can talk Ben into it.
Nate's Brobee Hat I had also expected he might ask for a Yo Gabba Gabba caek, but no. At least he didn't ask for a Batman hat, I'm not sure what that pattern looks like, but I'm sure it involves charting and I am not up for that yet. The best present of the day (tied for first with his Buzz Lightyear) was this scooter that Tim & I found. The week before Tim & I went shopping for Nate's presents he asked for a scooter for his birthday. Specifically, he wanted a scooter with three wheels and Spiderman on it (again, not sure where Spiderman comes from, assuming he snuck in with Batman). We didn't promise anything, and honestly, we weren't even going to look for one because we had just bought bikes for both boys in May. Also, we live in Maine, so there's not a long season of bike and scooter riding and we're nearing the end of it. We set off on our shopping adventures, and we went to Goodwill looking for Halloween costumes to fill up a Dress UP Box for Nate. No luck in that department but what did we find in the Toy section? A Razor scooter with three wheels for $2.99! Yeah, we're cheap like that and proud of it. Because really, does Nate know or care that it was three dollars? Does it lessen the joy that he'll get out of it? Did it leave more money in our wallet so we were able to get him some other rocking presents? This was the score of the birthday season in my book. He loves that scooter, loves it! I mean just look at the proof below.
If they were me, if they were me and I was you, I was you If they were me and I was you Would you have liked a present too.
This week's dedication goes out to Nate on his last day of Threedom. As of tomorrow, he will bravely venture into the land of Four. Coming soon, a separate blog entry devoted to my mixture of emotions about this. Mark your calendars! In the meanwhile, enjoy the tunes!
PS For the longest time (read: up until about 20 minutes ago) I thought the first line of this song was, "Happy Birthday Little Wombat" and I thought that was the cutest thing, a sweet little nickname for a kiddo from his mum; maybe all Australian mothers call their baby 'wombat". I found it endearing and starting singing it all the time. It's catchy and the wombat thing had me hooked. Then I went to get the lyrics to put on the blog, cause I like to do that for you, and lo and behold - this song isn't about Wombats or Australia at all! Won't stop me from singing it the way I always have though. Wombat just sounds better!
Happy Birthday - Tings Tings Happy happy birthday in a hot bath To those nice nice nights. I remember always always I got such a fright. If they were me, if they were me and I was you, i was you If they were me and I was you Would you have liked a present too.
Happy happy birthday in a hot bath To those nice nice nights. I remember always always I got such a fright. If they were me, if they were me and I was you, i was you If they were me and I was you Would you have liked a present too.
When I started this blog I had promised myself that i would be prompt and post about things as they happened, or as close to when they happened as possible. That's a great goal for a blog, if you don't have three kids. So, now I'm writing about our first experience camping two weeks after it happened. Doesn't make it any less fun for me to write, or for you to read I hope!
This was my second time camping in my life. The first being with Tim over eight years ago at a campground on a busy holiday weekend with a few friends. This was the first attempt ever with children. We're part of an incredible homeschooling community and one of the moms in our group noticed that the forecast looked ideal for camping - warm, sunny days and clear, but not too cool nights. Perfect for letting the kids run wild on the beach and then chilling out by the campfire after dinner and snoozing away on their air mattresses in the wild. (of our tent) I gathered up some gusto, our camping gear and headed out. We've had a huge tent for about six years now and have only used it once, and that was in our living room. I decided we could handle it, I could handle it - after all, I'd be with at least five other moms and their kids who we all knew well, and don't I take care of all three kids most days by myself anyway? Yes! Camping, yes we can!!!
Turns out, I wasn't so wrong either. I managed to get us all to the State Park safely, find the site that friends were kind enough to share with us, and set up our tent, chairs, air mattresses and other camping needs all by myself. I felt quite proud! We spent the day at the beach as planned and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We had the yummiest dinner back at our site, it's true everything does taste better when you're camping, and we enjoyed a beautiful campfire (our first!) and then crashed in our tent for the night.
Well, some of us crashed. Some of us crashed and then woke up at 4am inconsolable and irate due to teething and would NOT be soothed by nursing, walking or rocking until 7am. 7am also happens to be when the boys' internal alarms go off. SO, this is where I called it quits. I know, it's really a bit of an exaggeration to say we went camping when we only stayed one night, but I'm still counting it. As I said, I got all of our stuff there, we played on the beach, we saw fire, Ben played capture the flag by the fuzzy hue of glow sticks and we slept outside! IT COUNTS! We also stayed for most of that next day and enjoyed the beach and our friends again. In the end, we went camping. We left our home and played outdoors, survived and even had a good time. It all left me feeling very accomplished and encouraged for next year, when we'll go again and stay for more than a night. So long as Syda's two year molars aren't coming in that week!
Packing up!
Nate admiring a tree early in the morning - note the pjs and fuzzy slippers.
Post-camping nap lasted 4 hours
Ben went with us, but there are no pictures of him because he was off with his friends 99% of the time. It's a good thing he needed to come back to the site to eat or we may not have seen him at all.
So easily forgotten, are the most important things Is that I love you, I do And I want to spend my days and nights Walking through this crazy world with you
Cuz life is beautiful Life is wonderous Every star above is shining just for us
Another dedication this week! (be prepared, there will be a few of them in the coming weeks with the impending birthdays around here).
Today's song goes out to my incredible husband on his birthday. I'm ever so thankful that he was born on this day. He's somewhat shy, but for those of us who are lucky to really know him, we know how kind, thoughtful, patient and funny he is. He's one of the few people who's able to make me laugh so hard that I snort, and that's saying something. I'm forever grateful that my children get to call him Dada and that I get to spend my days with him. I am blessed.
I could get more sentimental here but for now I'm going to just let the song do the talking. Keb Mo, your words are beautiful, as always. For the record, it was VERY hard to pick just one song. Hopefully there will be many, many more birthdays to dedicate a tune to, I've got the playlist all picked out! :)
Life Is Beautiful - Keb Mo Let's go drifting, through the trees Let's go sailing, on the sea Let's go dancing, on the juke joint floor And leave our troubles all behind, and have a party
So easily forgotten, are the most important things Like the melody and the moonlight in your eyes And the song that lasts forever, keeps on gettin betta All the time
Cuz life is beautiful Life is wonderous Every star above is shining just for us Life is beautiful, on a stormy night Somewhere in the world the sun is shining bright
I get crazy, so afraid That I might lose you, one fine day And I'll be nothing but a tired old man And I don't wanna be without you, at the party
So easily forgotten, are the most important things Is that I love you, I do And I want to spend my days and nights Walking through this crazy world with you
Cuz life is beautiful Life is wonderous Every star above is shining just for us Life is beautiful, on a stormy night Somewhere in the world the sun is shining bright
So easily forgotten, are the most important things Is that I love you, I do And I want to spend my days and nights Walking through this crazy world with you, that's right baby
Cuz life is beautiful Life is wonderous Every star above is shining just for us Life is beautiful, on a stormy night Somewhere in the world the sun is shining bright
