More Birthday Fun!

Instead of doing a full blown friend party, we decided to do a low key get together with a couple of his friends.  

We took Landon and 3 of his friends to the Lego movie!

On a side note...Landon won that blue ball in the arcade before the movie started.  We told him he couldn't have any money to play games and the next thing I know I looked over and he was playing the game with the claw trying to win a ball.  Apparently someone left money in the machine and Landon was the lucky one who found it!  Jared went over and won the ball for him...it was so random and so funny!

We actually had a jam-packed day, that started early at 9:30 this morning and went until 8:30 tonight.

A local private Christian High School made it to the state championship game and they played for the title this morning.  A couple from our church had a son that played so I decided to take Landon to cheer on the Ambrose Archers!

It was the first basketball game that Landon has gone to and I think he had a great time.  Although, he did ask before the 1st quarter was even over when we were leaving!

At half time we got some candy and water and Landon was set for the rest of the game.

It was such a GOOD game, so close and so exciting...unfortunately the Archers lost, but they really played with so much integrity, heart and talent.

I loved the one-on-one time I got to spend with my little man and loved even more that he wanted to sit on my lap throughout the whole game!

I'm excited that Landon is at an age where he can go to and sit through sporting events!

In the afternoon we headed to the movie!

Landon was so excited and it was a great time!

It was crazy to wrangle 4 little boys into the theatre, bathroom, seats, bathroom again and out to the lobby...after we left Jared said "we are one set of twins away from this being our reality"!!!

So funny!

We really feel blessed that Landon is growing up with little boys who are so sweet and such good friends.  We pray more than anything that he will be surrounded by strong boys growing up who will challenge and encourage him in his relationship with the Lord and who will keep him accountable (rather than drag him down).

After the movie we headed over to eat dinner at our friends house!

Such a fun filled day of love and great memories!

And because he's so cute...here was Blake this morning in his sleep sack, with his bottle and with his beloved Skipper!

4 Years Old

4 years old!  

(Yes, this is a selfie)!

Another year come and gone and now we have a sweet 4 year old in our house!

Landon was really excited about his birthday this year, which makes it that much more fun!

Unfortunately it was super rainy on his birthday but that didn't stop us from having fun and celebrating our little (big) boy!

Festivities actually started Saturday when we decided to take the boys to "Build a Bear"! We haven't taken the boys there before and it was a lot of fun.  It was a quick visit and we just did the stuffed animals but both boys LOVE their new buddies.  Neither one has ever attached on to a stuffed animal before but both of them have definitely been attached to their little animal since we got them.  Landon made a Spider Man Bear which he calls "Spider Bear" (very original)!

And Blake got a cute puppy do that we named "Skip", but he lovingly calls him "Skipper".  Blake sleeps with him and drags him everywhere...so cute!

Landon requested a green monkey cake for his birthday and although I suggested a super cool green circle or rectangle cake he wouldn't let go of the fact that he wanted a monkey!

I let the boys help me out on Sunday night making the cake

(which basically meant they got to lick out the yummy chocolate bowl)

And then I decorated it after Landon went to bed.  I'm definitely not a professional cake decorator but I thought it turned out pretty cute :) 

And it made my 4 year old happy, so that's all that matters!

After Landon went to bed we also decorated his door, that has become a tradition since he was 2!

We gave him his big present in the morning which was a big boy bike!

He was really excited about it, 

But unfortunately due to the rain he couldn't really try it out...there may be a bit of a learning curve as we are attempting to do it without training wheels.

We then took the boys to get the annual birthday donut!

It is so hard to get Landon to take a good picture nowadays!

He is either making a goofy face, not looking at the camera or moving around like crazy so every picture is blurry!

Jared was very sweet and took the morning off to spend with us!

After that we went to Chick-Fil-A to play (per Landon's request), which worked out great because it was raining so much outside.

We spent the afternoon inside taking naps (Landon is still sweet enough to let me occasionally nap with him),

Playing with puzzles,

 And watching shows and eating crackers in mom and dad's bed.

Jared got off work a little early, so we decided to let Landon open our presents before we went to dinner (he had been begging to open them all day)!

He was pretty excited and loved his presents:

A soccer ball,

Shinguards

 (Landon's playing soccer this Spring for the first time),

A Boogie Board (writing board),

And some magna form light up magnets.

We met Jared's family at Fuddruckers for dinner because Landon requested hangubers (hamburgers) for his birthday dinner.  It was the perfect restaurant to go to.  It wasn't crowded, didn't require reservations and the kids could run around and not have to stay at the table the whole time!

After eating, Landon opened more presents

And we ate his monkey cake!

All-in-all it was a great day with these two crazies!!!

Hard to believe our oldest is 4, but so thankful the Lord chose us to be his mom and dad!

He is a handful and a blessing wrapped up into one lovable guy!

And only because it is so cute...here was Blake's rendition of "Happy Birthday"!!

Landon has grown up so much this past year.  He has developed physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually!  He is such a bright boy that loves learning and picks things up quickly.  He still loves to laugh, loves to make jokes and thinks potty humor is the FUNNIEST thing in the world.  He is a bit of a perfectionist and wants to be able to do things the right way the first time, which is a little tricky at times!  He has learned how to write his name this year and is learning to spell and read simple words.  He is so close to reading and is very curious as to how words sound out and what letters they start with.  He says simple prayers and is really beginning to grasp who Jesus and God is (grasp in a 4 year old child like manner).  He likes to make up songs and sing to Blake before he goes to sleep.  He also loves to listen to made up stories and can't go to bed without one.  He loves playing outside, getting dirty, wrestling and playing with cars/trains/planes/tracks and balls! 

All-in-all, we are so grateful to the Lord for this amazingly special 4 year old boy!

Valentine's Day

This year we decided it would be a fun tradition to start having Valentine's Day dinner with the boys!

 One of my favorite cooking blogs said that she sets up a nice dinner at home every Valentine's Day with her family in order to teach her kids proper etiquette and manners for nice dinners.  I loved this idea and decided to adapt it to the stage we are at.  The boys still got plastic dinnerware, we only did a 2 course meal (dinner and dessert), and I didn't light the candles because last time I did this Blake spent the entire meal trying to blow them out!

It was a lot of fun and the boys were both super excited with how it was decorated.  

Definitely a tradition we will continue to expand on as the boys get older!

February was a lot of fun and we managed to stay busy despite the cold weather!

We have done lots of baking this winter and both boys are a BIG help in the kitchen :)

My almost 4 year old seems to be growing, learning and changing daily.

  

I love watching him sleep though...he still needs "blue blankie" for comfort and never hesitates to get snuggles and loves from mom and dad. 

So thankful for his crazy, loving, joyful and all around amazing personality!

Blake has learned the art of the "terrible two's" amazingly well :)

Although he can demonstrate quite the pout, he too is such a joy to watch and love on daily.

He is such a snuggle bug and I dread the day when he no longer throws himself into my arms, tucking his arms inside mine and laying his head against my chest.  Honestly there is no better feeling in the world and I try not to take a second of it for granted.

Blake is a little parrot these days and he attempts any song, sound or word you say...here is he yodeling!  So stinkin' cute!

These two bless me more than words can say.

Brothers

I love watching these boys together!

They play like crazy, love like crazy and fight like crazy!

It is so sweet to watch a brother relationship grow!

Blake is Landon's little mimic and tries to copy and do EVERYTHING big brother does!

Lately he has been calling him "bruder" and will say "bruder help", "bruder mean" or "thank you bruder"!

My prayer is that they grow up being good friends and confidants.

That they will watch out for one another, teach one another, encourage one another and keep one another accountable.

I pray they will remain friends through life and have a bond that can never be broken.

I thank God daily for entrusting me with their little lives!

(Even on days they drive mama a little crazy too :)

Winter and Holiday Happenings

We had a great...very busy...holiday season!  We went to Oregon again this year to spend Christmas with my family.  My parents are moving out here in April, so they had sold their home last spring.  This Christmas we were all in their rental, which was 2 bedroom/2 bath and about 1000 sq. ft.  So we had 6 adults and 4 boys (3 and under) in this little space!  We survived and had a great time playing and visiting family.  My parents ended up sleeping at their old neighbors house, Blake slept in the master bath, Landon on the master floor, Jared and I in the Master bed, my 2 month old nephew slept in the laundry room, my 2 year old nephew on the guest room floor and my brother and SIL in the guest bed!  We definitely made some good memories and all still love each other!

Before Christmas I took the boys to see Santa!

We aren't fully doing Santa with the boys but Landon was pretty into it this year. We told him it would be like getting a picture taken with Mickey Mouse if you went to DisneyLand, that he's not real...I think he does believe he's real though :)

These pictures were AMAZING!

The place we went had a Santa's workshop set up and we went during the day so there was no wait.  We were the only ones there and Santa spent about 10 minutes with us and read the boys a book.

It was so sweet and such a great experience!

I know Blake looks less than thrilled, but 30 seconds before and 30 seconds after this picture he was all smiles and even gave Santa a high five!

(he is a MAJOR momma's boy and freaks out like this if I even walk out of the room!)

Jared and I celebrated our 10th Anniversary on the 6th (woohoo)!

We had a fun night out of shopping for new master bedding, dinner and a movie!

Vegas was kind of our BIG trip, so our anniversary was much more low key!

Landon had a Christmas program at his preschool and he was soooo cute!

Although he may have been the kid who picked his nose through a majority of the program!!!

Jared and I also went to his annual Christmas party for work...it's always fun to dress up and have a night out!

The boys did great on both flights and were real troopers getting up at 4:15 AM to catch our 6 AM flight (they were both a little stir crazy by the time the flights ended though)!

We go to spend a lot of time with my grandparents!

 

Which always make me happy!

I love getting pics of the boys with them!

Even though we are far away they are talked about often!

One of the highlights of the trip was getting to hold my new nephew!  

He was born Halloween and is sooooo precious.  I could have held him all day!

He was such a good baby and just went with the flow!

Hopefully, he knows how much Auntie loves him!

Our boys got slightly spoiled again!  They ended up having 3 Christmases!  One with Jared's family before we left, the one with my family in Oregon and one with Jared and I when we got home!

They were all so much fun though :)

After we got back we went to our good friend's house and made gingerbread men!

These 4 kids are the cutest and will hopefully all be best friends growing up!

We also got a big snow storm, so it was fun to take the boys out and play!

Landon has been begging to build a snowman.  I attempted to make one on a day Jared was working. It turned out rather pathetic, but Landon was thrilled with it anyway!

I think that pretty much sums up our December and January!

Such a fun time of year full of love, family, chaos and most of all God's grace and love!

I guess I should also mention that there was a little naughtiness by Landon this last week.  He was "helping" me spray paint a picture frame outside when it go really windy so we had to come in.  I ran into the bedroom to put my shoes away and he got ahold of the spray paint can.  I came out to him spray painting the floor!  I was stunned and screamed because it surprised me so much!  After investigating more I realized in a span of about 2-3 minutes he had spray painted the wall, floor, chair, table, window, blinds and curtains!  Thankfully, I didn't really freak out because I was able to get it all off with steel wool, dish soap and hot water!  No punishment was dished out this time, but if it ever happens again he won't be so lucky :)