Party time!

It's time to party!

We started by showing Benjamin his cakes.

And then we sang a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday.

We sang more than once.

Benjamin was more intrigued by the candle than he was his cake.

But he liked the cake, too.

He gently took a tiny taste test.

And tried it out.

Then he went for a much larger slice.

After that, we decided to open presents.

He had his big sisters there to help him out.

But he insisted he could do it himself.

Playing with the bows is more fun anyway.

He enjoyed his Thomas the Train ride on, courtesy of Aunt Hope and Uncle Seth.

Faith liked Benjamin's Turtle.

She toted it around for a bit.

While Benjamin played with his new dump truck.

And then it was time for naps.  What a fun party.

Getting ready for Benjamin's 1st birthday party

It's hard to believe that Benjamin is turning 1 already.

Queenie and Granddaddy came down to celebrate.

We had party hats for everyone.

And both sisters are ready to party.

As usual, I made two cakes.  A pirate cake for Benjamin.

And a pirate ship cake for everyone else to share.

It is so hard to believe that my sweet little boy is really 1.

Hawaii day

Today all the kindergartners went on a trip to Hawaii.

Grace got decked out in her native attire.

Here's her class.

They enjoyed a great meal together after their plane ride to the tropics.

And had a really awesome day.

Rehearsing

Today Grace had recital rehearsal.

She was wonderful.

Very meticulous in her movements.

Super sweet.

And melted my heart, just as I knew she would.

Sprinklers!

To clean up after stepping in cement.

We played in the sprinkler.

And watered the new sod.

We're a family of multi-taskers, y'know.

But it was an awesome way to multitask...

Stepping stones

Today we decided to make a few more stepping stones.

We filled the molds with quick set cement.

Stood on the stones.

Then decorated them with "jewels".

Now we need to find a place for them in the yard...

Little Boy Blue

Look what I found.

Benjamin found a nontoxic, water-based dry erase marker in our little school room.  And he ate it.  

Just because the label reads "water-based" does not mean it will come off with just soap and water.

Two baths later, I've decided this little boy might be blue for quite some time...