there's a snake in my boot!

A little Halloween highlight! There are many more pictures to come, so stay tuned. Also be on the lookout for circus pics and Fall Festival pics!

wordless wednesday: tounge out = concentration

there’s a party goin’ on right here

or, well, there was on Saturday. Little man(n) turned four last week (what the what?) and we had a little shindig to celebrate.

We are so blessed to have such great friends & family that love our son and want to celebrate him with us.

Here are a few highlights:

Yummy cupcakes. (If I do say so myself. Ha!)

Goodie bags for the kiddos.

Can you guess how many m&ms are in this jar? Kevin won, and was only off by 19. Amazing!

The kiddos. Minus Nate who was feeling kind of shy. No, they’re not all looking at the camera and no, they’re not all smiling. But, hey, you take what you can get.

And, finally, the birthday boy gives his party a thumbs up!

I think next year we may try to have his party at a park or something. Our house isn’t very big, and the noise level was crazy!

Thanks everyone for celebrating with us!

first beach trip

Last weekend Chris’ cousin was kind enough to get married on the beach. Sounds like a great excuse for a vacation to me! Saturday morning we hit the road with Chris’ parents, grandmother and aunt. Our two car caravan made the 7+ hour drive with a few stops. I had never been to Wrightsville Beach, NC before, and it was beautiful!

Jboy had never been to the beach and I was really curious to see how he’d like it. He’s not really one who likes to get dirty (he’s like his mommy) so I wasn’t sure how he’d do with all of the sand. He loved it though! I often joke that I have the ocean in my veins since I was born in California, so I was very happy that he liked it.

Here is the view from our hotel room. Gorgeous!

Jboy and his cousin, Aiden.

Ahhhh, feet in the sand! Not much feels better, in my opinion.

He loved the water, at first. Every wave that would come he’d get so excited. Then, all of a sudden he decided he was scared. This, is obviously before he was scared. :)

This, unfortunately, is the best picture I have of him playing in the sand. The sun was in his eyes and he was making some sort of weird “cheese” face, but you get the idea. Ha.

We had a wonderful time & the weather was perfect! Hopefully we can take another trip next year. I would love it if both sides of the family could plan a trip together soooo…. let’s all start saving up, shall we! ;)

there are no words...

four years ago today you came into my life. you turned it upside down, made it better & helped me to live my dream.

i don't understand how so much time has gone by. you're growing into such a wonderful, loving, active, stubborn, sweet little boy.

i don't want to blink for fear that if i do, you'll be grown.

thank you for being my little man(n). i love you more than words can describe.

cuteness

Have you ever seen such cuteness? (Other than Jboy, of course!)

miniature amigurumi teddy bear

Seriously? I need one of these. For Jboy, of course. *cough*

Spring Chickens Cake Pops

I've become a bit obsessed with cake pops. I haven't tried making any yet, but after watching this video, I'm inspired.

I'm going to check out her book soon to get some ideas.

What cute/fun things have you seen lately?

Book Beginnings and The Friday Five: Mockingjay

Both excerpts are from Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. I found both memes on Proud Book Nerd.

Book Beginnings on Friday is a meme hosted by Becky at Page Turners. Anyone can participate; just share the opening sentence of your current read making sure you include the title and author so others know what you're reading. Here's mine:

"I stare down at my shoes, watching as a fine layer of ash settles on the worn leather."

The Friday 56 is a fun meme hosted Storytime with Tonya. Here are the rules:

* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.

* Turn to page 56.

* Find the fifth sentence.

* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you'd like), along with these instructions on your blog or (if you don't have your own blog) in the comments section here.

* Post a link along with your post back to this blog.

* Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Here's mine:

"In his hands he holds a piece of thin rope, less than a foot in length, too short for even him to fashion into a usable noose."

If you play along... let me know!