A look into our world: May 2008

Birthday Festivities

Tuesday, May 27, 2008 by Joy

I forgot to tell you in my last post about after my bath and before I went to sleep... Since Grandma Lou and Grandpa Jere weren't going to be able to be at my party, they mailed me some birthday presents, and I got to open them on my real birthday! Oh it was so exciting...

First I opened my Pooh birthday card...

...then I tore into the first present. It was...

...a Thomas the Train lego set!! I love Thomas the Train, and I love legos. It was perfect!

"Open, Mommy!"

Then it was off to the next one...

...more legos!!

Oh what fun that night was! Thank you so much for my cool legos, Gma Lou and GJ! I've been playing with them every day :)

Then on Saturday morning, a few friends and relatives came over for my Elmo party! We had lots of fun in our party hats...

...playing with balls and trains...

...eating yummy food...

...and opening presents!

This is a jersey from Uncle Tim-Tim, Auntie Sarah and Alex - it is in the colors of my Daddy's high school, and it's my Daddy's high school basketball number. And it has my name on it! They also got me another jersey/shorts that are red with a razorback on the front and my name and number on the back. We loved it!

I got lots and lots of books...just what I needed/wanted! I really love reading these days and needed more big boy books to read.

I got a neat fire truck...

...and some great swimming gear and toys! M'laine and Papa got me lots of fun stuff for the pool, so I'm all set to go for this summer! My Uncle Scott and Aunt Sherri have a pool in their back yard, so we will get to swim over there lots this summer. And you know how I LOVE being outside and in the water!!

Then it was time for the "fire" and singing...here everyone is getting ready to sing "Happy Birthday" to me...

...then they all started in and I didn't quite know what to do :)

But once they were done and Mommy moved my cake closer for me to blow out my candle, I sure knew what to do when she said "blow"... I blew out my candle all by myself!

But then when Mommy asked me if I wanted any cake, I stuck my hand out and shook my head and said "no!"

So Daddy tried...with the same reaction :)

I decided to try a tiny little lick - but that didn't change my mind. So, no cake for me! I just wanted grapes and summer sausage and cheese and strawberries and milk. Sounds so much better than cake, huh?!

Then it was outside for a fun game of "Ring Around the Rosy" with my cousins.

When everyone said "and we all fall down!" everyone fell down except me!

But then I finally caught on and laid down. It was a fun game!

Thank you so much to everyone who came to my party and made it so much fun!! I had a great time, and I am really loving all my presents! It was such a special birthday because of all of you. We are so thankful for our wonderful friends and family.

I'm Two!!

Tuesday, May 27, 2008 by Joy

On Friday I turned 2 years old! Mommy, Daddy and I had a nice day together. Daddy and I started out the day by going to the donut shop for breakfast. Then we came home and spent the entire morning outside - it was a beautiful day!

Earlier this month when we were visiting Papa and M'laine down at their house, there was a really bad storm at our house. The wind tore down some big limbs on one of our pretty trees in our front yard, and a few others were hanging pretty low. You can see the big spot where the storm hurt the tree. Daddy is just trimming a few small branches that were hanging down.

I played lots with purple and my bike...

...then it was time to change into my lobster swim shorts and shirt, get some sun lotion on, and get back outside to play some more! Dad filled the bottom of my basketball hoop with water so it would stay in place while I shot some hoops.

Then Mommy and Daddy remembered that they bought a fun sprinkler a month or so back and had been waiting for the right time to bring it out. Well, this was it! Mommy hooked it up to the hose, and I got to run through the sprinkler! It was so much fun :)

Then it was time for a snack-break. Yogurt and rice cakes...yum! (Yes, my baby brother is getting big!)

And here's my final cake for my birthday party. Since I don't really like cake anyway, Mommy decided not to waste this one to make a whole 2nd one just for the party. So she fixed up the original one she made, and here's the final product. It actually was really yummy! Well, I wouldn't know, cause I didn't really eat any of it, but Daddy, Mommy, and some of my other relatives ate it all weekend and said it tasted just as good as any other homemade chocolate cake. I guess cakes don't really need eggs afterall!

Daddy, Mommy, and I topped off my birthday by going to Ron's Hamburgers for some burgers and spanish cheese fries. I got a grilled cheese and fries. It was a great birthday dinner! Then it was back home for my bubble bath (a favorite) and bedtime. Off to dream of my Elmo party...

Preparing for my birthday

Thursday, May 22, 2008 by Joy

Tomorrow is a very exciting day because I'm turning 2 years old!! We're having a small get-together with just a few friends and family on Saturday, and Mommy and I had to do some preparations today.

You see, dessert is always an issue with me because I'm allergic to egg whites. And not very many good cookies or cakes are made without eggs. Never fear, we have the internet! Mommy searched "eggless cakes" and came up with a seemingly good chocolate cake recipe. So we got to baking to see if it would be good enough to eat. I was a really good helper!

Since I'm having an Elmo party, Mommy decided to see what she could do Elmo-wise with this cake. Poor Mommy, she's not really super creative, but she tries. She usually thinks of good ideas after she's already started and gotten too far to perfectly implement those ideas....and this is what the end result was today. Since this is just our "try-it-out" cake and not the real party cake, Mommy thought it was an okay start. She has some new ideas for the real cake, so we'll see how it turns out! Stay tuned...

My Pool

Thursday, May 22, 2008 by Joy

M'laine and Papa got me this pool last year, and we quickly realized it was a bit too big for my just-one-year-old body. So we got a smaller blow-up pool in the meantime. Well, this year, Mommy knew this pool would be perfect to pull out. And boy was she right! This week has been in the high 70's and low 80's with no rain, so we thought it was a great week to initiate my pool. A few days ago we pulled it out and filled it up in the morning, let the sun warm the water up while I was eating my lunch and taking my nap. Then when I woke up, I finally got to go get in the water!! Here are some fun pictures of me livin' it up in my pool. I cannot explain to you how much I L-O-V-E the water!!

Yesterday Mommy set up the sprinkler next to my pool for me to play in. I was quite curious about the water and wanted to touch it, but anytime the sprinkler would spray me, I was outta there!