In the Meadow. . .

. . . we probably could have built a snowman, but that would have required me to actually put my hands in the cold, wet, white stuff. I don't really do snow. I'd be fine with it if it wasn't so cold and wet. I'm just sayin'. It may have a lot to do with the fact that I never have the appropriate clothing to wear in the snow. Neither does Kingston, but that didn't seem to get him down. Cotton gloves, denim pants, shoes, not boots. Oh, well. We tried.

Kingston enjoyed the snow. In fact, he loves it so much that he still has to stick his hand in the few remaining piles on the porch on the way to the car, every single time. And then tells me that his hand is cold. Exactly, Bud. That is why I don't touch the stuff.

Birthday Boy!

This is Kingston.

He is 3 years old now. He requested a birthday party with silly hats, balloons and cupcakes. Done. Except I guess the hats I bought (and paid nearly $5 for-ugh!) must not have been silly enough because he opened them but didn't want to wear them or pass them out. But we did have balloons and cupcakes and friends over to play.

Cupcakes. Thomas colors, since I was too lazy to figure out how to make a Thomas cake.

And friends. Liam is his best buddy from Mrs. Cindy's house. He kept saying to Nigel, "Dada. This is Liam. This is Liam, Dada."

We played outside for a few minutes before presents and cupcakes. I was totally impressed with Joseph's whiffleball skills! He made contact with the ball nearly every pitch. He has way better hand-eye coordination than I. And he only bonked the dog in the head with the ball or the bat twice! Success!

My favorite picture! (Except for the fact that the only part of Jo-Jo in the picture is his hand.) The reason this is my favorite picture is because of the look on Dallas' face and the fact that she has her hand over Kiran's mouth. He was trying to blow out the candle and got a little upset at the fact that it wasn't "Kee-kee's turn" to blow it out! Dallas was not having it, as you can tell. Classic!

And what is a birthday party that doesn't involve icing on your nose?

And Kingston got to open presents. Clearly his favorite part.

He had lot of help.

I wanted to take a picture of all of the boys (and Liam's sweet sister, Sophie). I knew better. I really did. But I wanted to try anyway. It was a lot like herding cats, as they say. This is the only picture that has at least a part of everyone in it. See that green elbow? That was Liam. He wasn't having it.

This was as close as we got. Oh, well. We had a fun time at Kingston's 3rd birthday party. He has a really sweet group of little buddies that are welcome to come over to play any time.


And then Monday was Kingston's actual birthday. I can't believe my big boy is 3! I surprised him with a birthday donut in bed!

We had a family birthday party in the evening that included, but was not limited to, hanging out without pants on, homemade pizzas, performing songs while strumming a guitar, opening lots of presents, and pooping on the floor.

But more on that another time once Nana emails me the pictures.

Happy birthday, Kingston Dylan Haynes! You are my favorite little boy in the whole, wide world. You amaze me every day with your wit, intelligence, peace and charm. I am so proud of you and I look forward to celebrating lots and lots more birthdays with you.