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.

sNOw Time Like the Present

It's snowing. Again. Luckily this time it is not sticking again. The weather has been a mess recently and I can't tell you how ready I am for springtime. And outdoor play. Please, can we play outside soon? I need it. Bad.

So in honor of it snowing again, I thought I would post pictures of the first snow that I promised weeks ago.

Kingston liked to dive head first into the snow. Despite the unhappy look on his face in this picture, he was actually really pumped about it!

We played with the neighbors until Nigel accidentally hit one of them in the face with a snowball and we figured it was time to go inside!

Picnic, anyone? Notice the frosty wetsuit draped over the railing behind Kingston? Yes, that is Nigel's suit. He went surfing the day after this snow. He's nuts. I'm just saying. . .

Trying to find indoor activities in this weather has been a treat. Kingston has watched his share of TV and movies. I'm over it. We have played with Play-doh, choo-choo trains and balls. I thought it was time for something new. I let him play with water in the sink. I'm a genius! He had a blast!

Please disregard the drawer that lost it's front at least a year ago and has yet to be repaired. Please notice, however, the 2 cast iron skillets placed on the stool because Kingston is not yet heavy enough to weight the stool down so it won't slip. The stool was my Nana's and it is my favorite kitchen accessory. It cracks me up that you can find the same stool at Crate and Barrel now for a lot of money, and the one I use is at least 15 years old, probably older. I love my Kik-Step that slides on wheels around the kitchen but locks down so that it won't slip when you step on it. Great invention. Thanks, Nana! Eventually Kingston will weigh enough to lock it down. I don't have a problem with it. Thanks.

Another exciting thing Kingston and I did yesterday? I made cinnamon rolls for Grandpa's birthday and they called for cream cheese icing. Yum! My all time favorite icing. I introduced Kingston to the art of licking the beaters. He did a great job, considering he was a rookie. He didn't even mind that a little (or a lot) of it stayed on his face.

Good clean fun. Get it? Clean? Playing in the sink? Yeah. . .

So tonight Kingston and I are going to hang out with Nana while Grandpa (or Wo-wo as Kingston calls him) goes out partying with Da-da and Uncle Mark for his birthday. I'll keep Kingston hanging out with the girls for as long as I can. There will come a time in the not-too-distant future that I will have to beg my boy to hang out with me!!

Happy Birthday, Wo-wo!

Where to Begin?

Kingston is 2 years old.

We started a new tradition this year where he wears new, special pajamas the night before his birthday and then gets to wear them on Christmas Eve before they get put in the regular jammy rotation.

I made a special choo-choo breakfast.

Kingston opened presents.

We had a birthday party.

Kingston cried. A lot. And hard. Kids were playing with his toys. The nerve!

We ate choo choo cupcakes.

Twice.

We lit an extra girlie cupcake in honor of my cousin's new baby girl, Kori, who was born on Kingston's birthday! Congratulations, Jason. We cannot wait to meet that sweet treat of a baby! And soon. Hooray!

Kingston opened presents.

Riley helped.

What a great day! It was Kingston's best day ever, I think. All choo choos, all the time!

My baby boy is 2 and he will tell you, too. Just ask him!

Memorial Day Weekend '09!

Just real quick before we get this party started, please feast your eyes upon my sweet little boy who I wrote the last post about.

See what I mean? I think my mom is right. It's the Terrible 2's at 17 months. Luckily, or not, depending on how you want to look at it, he is pretty well behaved in public or at other people's houses. I guess he just saves the nastiness for me. Lucky, huh?

-----

So Memorial Day weekend. Here it is! So far so good. Tomorrow we plan to spend some time with Nana and Grandpa on their boat in Manteo. Should be a good time.

Yesterday we spent most of the day at the beach with the Breiholz families. It was a gorgeous day and we stayed out there for about 4 hours. Kingston may, or may not, get his physic from his mama. Look at that belly! I wear a tankini to cover mine, thankyouverymuch.

This kid is obsessed with the ocean. I cannot keep him out of it. Nigel surfed for a bit and when he came in, Kingston walked right out to meet him in the water. Nigel sat him on his board and let him float over some waves. Made me a little nervous, I will admit, but I know Nigel had a good hold on him! Kingston was loving it! His eyes were so excited and the grin on his face was priceless. Of course I didn't have the camera handy at that minute, since I had been chasing Kingston around and trying to keep him from going out in the water alone!

I swear he would just walk right out to sea if we let him. I swear it!

After a long day at the beach and then naps for everyone (gotta love that, huh?), we went to dinner at John's Drive-In. Now just let me tell you about John's. It is my all-time favorite place on the planet. It is. For lots of reasons. One of them being the Dolphin Boat, two being the milkshakes and ice cream, and a big one being the nostalgia and good memories John's has for me. When I was really little, my mom used to work there a few nights a week. I remember going to work with her and sitting in the tiny, super tiny, back room coloring in a coloring book until she got off work. Some nights she would bring us home "mistakes", too! We also used to go there a lot as a family, enjoying chocolate dipped cones, malted milkshakes and swirled soft serve ice cream. They post pictures of some families in the windows and there were pictures of us in there for many years.

During the day you can rarely find a parking spot and parking there is pretty much a cluster-funk. That has kept us from going very regularly over the years. That and the fact that they used to close really early but have now started staying open a little later. Last night we went at about 5:45 and it was perfect. We didn't have to jockey for a spot and our food was hot, fresh and ready in a flash. Oh, the sound of some disgruntled teenager, or Mona or Tina (who used to be the disgruntled teenagers who now own their own businesses elsewhere) yelling out your name from the window as you wait patiently at one of the brown painted picnic tables! Heaven.

And then there's the ice cream. Oh, the ice cream.

Man, I love John's. Can't tell, can you?

So today we had a ton of things we wanted to do. First on the list was Curren's 3rd birthday party! Kingston got all spiffed up and we hopped on our bikes and rode to the party.

The party was fun but while we were there it started raining. And didn't stop. For hours. Needless to say, we hitched a ride home instead of riding our bikes. We'll go back and pick those up tomorrow! Since it was pouring and Kingston was exhausted, we came home for naps (all of us, again!) and we cancelled all of our afternoon plans. We enjoyed a delicious dinner at the Red Drum Taphouse and then came home, gave Kingston a bath, put him to bed, ate some Cherry Garcia and now Nigel is asleep in his chair. We are so wild and crazy.

More holiday fun tomorrow, I'm sure.

Ear Infection and Fifth Disease

Took Kingston to the Dr. this morning. (Good to see you Nurse Karen! Thanks for taking such good care of Kingston!) After being examined, the doctor said he has an infection in his left ear. As for the rash that mysteriously developed overnight, she thinks it might be Fifth Disease, which seems to be going around. Kingston is now on a steady regimen of Motrin and Amoxicilin. Hopefully this will clear up any and all illnesses!

Needless to say, he did not go to Ms. Cindy's today. And I still had to work. And Nigel had work to do, too. Nana to the rescue!!! She is the best Nana ever. She left school early and came to take care of Kingston. Thanks, Mom! You are the best. Your devotion to my family does not go unnoticed. I think Kingston had a good day with Nana even though he felt pretty rotten.

Kingston is having a late nap and then Nana and I are going to take him out to dinner. Today is Grandpa's birthday! He is usually in Miami at the Boat Show on his birthday with a friend but they decided not to go this year. Instead, he decided he wanted to go out on the town with a bunch of friends. Nana just dropped Grandpa, Nigel and Uncle Mark off at the Black Pelican to meet up with a crew to "celebrate". Yikes! Nana, Kingston and I will have a much less eventful evening, I'm sure!

Happy birthday, Grandpa! And happy healing, Kingston. Feel better soon sweet boy.

Who Wants Cake?

I wish I could slice this huge cake up and send a piece to all of my blog readers. All 3 of you!

The cake.

The frosting. Man my arms are hairy. Just kidding. Nigel did the frosting.

The finished product. Looks pretty good if I do say so myself.

A few slices missing. It was a very pretty cake. It tasted pretty good, too. It was a little more dense than I expected, but I am chalking that up to the fact that I think the baking soda that I have in my cabinet is the only can I've ever bought and I think I bought it about 5 years ago. And considering this recipe called for 4 teaspoons. . . Oops. Regardless, the flavor of the cake was yum.

Kingston really enjoyed the cake. He got all jacked up on sugar and was crawling circles around me. Literally. He finally went to bed at 8:45.

Thanks to everyone who sent me birthday wishes in one technological way or another. I've gotten texts, picture texts with sound, messages on my Facebook wall, comments on MySpace and emails. I actually did get a few phone calls, too, which was nice-thanks Lars and Brandy. My mom and dad bought us dinner at La Fogota and then came over for cake and presents. They always do too much. Thanks, Mom and Dad. For everything. And thanks, Nigel, for helping me bake my birthday cake. I didn't find any egg shell in my piece!

I had a great birthday. 31. I'm officially in my "early thirties." Hooray.