3 at the Sea...Sea World that is...

Let me begin this post by announcing right now that a BUNCH of photos follow. I know it's just a three year old's birthday, but it's my three year old. I am one of those people, even at 28, that loves my birthday. Well, I love my kiddos' birthdays more. It's a celebration of life like no other. Every year for Graham's birthday we have a theme centered around his age (One in the Sun...Two at the Zoo...). Well this year was three at the Sea...Sea World that is! The nice thing about his summer birthday is that we can usually combine any birthday plans with a family trip. This year we loaded up Mimi and PawPaw's "Bon-Bon" (as Graham refers to their Suburban) and headed to San Antone (when you're from Texas you can use nicknames like that). Here are some pics of the celebration...

 

On our first night on the Riverwalk, we went to the Hard Rock Cafe. Mimi and PawPaw bought Graham a guitar in the marketplace earlier and he carried that thing around all night. In the Hard Rock he put on a Fedora and sang and danced while we waited for a table. He had the attention of many.

On Graham's actual birthday we got to Sea World early and went to feed the dolphins. I limited my 800 photos of the dolphins down to just this one. If you are unaware of my love affair with this animal, please let me tell you the story sometime. It has to do with me, my honeymoon, and a little unofficial award I received while swimming with the dolphins in Mexico...I digress...

Next we stopped at the awesome aquariums. Very cool.

I seriously don't know why we bought this kid any toys. He would have been fine with a box of Coca-Cola. That's the memory he will be taking away of Sea World..."the day I swindled a bunch of my family into buying me way too much soda..."

We saw some amazing shows. I now want to be a killer whale trainer.

How cute is this guy?

We ended the Sea World experience by stopping at some gift shops. Mimi and PawPaw super spoiled the boys...I mean toys, hats, cups...these kids got it all. I'm sure Mimi and PawPaw really appreciate the picture of them with the Beluga Whale. They were trying to get Graham to stand by the whale. He wouldn't. They did. Hence, the picture.

I worked a little too hard on the decor for this little celebration. I might have roped Mr. Jones into helping me make a gazillion "Sea Water" bottles complete with a snorkel straw only to find out Sea World doesn't allow straws inside. Whatever. I resisted the urge to tell them "But, wait, these are safe. I got this idea from Pinterest, so it has to be okay!!". Somehow I didn't think it would pass.

We then celebrated the evening at Landry's Seafood. YUMMO! Seriously, good! The birthday boy walked away with a real stash of gifts.The loot included a tent, a guitar, handbells, microphones, Legos, and games. Surprisingly, no one purchased noise-blocking earbuds for Mommy...maybe next year.

It was Aunt T's idea to let Graham cut the cake with his new sword. No wonder he loves her.

 After dinner we walked around off the Riverwalk. This picture is of the Emily Morgan hotel. If you've never heard the stories associated with it, check it out. Ghost stories to the max. Not that I believe in ghost stories, but they are still cool to hear. I'm super fascinated with this place, but too scared to stay there. When Graham first saw the hotel he asked me why it had wings. What?! Is he trying to make me drive home tonight?!?! We went inside briefly, which is a whole other story involving Graham crashing a private party...possibly the first time I thought of leaving my child and running in the opposite direction.

We did visit the Alamo. We tried to tell the boys the history. I'm not sure what all they retained.

I also had to post this pic. We bought the boys Sea World pajamas and whale stuffed animals. Yes, the gift shop saw the flashing "suckers" sign above our heads.

So, there you have it. A wonderful celebration for our little guy. So happy to have him.

PS-He is officially potty trained. What an event that was. I seriously want to hug every parent's neck in the world that has survived potty training and just have a moment with them to appreciate what they've done. Sure, you made a child. But, you potty trained him, too? Now that's a real celebration.

When I grow up...

My little guy is turning 3 on Friday (expect a big post later about all the cutesy details that makes up his um, celebration, as I'm calling it). So today, I decided to ask him what he wanted to be when he grows up. Well, after a few moments of looking at me like I was completely wasting his time, he responded by telling me "Mommy". Let's face it...I've trained my almost-3-year old that the answer to all of my silly questions, Who is your favorite person?, Who makes the best brownies? Who has the best hair?...is Mommy. When I let him know I wanted a REAL answer, he got more aggitated and told me that he doesn't know, but he will go to work and I can come with him, and he is probably going to buy a car from where Daddy works. As any mother would, I go into oh-no-my-child-hasn't-chosen-a-life-path mode and instantly tried to talk to him about all sorts of wonderful career paths he can choose from. At one moment I may have mentioned the term engineering. To a child enjoying his last days as a 2 year old. Let's just get it together, Mrs. Jones. It made me giggle (yes, I giggle) to think of this little boy growing up. Good grief, I remember this child's first day of life and the long nine months before then. Mr. Jones and I picked out Graham's name when I was watching the movie "The Holiday" and we both mentioned that we liked Jude Law's character's name, Graham. So, when I picture Graham grown up, I picture him looking like Jude Law...hopefully not acting like him, hence the let's-explore-our-career-options-at-age-3 discussion. Then I giggled even harder when I thought about what I would say if he asked me what I wanted to be when I grow up (which he didn't, because I was WAY more into this conversation than he was). Well, the first thought that popped into my head was Kate Middleton (my brain INSTANTLY screamed GET REAL) and my immediate next thought was Meryl Streep. I mean, how calm, cool, and collected is Meryl Streep? Yes, most definitely sticking with that one. So there you have it, I will one day be Meryl and Graham, Jude Law. As for Mr. Jones and Oliver, they have decided that too much growing up is unnecessary, and I'm not going to argue with them. It would be so un-Meryl of me.

PS-Speaking of someone I want to be when I grow up, take a look at our recent family night...Pioneer Woman themed. Mr. Jones did a dramatic reading of The Pioneer Woman's book Charlie the Ranch Dog (Graham is obsessed with this book) and I made a mean batch of Sour Cream Enchiladas courtesy of The Pioneer Woman.

PPS-As of June 6th, Oliver is finally saying Mommy!! Yes! Now I can ask him silly questions...

Keeping up with the Joneses...

It has been pretty hard to keep up with the Joneses lately...at least the two younger ones. It's amazing how much Oliver has changed. One minute he's my little guy who needs me to rock him to sleep and the next he's cruising independently around the house. Let's see, on May 18th he decided to crawl for the first time...

The pic is a little blurry, but once he started movin' it was hard to keep him still for an instant...

Then the next day, literally, Mr. Man decided to sprout a tooth and then two days later another. In between he started saying Dada. If you look really closely you can see those bottom teeth. He's a little grumpy here because I keep trying to photograph his mouth and apparently that's annoying.

Graham has been obsessed with making lemonade lately. Drinking it? Not so much. But he wants to make a new pitcher almost daily, so I'm downing it as fast as I can. He is just too cute in that apron...

Okay, this picture pertains to nothing, but look how cute he is...I *might* be a little obsessed at staring at the boys while they sleep.

Then we had the boys' dedication at church. Here's their screen shot. Beautiful day. So lucky to be their mommy.

Of course Mr. Jones has been busy too. He had a little birthday and I must say he's the handsomest 33 year old I know. In his spare time he's working on the Trans Am....

When I'm not enjoying my guys, I've been baking a little. These are cake batter cookies from Pinterest. I made them for our church group last night and it totally earned me some cred as a baker. They are yummy!

Can't wait to see what all this summer vay-cay holds!

When life hands you lemons...

This is the sight sitting on my counter right now. I have always wondered why people in movies have lemons sitting on their counters. I mean who goes and buys lemons and doesn't plan an immediate use for them? Well I got my answer this week...people who shop at Costco. I recently purchased a big 'ol bag of lemons at the wholesale supergiant and after making fresh lemonade, I still had a bunch left...hence the picture-perfect countertop.

Well all week long I would pass these lemons. At first I just thought "Wow. This kitchen is so preppy." After that thought got old, I was reminded of the "If life hands you lemons, make lemonade" quote. I've always thought that was a cute saying, but as I repeated it in my head about 7,000 times this week, I grew a little tired of it. Of course, as I'm least expecting it, God begins working on me...through lemons of all things! I would repeat that quote in my head and then hear this "and what are you doing about it?" question in my head.

I'm a notorious pessimist. My church is focusing on being apathetic right now...a message series once again focused on me. (As a side note, I'm sorry to those who attend my church. It must be annoying to keep showing up just to find out that they're aiming the lesson to me one more time.) I know I easily fall into apathy. I lead this small life where repetition is key. Wake up. Take care of things. Go to bed. Start over. It's easy to miss the joy in it all. Don't get me wrong. I KNOW how lucky I am. A wonderful husband. Perfect (okay, near perfect) children. Cozy home. Rewarding job. But, it's easy to get caught up in the idea of "if I have to change one more diaper...is that really another spot on the carpet...seriously this bill is due again". Now sprinkle in the devil's handiwork of making me think I'm not good enough and you're left with apathy.

I type all this to say, I'm rejecting apathy. If you give me lemons, I'm giving you lemonade...and it's gonna be tasty. And you know why? Because that's what God wants me to do. I am really striving to be intentional with finding the joy in the mundane...the happiness in the repetition...the love in the details. So, I'm reminded of another quote. I'm always quoting movies and this one has been in my head this week from "You've Got Mail"..."I lead a small life. Well, valuable but small." I made lead this little life tucked away from glitz and glamour...my Saturday evenings may involve vaccuuming the carpets, but I'm so grateful for it. I hope I'm continously reminded of this.

Now I'm off to chop vegetables for dinner. A long and tedious task, but I am actally excited to make dinner tonight. I'm so blessed to have a family to serve...now if I can only get Mr. Graham to eat it, all will be right with the world. At least over here in this house.

Earning my mom badge

Soooo, I may have been given a test of my dedication to being a mother in the last 24 hours. I'm confident in saying I'm "all in" this motherhood thing.

The day started with Graham waking early--super excited that I was going to the mommy party at his school. I had arranged everything (or so I thought) so that I could make the Muffins with Mom celebration. I have been so ready for this for a long time. I treasure every Mommy-moment I get and this was going to be the big one...until I arrived at the preschool to be greeted by Graham wanting to just go home. But, what about my muffins? And tea? And those paper flowers that the kids are passing out to their moms? And the kiss that we practiced that you were going to give me in public? I tried everything I could, but no luck. I had to leave...crying of course because that's what Mommy's do when they think miss the Mommy-moment.


After we got home this afternoon, I could tell Graham needed a little one-on-one time when he suggested just me and him go away together in Daddy's old Trans Am (what can I say, he's a car guy). My supportive husband thought we might all benefit from a night out for dinner. We really did have a great evening until Graham got sick all over me---at the restaurant. A load of laundry, a teeth-scrubbing, and major bathtime later, Graham informed me that he didn't have a good day because he "no wanted to leave the house this morning". Just as I was thinking, "me too, kiddo", he put his arms around me and told me "Mommy i wuv ew" and asked me to play cars with him. As I raced the Hot Wheels around the living room with Graham and Oliver laughing hysterically at my vroom-vrooms, I realized I didn't miss the Mommy-moment after all. This one just didn't come with muffins. :)

A picture of my flower and tile made by Graham. There are two new charms from Ollie on my bracelet, a onesie with his name and birthdate and an owl.

I want to go on the date

Well tonight it was just "me and Mrs. Jones" as Robert and I headed out for date night. Mimi and Grandpa were gracious enough to watch the boys. We were all set to go when Graham had a mini-meltdown, insisting "I want to go on the date." He had all sorts of questions like "Where is the date?" "When we go on the date?" as well as the repetitive comment "Only I go on the date." On the ride to the grandparents house, Robert tried to persuade him that he really didn't want to go on the date because it was like Dancing With the Stars (a reference to something Graham finds annoying). This sent him further off the edge when he insisted that "HE NO DANCE WITH THOSE STARS." Needless to say, we were getting farther in the hole. We ended up smoothing things over by convincing him he was indeed going on a date...with Oliver, Mimi, and Grandpa (which ended up actually being a date to McDonald's to make Graham happy, but that's another story involving how spoiled he is by his grandparents...)

Anyhoo, we did go on THE DATE and we had a great time. We went to Studio Movie Grill to see The Five Year Engagement. My favorite part was when one of the parents talked about marriage and how most couples aren't even 60% "right" for each other, but they still choose to fall in love with each other over and over again and make it work. So happy with my hubby (and boys that did not attend this date), and although he could probably find someone much more "right" for him, I'm glad it was me he took on the date.

A Beary Nice Family Night (Get it?!)

So, every Sunday evening we have "family night", where we do a special activity with the boys (not that we don't do fun things the other 6 nights of the week, but you know what I mean...). Well, Oliver just got his first teddy bear after church today. Now Graham's bear is Buddy Bearington (he's the one wearing underwear in the picture) and we named Ollie's Hooty Bearington. I picture Buddy as the literary type and Hooty is more of the rebel. But, I digress...tonight we picked out bear-themed books and read with the boys and the bears. Graham's book of choice was "The Very Cranky Bear" and Oliver devoured (in more than one sense of the word) the board book "Baby Bear, Baby Bear".  The guys also colored me a bear Mother's Day picture. So blessed!