Happy Birthday Emma & Parker

We had a fantastic time tonight celebrating Emma & Parker’s birthdays, just down the street. Lance & I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful neighborhood for Lyla & Cade. They have so much fun with all the kids here - and there are so many so close in age. 

This afternoon, Emma and Parker had a great birthday party with a huge water slide and water games. Lyla and Cade were thrilled to get to ride down the slide - Lyla by herself and Cade with Daddy. 

They enjoyed birthday cake and ice cream together: 

And, Cade was so happy to wish his friend Parker a happy 4th birthday: “He’s my friend, Mommy."

Here’s to many more! We had a great time!

Lyla & Cade - Summer 2014

We’re still here - we just don’t blog much anymore. I’m sad about that - it’s just so hard to find the time for anything anymore. But, I’m looking up right now and realizing that Lyla is almost 5 and Cade is nearing 3…time is flying by, and I want more than ever to capture who these beautiful little beings are as they grow. They grow into more amazing little people every, single day. 

So, here are a few fun facts about each of these sweets, off the top of my head. 

Lyla. She really is 4 (and a half) going on 10. Well, sort of. I love her passion for life and her happiness…she has this amazing ability to be an old soul and an impassioned child all at one time. I love her little personality. 

Last night I let her stay up late with me, which means a movie night with mommy and her choice of dessert. Last night she chose sugar cookies with purple icing and sprinkles. We try to keep these nights a secret from Cade, and when he asked for a treat after dinner, she whispered to me, “Mommy, I’m not going to have an after dinner treat because I know I’m going to have cookies later. That’s just too much sugar for me.” She stuck to it, too, even with Cade offered her Hershey’s kisses. 

Current interests: kindergarten (which she won’t attend for another year) and Sophia the First (an 8 year-old Disney princess). She loves kindergarten readiness activities and books, folders, books, pens and pencils. She loves crafting and pretending. And, she especially loves toys and playing. Tonight we played a game of monster between the four of us, and it was so funny the way she directed each scenario: “You be this, I’ll be that…"

Here, she won a contest at the neighborhood cookout in which she pulled the only yellow balloon out of a cooler full of water balloons. The girls running the contest really didn’t have a plan for the “winner”, and in seeing her excitement at winning, I told them they were going to have to think of something for her. They ran into their house and came back with this little purse. Lyla acted as if she’d won the lottery when she saw it: 

She loves putting her brother in dresses and surprising Lance & I. They’ll get really quiet upstairs and you can hear the vague commands in her voice - “Do this with your arm, Cade; put your leg here…” The next thing you know, they run out of her room, roaring with laughter and Cade is in one of her dresses, an old recital costume or something equally ridiculous. I love how they both think it’s just so funny. 

These two really are the best of friends. She worries over him, talks all the time about trying to include him with her “big” friends, although she usually forgets all about him the moment her friends arrive. But, they’re happy to see each other most mornings, and they really love spending time together. Watching this relationship evolve has undoubtedly been one of the most magical things I’ve experienced my whole life. 

Cade - aka Cade E. Bugg. This boy is all things boy that I never understood as a girl, having grown up with 2 sisters. He loves trains and trucks - I now am more versed in trucks and construction sites than I ever dreamed I would be. He loves big rigs, concrete mixer trucks, and dump trucks. Today, he asked Lance & I if he could stop at a construction site and watch the “mans” work. 

Here he is with his good friend, Sam. They were watching a truck load and unload a dumpster in Sam’s neighborhood. It was great summertime entertainment for them both - they were completely transfixed. 

We had our driveway re-done this summer (which has been a most painful process in our less than 3 year old home), and it was nonstop entertainment for Cade. He was so excited to see the concrete mixer truck come to his house. He heard it coming, looked out the window and yelled, “Mommy! It’s a concrete mixer truck coming to my house! It’s white! My favorite color!” Here, he took a picture with the man in the truck - I know he was scared in this photo, but he was determined to get inside the truck when the man offered: 

Cade E. Bugg is all things 2. Lance & I laugh at our text-book 2 year old. He is everything you expect from a raging 2 year old. He’s sweet as can be, but the tantrums sure can be trying. He climbed out of his crib a few weeks ago and has since refused naps. He often falls asleep in the car now in the afternoons, which is always a bedtime recipe for disaster. He also wakes up at least one time per night, usually at 3 a.m. and wants for us to lay beside his bed while he goes back to sleep. He is sweet. He is wild. He is just amazing to me. I love having a little boy. 

So, I would like to say that I’m going to blog about these beauties more consistently, and it is definitely my heart’s wish to do so. I just don’t want to miss a moment, and I want for all of us to have this to reflect upon years from now. I’ll keep trying.

Life is pretty trying these days - it’s hard to have a conversation with Lance, and I constantly hear my name being called throughout the house: “Mommy!” I try to remember that someday I will miss these days, because they really are magical. 

Some days it’s easier to imagine than others, but I know that I am the luckiest Mommy in the world to get to spend my days with these little miracles. 

1st Annual Neighborhood Cookout

Today was the First Annual Ash Landing Neighborhood Cookout. It was a sweltering evening, but so much fun to be with everyone. The neighborhood gathered in our cul de sac this year, and almost everyone was in attendance. It was a great time to see everyone, meet new neighbors and watch all these kids have so much fun. 

Here are Cade & Jack having so much fun in a neighbor kid’s tractor. They spent so much time trying to figure out how to turn it on - Cade actually ran inside our house to get some plastic toy keys he was playing with earlier today, convinced it would turn the tractor on. Ultimately, the tractor’s owner agreed to take the boys on rides up and down the street. They were all thrilled. 

The mark of a good party in our neighborhood is the expanse of wagons that are inevitably all parked together: 

Lyla was so excited to be the kid who picked the lone yellow water balloon out of the Steedly Girls’ cooler. She was so excited to find out what her prize was - I think the girls weren’t exactly certain of the prize themselves, but after some thought, they ran into their house and presented Lyla with this little bag. She thought she’d hit the jackpot and carried it around all night. She was soooo excited!

The night culminated in a beautiful fire, complete with ghost stories around our firepit. It was so much fun to watch the kids together: 

It was an amazing night. We are so blessed by our little neighborhood. 

Gymnastics & Popsicles: Summer is Here!

Today started with Lyla's last gymnastics class at All About Kids with Ms. Jill. She's really enjoyed the last few months working on her jumping and tumbling. We've seen her go from being scared to swing on the trapeze to flying like a monkey and laughing as she lands in the foam below.

She was most excited about her green ribbon as you can see in this photo. When we got home, she insisted there must be some way for Mommy to put it in her hair.

And, then we had a playdate at home with some of our favorite neighbors. The kids played, screamed, swung, screamed some more and generally had a great afternoon until it was time for Cade's afternoon nap. 

Here, Cade is trying his very first popsicle. He originally held it by the popsicle instead of the stick, but he got the hang of it really quickly.

Of course, Lyla loves doing everything with Cade. One of her favorite games over the last few days is Big Girl Baby in which she pretends to be a baby herself. I try to humor this, however, it's not always easy to see our typically verbose girl turn into a "Baby Emily" who can utter one word sentences only. Regression may be normal, but it certainly isn't fun for Mommy & Daddy. In fact, it's not fun at all! GRRRRR!!!!

All the kids loved hanging out on the swingset. We absolutely love our neighborhood and feel so blessed that we have so many friends nearby to play with!

Cade is really starting to enjoy playing with the kids, and he loves being included in whatever the "Big Kids" are doing. He really enjoyed spending time with Brycee today. 

All in all, another fantastic summer day. 

I'm living a blessed life.