My Boys

Happy Birthday Quin, For Real, the Whole Day

Ok, good grief if Quin ever has another over celebrated birthday like this one, will someone please come over and slap some sense into me, pleeeessee?! But since he had yet another thrilling day, I'll relive it for you, just so you can feel like you were a part of it, the Quinster turning 3 ("yeah, yeah, get over it already Erin")...

First off, some pre-breakfast coloring in a new coloring book, from our buddy Alex:Then, the birthday boy choice breakfast, ice cream and pancakes. Don't worry he only ended up eating a few bites of ice cream, guess it wasn't that appealing at 7:30 am after all:
Then, some building dino castles with blocks ensued. Followed by some jumping around on the couch in his birthday suit, which then inspired a little birthday pee on the potty, hurray!
We then made (Q while half dressed ;)) cupcakes for playgroup:
Little PEPpers met at the Spartan Gym, as we have for the past month. There the kids can play with the balls, mats, kitchen, cars, parachute etc. in a big indoor fun space.
Lucky Quin was spoiled by his twin buddies Matthew & Abby and Jacob & Daniel with some wonderful dino presents!After plenty of playtime, and some cleanup time (Q really enjoys helping put away the playgym equip) we went out in the hall lounge spot for cupcakes!
Here is Quin pretending to blow out his candles:
And the group chowed down:
There was much crazy hall running after this, a little new dino book reading, more wild running and good bye finally.
We headed back home for what I was certain would be naptime for both kiddos, but alas Hazel was the only one to pass out on the drive home (I took the loooonnnggg cut to attempt to get the bday boy down). But since he's only napping every few days now Q held tough. Papa came home early from his conference for a little extra time with the bday boy. Then Gigi joined us and we all went out to Red Robin for an early dinner.
Q opened up a few presents while we waited for our order:
Then, Quin gobbled up some dinner, sipped his milk with bleary eyes AND...
conked out!!!He hadn't napped and had a very active morning so this wasn't too surprising, but still corn dog in hand!? So, we laid him down on the restaurant bench and he had a little rest.
Todd ended up carrying around the mall for a bit before he woke, while I went over to JCPenny's to get Hazel's pics taken. Later Quin joined her and we got a few of each of them, though both together, ha! that'll be the day!
Back home we rounded out the celebratory day with Q proudly wearing his new birthday crown from Anna:
Blowing out his 3 birthday candles:
And chowing down on one last cupcake:
Phew, what a spoiled and happy little guy!

Happy Birthday Quin, The Actual Day!

Quin's Magical "3" Rock found by Nami and Danpa on Vashon,
"3" made by barnacles

Oh Mr. Quin, have the last three years ever been such an adventure with you! You are one amazing boy, full of spitfire and smiles, giggles and roars, and so much love! It blows my mind to think that we welcomed you into the world 3 whole years ago.

You were such a sweet little guy, and still are in so many ways.
You are also:
* full of imagination
* full of seemingly boundless energy
*full of creative and goofy thoughts
* so fun to play with
* a great little chatterbox
*a natural athlete
It's hard to believe you are actually an official "preschooler" now, on your way to being a "big boy" and just brimming with independence, along with all that 3 year old wisdom and curiosity. This is going to be such a big year for you, and I feel so excited to be here to share every exciting day with you.
What fun this next year is going to be!

Happy Birthday Quin, Dino Version!

What fun it has been getting ready for this dino fest of a party we had on Saturday! We made dino candy, dino gummy candy, dino soap, dino coloring books, dino cupcakes, and more. Then on party day we also had dino songs, hunting for dino eggs, pin the horn on the triceratops, a dino pinata and dino snacks to make it one serious Dino Fest! Oh and we shouldn't forget the dino gifts, many of which we are saving for Q's actual bday since it was a little overwhelming to open them all up at once at the party. One of the best moments: Quin blowing out the candles even before we could set the cupcakes down in front of him. Yep, the birthday boy and his buddies had a raaarrring good time!

Birthday Time, Preschool Version

Happy Birthday Quin time is here! He has been SO excited for this birthday, for a looonnngg time, perhaps the past 11 months or so. ;) He regularly lets us know whose birthday is next, so this has been a fun season reminding him that his is next! We started out the celebrations at preschool on Friday, seeing as I was in charge of snack, we will be having a field trip on Tuesday (day before his actual bday) and we celebrated his birthday with friends on Saturday. Anyway, the class sang him some sweeet birthday songs, he wore a cute little crown, and the kids enjoyed the banana muffin "cupcakes" I brought. Quin was SO thrilled!On a side note, he has been doing a good job at preschool, working on being a better friend (like NOT hitting), staying there on his own (Tuesdays), and loving alll the fun toys and activities there. He worked quite hard at this project on Friday:
It's a "Zoo" for all the animals in case you couldn't tell. ;)

Ace or Kewpie?

January Bests

When you have a little one, and especially when you have two little ones, time seems to slip right by SO quickly! I feel like some of these "January Bests" were taken ages ago. Which reminds me, actually that I was so wrapped up in the new year I didn't post my "December Bests" and since I did in fact gather them together I will retroactively post those, so you can head back over here to December to check them out! For now, enjoy these favorite moments of mine from January!