Real Life Moments: February

Wow, subtract Sullivan's half-birthday, Max's party, Max's actual birth-day and Valentine's Day and we're not left with many other "moments" in the short month of February.  That's ok though because February has gone from being my life-long least favorite month of the year to one of the months I look forward to the most now that these stinkers are here.  I think our whole family is coming down off of a celebration high.  

Or maybe its just sugar withdrawals.

Oh well.  We're getting hyped up for St. Patrick's Day and Easter!  Like I've said before...we're in a constant cycle of anticipation around here :)

Here are the days in February that didn't involve cake or chocolate...

Superbowl appetizer feast for toddlers.

Loving their picnic and a little football.  PB & Banana crackers, apples, yellow cherry tomatoes, cheese, grapes, chicken tenders and squeeze yogurt.  

Not sure if this is funny...or sad.  Sullivan kept using the bottle opener on his empty sippy cup and saying "more!"  He somehow thinks that this contraption fills up your drink :) 

Dinner at Blue Grotto for the JJ's fundraiser.  

This guy couldn't get enough of the fig jam from our fruit plate and ate it with his hands.

The new exhibit at Crown Center is "Funville" where kids can pretend to be a number of different professions within the town.  

Here's President Max Murray making an important call...

Surfer Sully and Lifegaurd Max.

 Sullivan has turned into quite the little Daddy.  He has many stuffed animals that he takes care of with devotion.  It's so sweet to see him make sure they all have a bite of his snack.

Love and snacks for Riffraff.  And a little snack for Tigre too.

An after dinner treat for Tigre.  He needs to be washed often ;)

And then there's Baby Bear who needs to be swaddled.  And carried around.  And then swaddled again.

Ok...this photo DOES have to with chocolate and cake.  I totally forgot about it until I came across it on my phone.  How sweet is this little gesture to me from Max on his birthday?  Billy took Max to get me a treat since his birth day was a little harder on me than it was on him ;)

Murray family bowling!  The boys had a blast.

1) Uncle Sean & Max.  2) Uncle Brenden and Sullivan 3) Keegan and Sully.  4) Cousin Brandon teaching Sullivan how to bowl.

That about does it for February!

Stir Crazy

The enormous amount of snow we received in the past couple weeks had us house-bound like never before.  We literally couldn't get our doors open.  In a way it was fun...stocking up in anticipation of the storm, drinking wine with lunch as the inches piled up outside, feeling cozy by the fire with all of my boys.  It was a little vacation from our ordinary routine.  

I love how insulated and quiet everything seems when its covered in a deep layer of snow.

After a couple days, though, we were itching to get out as we had exhausted every indoor activity you can imagine...   

 We brought snow inside.

We looked outside.

Pretending to sled.  You can't tell from this photo but the snow was halfway up the door.

Offering the Easter bunny a snack.  The boys think its pretty cool he lives in OUR backyard ;)

We tried out the snow.

Poor Sullivan.  I couldn't find his mittens so I had to put wool socks on his hands.  One is now missing of course :)

We warmed our cold feet by the fire.

We painted.

We got out our albums from Ireland, Italy, Amsterdam and some of our scrapbooks.  Sullivan is looking at the scrapbook I made when Billy and I first started dating.

"Hmm...these people look familiar..."

We jammed to music.

We painted some more.

We ate every meal as a family.  Comfort food for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  This was Billy's Bacon Mac & Cheese made from scratch.  I gained 10 lbs.

And things got a little crazy.  Being cooped up and wearing our pajama's all day during the "snow days" made us a little nuts.

Biggest boy, biggest kid :)

1) Sullivan decided underwear hats were an important fashion accessory.  2) Parachute play turned into wrestle mania.

In spite of the mess and the laziness (and craziness!)  I think this unplanned, uninterrupted time together as a family was good for us.

Side note:  Please don't judge the way my children are dressed in these photos ;)

Thank You!

Max got to take a large donation to The Ronald McDonald House yesterday thanks to all of the items our generous guests brought in lieu of gifts to his party last week.  

It's our third year of this tradition, but it's the first year Max struggled with the idea of giving instead of getting.  He understands what he's missing now and it's hard for a 3-year-old to act selflessly.  

In the weeks leading up to his birthday we talked about the children in the hospital and their families.  How it must feel to not be able to be in their own homes.  Max asked me why the kids have to be in the hospital at all.  I said "Because they're very sick and need doctors."  Max said, "You mean the kids have owies?  Like scrapes and bonked heads?"  The innocence of his question gave me a lump in my throat.  The worst thing he can think of is having a "bonked head" or a "scrape".   But I just said, "Yes, exactly, buddy."

By the time his party rolled around he seemed comfortable with the fact he wasn't going to have gifts to open.  He'd say, "I have a lot of tings and other people need stuff more than me."  But then he'd say..."But you're gonna give me a pwesent, right momma?"  My sweet boy.  I could relate to the inner struggle.  I want "things" too.  We all deal with some level of materialism.  I don't want him to think there's anything wrong with wanting something, but I don't want him to be consumed with consuming either.  It's a hard concept to learn and it can be a hard concept to live.  We're working on finding a good balance.  Watching his reaction to giving, though, made me feel like maybe we're doing something right...

We hadn't planned on dropping everything off on this particular day, but we had gone to the library earlier that morning and Max got busy coloring pages and pages of print-outs they had on the art tables.   After he had gone through more than ten pages, I said,  "Who are all of these for?!"  He said, "I want to take them to the Ronald House with our donation."  It caught me off guard because we hadn't talked about the donation in a couple days.  I thought it was so sweet that it was still on his mind although all the items had been sitting in the back of my car for over a week.   He also asked me to put "I love you." at the top of the pages.  He said he thought it would make the people feel  happy.   Talk about proud momma moment!  His little three-year-old heart is so big.

When he handed over the drawings to the person at the front desk he was jumping and clapping...clearly so proud of his work.  Watching his reaction made me realize that this act of giving made him even happier than opening presents.  He even pulled out all of the items to show her what we had brought.  I wish I would have gotten a good picture of his face...he was beaming!  

The thank you notes Max sent to his party guests for bringing donations.

 However, Max did not completely go without.  Here's how we celebrated on the day of his birthday...

Present opening first thing in the morning!  He had been patient long enough :) Max wanted to open his presents sitting on his new tractor.  Sullivan wanted to help with opening presents too...

Sullivan gave Max a pair of Toy Story headphones he had been asking and asking for.  Max was thrilled.  He gave Sullivan a hug and said "Sully you're the best brother EVER!" :)

Loving the new (old) tractor.

The SmartMax building set was a hit too.  Max likes to make microphones out of the pieces :)

We met Annabelle, Aunt Jenni, Lolli and GG at SeaLife later in the morning.  Then had lunch at Fritz's. 

All holding hands.  These three love being together!

 After a fun filled day we had Max's favorite dinner...Mr Goodcents!

And the cake he requested...Woody and Buzz :)

I think Max had a fun and rewarding birthday.  He got to give a little and get a little.  And eat a LOT of cake.  What more could a boy wish for?

"Valen-time's" Day

 I'm so happy I get to call these sweethearts mine.  These boys make love easy...

As soon as the holiday display in the dining room changes...the boys are intrigued.  It set's into motion new anticipation ...Max says, "What's next, Momma?!"  We make our lives  a constant cycle of celebrations.  This display was particularly enticing because of the arrows.  Max begged me to play with them daily.

Another clue that there is a new holiday to look forward to is the chalkboard wall in the kitchen.  Max notices immediately when it changes.

I got the stinkers a couple small things to acknowledge this Hallmark holiday...

A new book for my guy who loves to read and some fruit squeezers for both of them.

A new record for my guy who has a love affair with our record player...

I set up a little breakfast at their desk in the living room.  They were very excited, but INSISTED on putting on the new record before eating.  You know, for ambiance.  Oh the sound of Chip N' Dale singing "Oh my darlin' Clementine" before 9 am....love it...

Max took the lead this time.  He's better at setting the needle than Sullivan is at this point :)

I made their favorite breakfast:  Grilled peanut butter and honey sandwiches (cut into hearts, of course!), greek yogurt with stawberry sauce and sliced apples.  Except Max informed me this morning that he no longer "cares for apples".  Something new every day!

Dancing and signing to the new tunes.

So much love between these two!  It's amazing my heart hasn't exploded yet.

 In the afternoon I helped out at Max's school party.  Sullivan got to be in the mix with the big kids again.  Luckily Max's classmate, Hector, has a little brother exactly Sullivan's age, so he had a buddy his own age to hang with.

Watching the kids exchange "Valentime's" was adorable.  Max carefully passed out each of his "Little Cutie" oranges.  He's always so proud when Sullivan is in his classroom.  He shows him around and showers him with hugs and kisses.

Can you spot the impostors?  Sullivan and little Elliot (on his left) trying to blend in during story time :)

 I came home from Max's school party to find unexpected flowers, a spa gift certificate and the promise of a home cooked romantic dinner from Billy.  It makes my heart smile that my guy knows I'd rather have an assortment of purple flowers over roses any day.

I'm lucky to have not one, not two, but THREE sweethearts on Valentime's Day.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Max!

Dear 3-year-old Max,

It's crazy that someday you'll read this and think..."3 years old?! I was so little!" But to us. Right now. You couldn't be a bigger boy. We can't contain the pride we feel for you. The way you mentor Sullivan. The kindness you show others and how intuitive you are.  You are so wise beyond your years...an old soul.

You're learning and changing so fast that it makes me feel anxious. I don't want to miss a single moment or forget a single, hilarious word that comes out of your mouth.  I think you're starting to see a reoccurring theme on this blog...The fear of letting time slip through my fingers.

With that in mind your Dad and I stubbornly dig our heels into the present. Each new day races towards us and we're discovering that its a losing battle trying to slow it down.  Instead we hold each other close and brace ourselves against the rapidly approaching future. A time when you'll be ready and reaching for more freedom. Anxiously welcoming the next step toward independence.
We already see it happening. 

Your father and I will forever be behind you with our arms locked as we watch you take each step away from us to become the person you were meant to be.  We'll be nervous.  And proud. And hoping that your moments don't pass you by too quickly, because we already know that they do.

Always & forever,
Momma & Dada

But today, as I type this, you're the little guy pictured below.  I'm going to focus on that now.
We celebrated your birthday with your pre-school class yesterday.  You were so excited to have me there and I LOVED being in your classroom with your little friends.  I got to read "Birthday Monsters" to everyone and you passed out the "marshmellow pop" treats we made together.

Sullivan was so excited to join the big kids (see him at the end of the table?)

Max and his good buddy, Hector.

Once the girls saw Max & Hector taking a picture...the girls gathered around saying "I want a picture with Max!  I want a picture with Max!"  Ladies, ladies...no need to fight over him :)  Max looks a little nervous though ;)

Max definitely wanted his picture taken with Rosemary, though.  She's his best girl buddy.

Announcing the book his Momma is going to read to the class!

And then there were Sully and Ned chilling on the couch.  These two operate on the same speed :) I love to see Sullivan mixing with Max's friends.  Something about this picture makes me flash forward to the teen years.