Paxton has been counting down the number of "sleeps" before his "friends" birthday party for weeks! The anticipation was high, and he would ask me on a daily basis, "Did anyone else's mom say they could come to my party today?" He sent out 11 invitations and 6 friends were able to make it. He chose to have his party at the Vogel Fieldhouse so they could run wild in the gym. Before we let them loose though, we played some games, had snacks and cupcakes, and opened presents.
I was able to get some good smiles out of some of them with the promise that the next picture could be silly faces.
They played Pass the Pickle.
Harlow was one of the last ones in the game. These two took it very seriously; eyes on the pickle, hand off quickly....it was pretty funny. And Harlow was defeated.
We let them frost and decorate their own cupcakes. You can imagine how exciting that was for 9 kids with free reign on frosting, candy, and sprinkles!
Once we had them wired on sugar, we sent them off into the gym to let loose! And it was 60 minutes straight of running and screaming. Paxton had the best time! And just by chance, his teacher was running the track and popped in to say hello to several of her students. Paxton was genuinely grateful for each friend that came to celebrate him, and that made me happy for him and proud of him.
The middle child turned 6 years old on December 28th. Once again, different from the other two where it never seems possible they can be that old, Paxton seems his age, he seems 6. Also true to middle child stereotypes, Paxton is easy. He never cares too much about anything, doesn't share his opinions on every subject (ahem, Hudson!), I tell him what to wear and he puts it on, I tell him our plans for the day and he doesn't complain, I put a plate of food in front of him and he eats it. He loves basketball! He started this year and is thoroughly enjoying it. After practice, he asks how many sleeps there are until the next practice. Other favorites include; Nerf guns and having wars with his brother and dad, going to Grandma Sharon's to play with his cousins, anything and everything Minecraft, and watching movies, currently the Twilight series. He has blown me away this year in Kindergarten! Going in, my expectations were low and frankly, I was worried. But just last week I got an email from his teacher, telling me that for the 5th time this year, Paxton had earned "pink" (the highest honor on the color chart) and she mentioned, "I laugh now thinking back to our first meeting and you being so worried about him and certain that I'd be calling with the bad news that he was on "red". He is such a joy to have in class." I was wrong about this boy. I thought he'd be a follower and go along with poor choices and bad behavior, but he's done just the opposite. He's a leader, and a good one! And I'd say he is the favorite sibling of both Hudson and Harlow. He's easy to love.
The traditional birthday balloon archway made by Dad.
We had an early morning celebration with presents and singing.
He was lucky to have the day off of school and spent his birthday at Grandma Sharon's with his cousins.
For supper, another tradition, Happy Joe's.
With his favorite cake, chocolate on chocolate.
We were finally able to have his big birthday party last weekend. His chosen theme, basketball. Look at that sweet, sweet face.
Another cousin celebration.
I love this boy who deserves more attention but doesn't ask for it.
Christmas came and went all too fast this year, as usual. It seems like we put up the tree, decorate the house, wrap presents, read Christmas books and watch Christmas movies, and just like that, wrapping paper fills the floor, new toys are scattered around the house, it's all over and everything is coming down. It's both the best and the fastest time of year.
We had another Christmas Eve in our jammies this year. I love our new comfy tradition.
Christmas Eve night Grandpa and Grandma brought bags and bags, and more bags of presents. It takes only minutes for the kids to get through all of these and it happens so fast that they end up opening each other's gifts without even noticing. It takes me longer to go through and look at all they got after the chaos calms down.
A favorite this year are the hoverboards each boy got (Swagways). It didn't take them long to figure out how to cruise around the house on these (took me a lot longer!). I already have some nicks and chips in my walls and wood trim, but its worth it. These things are FUN!
Here's a little video of their first day trying them out.
A huge THANK YOU to Grandma and Grandpa for all of the great gifts and spending the holiday with us.
And just in case they didn't already have enough, Santa came on Christmas morning!!! More wrapping paper, more STUFF! Hot items were Nerf guns, Minecraft stuff, and Barbies.
And this little girl's wish came true....a Barbie Dream House.
She really liked it. Really, really!
After the chaos, we went to Grandma Sharon's to spend the afternoon with the Johnsons. We took advantage of having ALL of the grandkids (and one great-grandchild) there and snapped a picture with Grandma Sharon.
Our last stop of the holiday was at Arnie and Sheri's. It was a packed house, lots of food and drinks, and lots of love. Especially for our Uncle Arnie. He's the greatest man alive in my book!
So here's to a very late Merry Christmas to all, from these three beautiful kids!
