A Pirate's Life for Me!

Yo-ho-ho and away we go!  

We had a blast at Dylan's birthday party!  

Here is my little pirate family, my whole heart!                                                  

I have to give a shout out to Uncle Craig and Aunt Carole for making the food table into a pirate ship!  What would I do without them, and my Cricut machine!

 We feasted on: Chocolate chip pirate cake, Blue jello pirate ships, Salty Sea Water, and the Catch of the Day: Goldfish!

 Every pirate wants to get Captain Hook!  What better way than with water balloons!  Our Captain Hook Splash Away Bullseye was a big hit!  Thanks Uncle Bob for filling up all those water balloons for our pirates!  Dylan finished off the 100 pack of balloons that evening after nap time!

Are you ready to "Walk Ye Plank?" Be careful not to fall to the deck below! A thank you to my husband for getting the plank and bullseye ready for the party!

 Find ye treasure! We were ready to dig for treasure.  This included: compass rings, bouncy balls, skeletons, beaded necklaces, gold coins, and whistles!

A pirate must be able to sail the open seas!  The life size pirate ship was amazing!  My dad, mom, and Daddy Vell worked so hard perfecting their idea for the party!  The ship had a steering wheel, cannon ball shooter, and sails!  My mom also made spy glasses that were too cool!   Let's sail the open seas and

search for Captain Hook!

       

After sailing the open seas, every pirate is ready for some grub!  We ate cake, opened presents, and played with our new loot!  The pirate baby even got into the festivities!

 After a big rest for this birthday pirate, Captain Daddy and Mommy presented the young shipmate with his new bike!  We got him a Strider Bike, recommended by a friend at church.  It is a different spin on learning to ride a bike.  We hope it is successful!  If you want to learn more about it for your young shipmate, visit: www.stridersports.com

 We have a family tradition, that on the Sunday closest to your birthday, you get to pick lunch.  Dylan picked Blue Coast Burrito and off we went!  He loves that place, and he eats really well!  

 I got several of my printables from this website: www.tatteredandinked.blogspot.com  She has lots of free printables for all different occasions!

Ahoy Mateys! We had so much fun celebrating our Dylan turning three!

Ten month joy!

It sure is hard to believe that you are two short months away from one year old!  Your mommy is enjoying each and every moment with you and trying to store all these memories so I won't forget a thing!  When someone asks me about your personality,  I always say these things: 1. You are so sweet.  2. You are a cuddle monkey!  3. You are a Momma's boy.  4. You are very laid back.   We are thankful for you and are so glad that God chose us to be your family!  We couldn't imagine it any other way!

 Caleb, here are a few things that you are doing right now:
-You shake your head no.
-You clap your hands.
-You can say: Mama, Dada, and Shew (at those stinky diapers!)
-Mommy is pretty sure you said "ba" when we were rolling the ball, but I haven't heard it again.
-You loved to roll and throw the ball!
-You have 2 more teeth: one on top, one on bottom, bringing the grand total to 8!
-When you see or want Nelli, you say: "umm umm"
-You love to play with the door stoppers and the door itself!  You open, crawl around, shut it, and repeat with your hands and your feet!
-You have the fastest army crawl I have ever seen and it gets you EVERYWHERE!
-You can stand up and hold on to something, but are still wobbly!
-You can walk around on the tile floor in your walker, but you like to go backwards most!
-Some of your favorite foods are: spaghetti, green beans, carrots, crackers, meatballs, pizza, pancakes, cheerios, basically all types of food!
-Only dislike so far: bananas

You love your brother and I love to watch you interact.  You bring out the best in each other and it is almost like you have your own connection/language.  You smile at him and laugh at him.  You are his biggest fan.  Until... you are tired of him in your face, and then your newest defense is to go at him with those 8 teeth.  Oops....

We love you more than life itself!

Water slides, Tractors, and the Zoo!

Dylan absolutely loves the slide at the pool.  It is a new addition as of late summer and our family givesit two thumbs up! It is pretty big so I thought he might be a little tentative, but who was I kidding?!? He loves it!

Look at those long legs!

Daddy's always there to catch him!

So proud of himself!

 This hot weather hasn't allowed too much time at the farm, but Dylan has enjoyed it a few times this summer.  We are ready for fall weather so he can go more often.  Dylan, Daddy, and Pawpaw went a few weeks ago and he helped plant wheat.  I have heard about that for weeks!  In his Bible story book, he is reading the story of Ruth, Naomi, and baby Obed.  At bedtime, he told Daddy he wanted to read about baby Obed.  Why? Because they work in wheat fields! He is headed up to the farm again to work/play tomorrow morning!

Driving the 4-wheeler!

Headed out with Pawpaw to plant!

Tractor riding with Daddy!

 We take a trip to the zoo weekly!  We did have to skip a month or so because of the extreme heat here in Arkansas!  We get there right when the zoo opens and stay for a couple of hours.  We are usually leaving when the "crowds" arrive, so it is just perfect for us.  Caleb absolutely loves to be outside and watch everything!  He is so laid back!  He will watch and watch and then fall asleep and snooze for his morning nap.  Blessing! These pictures are from last week.  We enjoyed cooler weather and church friends on our trip this week!

Watching the cheetahs!

Mr. Lion was close!

The new cheetah exhibit is great!

It has a neat interactive, inside area, too!

Sorry it's sideways, but this is what happens to him every time
we go to the zoo.  He is such a good baby!

 We have had a great summer.  We are all looking forward to fall weather and football!  Dylan starts his 1st Mother's Day Out program in a little over a week!  (Cue: tears and sniffles)

Wait, I'm NOT Supermom?

I had a conversation with my bestie this week. It is prompting this post. If you know me well, you know I'm not very open, or excited about change, but I'm hoping another Mommy reading this will feel a little relief when they realize:

Alert:YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE SUPERMOM!

After having baby number 2, life as a stay at home mom got way more hectic. I expected some of it. But y'all, it was hard! I found myself mentally and physically exhausted pretty much daily! We got in a nice routine but I still felt a huge burden because I couldn't get it all done in the day. My list was: happy boys, laundry, supper, clean house, and a smile on my face and I couldn't make it all happen. This led to me feeling like I was failing at my job. So I guess you could say i was on auto pilot.

I didn't want to tell anyone I felt like I wasn't cutting it because I thought it was just me! So, a God thing happened. My bestie just brought it up. She said, you know you don't have to be Supermom. You are not the only one that has felt overwhelmed. You are raising an almost 3 year old and a baby! We had discussed all this before but I needed to hear it again! Whew! Big exhale! What a relief! It's okay not to be able to do it all! I know it will get easier when I'm not nursing, pumping, helping a boy potty, changing diapers, etc.. But I want to enjoy this stage too because it brings joyous memories I cherish!

So, I just wanted this "blogger" world to know I'm relaxing a little. I'm doing things with my boys. I'm enjoying all of Caleb's new firsts and Dylan's new adventures. I'm busy. I have good days and bad ones. Laundry, supper, and stuff will and DO get done. I'm blessed to stay home because it was my dream and I love it! So I'm doing the best I can being just Mom, no super needed.