Birthday Party

The boys are slightly obsessed with the show Octonauts on DisneyJr. The show is all about underwater adventures and the characters help sea creatures and the boys learn about animals they will never see in Kansas. So, while I was in the middle of making a Boston Cream Pie, I decided to turn it into the Octopod.

Keith helped me a little with the design. I had it all wrong and it never would've flown with the boys. My pan was too small for it to be very effective, but if you tilt your head and squint, you can kind of see what we were going for. Jonathan and Andrew thought it was awesome, and that was really all that mattered! Plus, the cake was delish!

The birthday boy opening presents with Luke and Andrew assisting - some metallic Color Wonders, a new Berenstain Bear book and Auto B. Good movie from Grandma and Grandpa.

A new sandbox tractor from Great Uncle Tom and Great Aunt Mollie, our special guests for the evening.

Grandpa trying to wrestle the tractor out of the box. Adam, didn't want to be left out.

And look at that happy, smiley face!

Check out these expressions when the big gift was wheeled into the room...

A new bicycle just his size from Mommy and Daddy!

He immediately hopped on and tested it in the living room.

It became a bit of a safety hazard and had to be put away to ride later.

My Uncle Tom reading to the three oldest boys.

Grandpa taking a turn reading to the boys before bed.

Mollie, Hannah, Tanya and Mom hanging out in the kitchen.

Chad and Tom solving the world's problems.

We had a fun family party for Jonathan the night of his birthday. We ate tacos, rice and salsa for dinner, some of Jonathan's favorite foods and had Boston Cream Pie/Cake for dessert. Tom and Mollie were in town for the weekend, so they came over to help celebrate our baby boy turning 4. Happy Birthday buddy! We love you!

Happy Birthday to you!

Andrew wanted to get Jonathan a birthday present, so I found a Thomas coloring book with paints for him to give his brother.

A new book for the Tag Jr.

Andrew waiting "patiently" to see what else Jonathan got...

a new Toby train!

The boys working together to build a new Mater and friends Lego set.

Jonathan asked for Burger King for lunch. It's good to be king for a day!

Playing a little Cars video coloring game in the afternoon.
All in all, a pretty fun day for the birthday boy. Stay tuned for pictures from his birthday party that took place that night...

Happy 4th Birthday, Jonathan!

October 2011 - 3 years, 9 months old

4 weeks old

6 months old and enjoying a pizza crust

15 months old

2 years old

Jonathan - 2 years, 4 months old
Andrew - 4 years, 11 months old

3 years old

Jonathan - 3 years, 5 months
Andrew - 6 years old
Hannah - 8 months old

Happy 4th Birthday Jonathan!

Oh Jonavin (as Andrew calls you) how did you get to be 4 so fast?! You are growing right before our eyes. You are wearing size 5T shirts and 4T pants. You are still a champion eater and declare at almost every meal, "Oh, dis is my favowit!" I know parents aren't supposed to have favorites, but when you say that at dinner, you're sort of my favorite! :) I think your favorite foods are french fries and chips, but you also love pizza, tacos, mac and cheese and soup.

You are such a sweet boy and a peace maker. We are trying to encourage you to hold strong to your opinions even if they sometimes differ from you big brother's. You love to color and draw and do a great job of staying in the lines. You go to "school" one day a week and love it, and I think you are really going to love preschool this fall.

You are an awesome shopper and are always looking for things that are on sale. When you want something and I say no, you ask, "Is it on sale?" I have taught you well, little grasshopper! Love it!

You still love Thomas the train and Cars, but have also discovered little Legos. I am amazed by some of your creations, which usually involve wheels, wings and little men. You also love to play outside and ride your tricycle. And you love playing with Andrew. The two of you have quite the imagination!

You also love your sister. You are constantly getting in trouble for loving her too much. The basic rule of thumb is when Hannah screeches, we yell for you to stop touching her. And then the screeching stops.

You say lots of funny things. One of my recent favorites is, "I know that because I'm smart."

Your favorite color is gray, and your favorite number is 11. I don't have answers as to why those are your favorites, but you always give these same answers when we ask.

At your 4-year well-child visit you scored high:
height: 3 ft. 7 in. or 42 inches - 94th percentile
weight: 41 lbs. 6.4 oz. - 87th percentile

We love you our big, little boy! Happy 4th Birthday!

Winter in Kansas

This is what our winter looks like this year - February 1 and children playing outside without coats, as if it is a warm spring day! Lovin' this weather!

Arts and Crafts

Since Hannah has learned to climb chairs and tables, our life has changed, dramatically. The boys love to draw and color and create at the kitchen table. This used to be a safe activity from a certain little girl, named Hannah. But not anymore. The second she realizes they might be doing something fun without her, she MUST be included and do what they are doing. Obviously someone failed to explain to her that she is only 15 months old and not 3 or 6!

And so, to keep the peace, she is given her own notebook and a very dull color pencil. She is still under the impression that crayons taste good and markers, well, that's just a nightmare in the making.

Snowman PJs - recycled

Hannah is a little fixated with her tongue right now. If you ask her if her mouth hurts, she sticks out her tongue, and it is a freaky long tongue! It's sort of a fun little trick to show off.

She also loves to look at books at bedtime. Do her jammies look familiar?

They were once worn by Andrew at 5-6 months old. This was taken Christmas 2005. Andrew is getting a little love from Auntie. Keith was deployed to Kuwait at the time, and so Andrew and I flew to Boston to spend Christmas with the Ayotte side of the family.

The cousins in their matching pjs. Ben (6), Cate (3 1/2) Andrew (5 months old)

And the current owner of the snowman pjs.
They are almost too small, but I wanted to capture the sharing of Christmas pjs.

Week in the Life - Saturday and Sunday

I failed to blog this weekend - life got in the way, along with exhaustion. Keith woke up Saturday morning with a migraine and I had a rough night thanks to some silly stomach trouble. So I was tired and Keith was in pain. Great parenting took place all.day.long!

The kids played in the playroom - Hannah made a mess, Andrew drew Angry Bird stories in his notebook and Jonathan played with Legos.
*note - If your child has not been introduced to Angry Birds, avoid it at ALL costs. To say that Andrew is obsessed with them is an understatement, and we only let him play the game once a week for a limited time.

In the afternoon, Keith was feeling a little better and played Amish Poker with Andrew and Jonathan (found in your local store as Sequence.) This version was purchased in an Amish store in Indiana, complete with poker chips, so I dubbed it Amish Poker. The name has stuck and the irony of buying poker chips in an Amish store continues to amuse me.
I took the little trouble maker, also known as Hannah, to Dillons to get a few groceries. She's a good little shopper and likes to flirt with all the other customers in the store.

On Sunday, Keith and the boys went to church and I stayed home with Hannah. It just seemed like the wisest move. She still has a lot of snot and that's hard to explain in the nursery. No parents like to see that when they drop off their kids, especially me! So we watched a little Food Network and folded some laundry. Such heathens. Then the boys came home, and we had our standard Taco Bell for lunch.

In the afternoon, I went to a Woman to Woman Mentoring orientation class and signed up to get a mentor. That's a scary step for me, but I feel like it's something I need and should do right now! Praying that God would match me up with the right mentor for this time in my life.

I came home and helped get everyone fed a quick dinner of cheese pizza and then we loaded up and went to church for a tasty treat of

New Year's Cookies!
Once a year, the staff at our church fixes these tasty treats called cookies, but they are really more like donuts. So good and so bad for you! Andrew ate 5. I'm not sure how, but he did. Hannah and I shared two and that was enough. We came home and put everyone to bed and then we put our feet up.
(PS I didn't take the New Year's Cookie picture. I took my camera, but was a little distracted to think about taking pictures, so I borrowed it from the Internet.)

And this concludes the Week in the Life of the Ayottes. Not nearly as exciting as I had hoped it would be. Sometimes we do fun things, you know, other than visit the doctor's office.