Caleb's Birthday Weekend

Caleb's 4th birthday landed on a Saturday this year. We had his party at Jump For Fun which was full of huge bounce houses to play on. He picked the Viking theme from the movie "How to train a Dragon". Mostly because he liked the viking hats. He was very excited that his cousins Logan and Dylan came in for the weekend to help him celebrate.We met the rest of his friends that afternoon at his party and they ran themselves ragged going in and out of all the bounce houses. They were in and out, up and down. Trying to get pictures was a comical and complicated task.I mostly got the back of every ones head as they ran by. I hope Greg had more luck with the video camera.

Of course he used videoing as a good excuse to go into all the big bounce houses with them.

Once I even caught my good friend Kristen videoing Greg and my brother in law Mike racing through one of the obstacle course bounce houses.

So I guess everyone enjoyed the party. My sister helped entertain Lex for me so I could act as hostess.

Lex seemed to enjoy the toddler bounce house and toys, she became quite attached to Steph since she seemed to get lots of attention from her.

But I did get to sneak in a couple of cuddle times too.

We finally ended up in the party room for cake and ice cream. Caleb finally got to wear his viking hats!

Caleb felt quite special sitting in the "throne" while everyone sang Happy Birthday to him.Overall it seemed to be a successful party.

We waited to get home to open presents, which Caleb also enjoyed of course. He had his cousins to help open all the gifts and "break in the toys." One of Caleb's favorites was his knight outfit and armor.

He wouldn't take it off the rest of the day. Super cute! Unfortunately his neighbors and good friends Dax and Ace couldn't make it to the party since it was Ace's 4th birthday as well. Which meant Caleb couldn't go to Ace's party.

So we decided to celebrate with them Sunday afternoon at Chucky Cheese's. That made for a fun and tiring birthday weekend!

The Ranger's Game

Greg really wanted to take Caleb to a Ranger's game before the end of the season. So thanks to our awesome neighbors who kept Lexie, we were able to take him Thursday night.

He was so excited! (Caleb was too, haha!) We had good seats, right behind the home dugout.

Caleb enjoyed watching the game.

Greg had let Caleb bring his baseball glove so he could "catch a foul ball". I told Greg he shouldn't have got his hopes up because he was disappointed ever time the Rangers player would throw a ball to another person in the stands after each inning. He was a little appeased when the mascot "Ranger" came around our way.

Caleb pulled Greg over to see the horse and they entertained the crowd with their silly play.

We were just about to go home with a disappointed Caleb when at the bottom of the ninth the 3rd out was caught by the Ranger's outfielder. He was following the rest of the team into the dugout and looking to throw the ball into the crowd. Everyone around us had been won over by Caleb's charm and was chanting "throw it to him" while pointing at Caleb. So the player did and Caleb was soooo proud.

He showed everyone the ball going up the stands and out of the stadium getting high fives along the way.I'm afraid his expectations might be a little high here on out. He was one tired Ranger fan by the end of evening.

Caleb's First Day of Preschool

Caleb was so excited for his first day of Preschool since he was supposed to wear his uniform.

Even though he is going to the same daycare he has been attending, he will now be in a more class like setting with a more advanced curriculum. What a big boy! I wish he would be more forth coming in his daily activities though. When I ask him what he did at school each day he often replies "I'll tell you later mommy." If I'm lucky I sometimes get affirmatives to questions I ask. Luckily I get to see all his projects at the end of the week, so I get to see what he does eventually.

Greg bought Caleb a baseball net for the backyard to prevent fly balls from landing in the neighbors yard. They have been kind enough to throw them back, but we thought it would be nice to avoid hassling them or eventually breaking something. Lexie enjoyed watching the boys play, and decided to play with her own bat.

Sweet boy loves his baby sister.

Lexie's First Haircut

Lexie has had no problem with growing bangs, while the rest of her hair slowly grows in. Unfortunately she could hardly see unless we pulled her hair out of her face. So after much debating, I finally convinced a still grumbling husband to let me cut her bangs.

Hence her first haircut at 8 months old. I know my Mom is proud, she always hated my bangs being in my face! Lex still refuses to utilize or knees during the crawling process, but she has started to pull up on everything.

She may walk before officially crawling.

She hates being trapped within the living room, so is constantly trying to find her way through the barrier. She finally realized Monte was able to get out, so tried to follow him through the narrow exit between the wall and the couch. Too bad she got stuck!

I found her when she started whining to be free. Now when she gets onto the tile, she quickly starts for the stairs. The little toot looks back to see if we are coming after her and increases her pace to the stairs while giggling.

One day I found her climbing into our cabinet with pots and pans. She has been a very curious little girl.

Playset

This week started with a trip to the Children's Museum on Sunday with our friends Sarah, Teresa, and Addison. We had so much fun.

Caleb enjoyed showing the girls the cool dinosaur puzzle you can do on the computer and of course the huge dino footprint. Then we made it to the kids play area where they spent the majority of their time scanning and buying groceries.Caleb really enjoyed this which I think could be a good thing for his future wife. We headed outside for the construction play before it was time to see Elmo and Big Bird narrate at story in the Planetarium. After a quick picnic lunch, the kids enjoyed the different science exhibits as well as playing with the tinker toys. It was funny because the girls built necklaces and bracelets, while Caleb built a toy gun. How typical.

Sarah and I got a good visit in while the kids enjoyed all the many activities, but we finally had to drag the kids away after several hours of museum play.

That night we got to visit with Uncle Jason and Aunt Blair who stayed the night before Uncle Jason's surgery the next day. Greg grilled out some yummy steaks for us while we got to catch up with them.Monday we had Caleb's birthday present put in, a new playground set. Caleb was very surprised when he got home from school.

We had the neighbors come over to cook out and let their kids help break in the new present.

Tuesday seemed like a very long day, and Greg had to go to Oklahoma, so we didn't see him until late that evening. When I went to pick Caleb up from school I found out he was to wear uniforms starting Monday since he is starting Preschool. Following a frustrating day at work, that was not the most exciting news to end the day with. Still not sure why a memo wasn't put up or sent home, and apparently we have to order the uniforms online and it takes 2 weeks to come in. Obviously still a little frustrated by the information or lack there of, but we did order the uniforms and he will get by with solid shirts until they arrive. Wednesday was a better day at work, probably because I was anticipating spending a wonderful evening with my hubby. Our wedding anniversary is on the same day as Caleb's Birthday, August 28th, so we rarely celebrate our anniversary on the actual date. We took advantage of Restaurant Week in Fort Worth and made reservations at Del Frisco's. We had a babysitter for the kids, and Greg surprised me with by hiring a chauffeur to drive us downtown. It was a very romantic night and the dinner was awesome! We celebrated (almost) 6 years of wedding bliss. Today was my day off with the kids. We had Caleb's last day of swimming lessons first thing and then hurried home to invite the neighbors, Dax and Ace, to come over and play while their little sister Ivy went with her mommy, Amber, to the doctor. The boys had a great time playing in Caleb's new playset. Then they shared some yummy lunch from McDonald's thanks to Amber. After lunch the kids went their separate ways for nap time. We ended the day playing in the fort with Caleb and Lexie.

That's where daddy found us when he came home from work. Lexie seems to enjoy our new playset as well.Big brother was a good sport to push Lex in her new pink swing.

A nice ending to a busy week.