Haffy Birthday, J.D.! 3 1/2 Today!

Today is the day we celebrate J.D.'s birthday! Like all birthdays, today started with cupcakes and eggs! Yum-oh!

I can't believe that he is 3 1/2 years old. The time has really passed too quickly. I tell him he is my 'biggest boy'. He thinks he is BIG and can do anything that mommy, daddy or the kids in the youth group can do.

Things about J.D. at 3 1/2:
He is a great problem solver... the other day we said we couldn't go the park because it was going to rain- he said we could take an umbrella...

He is a sales man... we had a long conversation the other day about pets. He wanted to know why we couldn't have a lion, tiger, whale or dolphin as pets. After much discussion, and a big NO from mommy- he said, 'then can we just have a dog and a cat?' (Like- isn't it easy to say yes to those... instead of the animals that live in the zoo!)

He is an encourager- he is constantly telling people that they look nice, or thank you for dinner, or 'i like that' kind of statements.

He is super athletic! He can really hit a baseball hard and far, can dribble a basketball, can kick a soccer ball into the goal, can hit a golf ball, throw a frisbee with some bit of accuracy, loves to play catch.

He is all boy... he is starting into gross out stuff... burps, gas of other sorts, dirt, puddles, mud, are all fascinating and funny.

He loves planes, trucks, big rigs, police cars, dump trucks, trash trucks, boats, scooters, etc.

His favorite foods: diet coke, peanut butter and cotton (apricot) jelly sandwiches, chicken nuggets, cake, bananas, gummies (fruit snacks)

I just love this kid to pieces!


Haffy Birthday face! He wanted strawberry cupcakes this year... so we had pink cupcakes on his birthday this year.

Cool Mom! Presents!

Chick from CARS. Now he has 4 of the characters! Can you tell he was excited. Right now, he is downstairs watching CARS with all 4 of his cars lined up on the chair next to him.

Mommy and J.D. on his Haffy Birthday!

More CARS!

This is my heart...

The best babysitter

I can officially say we have been blessed with the best babysitters ever!

Miriam was the first... and always will be close to our heart... though far across the ocean...

Then came Cosette and Tavi.
Cosette and Tavi are sisters... Cosette is J.D.'s true love (when we were journaling around Valentine's Day, I asked him whom he loved- I thought Mommy or Daddy or Natalie, etc. Nope. He said Cosette- very enthusiastically!) Cosette introduced Hide and Seek and Red Light/Green Light into our house!
Tavi is Cosette's younger sister. She loves children and it shows! Let me explain how...

Today, Tavi was here to watch the kiddos for 8 hours while I worked. This is an amazing amount of time for a babysitter. (And after a chaotic time last week... she brainstormed with her mother and showed up with the following schedule for today).

Titled: J.D. and Natalie's Schedule

8:30am Breakfast
8:50am Soap Surprise (that means was the dishes together, use lots of bubbles!)
9:00am Outside Play
10:00am Snack
10:15am Hide & Seek
10:30am Sugar letters in a bowl (J.D. and N)
10:45am Letters in sand box (practice to draw them on the driveway for daddy!!!)
11:15am Jump rope (over the snake)
11:45am Lunch preparation (kids set table on mat, then without mat) [this means they drew a placemat together, and she showed the kids how to match up fork, plate, and spoon- WOW]
12:00pm Lunch and Soap Surprise (if you want to)
12:30pm Snuggle and Read Time (pick one book apiece)
12:45pm Nap time
2:30pm Play Dough (make J.D. and N)
2:45pm Outside (ready for chalk JD and N so daddy can see what they learned!)
3:00pm Super Hero Race to make rooms the cleanest!!!
3:15pm Candyland
4:00pm Frisbee and fun thing in a bag [ a flute]
4:30pm Show Mommy what you've learned today!!! !. How to wash dishes, how to set the table, how to write your own name!

Wow you say... yes, WOW! The kids had the best day! Tavi would tell them what they were going to do... then once they did it... they put a sticker on the paper next to the thing they had just accomplished. She built up the 'fun thing in a bag' all day... they were beside themselves with anticipation. And, they loved it... I could hear them playing flutes... what fun! There is no greater feeling than the feeling of your kids discovering something new, of them being happy, of them enjoying themselves.

When I asked J.D. what his favorite part of the day was... he said 'the jumping rope!'
When I asked Natalie what her favorite part of the day was... she said 'the stickers!'

It was an amazing day... one where I am thankful that I can work from home... see how my kids do with babysitters and see how God has blessed us with people who love our kids enough to really think and plan for them.

Bless you Tavi! You made today a blast for all of us!