Lance is 7!

Lance turned 7 on September 14th! I can't believe he's that old. I have a 7-year-old? Crazy.

Lance was going to be at his dad's house for his Birthday weekend, so we brought cupcakes to his First grade class a day early.

Lance requested chocolate cake with chocolate chips, chocolate frosting and chocolate sprinkles. This kid loves his chocolate!

Jude, Cole and I brought the cupcakes in the afternoon and stuck around for a few minutes while the kids ate. Jude was so excited to be at school! When we first got there, the kids were finishing their circle time on the rug. Jude ran right over, plopped himself down and paid attention to the teacher. It was so cute.

Cole liked crawling under the tables.

The cupcakes were a huge hit! Many of the kids said it was the best cupcake they had ever eaten. It made me feel good seeing as kids this age are honest to a fault, but they also live in the moment and a chocolate chip cupcake on a boring Thursday afternoon may in fact be the best thing in their lives at that very moment. Regardless, I'm glad everyone liked them.

Lance was pretty excited to show off baby Cole. 

Lance spent the weekend at his dad's house. Since he was gone during his Birthday, we decided to celebrate officially the following weekend. Lance wanted an ocean-themed party with a "crab cake" and a dolphin pinata. Ooookay. The week before his party was busy with prep.

I made most of his pinata while he was gone and then let him help me paint it when he came home. He wanted a Commerson's dolphin, so I shaped it accordingly and we painted it black and white. I'm so glad I decided to paint it instead of covering it in crepe paper like the pinata last year.

A cute side note: Lance didn't see the pinata I made the night he came home because he was asleep when we finally made it back from Northern VA after picking him up. Monday morning I woke up to him out at the table, looking at the pinata and writing me a note. What did the note say? "Good job." I thought it was super sweet he wanted to make sure I knew he thought I did a good job. Thanks, Lance. Moms need to hear that every so often.

We painted the top one night and let it dry. Lance was excited to help and did a great job being careful to stay in the lines. 

The next day I painted the belly. Jude saw what I was doing and wanted to help, so I let him get a few brush-strokes in.

It lasted for about 1 minute before he started painting on the part that was supposed to be white. I took over, but he was happy he got to help.

We were so excited for Saturday to come!

"I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas..."

Am I the only one who thought it was a blast to sing this song in elementary school when we learned about vowels?

Anyway, speaking of apples:

The little boys and I went to Carter's Mountain Orchard with our Family Housing friends. It was an event sponsored by FHA, so it was free! Awesome.

Jude and Cole with their buddy Bennett. Jude and Bo were so excited they both had hoods on their jackets. I think the hoods stayed on for about 30 minutes before the coolness wore off.

A Jude worm!

First up was a hay ride!

It was a lot of fun because we got to be there with several of our good friends.

Watching the apple trees...

I love this picture. He looks sad, but so sweet. Don't you just want to cuddle a smile back onto his face?

There we go!

Cole wasn't too sure what was going on, but liked to be along for the ride.

The Smiths!

Cole, no falling down the mountain!

After the hay ride, we got to attend "Apple School".

It was neat. These nice girls taught the kids about the life-cycle of an apple.

They actually say for a good 10 minutes listening. I was impressed.

After "school", we got to pick some apples. We each had a small bag we could fill as best we could at no cost.

Sweet ride, kiddies.

The trees were laden with HUGE apples right at grabbing level. It was perfect for Jude.

Jaclyn and Reese Dickensen.

Buddies. :) 

We went two years ago during the same event:

Can you believe that is Bo and Jude? Time flies.

I wish Lance could have come, but he was in school. :( I tell you, school ruins everything.

Cole was tired of being in his stroller, so I put him on the ground and gave him an apple to chew on.

Love those kiss-y cheeks.

Sweet baby.

"Oh! Another one!" Jude was so cute trying to find the perfect apples.

Cole was content to pick the grass. :)

We had a great time! I'm hoping we can go back as a family in October when they do their Apple Festival.

Jumping, Painting, Splashing, Crawling and...Jude!

The school year is now in full-swing and we're settling into our routine of day-to-day life.

I have to admit it's hard to find things to do during the day while Lance is at school and George is at work. More often than not, the later morning finds us just a bit bored. Lucky for us, we're surrounded by fun friends just a couple hundred feet away.

One day we walked down the little hill next to our house to play with our buddies. Jamie had a new camera lens she was trying out and took pictures of the boys being "superheros".

I can fly!

Bo, Cameron and Jude--best buddies!

Love it!

When we're not playing with friends at the park, we're trying to find things to do inside. One day Jude found Lance's old Buzz Lightyear costume and tried it on.

He thought it was fantastic!

Lance was 3 when he wore it:

Look how little he was! I can't believe that was 4 years ago!

Okay, back to present.

Jude and Cole play together quite a bit, although Jude's starting to realize he doesn't like it when Cole plays with certain toys. Ah, siblings.

They usually do a good job, though.

Lance is enjoying school, but I think he misses the ease and fun of Kindergarten. First grade isn't all fun and games and he has to actually do homework! It's been a bit of a challenge to have a good attitude through it all, but we're on the up and up and a routine is helping.

The days are still so nice that the afternoon when Lance comes home often finds us outside with friends. One day when no friends were at the park, we brought out the finger paints.

I think this was the first time Jude had ever finger-painted... I guess I get the "bad mom" award in that category today.

Lance was meticulous and Jude was crazy.

Oh yeah! Lance lost his two front teeth! I have still never been around to see him pull out his tooth. He's lost three at school and one while in San Diego. Stinker. I think he just likes the little treasure boxes he gets from the nurse at school.

Hmmm. Well, we'd better find a way to wash that paint off.

Slip-n-slide! We decided to take one last good run on it before I rolled it up and put it away until next year.

Cole got into the action this time, too!

Love it!

Pillow pet party with Killian and Kendall!

These kids love to play together.

Cole is now officially crawling! He's been scooting since he was about 6 months old but in the last few weeks he's taken off truly crawling and can get to all the rooms in the house.

One of his favorite places to be is under the table, although he still hasn't figured out how to get out from under the chairs. More often than I can count I'm summoned into the dining area by the frustrated squeals and growls of a stuck Cole.

Crazy baby!

I didn't think it was possible for Jude to develop a stronger personality than what he already had, but he has proven me wrong. Soundly. The last couple months have been full of a wild little Jude that can't seem to stop laughing, screaming, yelling, running, jumping, and talking and has his own opinions of how everything should work.

I can't decide if I love this stage or if I'm ready to move on. I guess both. It is loud and crazy but tons of fun, too. He keeps us laughing but tests our patience to the absolute limits. He's "bigger than his britches", but still needs his mamma to hold him when he's sad and wants to sleep in his crib. He wants to use the bathroom in every department or grocery store we frequent, but has little interest in using the toilet in our home. He's a clown and a performer, constantly dancing and singing to try and put a smile on your face. He has no fear of strangers and will crawl right into the lap and hold entire conversations with the random person sitting next to us at a soccer game. One of these days I'll have to dedicate a post just to Jude and the crazy child I get to play with every day. It is fantastic fun and immensely exhausting.