Owen is three!

We had a wonderful time celebrating Owen's third birthday. We decided to set aside a day to do the things that we know he has been dreaming of.

We have been going through The Big Green Pocketbook by Candice Ransom in our preschool time. (We incorporate the Before Five in a Row curriculum as part of our preschool time- and The Big Green Pocketbook is one of the books the curriculum goes through.)

In this book a little girl gets on a bus with her mother and travels around town helping her mother with her errands. They go to an ice cream store, the bank, a jewelry shop, and many other places. Everywhere they go she puts some little treasure that had been given her from that place into her pocketbook (i.e. a receipt, a key chain, a box of crayons, etc. that had been given to her).

Every time we read this book Owen asks to ride a bus too and to go to the ice cream store. So for his birthday we fulfilled his dream to ride a bus and in some ways reenacted the story. We read the book to him before we left and he was so very excited. He brought along his backpack for his very own treasures.

He didn't say a word throughout the whole ride. He was just mesmerized. However, once we got off he couldn't stop talking about his experience and wanted to make sure that we were going to ride it again. When we confirmed that we would ride it back to our car he was ready to go to THE ICE CREAM STORE!! (dessert #1 for the day)

Our next three stops were the bank (to go along with his story and to purchase his savings bond from GG), the toy shop so he could pick out a toy, and the bar so he could have an emergency potty break :).

We got back on the bus and then went home for nap.

After nap Owen dream #2 was fulfilled: riding a horse! Since going to the fair last summer he asks to ride just about every horse he sees. So we went to a local ranch and he got to ride Brown Jug- the pony. T-T, Uncle Andrew, sisters, and Grandma Mumma joined us as well.

We then went to Sidewinders (a local restaurant) for dinner where he had dessert #2

Then returned home to have daddy's amazing cake made 100% from scratch! (Dessert #3!!) Matt is the new baker in the house and insists on being in charge of birthday cakes. Matt made, upon Owen's request, a dinosaur and a car out of modeling chocolate.

We are so thankful for you, Owen, and your zeal for life and compassion for others! You are such a joy to us and we are so proud of the little boy you are becoming. We love you!

Love, mom and dad

The tower

Matt just took this video and it was so cute in person I just had to share. Owen was building a fairly large tower and Anabel kept going back and forth delivering blocks to him. We got the tail end of it but over and over she would deliver a block, laugh, and then Owen would say, "Thank you!".

A few of the good ones

Somebody is walking!

Another concert. He grabbed a couple of colored pencils and had at it!

Nothing out of the ordinary. Just some normal cuteness!

Some more pics

Some pics

A nightly routine. Dad, Owen, and per Owen's request: a "big" pile of books :) And as for Matt's funny outfit it is actually a pair of pajamas that is fully body with a goofy little flap on the back that says "bear bottom" and a picture of a bear :) p.s. I didn't fully get permission to post this... but I guess you can't actually see it :)

My little sweetheart (Adelyn)

My little beach beauty (and a sweetheart too)! (Anabel)

An beautiful early morning view with a full moon

Sometimes it is fun to remember the mundane. A normal day's end. It was really all in order only a few short hours before!

Free Concert

Owen loves music. He often comes up with dance moves whose origination is a mystery to me (like in these videos). He often will get a toy that plays music and his drum and once he has played the music will drum to the beat. He is a constant source of laughter in our home :). I also love how he so carefully puts his guitar "back" like he sees done at church!

A morning walk

Anabel is a real walker now. She is so cute and tiny that it amazes me every time she does it. However, she is fully on the move! She can stand up unassisted, prefers to walk as opposed to her knees or crawling, and can pivot 360 degrees. My little girl!

In case you didn't catch it Owen very sweetly says, "Walk to me!" and then says "Good girl!". He really is so thoughtful and sweet!