September Bday Boys and more....

 Two weekends ago we headed to KC to help Grayson celebrate his 1st birthday! It was so much fun!!! No matter how crazy life gets we would never dream of missing out on spending time with family...especially when it involves a birthday! (and turning 1 is a HUGE deal for both baby and parents). Tom and Halley did it the right way. No stress and all fun! They picked a great spot in Loose Park and the kids were able to run around, get dirty, and the adults could have a cocktail and relax. The weather was perfection which just enhanced the wonderful afternoon. After watching him blow out the candle on his cupcake (banana cupcake with PB frosting courtesy of Halley's sister Jesse who is an AMAZING cook) we headed back to their house so the kids could nap, play, and we could watch the heartbreaking Husker game against Miami. Their neighborhood has a block party that we crashed after the game. Benny and Easton had a blast dancing the night away! We are so blessed to have them only 3 hrs away so we can make these quick weekend trips. I have countless memories of growing up side by side with my cousins and they were our best friends....I'm so glad to see that the tradition can continue with these Kalasek/French boys :) No matter how crazy life gets any chance to spend with them is a no brainer..... a family event is never a "have to" on the calendar of life its a "get to and want to"...Thanks Tom and Halley for letting us come and take over your home for a day and letting us be there to celebrate Grayson's big move into toddler hood.....here we go onto year 2!

SUCH A GOOD LOOKIN FAMILY!

Three Amigos

Biggest and Littlest

father/son action

Easton and his kite flying skills

Birthday Boy! 

loving on his cousin Grayson

Easton and Nana dancing together at the block party

Easton ~ he was mad at me on the drive home 

This past week we celebrated another special boys 4th birthday....Easton Charles. To say these 4 years flew by is a giant understatement. I say this every year at his birthday, and yet every year it knocks the wind out of me...where does the time go? Yes some days are LONG....but man oh man the months fly by! Easton continues to be our cautious and sensitive little man. Yes, he likes superheros, guns, and fighting bad guys but he also will always look before he leaps, asks permission before he does ANYTHING, follows the rules to a "T", and not aggressive in any way (which is not helping his soccer game currently lol). He becomes more independent each day, but just went I get a little choked up by him not wanting help or not needing help he will come lay on my lap, hold my hand, or will ask for a "smooch and big squeeze". He is too smart for his own good and baffles me with the things he says and remembers. He has a heart of gold and I know I have said this time and again but I literally am a better human every single day because of him and the lessons he teaches me about life, patience, love, honestly, and how to look at the beauty in life and not the ugly things happening (which are out of my control anyways). My life's focus is on my little family and extended family and being the best I can be for all of them....everything else I can do to help the world, community, etc is just extra frosting on the cake.....

He is really into Star Wars right now so he helped me pick out his cake and we used Star Wars as the inspiration for his treats for school and MaryPat's house. We spent the even of his bday celebrating with Brians parents and my mom (my dad is in France retracing the battle grounds of my grandfathers Army unit). The morning of his bday I woke him up after filling his room with balloons. Then we brought treats to MaryPats and to pre-school. He got to be line leader that day at school and they sang to him in music class and he was so excited bc the kids at MaryPats sang to him too during their snack time. Its so fun to be able to sit down at dinner and have real conversations with him. He couldn't wait to tell me all about his day and how cool it is to be 4 years old! He is convinced that now he will run even faster at his soccer game today and refuses to let us come into the bathroom with him now when he goes. :) He loves to help Ben do things and then say "someday when you are 4 Benny you can do _____ by yourself, but I will help you now ok?"

E picked out his own cake this year

Star Wars shirt

Goodies for our friends at Mary Pat's

He got to pick out his own bday gift...obviously it was a ninja turtle get up

just a few gifts not he eve of his 4th bday

reading his cards

Listening to us sing to him

make a wish! 

crazy birthday boy....snuggling late 

waking up on his actual bday....i filled his room/bed with balloons

storm trooper action at 7am

the special hat his teacher made him at school

Yesterday we headed to Aurora to spend some quality time with my grandparents. Sadly we don't get down there near often enough and really need to focus on making more trips there. The boys were so good and were thoroughly entertaining to my grandparents. My grandpa and Easton played tricks on each other and watching the two of them be ornery was the best! My grandma (the teacher) played Go Fish and dominoes with Easton (Ben tried to help but that usually ends with something being pulled out of his mouth or something being thrown across the room...lol) We walked to their park and watched the Huskers pull out a win. By the end of the visit everyone was exhausted and the boys were asleep before we pulled out of town. My grandma made a comment about how fun it is for them to watch the boys grow and develop and change btw each visit. Easton and Ben have no idea how lucky they are to get these memories with their great grandparents. I never knew my great grandparents, but I have a lot of memories with my great Aunt Margaret and until she passed (at 101 yrs old) I didn't realize how rare it was to have had someone "great" in my life for 30 years. My grandparents are 88 and 89 and I hope we still have years left visiting them and sharing life's memories. 

Hope everyone enjoyed the gorgeous weather this weekend! Cant believe its almost Monday again! XOXOXOXO