Everett's (Almost) First Birthday

Since we were in Kinston with family over the 4th of July, we decided to celebrate Everett's first birthday a little early.  I threw a party for Kaden for his first birthday, and I really wanted to do something special for Mr. Everett, too.

I think it ended up being absolutely perfect.  Low key.  Family affair.  Just the right amount of cute.  And still special.

We had a huge Sunday dinner together as a family, then switched gears for some quick birthday party fun.  I decided to do a mini-patriotic bash since 1) Ev is a July baby, 2) we were celebrating over 4th of July weekend, and 3) I could reuse a lot of the dollar store merchandise I had already purchased for our wagon's neighborhood parade makeover (nothing like a two for one deal, I tell you).  It turned out really festive and fun!

I threw together a few homemade decorations (banner, chalkboard printables, cake pendants), to avoid mom guilt (since I made all the decorations for Kaden's first birthday party).

 Since we'd just finished a huge meal, probably a good five minutes beforehand, a simple two-item menu of cupcakes and watermelon sufficed.  I made our all-time favorite cupcakes: lime-coconut with coconut cream cheese frosting.  Divine.  I have yet to meet someone who doesn't love these.  They're that scrumptious.

And at the last minute, I decided to go all crazy sauce and made Everett a mini-layer cake, because a cupcake just didn't seem fancy enough.  (And he didn't get homemade invitations for his first birthday party like Kaden did. So I was grasping at straws to alleviate the mom guilt pains.  I almost made homemade invitations to give to our family members.  I have a sickness.  I freely admit it.)  

We all piled into the den and watched Kaden open Everett's presents.

 He got to open the one or two that managed to escape big brother.

This cost me 50 cents at a yard sale the weekend before the birthday party.  I'd say it's the best 50 cents I've ever spent, except I'm already going crazy listening to Kaden race around the house with it.  It turns out the sweet little sound it makes when slowly pushed by a baby starting to toddle, isn't as sweet when amplified by a sprinting preschooler.

Then, we watched a video recap of Everett's first year, and I didn't even cry (since I'd already bawled through the whole creative process of putting it together).  For some reason, it won't let me embed the video directly into my blog (possibly because it has background music?) but you can find it by clicking here.

Then we headed back into the kitchen for the ceremonial birthday song:

And, at long last, it was time to let Everett dig into his birthday cake.

And now, let me thrill you with a million photos of a semi-naked baby devouring cake.  It doesn't get much better than that:

Then the re-dressed birthday boy snuggled with Poppy while we packed the car.  

Until Kaden convinced them to join him for a ride on the porch swing.

I got pretty emotional at the end of the evening, as we prepared to leave.  Sometimes, it is really hard living half a world away from my family.  It really is.  Especially when my kids celebrate milestones like their first birthday.  I was reminded on Sunday of what a blessing it is to have Chad's family feel like my family, too.

I can't believe that in eleven days my baby will officially be ONE.  This year has flown by for me.  Happy birthday, Evers!  We love you!

You're a Grand Old Flag!

You're a high flying flag! 

And forever in peace may you wave!

 You're the emblem of the land I love!

The home of the free and the brave!

 Every heart beats true 'neath the red, white, and blue,

Where there's never a boast or brag.

 Should auld acquaintance be forgot,

Keep your eye on the grand old flag!

The 4th of July is definitely one of my favorite holidays.  It trails just behind Christmas and Halloween for me in terms of favoritism.  I love this amazing country we call home, and it's great to have an excuse to be extra patriotic.  And the fireworks aren't too shabby, either.  

We spent the morning marching in our neighborhood's traditional 4th of July parade, scarfed down some patriotic popsicles with neighbors, then packed up the car and headed to Kinston for fun with family.  Kaden even took a nap, so he could stay up late for the fireworks.  

He was pretty excited!

For him, the show did not disappoint.

I love weekends that are packed with good food and family.  This weekend had both.  A holiday tossed in made it even better!

Best in Bag, June Edition

I'd like to introduce you to a new little segment on my blog, called how to avoid a terrible library haul.

Every time we go to the library, we leave with a bag stuffed to the brim with books.  Usually we're also carrying a few last minute finds that won't fit in the bag.

And every time we go home to read them, we end up with quite a few duds.  It's to be expected when your almost four-year-old starts blindly pulling things off the shelves and shoving them into a canvas tote bag as fast as he possibly can.  On some visits, I feel like we've reached success if we don't end up with duplicates when we get to the checkout counter.  

Each time we hit the library, we also end up with at least a few fabulous finds.  Reads that make me want to rush to Barnes and Noble, purchase two copies for each of my children, pen some meaningful inscription on the inside covers, and stash them on our bookshelves to be taken down upon any whim to be savored again and again.

So.  At the end of every month, I'm going to start sharing the best of the best from our library adventures. The books that gave my kids the giggles or sparked a thoughtful conversation.  The books that couldn't be parted with and had to be renewed on our next trip.  Or, at the very least, the books I looked forward to reading to my littles more than once before we returned them.

If you, dear reader, get at least a few successful kid library hauls because of a few recommendations from the Reese clan, I will consider that success.

Without further ado, I give you June's favorites:

These books won my preschooler over this month:

Mister Bud Wears the Cone by Carter Goodrich 

Kaden loved this book and requested it over and over and over again.  I'm not a huge animal lover, but this book made me want to go adopt two dogs from the SPCA.  The furry characters were endearing, and there were parts that definitely had us laughing. 

No Bath, No Cake!  Polly's Pirate Party by Matthias Weinert

This story was charming.  And I LOVED that it threw gender bias out the window.  Who says girls don't love dirty, smelly pirates as well as little boys do?!

Mud Puddle by Robert Munsch

Munsch's The Paper Bag Princess happens to be one of my all-time favorite picture books, and this story also didn't disappoint.  An adorable read about a little girl's battle with a mud puddle, Kaden donned this his favorite book of the month.

The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson

We have loved every story by this author and illustrator combo, starting with Room on the Broom, when Grandma bought it for us one Halloween.  I know I am completely behind the times, since I'm pretty sure there's an animated short that goes along with this story, but this is the first we've read it.  This was actually one of our top picks in May, but we checked it out TWO MORE TIMES in June.  Kade loved it!  This author is exceptionally brilliant with rhyme, which makes her work perfect for reading aloud.  

The Composer is Dead by Lemony Snicket

Classic Lemony Snicket in a picture book, with two of my favorite qualities about his writing making an appearance:  awesome vocabulary exposure and dark humor.  I LOVED this read.  Kaden loved it, too, but I think what was truly hilarious about it went a bit over his head.  If you know anything about classical music I think you'd adore this.  Check it out for you; even if your kids don't go completely gaga for it, it's a fun find!

My Crocodile Does Not Bite by Joe Kulka

A darling story about a little boy who's trying to win the pet contest at school with his trusty crocodile.  A great surprise ending to boot!

  These were our favorite baby reads this go around:

Yawn by Sally Symes

Fun, colorful illustrations, and a yawn that travels from one tired little boy through a series of animals, make this a perfect bedtime story for a little one.

Trucks Go by Steve Light 

It is officially ridiculous that I don't own everything this man has ever written for children.  I think we've probably checked out this title alone a good three thousand times.  We ADORE his bright, colorful, transportation-themed board books.  This author is a master of onomatopoeia, which makes reading his work aloud an absolute joy.  Kaden loved this book as a baby, and Everett loves it, too.

Yum Yum! by Yusuke Yonezu

A cute little story with simple die cut illustrations.  Everett really liked this read and would ask (with his pterodactyl scream) to read it again as soon as we finished.  

Happy reading!  If you check any of these titles out, I'd love to hear what you and your family think of them!

Last Day of Joy School

I can't believe it, but our year of Joy School has come to an end.

We had a fun little party for the kids to celebrate the year.

Jamie made this giant water blog for the kids to jump around on.  They had a blast and then had even more fun trying to pop it on purpose.

We played with water balloons (and the amazing dollar store water soakers that were previously such a hit).

Then we had an award ceremony and presented each student with a special award.  Ashlee made these adorable candy medals for each kiddo.  Kaden was named, "Best Cleaner-Upper."  He really is the world's best cleaner-upper.

Then we lined the kids up and tried to recreate this photo that we took on the first day of Joy School back in September.

We had the best time doing Joy School with this group of friends.  I already miss it!  Kaden is very excited to go to "real preschool" in the fall, and I know he's going to love that just as much.