Monkey Joe's Birthday Party

We celebrated Jack's 3rd birthday today at Monkey Joe's in West Des Moines.  There were a total of 14 children at the party....all below the age of 6!  Jack is obsessed with Woody and Buzz these days, so it was no surprise we had a Toy Story themed birthday party.  The party was a little chaotic, but that was to be expected!  Everyone had a great time playing in the different inflatables, eating cake and ice cream, and enjoying each other's company.  All in all, it was a fun afternoon for everyone!

The kids having fun in the inflatables

Mom and the birthday boy

Trying to get a group picture....Katy thought we were playing peak-a-boo!

My cute kiddos!

Woody and Buzz cake

A gift from Monkey Joe

Blowing out his candles

14 children under the age of 6!

Joe and his blue mouth!

Sweet Brooklyn!

Loving his cake

The Johnson Family!

The Johnson cousins

My sweet baby girl!

Grandma and Grandpa McCulla with the grandchildren

Jack and Daddy being silly

Happy 3rd Birthday, Jack!

We had a great time celebrating Jack's birthday today. I still cannot believe he is three years old! Where did the time go?! We started off the day with breakfast pancakes, per Jack's request. Then we headed over to the East side for lunch with Daddy and Great-Grandma. This evening we had dinner at the Tavern followed by a trip to Valley West Mall for Family Fun Night. The theme this month was the Blank Park Zoo. Jack was excited to see the animals, but he was definitely more excited for the inflatables! He had a blast on the giant slide. We ended the day testing out Jack's new birthday present...his first bike! I think it will be a little while yet before he has it mastered, but it will be fun watching him learn. Happy 3rd Birthday, Jack! We love you buddy!

Birthday pancakes!

Jack picked out 3 toys at the dollar store for being 3 years old!

His birthday present!

Touching an alligator at Valley West Mall

On his way up the inflatable slide

He had so much fun!

3 years old!

At three years old, Jack is a thriving toddler who is still on the go and still 100% boy!  We are having so much fun watching him grow and learn new things every day.  He is a great kid and always happiest when he can just PLAY!  Here are a few highlights of Jack at 3:

• He is still in love with golf!  All he ever wants to do is play with his golf balls and golf clubs.  It keeps him entertained for hours.  Even at this young age, I think Daddy is impressed with his golf swing.  He has a great follow-through!
• Jack loves watching all three of the Toy Story movies and he talks about Woody and Buzz often.
• He is still not a very good eater.  I try to fix him healthy meals every day, but if its not chicken nuggets or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, there is a good chance he won't eat it.  His other favorites include bread, potato chips, crackers, pretzels, and candy.  Uggh!  Fortunately, there are a few fruits and vegetables he will eat.  They include kiwi, apples, bananas, broccoli and green beans.
• Jack enjoys going to his Tiny Tots music class every Friday morning with his cousin, Abby, and friend, Owen.  He is really into music and loves singing songs.  I often catch him singing songs while he plays with his toys, and most of the time, it is a song he learned from Tiny Tots!
• Jack is still in love with his blankie (a.k.a. "boo-boo") and pacifier and he sleeps with them every night.  After several unsuccessful attempts, we gave up trying to wean him from his pacifier.  The best we could do was limit his use to nap time and bed time.
• Jack's favorite books are: If You Give a Moose a Muffin, If You Give a Pig a Pancake, and One Fish, Two Fish, Red, Fish, Blue Fish.  His favorite television shows are: Curious George, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Dino Dan, and Dora the Explorer.  His favorite songs are: The Firetruck song and The Goldfish song.  He also likes to make up songs while playing his guitar.  He calls it his rockstar guitar!
• At his three year doctor check-up, he weighed 26.8 pounds (6th percentile) and was 36 inches tall (17th percentile).  It won't be long before Katy surpasses him!

Tulips....in April!

The kids and I took a trip to Pella today for some pictures with the tulips. The tulips were up early this year because of the nice weather we have had this past month. Unfortunately, that means there probably won't be many tulips left for Tulip Time in May. We had fun dressing Jack and Katy up in their dutch costumes. Of course Jack was more interested in running around and playing with his golf club and golf ball than smiling for the camera!

Grandma with the kiddos

I loved his red scarf with the red tulips!

Silly dude!

Intrigued by the tulips

Pretty little dutch girl

She fell in the tulips!  We looked away for just a second and then heard a loud crunch as she fell down and broke off several stems!  Ooops!!

We used cookies from Jaarsma's Bakery as a bribe to get him to smile for the camera.  It didn't really work!

Windmill

Some big wooden shoes to fill!

The best picture I could get of the two of them

Brotherly love

Beautiful tulips this year!

This kid LOVES golf!

Pretty girl!

Katy's 1 Year Pictures

Happy Easter...and Happy Birthday

We celebrated Easter in Pella today with my family. The day consisted of a beautiful church service, followed by dinner, an Easter hunt and a birthday celebration for all the March and April birthdays in our family. (Today is also special because it is Jay's 32nd birthday!) And of course, what Easter Sunday is complete without a few baby chicks! Grandma and Grandpa thought it would be fun to bring home a few baby chicks for the grandchildren to play with for the day. The chicks were only about a week old and I have to admit, they were pretty cute! The kids had a lot of fun holding them and watching them run around outside in the yard. Grandma had a farm lined up to take the chicks at the end of the day, but leave it to my husband to decide we needed to take two home with us! So, we now have two baby chicks living in our house. I told Jay they could stay here for a couple of months until they got too big. There is no way I want two full grown chickens running around in my yard! Yuck!

Grandma and Grandpa with the grandchildren...and the baby chicks!

Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa McCulla
Katy checking out the baby chicksThey were pretty cute!

Jack and Katy with their goodiesSearching for Easter eggsHe couldn't wait to get his hands on more candy!Typical Katy expressionBunny ears!Celebrating the Spring birthdays

The newest members of our family...."Peep" and "Phil"