January, Part 2: Peter's Seventh Birthday

The day before Peter's birthday, Jeremiah took Peter snowboarding for his very first time. Peter was a natural. He's an athlete like his Dad, that's for sure.

Above: Peter was pretty tuckered out after his snowboarding trip with Dad.

Above: Peter wanted a Pokemon cake for his birthday. I looked up some ideas on Pinterest and they were all ridiculously hard...pretty much for a professional cake decorator. Not only am I not an artist or professional cake decorator, but I am a pretty sleep deprived mom these days who is pretty low on energy. I needed something much easier than the ideas I came across on Pinterest. So, then I went to Amazon and found some cute little Pokemon toys and an edible Pokemon cake picture...and voila. I was going to make a white cake with yellow and blue frosting on the edges, but Peter really wanted a chocolate cake, so that's what we did. Good job, Pete. It was delicious. The boys surprisingly gobbled this baby up in only a matter of days. I usually have to throw the cake out to avoid temptation because the boys lose interest in it...that was not the case this year.

Above: Pikachu!

Above: One of the boys' favorite things to do is to wake up on the morning of their birthday to see their birthday cake. Peter was so excited, in fact, that he woke up at about 4 a.m. and had to be put back to bed because it was definitely not time to get up yet.

Above: Daniel thought the cake looked delicious! Too bad he can't have any cake or chocolate yet! :)

Above: He was a smiley good sport anyway though!

Above: The boys woke up early enough that we had a little down time before it was time to get Peter dressed and ready for school. Jeremiah took the day off so he could spend some time with the family too, which was very nice.

Above: The bag of Pokemon toys I bought came with more toys than I could fit on the cake. The boys had a fun time dividing the toys between the two of them before it was time for school.

Above: Dad stayed home from work and went sledding with Johnny while Peter was at school.

Above: They had some good times, and there sure are some awesome places to go sledding in our neighborhood right now with all of this snow!

Above: Time to head home!

Above: That's the hill they sledded down! Crazy!

Above: Once Peter got home from school, it was time to open presents!

Above: Peter got a Kylo Ren voice changer mask.

Above: Peter also got a Star Wars Kylo Ren costume. He got a Kylo Ren lightsaber as well, but it was late arriving in the mail, so Peter had to open up a picture of it. He also got some Pokemon cards. After we opened presents, we headed out to have dinner. Peter picked Pizza Pie Cafe. It was a good choice. Very family friendly. The boys ate a ton. Then Daniel had a little meltdown because he needed an evening nap, so we had to go. We took a short drive so Daniel could get enough of a nap...and then Peter and Johnny ended up falling asleep too.

Above: Cake time!

Above: Johnny was a little cranky (as he usually is when he wakes up from late naps), but after some cake and ice cream, everyone was in good spirits.

I can't believe that this sweet and sassy Pete of mine is already 7 years old. Here's the birthday message I posted for him on Facebook:

Seven years ago at 12:35 a.m., I became a mother when Peter David Washburn was born. I was so sick of being pregnant that when I was given the option for an induction, I jumped at the chance.

I arrived at the hospital bright and early on January 18th and everyone assured me that in only a few hours, I would have a new baby. I filled out my paperwork stating the date of birth as January 18th...but Peter had other plans...15 1/2 hours later--just long enough to ensure his birthday would be the 19th, not the 18th--Peter finally arrived. I should have known it would be a sign of things to come. smile emoticon My sweet Pete is incredibly strong-willed and no one can *make* him do anything he doesn't want to do!

Peter is fun-loving, adventurous, curious, imaginative, a natural leader and yet also a team player, strong-willed, mischievous, kind, funny, and very sweet.

Years ago, when Peter was three or four, I packed my boys into the van and said, "Let's have a little adventure." Pete said, "No, mom, let's have a BIG adventure!" That pretty much sums up my Pete. I sure love him. Happy seventh birthday to my sweet and sassy boy.

Above: I love this big guy of mine!

January, Part 1: Starting the Year Off Right

We had a few more days of Christmas break in January before heading back to school and normal life. I'm not going to lie though, it was good to get the kids back to school. They needed it and we needed it too!

Above: Just hanging out on New Year's Day.

Above: After putting together all of Peter and Johnny's Christmas Legos, we pulled out our bin of Legos and the boys had a fun Lego night.

Above: What a cute guy! My sweet Mr. Pudgy Pants!

Above: Peter's Christmas Legos displayed very nicely.

Above: Peter sure loves his little brother!

Above: I sure have sweet boys. I love them so much!

Above: I love my time with Daniel. He is such a cutie!

Above: Johnny had a few fun Play Doh days. He sure loves to make and create!

Above: Johnny got to have a play date with his buddy, Eli.

Above; Johnny is such a good big brother.

Above: It's hard to get these two smiling at the same time!

Above: What handsome boys!

Above: Where did Johnny go? (Hint: he's under his green blankie)

Above: I sure love these boys of mine. The only thing that would have made this picture more perfect is if Peter was in it too and everyone was smiling at the same time. :)

Above: Johnny gave his first talk in Primary. He was beyond shy and scared about it, so I told him if he gave his talk, he could earn a Beanie Boo.

Above: As you can see, Johnny gave his talk and earned his Beanie Boo. It was so cute and silly when he gave his talk.

Above: Johnny covered his ears when Jeremiah started whispering the words of his talk into them. He mumbled his talk with a few words that were clear here and there. It was so dang cute!

Above: Peter will snuggle Daniel every chance he can get.

Above: I love this sweet Johnny.

Above: Ahhh, Sunday. The only day I am consistently styling my hair and doing make-up.

Above: So. Much. Snow.

Above: Peter was adamant that he wanted his hair styled a certain way. He kept saying he wanted his sides "shaved," which we weren't cool with. However, since this is what he really meant, we were happy to oblige. Doesn't he look handsome? This haircut is perfect for him.

Above: We got Johnny his usual haircut...and then he was very sad about it after seeing Peter's haircut. So, we have promised him that he can have his hair done like Peter's in the future. It looks like I will have a lot more hair styling experience in my future because Peter's new haircut requires a lot more upkeep than his past haircuts have!

Above: Every time I sort the laundry and see the size of Peter's shorts/pants, I can't help but repeat this line from The Sandlot in my mind: "He's a square, Benny. A square! He's an L7 weenie!"

Above: Johnny loves his art table that Nana and Grandpa Mackay got for him for Christmas. He uses it pretty much every single day.

Above: Having fun with Daddy.

Above: Having fun at Mimi and Papa's house for Sunday dinner.

Above: Jeremiah snapped this picture on the way to his bishopric meetings one Sunday morning. What a gorgeous sunrise!

I would say the year is off to a good start, wouldn't you? Lots of good times ahead!