hidden talents

Jeremy discovered a hidden talent the night before Quincy's birthday party a few weeks back.

Here's how the drama unfolded...

Let's just say that I have yet to discover that talent.

But, I did discover the "candle" setting on my camera.

Jeremy, I hope your birthday wasn't too bad despite your wonky cake and nasty virus.

three-years-old

There's no denying it. No escaping it. It has happened. Our baby turned three today.

He's clever. He's sweeter than honey. He's strong-willed, and one day instead of driving me crazy, that trait will serve him very well. He's forgiving. He's sensitive. He's forever curious. He is highly sensorial. His memory and attention to detail amaze me on a daily basis. He's a wise one. He talks non-stop. He makes us and himself laugh regularly. His imagination is pretty cool. He's passionate. About so many things. He is a lover of animals and his knowledge of them is pretty astounding. He's a bookworm. He is into facts. He likes puzzles, tools, balls, and the sandpit. He loves creating art and making music. He likes trains, cars, and trucks. He loves Thomas, but has never seen the show. He loves Bob the Builder, but has never seen the show. He loves Cars, but not the movie because all the wrecking upsets him. He's not a fan of TV, actually. Unless it's an animal documentary, then it's a completely different story. He loves to go out. He loves people, but can often be found playing on his own. He's a very selective eater. He shares my appreciation of photos. He loves to talk about Cincinnati and his faraway family. His favorite colors are blue and yellow and his least favorite colors are red and green; those two pieces of information play a surprisingly big role in his daily life. His best friends are Mama, Papa, Berkley, and Kai. He has recently become a proficient pedaler. He is always ready to help me in the kitchen. He would do anything for chocolate. He feeds the dogs their dinner. He is into rhyming words. He always misses 14 and 15 when he counts to 20. He ends many sentences with "and stuff" or "if you want". He weighs 16kg (35.2lbs)and is 99.5cm (39.25in) tall.

He is one-of-a-kind and today we have the pleasure of celebrating him and all the magic that he has brought to our lives.

happy birthday to my better half!

When I asked him what he wanted, he said, "not to spend any money." He wants no fuss whatsoever. Not if Q and I have anything to do about it!

another birthday celebration

This morning we had a birthday celebration with my antenatal group. We have a small group...just five families. One of the other mums organized it all, and despite our protests, paid for it all too. Very generous. Just the mums and tots. It was held at a child-friendly cafe that has a great play area, a couple private party rooms, and a story-telling Wonderland. We each brought a $10 gift and did a lucky dip. Q's favorite parts were seeing his friends, eating marshmallows, and riding the bouncy horse. Inside the Wonderland, he was fascinated by the parrot, the teddy bear picnic, and the rocking chair that Goldilocks broke.

I think we can officially call Q's birthday over until next year! Next up, the Queen, followed by Jeremy.

happy birthday mama!

I know it's not until tomorrow in your neck of the woods, but I just couldn't wait to share this!

I think I definitely need to watch The Sound of Music this weekend; what about you?

Have a happy happy day and a fabulously healthy year ahead...

a mad hatter birthday party

I have yet to touch a photo from Quincy's first birthday, however I made a couple layouts from a very fun birthday party we went to a couple of weeks ago.

This is our big boy on his way to his best mates' house...

Agewise, Quincy is sandwiched between the two girls (and actually in the top photo as well). Lucky boy! He loves them both.

And he really loved their new Radio Flyer!

happy birthday husband!

This card was very much inspired by a piece of Cosmo Cricket paper. The cool dot and bracketed number stamps are part of a range of brand new Glitz Design Roller Doodle Stamps. They were just released at CHA and I have some of these little gems to sell on Trade Me. More details in my next post...

But for now, happy birthday, Jeremy! Berkley, Kai, Quincy, and I sure hope it's a good one.

one more year

One more year and after the harsh reality of late, it is not to be taken for granted.

I love having a Guy Fawkes birthday--I can pretend the fireworks are all for me. Saturday night we made a nice picnic of warm and toasty roast chicken sandwiches and a salad, bundled up, and headed down to the beach to watch Wellington's big display. Good show. I was amazed at how well we could see from so far across the harbour. Afterwards we just sat and watched all the hundreds (possibly a slight over-estimation) of private displays scattered around the hills.

We saw a hedgehog on the way down too. Cute.

I got so much mail this year. It was a nice treat. Many letters and gifts from friends and family. My parents sent a humongous care package that was en route for about six weeks and it arrived in perfect time for the big day. How lucky! My sister left a gift for me way back in June. It was all wrapped and tucked away in a closet. How organized!

And on Saturday I received some Reese's Cups in the mail from a scrapbooker who read a while back that I love them. Is that kind or what?

On Sunday after opening too many gifts, we headed to the carnival in our village. Fun fun. Ate a lot. Jeremy made a nice gumbo for dinner and a strawberry cheesecake for dessert. Seems like the weekend was defined by "what are we eating next?"

On Saturday morning we did some much-needed clean-up in and around the house. Jeremy got all the summer veggies in the ground. Very productive few hours. There's still plenty to do, but it was nice to spend the rest of the weekend relaxing guilt-free in an orderly house. It was also nice to see Jeremy do so little work work over the weekend--it was great for him to chill a bit.

What did I ask Jeremy for this year for my birthday? If a computer was out of the question, then family time & a clean house would be perfect. Really. And as evidenced above, these wishes were granted. But he insisted that if he didn't get me anything more concrete, I would not only hold it against him, I'd also tell my mom. Funny. My mom prefers to think that he just doesn't want to disappoint her rather than that he is scared of her. (OK, so I did tell my mom the story!) In the end, he got me a piece of the pottery that we are collecting. Very nice.

And now life has returned to what is now considered normal. The princess treatment gone for another year.