Jack Turns 3!

How is it that this cute little munchkin is 3 already?  He started the day off with his favorite--Cinnamon Chip bread from Great Harvest.  (Notice our lovely hole in the wall in the background--more on that later…)

Then, he got to open some presents...

(and his handsome big brother was there to help)

Then we went to a park and played with friends...

  

…Where he crashed on his bike and got a painful "boo-boo…"

…But, then we went out for pizza (one of the birthday boy's faves!), and all was perfect again!

Jack does not have a sweet tooth, so figuring out a cake for his birthday was a tough one.  I ended up making him brownies since he will sometimes eat them at California Tortilla (his favorite restaurant), but it was not a hit.  For Jack anyway.  The rest of the B-Hive enjoyed the brownie cake, Jack was just happy to have blown out the candle.

First Days of School

Summer went by too fast as usual and before we knew it, it was time to head back to school.  This was a big year for me as Max entered 1st grade (my first baby is in school ALL DAY EVERYDAY--sniff, sniff), and Jack is in preschool for the first time (he goes twice a week for 2.5 hours).  All of my babies are in school.  They started on different days (actually, different weeks), so we got to stretch the momentous picture-taking out for a while.

Max's first day... 

Walking to the bus stop...

Sam's first day... 

and Jack's first day... 

Here are some cute pics of the boys and I waiting at the bus stop for Max to come home at the end of his long day... 

  

This and That in August

We enjoyed a bit of a harvest this year before the bugs, weeds and whatever else took over.  Our luck out here on the East Coast is definitely not as good as it was when we lived in Utah, but we are grateful for every vegetable we pick!

Some of my girlfriends..

The boys had a sushi picnic at the park one afternoon...

They also recently discovered they loved subway sandwiches...

Motorcycle rides around the yard were a favorite pastime this summer...

Cute little Jack.  He is getting so big.  One of his favorite things to do these days is put on a costume and pretend to be a superhero.  He looks a lot like Sam in this picture...

Sam turns 5!

Sam is 5!  His birthday is always such an awesome way to celebrate the end of a (short) fun summer.  This year his birthday came before his party for a change (normally it is the other way around).  Either way, he gets to open up presents, have cake, and celebrate twice!  

We had the MineCraft theme going this year--the boys were absolutely crazy about all things pixelated. So, I turned my pinterest searching skills to good use and found a cake that didn't require crazy amounts of frosting or fondant.  I think it turned out quite well!

Sam wanted to go to Hibachi for his birthday dinner.  This place is always a fun experience for the boys...

The following weekend we had "Sam's 5th Minecraft Water Slide Birthday Party."  It was a success!

Check out my "pinterest-y" creative goody-bags and Minecraft decor...