Choo Choo! Trice is 2!

Birthday party 1 of 2 is complete. What a fun time we had! I loved this party even more than his first one because he anticipated it for days and loved every minute of it. He thought it was AWESOME his friends (and papa and gramma) were at HIS house playing! He totally knew it was all about him, too. 

This year's theme was trains .. of course. Trice is obsessed with trains, so it was a pretty obvious choice. Here are some favorite pictures from the night! In Trice's words it was "so much fun!"

Trice woke up to us singing, "Happy Birthday" and streamers on his door. He was pretty pumped. I put a few presents in the train I had made him the night before. He was the most excited ever!

 Thomas backpack!

With a train ball inside!

Karaoke machine I totally scored at a garage sale! He LOVES singing in microphones!

 "Anudder one!"

 "What's this?!"

"Thomas poon!"

What's on that train, Trice? "I STATE!"

Despite this unamused expression, he really did love it!

This is what I look like at 6am! PS .. thanks train experts for not telling me that the train cars only have two wheels. Rookie parent-of-a-train-lover mistake. 

Breakfast I made for him .. which looks SUPER creepy.. I did not realize it until now, but he loved it so that's all that matters right? This literally might qualify for "Pinterest gone wrong."

Picnic lunch on the deck. BFF Scout joined the party.

The Details

 The banner in front says, "Choo!" I bought the flag banner at Dollar General and just added the letters!

Originally I was going to have food for a "coal car", "log car", etc. but we decided to have a taco bar so it was perfect for taco toppings! We had cheese, lettuce, olives, tomatoes.. and then some fruit and baby carrots!

 Birthday boy!

 Total Cheeser!

 Pa and Engineer Trice

The Fun

 I'm pretty sure all my life I've dreamt of this. Kid table on my deck. My life is complete.

 But seriously .. how cute are they?

 These two are the greatest friends!

 Love my little Harper-doodle!

Present Time

 He is obsessed with Hudson's fire truck that actually drives .. so that's what they got him!

 New trike from papa!

Heart melted.

The Cake

 He really did love everyone singing him, "Happy Birthday!"

 Want a piece of cake? Drool included. This made me cry. Too big!

 He dropped his piece on the ground when he was almost finished so papa gave him another one!

 The best attempt at a picture with Amelia!

 Trice told me his shorts were "too big." so I went to grab him another pair. In the meantime he snuck back outside with a GIANT grin. "It's my party, and I'll be naked if I want to."

 Train made for two.

 Huxley couldn't push the pedal yet, so my dad literally crawled around in circles on his knees making it go.


More presents from grandma Donna!

 "ORANGE CAR!"

 Cy Uncle Adam won for him!

Since Trice was still talking about his party today, I think it was a success. I love me a good party!! I'm still dying over the kids table and the sound of tiny giggles in my backyard. I asked Benny if we could do this once/month. 

The Color of {Joy}

I seem to have disappeared from the blog world. I have about 1,000 drafts staring at me, but I never take the time to finish them. I'm doing this thing called life and it's busy. Mostly, my thoughts are just too scattered. But today.. I decided I felt like blogging. Maybe I'll keep it up again. Maybe I'll finish those drafts. Maybe I won't. But today - I am sharing my joy. 

Today was pure joy. In fact, the last few days were nothing but pure, unfiltered joy. The kind that makes you tear up and cling to every second wishing the clock would stop ticking. I wish I could have captured all of it - every moment - in a bottle to be opened and relived any time I want. It's days like these last few that I reach for on those days I feel tired, unworthy, stressed, and worn down. 

Trice and I painted this beautiful portrait together today. I began by dumping little bits of paint onto the paper and running our fingers through it. We ended with Trice squeezing every last drop out of every paint container we owned onto the paper and using it as a slip 'n slide. It was way more fun his way (minus the moment his head nearly met the concrete). I only paused to take a few pictures when he was entirely in the zone, and then it was back to painting away. It ended with a nice garden hose bath full of giggles, squeals, and smiles that are etched forever in my soul. I love you little boy - all the way to the moon and back. 

In case you're wondering, this WILL be framed for the play room!