Home Grown

Thursday, June 4, 2015

Saturday, May 30, 2015

Birthday Fun & Mother's Day Marvel

Henry's birthday was sprinkled with fun throughout the day,

but the highlight was certainly the Whitecaps Game.

An annual event with Joe's work that luckily landed on Henry's birthday.

The evening was filled with one surprise after another.

All of Joe's co-workers signed a singing card for Henry.

And then we ran into Joe's high school guidance counselor who works there.

She stole the kids away to find some special treats.

And the best surprise of all...a foul ball that landed in our box!

Of course, the best part of a birthday is the birthday party.

Lately, Henry's been into the show "Jake and the Neverland Pirates". So of course, he was set on having a Pirate Party.

Our first party was with my side of the family.

Opening Grandpa's homemade golf set.

In Henry's world, Golf club = Sword

Arrrre you ready to celebrate pirate style?

Menu: String Cheese "Treasure Maps"

"Fish and Chips"

Chicken "Golden Nuggets"

Meatball "Cannonballs"

"Buried Treasure" Corn and Carrots

Gold Doubloon Cupcakes

An enthusiastic Uncle Mike

We also celebrated Mother's Day while we were together.

This year my mom and I surprised each other with the gift we gave her.

We wanted to make her a fancy hat to wear while she watches her horse races.

The funny thing is that she had apparently donated that hat to Africa's Child,

where we bought it, along with some flowers we glued onto it.

What are the chances of that?!

The following weekend we celebrated Henry's birthday with

Joe's side of the family at Melissa's new home.

The Great Grandmas enjoyed the nice day and good company.

And the rest of us also enjoyed good conversation and yummy pirate food.

My attempt to give Henry the "Bucky Boat" cake he had requested.

Thank you to everyone for celebrating Henry's birthday with us.

You all helped to make it very special.

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Four

Henry Samuel,

you are 4 years old!

And what an awesome 4 year old you are.

With each year you get older, there's an ongoing conversation about who you take after. I think we can safely say that you are a beautiful blend of both of us.

Mom at 4

Overall, more people say you look like me as a child with your hair, nose, chin and face shape. You share my blood type, and actually, the same personality type according to the Myers-Briggs Personality Test. It even appears that, like me and your sis, you're bound to be left-handed. Dad sometimes jokes about us being two peas in a pod.

Dad at 4

But you also have a lot of your dad in you too. You have his big smile and his beautiful blue eyes. You have a fascination with swords and a love for wrestling, just like a young Joey. And we can't forget your mutual love for Star Wars, Peter Pan, and Legos. You are your Daddy's little buddy.

One thing is remarkably sure. You are uniquely you!

You say funny things like "Mom, can you believe how cool I am? I even have hair on my arms...but not as much as Dad."

And you say sweet things like, "Dad, I'm glad you're in my family."

And you do silly things like grab a pillow and blanket and make yourself comfortable on me while I relax.