Four!

The monkeys recently turned four years old. Four!

To this mama, four seems very big. There is not even a teeny-tiny remnant of anything "baby" about these two of mine - they are all boy. Mama-hood is funny in that I am ever eager for my children to grow and learn and progress and ever mourning the loss of my chubby-little-baby-boys. I am glad to have another chubby-little-baby-boy to momentarily fill that loss. :)

Anyhoo, we opted to party Billings-style with family this year.

In an effort to keep chaos at-bay, we partied with the Myers side the morning of their birthday and the Schuyler side the evening of their birthday. The four-year-olds prepare to blow out the candles on their pumpkin muffin 'cake'.

Tag team.

Party-goers enjoying pumpkin chocolate-chip muffins, camo utensils, coffee and chocolate milk...and stimulating conversation it seems.

It was time for our big boys to graduate from their tricycles so we gave M and S new bikes. I took them to 'try-on' different bikes at Toys R Us the day before and we almost came home with one of the bikes you see pictured above and one Diego bike. I really didn't want that Diego bike at my house BUT I didn't say anything and eventually M wanted the same bike as S anyway. Phew!

Soybean was a bit confused about all the attention/gifts/goodies his brothers were receiving but he lives by the "Keep Calm and Carry On" motto. While Mason and Smith pedaled gleefully around Papa's shop, Sawyer drilled (pretend) holes in every surface he could reach.

I bought an inflatable buck in keeping with the hunting theme of the party and our everyday life. Ha! Matt and the four-year-olds took turns hiding and hunting the buck.

The men with their kill. (Thank you, Lane, for helping me fill this monster with air. Thank you, also, for all the inappropriate posturing you did while blowing it up. Good times.)

After nap, we headed on over to Ma and Pa Schuyler's for some more fun. Matt, Sawyer and I were all pretty pooped by this point, but M and S were buzzing for more birthday attention/gifts/cake.

Grammie Laurie baked cupcakes with frosting and gummy bugs as requested by M and S. I have shamefully few pictures of the second party because, like I said, I was pooped. Trust me, it was a fabulous party...I just don't have the pictures to prove it. (I'm hoping someone else took some pictures? Jen? Janelle? Laurie?)

Mason sporting the helmet Grammie and Papa Schuyler gifted us. We still only have one helmet, so only one of our dear children is really safe whilst riding their bikes - we let the best-behaved boy wear it. :)

Live footage of the hunt.

Grammie and Papa Myers gifted the monkeys their very own cd player, along with some Bible-story cds and a VeggieTales praise cd. Blake taught them how to rock-out to Metallica in his room so they rock-out to VeggieTales praise in their room. Love it.

Usually, they turn the volume to max, close the door, and dance like monkeys - to the same song over and over again. They will not let me be in the room and are insistent that the door be closed all the way. On this particular occasion, Smitty left the door open and I caught a precious glimpse of what goes on behind closed doors.

Thank you to all our family for making all the parties fun and just-right for our fantastic four-year-olds. We love you! And someday, maybe, you might get a thank you note. :)


For fun, here are the links to the other birthdays:

Birth
One
Two
Three