daddy's turn for cake & ice cream

This past Saturday daddy celebrated his birthday and Dalton and mommy tried our best to let him be the boss this weekend! 

He got to pick...

 what he wanted for breakfast...McDonalds EggMcMuffin & biscuits and gravy

 what he wanted to do...well some of it was what he wanted to do...mommy and daddy actually rented and watched Couples Retreat after Dalton went to bed

what he wanted for dinner...Johnnie's

what kind of cake...strawberry

And did I mention that mommy promised not to be bossy ALL DAY LONG! 

Plus he got presents...a John Deere tractor (Dalton wanted daddy to have the BIG one but mommy's bank account only allowed for the diecast) that Dalton picked out for him when I took him to the local John Deere dealer in town on Thursday after MDO!  We drive by it ALL THE TIME and this time we finally went in...they have everything you could want and more...plus they let the kids climb all over the tractors and gators and whatever else they can find!  Daddy also got sn OSU t-shirt and birthday money to buy a new TV for his home office!

The weather was fantastic to say the least and we spent the majority of the day outside...Daddy had hoped to get some reading in on the hammock but Dalton had other plans!  Please note that mommy promised not to be bossy not Dalton...it's kind of his way or the highway!  We are working on that one!  We also got to visit with some neighbors who were out enjoying the weather too...one was working on his riding lawn mower with the trailer attachment.  Dalton couldn't have been more excited...he waited patiently as daddy tried to help him fix the tire on the trailer!  And when they were done daddy got to take Dalton for a ride around the culdesac...BIG STUFF for a 3 year old!  We celebrated more on Sunday with my parents and siblings with food and presents!

Just a few pictures to share! 

Mommy is never sneaky enough with the camera...I get caught every time!  But this one turned out pretty cute!

Daddy doing what he loves to do...R E A D!  And Dalton doing what he loves to do...BE  OUTSIDE!

Daddy trying to get some peace & quiet on his birthday...Dalton isn't going to let that happen!

Dalton and Mommy making Daddy a birthday message on the patio...loving some sidewalk chalk!

They yummy strawberry cake that Dalton and mommy made for daddy earlier in the day!  Dalton just couldn't wait to eat it so we sliced a piece for him... 

He thought this was his piece...UHM NO!  Luckily the cake survived...

Dalton and daddy at Grandma Beverly & Pa's house for his birthday dinner and celebration!  Yummy brownie with peanut butter frosting...and don't ask about Dalton's shirt who knows why it was off...probably because he is not a FAN of clothing right now! 

Just one more shout out for Dalton's birthday...back in January one of our former neighbors had a 4th birthday party and Dalton made him a card and sent it to him!  And on Saturday we received this one from him for Dalton...so excited about getting the BIG ENVELOPE in the mail!

He loved the bows and just couldn't resist pulling one off!  Great job on the card Carter:)  Dalton says  "Thank you SOOO MUCH!".

can't wait for warmer weather

We have had a few days of warmer...

not warm but warmer weather so we headed out for some fresh air! 

We took our weekly walk to check out the road construction outside the neighborhood...weather permitting!

On a mission...

He has his new firefighter rain boots that he got for his birthday...he also likes to pretend he is laying concrete!  He still remembers our concrete guys who spent a couple of weeks working on our back patio last summer...they had some BIG rubber boots!

Trading one favorite activity for another lawn mowing versus the safety inspection of the fire hydrant!

Mission accomplished...

look left and there's an excavator...not much action it was around lunch time!

Look right...and even bigger mess!  But of course Dalton thinks it's SOOOO COOL!

Look left again and a struture is going up...it's a medical facility!  That should come in handy in the years to come...hopefully not but probably will!

Getting ready for the open road...

Nice accesories...

I promise he picked them out himself!  I had to help him get he head gear on but he knew what he wanted!

My COOL RIDER! 

Bad mommy no helmet but I don't think it would have fit over the other head accesories!

Backyard fun in the sun...

When Dalton sees the sun out he automatically thinks that it's warm outside!  Not always the case unless you think that 45 degrees is warm!

Taking a break from the ride...playing in his BIG sand pile in the backyard!

Mommy will you swing me PLEASE! 

Who can resist...what a sweet smile!  He loves to go really high these days...he is getting a bit more daring:)

birthday party sneak peak

A few people have been asking about the birthday party...and I have been trying to sort through the MANY pictures that I took to see what is blog worthy...plus I need to blog about Valentine's Day...I am feeling like I may never catch up!  So until I get some time this is all this mommy has to share...

His actual birthday we spent at Bouncin' Craze...just mommy and Dalton and our neighbors Sharon and Jonas...our other playdate pals were busy!

Mommy & Dalton...love my three year old!

I think he may have officially had the time of his life...so far!

Once he decided it was okay to bounce, etc. he didn't want to stop!

The birthday party...last Saturday!

The cake and cupcakes from Target with cute cupcake toppers I got from the same lady on Etsy that did the super cute invitations!

More cupcake pics with some of our Toy Story friends!

Let's blow out the candles...check out the Buzz shirt!  I forgot about the mirror on the back of our china cabinet...oops!

What a great way to end the night Toy Story PJ's from Grandma Beverly and Pa with some left over pizza and who knows what's on the TV! 

Dalton also had his 3 year well toddler check on Friday...everything was great!  He is 36lbs 90% and 36" 30%!  We are normally about 45% in both but his Pediatrician said no worries!  And then Sunday I gave Dalton an interview and these are the answers I got!

• What's your name?  Dalton
• How old are you? 3
• What's your favorite color?  green
• Who is your favorite playdate pal?  Maddy and LUKE...he really stressed the Luke part
• Who is your favorite school pal?  Grace...he talks about her all the time... and the funny thing is she has super curly hair just like Miss. Maddy does!
• What's your favorite place to go?  Bouncey place and he said he liked the helicopter...he growled at everyone who came near it when he was on it...nice!
• What's your favorite place to eat?  McDonalds
• What's your favorite drink? Chocolate milk
• What's your favorite food? pizza
• What's your favorite inside toy?  play cars and watch TV...oops!  I blame it on the cold wet winter we have had!
• What's your favorite outside toy? go in the front and ride motorcycle
• What show do you like best?  Wonder Pets or Sesame Street...he chose Sesame Street
• What's your favorite snack?  lunchables...the mini ones

More pics, etc. to come...remember this is my journal about my one and only baby boy so this mommy reserves the right to document every cheesey moment!

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busy playdate day

Today we were lucky enough to take advantage of some FREE Science Museum passes from our playdate pals...Katie, Maddy and Luke!  We were joined by Cari, Wesley and Mia as well as Cari's sister and her two sweet girls!  We arrived around 10:30am and stayed until almost 1:30pm...since Dalton isn't really taking naps anymore...why not stay all day...right?!?!?  It's so nice that you can pack a lunch and eat it there not that anybody really wants to take time to eat other than the mommy's who need a break from chasing their little ones!

It was really neat to see how he is changing when we go there...the first time he went he was about 19 months and we have been several times since then and today especially he was just exploring so many more of the exhibits than he ever has before!  Don't get me wrong he still has his favorites like the tractor..surprise surprise but overall he was interested in other stuff...he is growing up so fast!  Mommy didn't get to spend as much time talking with her mommy friends as she would have liked because Dalton was clearly on a mission to play today and didn't stay in one place for very long (other than the tractor) and never seemed to want to be where the other playdate pals were playing!  Go figure!  But it was fun to see him exploring after all the playdates are for him too right?!?!?

Just a couple pictures...

All the playdate pals...minus Dalton!  He was too busy driving the tractor!

Taking turns...yeah for Dalton and Wesley!

Our little rebel...crossing the CSI yellow tape!  Dalton's first run in with the law...hopefully the last!

This is one of his new favorites...he played on these drums for quite a long time! 

And had one of the biggest smiles on his face...our little rock star!

Another regular stop during our science museum visit...the electric trains...Dalton just chases them around the exhibit or waits not so patiently for them to come out of the tunnel!

I can't remember the technical name for this exhibit but it caught Dalton's eye on the way out!  It had lots of balls going through a maze of sorts...pretty cool!  I like his reflection in the glass!

After the science museum we made a Sonic run diet dr. pepper for mommy and lemonade for Dalton and then off to do some shopping at Kohl's...I have a 20% off coupon so why not!  Dalton did pretty good all things considered...of course he wanted to push the shopping cart so it took a little okay A LOT longer than what I had planned but who's watching the clock!  We got out of there without any toys and that is an accomplishment!  While we were shopping my sister called and we headed to their house after Kohl's where Dalton shoved brownies in his mouth like he hadn't eaten any lunch...oh yeah he didn't eat much lunch because he was too busy wanting to get down to play!  After a fairly LARGE meltdown at my sisters because he didn't want to get dressed and leave...he wanted to play dress up...we headed home for dinner, play time with daddy, tub time with mommy and night night! 

Tomorrow is Dalton's first Valentine's Day party at MDO...I am excited and so is he!  We have been reading Elmo's Fuzzy Valentine and he is all about Valentine's Day!  And is ready to pass out his Bob the Builder Valentine's Day cards with Reeses P-butter hearts attached!

so what did we do today

Other than the obvious like...change diapers, fill sippy cups, wash towels, put away clean laundry, empty dishwasher, fill dishwasher, take out the trash, etc.

Well...let's see this mommy got her wake up call around 7:45am!  Not bad we have definitely had much earlier wake up calls by Dalton!  Check the weather and it's raining and cold and then not 15 minutes later it begins snowing rather large and beautiful snowflakes!  Dalton thinks it's pretty cool...this mommy just knows we will be inside most of the day so I better get my thinking cap on for some entertainment!  He has already informed me that he will be staying awake for his nap time today...one of the first things he told me when he woke up this morning...not exactly what I want to hear!  

The snowflakes were huge...really pretty!

Bye bye daddy...have a good day! 

 Dalton pretty much watches his daddy drive away everyday from the front window and daddy flashes his lights at Dalton!  That boy loves his daddy and doesn't always understand why daddy has to go to work and he can't stay home and play!

Once we got daddy out of the house he headed to the post office to drop off Dalton's 3rd birthday invitations and then on to work!  Now we were safe to start crafting our valentines...mommy is making daddy a homemade valentine card this year!  And Dalton made some for his teachers and his Grandma's...he was ready to use some glue!   We have a stack of pictures that Dalton painted during the last snow storm so we put those to good use...I cut hearts (big, medium and small)!  And then we got out the valentine stickers, etc. and Dalton went to town on the first couple and then the last couple not so much!  It doesn't take long for the boy to lose interest...probably why mommy is exhausted at the end of the day!  He moved on to a movie while I finished Daddy's Valentine and I am quite pleased with the finished product!  While Dalton was still interested in his movie I jumped in the shower and got presentable for the day!  Dalton likes to check on me when I am getting ready and today was no different...other than the fact that he wanted to wash his hands while I was putting my make-up on!  Well I told him to be careful because if he gets the soap in his eyes it will burn...it's not like the soap in his bathroom...well as usual he learned that lesson the hard way!  I walked away for a second and then the crying began...he had gotten soap in his eyes.  And then he starts rubbing them because they are burning and his hands are soapy...UGH...the vicious cycle!  That was not the prettiest moment of our day...luckily the burning didn't last too long!

There is nothing better than a homemade valentine's day card...now when Dalton sees a heart he calls it a valentine! 

We ate a quick lunch and then on to our cooking project...rice krispie treats!  I also saw this in a magazine so I thought I would try it...heart shaped rice krispie treats!  Dalton really gets excited about helping in the kitchen so we pulled his stool in and got to pouring and mixing and melting and eating!  It had been a long time since Dalton tried rice krispie cereal so I put some in a bowl with some milk and he got the biggest kick out of hearing them "talk"!  Snap Crackle Pop:)  And after the treats set up we used a heart shaped cookie cutter and you guessed it heart shaped rice krispie treats!

I think they will be a BIG HIT with the little guys...apparently Dalton was ready for his:)  I went to take a picture of it and Dalton got busted trying to swipe it...Swiper No swiping!

Also, during our cooking activity I had called my mom to ask her a question about the recipe and Dalton decided right then he needed to talk to his Grandma on the phone and everyone else he knew! So we made several phone calls (grandma Beverly bless her heart several times, pa, cousin Emily, daddy and he wanted to call grandma Wanda but she was at work)!  He decided that he needed to see his grandma Beverly today so we planned to make a trip over later in the afternoon.

After cooking I had suggested that we do some reading and snuggle time since we are no longer napping...well Dalton thought our time would be much better spent playing in the bean table so that's what we did!  And we also played dress up and busted out his new (Grandam Beverly got in on super clearance and I have been saving it for a rainy/snowy day) super ninja (in his mind a ninja saves his pet animals...kind of like the wonder pets) and he ran around the house rescuing small animals from uncertain outcomes!  Then we headed out in the cold to see Grandma Beverly and played there for a short while and made it home just in time to cook dinner, wrestle with daddy, watch Sesame Street, take a BIG bubble bath, watch part of Chicken Little, brush teeth, read too many books but I love to read him books and put PJ's on and go to bed!  Dalton gets to go to bed that is...mommy is blogging because that's what I do so that I never forget these days with my little guy because before I know it he will have no desire to spend the day making valentines with me, making sticky treats in the kitchen or snuggling up and reading books with his mommy! 

And when that day comes I will miss all of these days that today I find so exhausting!  But will I miss cleaning up a mess like the one below...NO WAY!  This mommy has got to get busy cleaning up this mess so I can sleep easy tonight knowing that we have a blank slate to start with in the morning!

And yes that is his bean table right in the middle of our living room floor!  Luckily it has wheels so when he's not playing with it we can roll it out of the way!

Oh...one more thing!  This little guy is always thinking...you may remember from an earlier post how Dalton made an attachment for his 4-wheeler...a trailer!  Well, a couple of days ago he made a snow plow attachment...totally his idea he just needed help with the getting it to stay on part!  His Uncle Todd has a snow plow attachment and apparently now Dalton does too!

 

crafting gifts

If you are a person who may be having a birthday in the next couple of weeks and don't want to see what it may be then please do not read or look any further!  If you want it to be a surprise...if not then check out the pictures...they turned out pretty cute and he really had a great time making them!  I think I will buy some more when Hobby Lobby puts their wood projects on sale next time...we could use some for our new trees in the backyard!

It always starts out so neat and orderly...I wanted to take a picture of him SO BAD when he was done but of course he said NOOOOO!  He was wearing his favorite outfit...just a diaper and had paint all over his belly, his hands and arms! 

Boy he was painting and painting and painting some more...he kept asking for another one to paint!  I kept thinking that I would have to resist giving him direction on the painting but he just jumped right in and almost covered the whole thing not too many bare spots in sight! 

work in progress

Since changing Dalton's room over from baby bed to big boy bed has been lots of FUN!  Just never enough time to get it all done...so it's a work in progress!  I hope to have it complete in the next week or so...but today with Dalton's help we got the curtains cut, the hem put in and hung in his room!  I just used the flat sheet from his super cute sheet set and made curtain panels out of them...pretty simple!  If the sewing machine is your friend...we haven't quite gotten past being acquaintances and today was no different!  But they are done definitely not perfect...but they're done!  And please do not note the difference in length...I thought there was a slight difference but then I looked at the picture and it's pretty bad!   May have to revisit that little project when my little helper is in MDO!

Dress up corner with new curtains...another project down and just a couple more to go!

just snow you know

With all of the snow we have had lately I decided to try out snow paint...I had seen it in a magazine somewhere...Parents, Family Fun...can't remember which one!  Anyway, it does snow here in winter but it doesn't usually stay for a week or so like it has the past couple of times...personally I am kind of done with the snow or maybe I am just done being stuck inside!  Either way we had a little fun last week with some of our left over snow...check out the pictures below!

Found these colorful spray bottles on the $1 section at Target...don't recommend them they don't spray very well!  But they worked for awhile...the paint is washable craft paint with water added so it's not so THICK!  You can use food coloring and water but I figured the washable craft paint would be more forgiving in the wash...just in case!

Squirt, squirt squirt!  Check out that stream of red paint...

It kind of looks like snow cones...with a better spray bottle you could probably write in the snow!

Dalton venturing out in the snow to paint the swing set...then luckily he settled for the snow around the swing set!  I love his trail from the patio to the swing set!

he's one wild and crazy guy

We have not had a lot of pictures to share lately because the following pictures are what I get when I pull out the camera and start snapping!  Mommy look at my crazy face...where did he learn tht?!?!?

crazy face...and his new favorite outfit...his diaper and nothing else!  Hopefully soon to be pull ups OR big boy underwear with his 3rd birthday fast approaching!

The other night I was desperate for a picture of him smiling looking normal for his birthday card invitation...don't think I got what I was looking for?!?!

Now these character shoes I can live with...earlier in the week Dalton and mommy stopped by Payless to look for mommy some rubber boots, snow boots anything to help keep my feet dry!  Of course no such luck but we did find these pretty cute shoes for Dalton and of course he LOVES LOVES LOVES them!  His birthday party this year is Toy Story themed...if only we can keep them in the box for another two weeks so they will be clean for his birthday party! 

TO INFINITY AND BEYOND!