Celebrate Four! (Back-Blogging, Part 3)

Catherine (our friend who also happens to be a talented photographer) took this beautiful shot of Preston's hands holding his "four" balloons after his party in June.
(Note: Due to my computer issues, I am not able to upload the gorgeous, high resolution quality photos. Catherine's work is even more stunning and vibrant in the proper, high resolution. Click her link to see her amazing work... then HIRE her!!!)

Preston turned four back in May... and, though we celebrated that day as a family, it was a "divide and conquer" kind of day.  Gracie had to stay home (from school and birthday fun) due to getting over a nasty sinus infection that resulted in a pretty bad airway bleed.  So, I took her to a seemingly endless pulmonolgy appointment while John and Preston took off with friends.

They hit the park and then went miniature golfing... a cute little "birthday date."

Addie and the birthday boy... striking a seriously cute pose!

That evening, he made his big birthday wish over a dinosaur covered cake.
(Not homemade this year, though I don't think he even noticed!)

He loved opening his gifts and was so excited that Gracie got him Madagascar 2. 
He thanked her a dozen times!

I love that he is so excited still over every single thing he opens. That being said, he couldn't have been more over-the-moon-happy when he opened his "big boy" razor scooter! (See his face... above, top left!)  The "big boy" scooter has two-wheels with a wheelie bar and foot brake (insert Mommy's heart attack here), as opposed to the "little boy scooter" he had been riding with a wide board and three wheels. While he loved that first scooter and it served a very good purpose from age 2 1/2 til now, it has been permanently side-lined and is already collecting dust until it gets sent to "Baby Jack," his cousin, who gets his hand-me-downs (or anything Preston feels he has outgrown, regardless of whether Jack wants or needs it!).

Due to scheduling conflicts - - the most significant being that John would have missed it - -Preston's party with his friends was moved from May to June 5th. It worked out great for him... he had two celebrations, two months in a row. He did, however, ask what his party was going to be in July, so we quickly set him straight!

Sadly, when the party day actually arrived, Gracie had a fever and ended up missing the fun. We were all so sad, but grateful that our new nurse, Zina, (yes, we started nursing care again, 10-16 hours each week, though Gracie is eligible for 112 hours) had worked a few days with us and we felt comfortable leaving Gracie for a couple of hours (especially since we were barely two miles from home and had our phones with us). Had Zina not been there, one of us would have missed seeing Preston have so much fun with his friends on all the gymnastics equipment at Kidnastics - - the place where he used to take classes (and wants to, again!).



FUN! FUN! FUN!
(And, for those of you who know Reuben... that's him, bottom row, third picture... doing the hula hoop like a little pro!)



After all that play, the kids were so quiet eating their pizza... until they had the sugar rush from cake!
Check out the gender-division at the table... all the boys on one side, all the girls on the other.  Too funny!

(It was hard missing Gracie... all of us did... but she slept almost the whole time we were gone and I kept reminding myself that this was the perfect example of why I need to have some extra help. As much as it can feel like a burden and an invasion of privacy at times, it truly allows me to be a better mom to each of my children.)

Another shot from Catherine... I just LOVE this!