tractor party

"Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday, Dear Colton! Happy Birthday to you!" Colton sang to himself along with everyone else at his tractor party today. It was pretty funny to see him singing to himself and ending the song with a big clap and cheer, "Yay! Colton!"All of the kids minus Emily ... they are so cute! (And so much bigger than a year ago! Check out the picture below ... it's the kids at Colton's 1st birthday!!!)A few kids have changed this year ... we have Landon instead of Lia here this time, and we added Khloe ... but look at the difference between Colton, Mason, and Mei Mei! How time makes such a change!

He was pretty blessed today to have his friends and family here to celebrate his second birthday. Of course, we missed having a lot of his family here ... grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins, but we did have a few members--and that made the day very fun! Colton's tractor party went really well. We decorated in a John Deere theme ... as Dave kindly pointed out, "Who's the Packer's fan!?!" (wink, wink) We had grilled sandwiches, fruit salad, veggie plate, crackers and alouette cheese, m&m's (of course), mini pita pizzas, and macaroni & cheese (the cauliflower Jessica Seinfeld recipe). It turned out really well. The food was tasty! Colton's tractor cake was pretty yummy, too. I'm glad it turned out so cute!

Colton enjoyed having his friends here ... Mr. Mason, Landon, Mei Mei, and cousin Emily came to help him celebrate. He loves Emily! As soon as she arrived, he said, "Emily come play with me!" He was blessed to get some really cool gifts. It was a dump truck themed gift party! He got a BIG Chuck the dump truck that does a lot of really cool tricks from Landon ... a Playskool dump truck with a front loader attached from Ethan, Beth, and Emily ... a Chuck race and play dump truck race park from Brian, Gwendy, and Mason ... and the coolest Chuck Taylor's from Dave, Mellie, and Mei Mei. Perhaps, I was the most excited about the shoes! Colton opened his gifts, and he said, "COOL! A dump truck!" He will be so excited to play with his new toys when he gets up from his nap.

Colton playing legos with his cousin Emily.Mellie with her daughter Mei Li. Poor Mellie ... Khloe spit up on her arm while she was holding her. I guess Mommies are used to that ... but I felt badly.Mr. Mason playing with toys.Landon enjoying the outdoors.Billy with his cousin Ethan.Brian and Gwendy ... thankful for Gwendy (and Mellie) who helped me make the grilled sandwiches.Colton opens up his dump truck from Emily.A big hug to say 'Thank you!'.Some more great dump truck toys!Those cool new Chuck Taylor's!

We, also, had a John Deere tractor pinata. The kids took turns bashing it with a hockey stick. Luckily, Colton's cousin, Emily, is five years old. She really got at it and broke it open for the little kids--who try as they might, barely nicked the pinata. Colton gathered up as much of the candy and crackers as he could carry. He was excited to have the pinata. It was so cute to watch the kids try to hit it. Mason did a pretty good job ... he just needs a little more strength behind his swing!Landon went first ... he had some help hitting the tractor.Mei Mei went next ... she hit it a few times. No luck in breaking it, though.Then Mason tried. He was a good hitter, but he just wasn't strong enough to break it.Next, Colton took some swings at it. He hit the tractor, too ... but no breaks, yet.Finally, Emily took care of it. She broke it and out came the candy!
Colton's stash!

It's always nice to have friends and family over for a visit. It's just fun to sit and chat with each other. I have found that I stress so much over getting everything ready, and it turns out great whether I finish what I wanted to accomplish for the party or not.

I am so excited because I am finally reunited with Jillian Michaels. My 30 minute shred is back on ... and since Khloe has been sleeping through the night (knock on wood), I will probably start getting back out for a run in the mornings before too long. It feels so good to get some regular exercise. I have needed all that exercise gives me. The energy, the pride, the health ... it's all been missing in my life for a while ... I'm ready to get that back! Jillian Michaels is a great way to get started. I am seriously getting rid of this baby weight.

This week, I am getting a girls night with Gwendy. I am so excited! We're going to grab dinner and do some shopping. I think I'll try to get some Christmas shopping done. It will be nice to have an evening off from putting the kids to bed! I think Billy will be okay ... I hope. Ha, ha!

I can't believe I blogged twice this weekend. Yay for me!