Nate is NINE!

9 years old! How did it happen?? How is this the last year of single digits for my baby boy?? 

Nate's birthday fell on a Saturday this year and I love when that happens. Since his birthday is so close to Christmas, it's nice to have a day where we can all devote our time to him and no one has to go to school or work.

He was up bright and early - very excited for his birthday. He always counts down the days.

He is very into Harry Potter and was surprised to find that Mimi & Paka had sent him the complete set. He has already finished the first book and started on the second. I love that he loves to read!

Little sister was glued to his side for the opening of the presents:)

I got this Harry Potter wand at the last minute and I think he would have been overjoyed if this was his only present. Lots of wanding going on at our house.

Birthday lunch! Don't judge. He loves spaghetti-o's and my kitchen is still in upheaval. As evident in the background of the pictures above.

We took Nate & a friend to Dave & Buster's for some birthday fun in the afternoon. They had a good time and were obsessed with how many tickets they could win. Then we ate at the Spaghetti Factory, Nate's favorite, before heading home to have cupcakes.

If you are thinking that I didn't plan ahead and had to get mini Christmas cupcakes at the last minute, you are wrong. These are the ones he had to have and wouldn't even let me pick the Christmas sprinkles off. We had bought some Harry Potter rings earlier in the week and wam-bam, his birthday treat was complete. My sweet boy, who doesn't have a sweet tooth.  

Mom, you are totally embarrassing me in front of my friend with the pictures.

Our tradition for birthdays is to open a couple of presents when they get up, and then save some for the birthday dinner. We were happy to have B join us.

Sweet sister with the green icing mouth.

Oh sweet Nate. I can't think about you being so big without getting a tear in my eye. I love that you still let me call you by the nicknames I made up when you were a baby and that you still let me pick out your clothes. You know these things make me happy.

You asked me why I had to watch the video of when you were born every year on your birthday. I told you that someday you would understand when you had children of your own. On that day, you stole my heart and I became a mother. Every day since, I grow more proud of you and more proud to be your Mom. I love you so much and can't wait to see what this next year brings for you.

Happy Birthday Nate P!

Weekend Hodge Podge

Last week, I was motivated to get out of bed every day knowing that it was one day closer to Friday. Because on Friday, the cabinet installers were coming to start putting in our new cabinets. The installer arrived bright and early at 7:00 AM and got his own personal viewing of the upcoming reality show titled "The Boyle Children Go to School," the story of two children who forget the routine and lose their minds, even though the routine is done the same way every day. Are y'all with me? Does this happen at your house?

After I took the kids to school, I was so happy to come back home and find this in the front yard!

I think I said no pictures in the last post, but I'm so dang excited about this gem that I had to record it here. The.Farm.Sink. It makes me so happy every time I look at it, even though it doesn't work yet and obviously the wall behind it or the cabinet below it are not finished.

We couldn't have several of the items we wanted in this kitchen due to its size and age, but we could have The.Farm.Sink, so we went for it. I love it. Like so much. I think the kids are tired of me talking about it.

Being without a kitchen sink and really much of a kitchen this past week has made me incredibly thankful that we have a comfortable house, running water, food to eat, and warm beds. I've reflected many times that there are people in this world (too many) that can't run to another water source in their house when one doesn't work. Because they may not have a house, or clean, running water. It's a valuable lesson for all of us to learn, especially this time of year. The Boyles are thankful for our many conveniences and we are going to do our best not to take them for granted. 

On Sunday, we went to a birthday party for one of Nate's swim team buddies. The family was nice enough to include Lila, since they knew Scott would be working. It was at an indoor trampoline park and they had so much fun!

Lila thought she was the bomb on this basketball court. She was standing in line with these older boys, so it was tall, tall, teeny tiny when you looked at them. I was so impressed with these boys - they cheered for her when she was dribbling down the lane and when she came back and joined the line, they all gave her high fives. She was in heaven. And when she finally made a basket, the place erupted. She was so so proud. Kudos to these kids parents - they were so gracious to the littlest player.

Even though Jason & Amy live right around the corner, we don't get to see them enough just due to everyone's schedules. But Sunday night, it worked out for us to go out to dinner with them - just adults. We had so much fun, and it was very nice to catch up with both of them. I had Jason take our picture before we left and Nate said, "Is that for our Christmas card?" I said no, it's because we only have pictures of you people around here! 

Happy last week before Winter Break!

Kitchen Renovation

Y’all.

We are in the middle of a kitchen renovation and let me just say renovations that leave you without a kitchen sink for a month are not for the faint of heart.

Neither are ones where the fridge that is actually plugged in and contains 99% of your food is sitting in the coldest room in the basement, the furthest away from the kitchen as possible. And it doesn’t make ice because there is no water line there.

By far my favorite is when Scott started posting pictures on Instagram of the kitchen demo. I begged him to stop because no one would ever want to eat dinner at our house again after seeing them. Heck, I didn’t want to eat dinner in my own house after seeing them. No, I’m not going to post a picture here. Taking cabinets off walls that have been in a kitchen for probably 40+ years is not a pretty sight. If you have found a way to clean behind your wall cabinets, more power to ya.

Let’s just say the highlights of the last few days have been when the plumbers put in the new copper pipes and when Scott told me he thought he could move the dishwasher off the front porch.

Before you ask, no I’m not sure why we decided to do this during the holidays. All I can say is we like to go big. And go big is exactly what we’ve done.

Now, it will all be totally awesome someday soon when we have a brand new kitchen. And it will definitely all be worth it. Which is why I’m enduring the pain that is caused every time I have to wash my crockpot outside with the hose because it won’t fit in the bathroom sink. 

Reveal pics coming soon. Or when it’s done. Which for my sake better be soon. 

Lila is FOUR!

While we were at Disney, we took the opportunity to have a little birthday celebration for Lila! Of course it was Frozen themed:) 

On this particular day at the parks, the boys had all picked out weapons for a souvenir. They were all happily playing with them as we were exiting the park. Lila had not picked out anything and had not asked for anything. When I looked down, she was happily holding this little rock she had picked up somewhere:) Since we were going to be celebrating her birthday that night, Scott & I decided I would duck into one of the stores on the way out and get her the Elsa doll for a birthday surprise. 

Can you tell she was so excited?? 

Don't you wish you owned the branding rights to Frozen?? We do.

We made it home from Disney the day before Lila's actual birthday. So when we got up the next morning, I made her birthday pancakes and attempted a Mickey. It didn't turn out so well, but she told me it tasted good. Thank goodness for that.

Opening presents!

She has been wishing for this one Doc McStuffins toy for what seems like months. I loved watching her face while she was opening it.

 That night, we had a family birthday party complete with Frozen cake.

Dear Sweet Lila,
To say I cannot believe you are 4 years old already would be redundant. You continue to enrich our lives in so many ways. You are the perfect mix of spunky, sweet, sassy and kind. We often comment that we can't imagine our life before you came. You complete our family perfectly.

We love you today and everyday and are so thankful for you. Happy 4th Birthday!

Wrapping Up Disney

If I was a good blogger, I would have incorporated these pictures I took on my phone into the day by day breakdown. But it just wasn't in the cards this week, and I didn't want to leave these out of the trip's photo evidence.

Driving into the magical land of Disney World!

Nate & I on the Speedway. I pushed the pedal, he steered. And I thought I was going to have to be put in traction the next day. My back still hurts thinking about it!

The Three Amigos!

If y'all only knew how much I had to bribe Lila to get this smocked outfit on her body. I got it on sale last year after Christmas, so I've had it for almost a year. The smocked Minnie Mouses with Santa hats on make me swoon. And by gosh she was going to wear it. 

The "littles" :)

I love these cousin pictures. They will be perfect for the family slideshow in 20 years. No, I'm not volunteering. 

Paka at Toy Story Mania! 

Scott & Lila getting ready to get their Toy Story Mania on - it was our favorite again this visit! 

Flashback to Nate at Toy Story Mania in 2010. 

On Saturday night, we were at Hollywood Studios after dark. The lights were amazing. 

Nate at his happiest place on earth. The Lego Store at Downtown Disney!

I can't say it enough, it was a fabulous trip. One that we will remember for a very long time. Love you Mimi, Paka & Odoms!

Day 4 - Disney

On our last day at Disney, we went to Hollywood Studios in the morning and Magic Kingdom in the afternoon. It was the hottest day by far, but I am not complaining. I would love to be having that in STL right now! 

It was a tad crowded on this day, so we went to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. The kids really loved it, so it was a good plan. Going down the leaf slide!

I was trying to get a similar picture of Lila in the same spot as Nate a few years ago. This is one of my favorite pictures of him that I've ever taken.

This is the best I could do!

While some of the boys rode the Star Wars Tour ride, Mimi & I took Lila & Levi down to see Lightning McQueen and Mater.

She found this snowman on the way back and immediately started posing!

After doing the last of our favorite things at Magic Kingdom, we were all very sweaty. But we had to get our group pictures before we left. Despite the sweat, I think they turned out really good!

Thank you Mimi & Paka for a wonderful trip! We will remember it forever and ever!