Drake is Four!!

My little Drake just had his fourth birthday.  As you probably guessed, it was filled with trains.  I made the cutest little train cake, that he loved and I must say I loved it too.  So, I have to show a few beauty shots. . .

I found the idea on Pinterest about a year ago, and thought I could pull it off.  It was easy and fun.

Now onto the real reason for this post - My awesome little Drakers.

He admired the cake.

He blew out the candles, with all the intensity they required.

Then he ripped open presents with great enthusiasm.  Most of them were, you guessed it, trains!!

He got two new train sets that attach to his Blue Mountain Quarry set, and three new engines.  His favorite being Talking Diesel 10.  It is much loved, and much fought over.

He has pretty much played with them non-stop since he received them.

(Please ignore my dirty floors. It was a busy day with more important things to worry about like wrapping presents and making awesome train cakes. : )  The floor got mopped the next morning.  I promise.)

Drake is smart and happy and super fun.  We love having him in our family.

October

October means a couple of things to me. 

First, getting out the Halloween decorations.  I started this month with a case of the flu, so this year, I only got out two things. . .

My favorite 2x4 pumpkins.

 



And the Halloween quilt that I made last year.  The boys still fight over it every day and it totally makes me happy.  I love it when all the effort I put into a quilt is appreciated.

I kept the decorating pretty simple and boring, but when you start the month with a fever of 102 that is how it has to be.

Second, October means the end of soccer season for my boys.  I am happy to be getting my Saturdays back, but a little sad, because I love watching my boys play.  Here are a few final shots of them in action on the field.

Jack waiting for play to start.

Jack at goalkeeper.  I am not sure that soccer is going to be Jack's sport, but it was only his first year, so we will see if he gets a little more into it next season.

Notice how the ball is heading the opposite way of the direction all the players are running?  That is because Thomas just made an awesome kick sending it rocketing back towards the opponents goal.  It was really cool and everyone in the crowd said a collective "Whoa!!  Did you see that?!!"

This is Dallin muscling his way into the ball.  He is a really good player and is not afraid to get physical with the bigger boys.  His team was amazing.  The coach had done a great job of drafting good players who worked really well together.  It was fun to see them grow together as a team and play some good soccer.  They were undefeated and were only scored on by one team all season.  Dallin is going to miss the games, practices, and all of his teammates.

Now, we are just enjoying the nice Fall weather and hoping that Winter doesn't decide to come too early this year.

Art

This is what I have been finding around my house lately. . .

A new wall mural.

A little work done on the dining room table.

A little something extra added to the print on my throw pillows.

A newly tattooed two-year-old.

After 5 boys and many years as a mother, I have finally learned to not sweat some of the small stuff.  All of my boys have gone through the phase where they have to write on everything.  Some have been worse than others - but at last I have learned to just take the pen away, try to hide all writing implements well, and when those smart little buggers find a way to get ahold of one anyway, (or when a big brother leaves something out), to just let it go. 

As long as the writing isn't anywhere too conspicuous, it is staying put until this phase is over and then I will give everything a good scrub down and get out the touch up paint. In the case of my family room wall, it needed some repairs and cleaning anyway. It's all good. 


This is my last little one that is going to go through this phase, and - if I am completely honest, there is a tiny piece of me that wants to keep this "art" around as long as I can, since, I know that all of the sudden one of these days he will be out of this phase and the days of writing on everything in my house will be over.  There is no new little artist coming up to take his place as resident graffiti man.

But don't get me wrong, there is an even bigger part of me that really looks forward to getting out the scrubbers and the touch up paint and having a fresh and pretty house again.  Until then, I am just enjoying my littlest being little and all the good and bad that goes along with it.