"I Shall Call Him Squishy"

When my brother Jaedin was little, he not only LOVED bugs, reptiles, and amphibians, but he also had an amazing ability to find them literally anywhere we went. I will never forget the time we went to an elegant wedding and he walked up to our table with a baby frog that he found among the fancy landscaping. I am thankful that he was always putting snakes, toads, spiders and other critters in my face, because it prepared me for my own son who has recently started doing the exact same thing!

I have been doing a lot of yard work lately... and every single day, without fail, Shepherd finds an earthworm, ladybug, beetle or caterpillar that completely fascinates him. This is a photo I took on Saturday that captures his personality perfectly and makes me smile every time I see it. As you can see, he has an earthworm in his hand. He carried that worm around for over an hour, and also took him for a stroll through our neighbor's sprinkler! He cracks me up! I love my little wild child.

A Hiking We Will Go...

We went on a hike with my Dad and some of our lovely friends a couple of weeks ago. It was wonderful to be outside and watch the kids explore!

"Mommy, look! That stick is shaped like a Y!"

One of Lyric's favorite activities is finding sticks shaped like all of the letters of the alphabet.

My boys love to play with sticks and rocks. They could literally spend hours tossing stones into a pond!

Shepherd has been making this face a lot lately... it cracks me up! I love those lips.

We discovered some critters while we were on our hike. Adorable baby turtles, a caterpillar and hundreds of tadpoles!

My sweet silly boy! This is the ornery look Shepherd gave me when I asked him to look at the camera.

"Isn't it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive - it's such an interesting world!"

-Lucy Maud Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables)

A VeggieTales Birthday Party!

Lyric is 4!

We had a party last week to celebrate. The theme was VeggieTales... a much-loved show at our house!

We had vegetables, veggie straws, veggie chips, "Mr. Twisty's Twisted Cheese Curls" and popcorn (like the popcorn Jimmy and Jerry Gourd at on "Are You My Neighbor?") We also had "Grapes of Wrath", but they were gobbled up before I was able to capture a photo! :)

My Mom is incredibly creative. I told Lyric that she would probably be able to make a VeggieTales birthday cake for his party. He requested a Larryboy cake, instead. "Oh, and with the fib from outer space on it! I want the fib to grow bigger and bigger on the cake, while he is holding Junior and making LarryBoy's ear fall off!" Haha! I told him that was a fantastic idea, but Grandma might not be able to make such an elaborate cake. He responded matter-of-factly, "Yes, she can! Mom, Grandma Byn can do things." Lol, I will not argue with that!

Sure enough, she made a spectacular "Fib from Outer Space" cake.

I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who came to celebrate with us! It meant the world to us to have each and every one of you there. I am deeply thankful knowing that my son has such incredible friends and family!

I have done a lot of childcare and babysitting over the years, and four and five have always been two of my favorite ages! I cannot even put into words how excited I am about Lyric being four... it is going to be such a fun year!

Lyric, I love you deeply and I am so blessed to be your Mommy! I love playing with you and having you as my little buddy. I love our snuggles... you don't always like hugs and kisses, but you love sitting beside me and holding my hand. Those are some of my favorite moments! I love the way you enjoy learning... you are a deep-thinker and have such an inquisitive mind. I love your poetic descriptions, artistic creations and exciting discoveries. I have a blast playing chase with you and making you laugh! I love the adorable freckles on your face that I just noticed for the first time today! I love how aware you are of others' feelings... you are quick to comfort anyone who is sad... it is beautiful to see your kind and gentle heart. I am so proud of you! I love the way you call Daddy your "treasure" and call me your "sweetheart". You are such a sweet boy!

If you would like to write a birthday message for Lyric, leave a comment below and I will print it off and put it in his scrapbook! :)