John Paul didn't know it, but we got him paints and paintbrushes for his birthday.  I saved them for a time when I felt like I had the energy to clean up afterwards...

He had a blast!  And it really wasn't very messy, particularly since he cleaned most of it up himself.  But it's still an activity that is limited to Cecilia's naptime, since there's no way I'm letting her at the paints!

The finished products (I drew the circle, he drew almost everything else in his exploration).

Bubbles!

What better way to spend a morning?

Cecilia's actually fairly successful, and these aren't the most rewarding bubbles.  BUT they don't spill, even when the kids completely tip them upside down!

Then the kids had to prance around pretending to be ants.  Because ants prance.  And because we found a dead hornet, which I kicked to the side for the ants to eat, so the ant chanting and prancing had to commence.

Guess whose idea it was?

A typical Sunday

Listening to "The Way of the Cross" and stamping "church" words with his letter stamps.  Both activities at his request.  And the best part?  I got him to clean up his toys because he wasn't allowed to play with stamps until everything was clean!

We DO exist!

We've just been doing a LOT of good playing/sleeping lately...  Cecilia told me here that she was napping on the table.  She's been showing off her imagination every day and her vocabulary is exploding.  She played by herself for long enough during John Paul's nap that I got a whole batch of mac & cheese made from scratch AND answered a couple of emails!  

Now if only she'd keep these hair ties in her hair...  She needs her bangs trimmed but it's going to be a lot more work than it has been, so I'm putting it off and hoping she just lets me put her hair up to hide the scraggliness!

She's showing off her VERY strong will, too.  She's currently refusing to put her underwear on because she wants Elmo to wear it.  Any idea where to find cheap doll-sized underwear?

We had an argument a few days ago because she wanted me to say she was a boy.  It went something like this:

Me:  "Cecilia, is squeaky cow a boy or a girl?"

C:  "Weeky dow a BOY!  DIWYA a boy!!!"

M:  "No, Cecilia is a girl." 

C:  "Diwya a BOY!  Diwya be a ADDAH BOY!"

M:  "No, Cecilia can't be an altar boy because Cecilia is a girl..."

C:  "DIWYA BE A ADDAH BOY NOW!!!"

Commence brief tantrum...  I think I distracted her with a Cheez-it.

My 3-year-old!

John Paul had been eagerly anticipating his birthday for over a month...  He talked about it every day, discussing the fact that there would be hot dogs, cupcakes, balloons, and presents.  And he would be III!

So when I asked him how old he was that morning when he woke up, I was a bit confused by this...

"Two years old?  Go back to July 14th?"

 

He got over it pretty quickly, especially once we got back from Mass and he got to start playing with his presents.

Like an awesome tent, into which he brought his new toy mailbox, complete with letters and stamps.

We had family over for cupcakes and snacks - John Paul was especially excited about all the letters!

And the candles were pretty awesome too.

Especially after blowing them out!

Cecilia looked on while John Paul got started on his cupcake...

And eventually demolished her own!

And by demolished I mean "ate the icing."  Neither of them ate much of the actual cupcake, perhaps because they're not used to super-sweet processed treats.  Fruit or yogurt are typical desserts (for the kids) in our house.  

John Paul picked the letters off his cupcake and then asked for the letters off of everyone else's...  And only ate a bite of the actual cupcake.  Eventually he went back for a bite at a time over the next few hours, but he still didn't finish the cupcake!

The letters turned his tongue red, which was pretty exciting.

Then he went over to see his uncles (whom I don't think he has ever had in one place before).

And was surprised by their strength!

Not quite sure how to feel about it...

But ultimately, he decided that it was a good thing!

He got Magic School Bus books from Uncle Patrick & Aunt Leigh Ann (and we've been reading them NONSTOP.  He and Cecilia get the glasses out of their doctor kit so they can both pretend to be Arnold...).

Andrew brilliantly got a Mickey Mouse birthday balloon, since the kids are newly obsessed with the character (letting them watch morning cartoons on vacation will do that...).

And the biggest hit was homemade playdough from Grandma!  We've been playing with it every day and having lots of fun :)

Cecilia frequently evicted Uncle Dumptruck from his seat, ordering him to rock her.  The softie obliged, of course!

And we finished the day with a new rhyme from Grandma!

A low-key birthday celebration, definitely what I prefer.  I wonder how long I can keep things to the bare minimum like this...  Are we eventually going to start having to have two separate celebrations, one for family and one for friends?