Caleb's 3rd Birthday Party

It's been nearly a month since we celebrated, Caleb-style! And just this morning he said to me, "Was that party fun? My birfday party? Wasn't that fun? Pappaw was there. And Uncle Matthew. And Luke!" And then he went on to name every person who came to the party.

I've recently realized the importance of teaching the boys to wait. To practice self-control and be patient. So I wrapped Caleb's present a week early and left it sitting out in the living room. Turns out he didn't really care. Sometimes he'd walk by it and point, "That's my present."

He opened it on the morning of his birthday.

 He's been slightly obsessed with Diego lately, so we went with a backyard safari theme and everything was Go, Diego, Go! He was ready and in his safari hat early so he and Micah hung out in the backyard for a while before the party.

Then we got busy enjoying the shady backyard that's become one of the favorite "rooms" of our house!

We played pin the badge on Diego. But I had forgotten to prepare Caleb and give him instructions beforehand. So, he didn't get that he wasn't supposed to see and he kept pulling that bothersome bandana off his eyes. Needless to say, he won. And we let the little cheater take the prize for that game!

Thankfully, Aunt Kelly took more pictures of the day and below are some I stole from her blog. We didn't take a single picture of all the jungle animals that were taped to the house and garage, either! Shucks!

The boys loved eating on this quilt that day. So it's now a regular routine for us to have a picnic on the blanket outside. In fact, that's where we had my Mother's Day lunch.

When it came time for the food, I had two options if I was going by Caleb's favorite foods. Macaroni and cheese. Or beans and rice. We ended up making a sort of beans and rice bar with all the fixings. And there was so.much.food. We ate beans and rice all week after the party!

Caleb Jackson, stop growing! It's happening too fast! You might just be the sweetest person I've ever met. Your heart is so big and your spirit is exuberant! Your smile is always on (or JUST below the surface)! I can see you getting smarter by the day and my prayer for you, on this birthday, is for you to learn to be a leader. Go get 'em, CJax!