Happy Birthday Jesus! Party

Yesterday we had a "Happy Birthday Jesus" party for Jeremiah and his friends, the "two Annas". Our party consisted of a craft, a game, and cookie decorating while we sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus of course! Here are a few fun pictures from the morning

Craft Supplies (our version of this craft)

Ms. Leslie giving instructions about painting

Little Man's finished product...these turned out so cute!

 Next we played "Put Baby Jesus in the Manger", a spin-off of "Pin the Tail on the Donkey". I used re-positionable contact paper on my kitchen wall for the manger scene. I used my Silhouette to cut out the angel, star, and bean shape for Baby Jesus (below). I cut the manger free-hand.

Our ultra-quick and not particularly accurate "Baby Jesus" wrapped in swaddling clothes of course.

Ms. Nicole blind folded the girls, who definitely enjoyed playing the game...Jeremiah just wanted to watch.

Finally, we had snacks and the kids decorated sugar cookies. So fun!

You may have noticed we had birthday plates, napkins, and even balloons. We wanted it to seem like a real birthday party. It was lots of fun and I hope it becomes an annual tradition!

Preschool Christmas Program & Santa Surprise!

I haven't blogged here in forever, but these pictures were too funny not to post.

Tonight was Jeremiah's preschool Christmas program. His class is the "Young Two's", so most of them were in their own little world, turning around checking things out, couldn't care less about singing. Jeremiah was no exception to this. He was so interested in his tin-foil star...this picture pretty much sums his participation up. Hilarous! But what do you expect from a 2-year old?

I'm a terrible parent and have never taken J to see Santa. Mostly because he's not a big fan of costumes and strangers, so I knew it was mostly a recipe for disaster. Luckily Santa came tonight and after giving J a candy cane, he became a fast friend. Now we finally have a Santa picture!

Jeremiah had a BIG crowd tonight - a total of 9 people for one little boy. He was so happy to have everyone there!

Lately...

I'm terrible at keeping this updated, but here's a few shots of what's been happening with the Hanes family lately...

Enjoying the Petting Zoo at the Dixie Classic Fair

It's way more fun to ride on Uncle Perry's shoulders than in the stroller

"Driving" Popa's tractor while wearing overalls that belonged to his daddy & uncle

Practicing wearing his Lion Halloween costume...so far we've only made it about 5 minutes before he strips it off.

Crazy boy! When we got him out of his crib that morning he had put both arms through the neck hole of his PJ shirt and wore it around his waist.

My sweet boys snuggling on the couch :)

Happy Halloween! Part 2

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Couldn't forget the other side of the family! I think Nana really enjoyed making this.

Happy Halloween!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Thanks Kathleen for making this - it's so funny!

First Day of Preschool

Jeremiah started 2-year old preschool this year. He's in a class with 4 other boys - Ms. Dawn is a brave teacher!

How cute is that bookbag?

Such a big boy!

It's good to be two...

You get to eat lots of M&Ms...evidently they can melt all over your hands and face!

A box can provide tons of entertainment.

Grilling with Daddy

Summer is a time for grilling out. It's too hot to turn on the oven and who doesn't love that delicious grill smell & taste! When Daddy grills on the deck, so does Jeremiah (or he can get quite grumpy). Thankfully his grill is very portable.

See, I'm grilling just like Daddy over there!

Daddy had to give J specific instructions about how to correctly use the turner.

Armed & dangerous!

Jeremiah's first grilling lesson: Complete!

Picnic Plans

One late August Saturday night, we decided to go on a family picnic. The temperatures had relented and it was pleasant outside. We decided to go to the local park to picnic near the old train, but as we got close we remembered they were having a beer festival that day. The place was packed & probably not the right atmosphere for a family picnic. We were sort of at a loss as to where to have our picnic since the next closest park is about a 20 minute drive and we were hungry. We decided to visit Nana & Popa and picnic out near the garden. We had a great time!

Jeremiah had his first yogurt-covered pretzels (Daddy's favorite) that night and he decided it was a new favorite for him too!

See, he wanted to show everyone a mouthful of the good stuff!

Hmmm...Josh thinks he learned this look from me. He's probably right :)

Our best attempt at a family picture in front of the new garden shed/playhouse. 

Jeremiah has no desire to slow down if he's outside!

Emerald Isle Weekend

We took a trip to Emerald Isle for a long weekend away with the Watsons and Hagemans, staying at the Watson Beach House. There were 6 adults and 5 children between the ages of 18 months and 3.5 years old including 4 boys and only one sweet girl! 

Nolan (3.5), Jeremiah (2), and Dale (3.5) playing with the shovels and trucks in the sand.

Lane (20 months) and Haleigh Marie (18 months)
 

Everyone had a blast - played hard, ate plenty, and slept good!

Tristan's Birthday Celebration!

Tristan became a teenager on August 13th! 

Of course we had to do a bit of celebrating, which means we ate!

Jeremiah did some swinging

Popa patiently strung the net on his basketball goal (J's birthday present that we finally got around to putting together at Tristan's birthday celebration)

Jeremiah was so excited about his "BALL!"

It's still a little tall for him, so he asks for help from one of his big cousins.

Tristan & Dale both helped him make baskets over & over again!

Of course, Leroy watched it all :)

Enjoying Mimi's Deck Pool

While Daddy went to Brick Fair, Jeremiah & I stayed at Mimi's house for a few days. Jeremiah had a BLAST with the "deck-pool" at Mimi's house. 

So what is a "Deck Pool"? Toddler Slide + Plastic Pool on the deck = TODDLER HEAVEN!

Here's how it works...Climb up & get in position

 

Slide down & make a big splash!
 

These steps were repeated over & over & over again! 

They always resulted in this big smile.

Sometimes we'd take the time to change into a swim-diaper, but a PJ top & regular diaper worked just as well.

While we were visiting Raleigh, Granny & Popa came for a quick visit. The ladies made peach jam together and it was delicious! I just love this picture of the 3 generations.

Happy 2nd Birthday Jeremiah!!

Happy Birthday, Jeremiah!  You are pretty excited to be TWO!

On your birthday, we met Nana & Uncle Perry at McDonalds for breakfast. You had a big breakfast (not surprising), then had Perry walk with you all over the McDonalds and adjoining gas station. Perry even bought a ball and bat set for you - an instant favorite!

After breakfast, we headed to our local park to play because it was such a gorgeous summer morning - unseasonably cool & overcast. Perfect park weather! Unfortunately, I didn't get many good pictures of you. Pretty much all my pictures these days look like this...
 

or this...you're too busy having fun to slow down!

We had to cancel your birthday party due to unforeseen circumstance, but that just meant you got to spread it out...a morning with Anna & Ms. Nicole, an afternoon with Mimi & G-pa, an evening with Nana & Popa, some time with Granny & Popa G...just lots of birthday fun.

You are certainly loving life as a two year old!