Steven's Birthday and the Rest of the Week

Unfortunately Steven was sick on his birthday with a high fever reaching up to 104.9 degrees. He ended up missing his birthday party at the gymnastic place here in town. His friends still all showed up and I brought the video camera. Everyone missed him and I recorded everyone singing "Happy Birthday" to him.

We brought his cupcake home that had the candles in it and we sang "Happy Birthday" again to him.Here he is blowing out the candles. Check out the candle that is still lit!

It was ironic that he missed his own birthday party. For weeks whenever he got mad at someone, usually when he did something wrong, he would say smugly, "You can't come to my birthday party." Hmmm, that'll teach him.

We didn't give him some of his larger outside and active presents until he was feeling better on Monday and Tuesday.

Here he is going out to see his new sandbox that Iowa Grammy and Grandpa got him (I forgot why he was wearing Rob's swim cap):

Here's Mackenzie and I, watching Steven play in his new sandbox, from the comfort of the Victorian bench.

Tuesday night Rob put together the trampoline we got him for his birthday. Here he is later in the week with the Superman PJ's Uncle Ryan and soon-to-be Aunt Katie got him.

I finished sewing Steven's "Warhawk" duvet cover this week. Here he is snuggled up with it on the toddler bed set-up in our room. He's actually been sleeping there and not climbing into bed with Rob and I since we put it on.

He wanted to snuggle with Mackenzie in it so Mom laid her down with him. As you can see they both enjoyed the time together.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Mackenzie has started crawling. She is getting a little more adventurous.


Yes, I did go get the camera and snap the picture before getting her out. Hey, my Mom did that to me when I was little and climbed under the TV in Pacifica and got stuck. I turned out okay.

I'm so excited Spring has sprung! Here's my plum tree with new leaves and a few blossoms. I hope that means it will finally produce fruit. I have been treating it with an organic fungicide this year since last year leaf curl nearly killed it.

My Meyer lemon tree that I thought I had finally cured of its ails got hit hard this winter by the frosts. We had some really cold weather this winter. I'm not sure it was in the best spot anyways. I sprayed it with some fungicide too since it looks like it has some wood rot. I'll give it more time before I have Rob pull it out. You never know it might just come back. If it comes back I think I'll have Rob move it to a pot.



When Rob and Larry moved the compost and did the Victorian bench they also moved the jasmine I had in a pot. I'm going to add a little wire on the post of the pergola so it can grow up on it along with the wisteria. I really like the jasmine here.

I so want to do some digging in the yard. The garden bed next to the garage needs some serious weeding. The weeds are a little tougher there. When I tried tugging on them they didn't just slip out easily as they did in some other areas of the yard. I'm going to ask Dr. Parks on April 6th if I am okay now to do a little minor digging/weeding. I've been learning to do some sitting in the garden. I realized I never really did that much. If I sat down it would be for like 5 seconds before I saw something that needed tending or came up with an idea that required activity in the yard.

I spotted the perfect sofa cover in the Bed, Bath, and Beyond catalog while I was resting one day. It came with two throw pillows, a remote holder, and a soft blanket that matched for $79. There was a coupon in the catalog too! So Mom, Mackenzie, and I went to the mall to check it out. The color was perfect so I picked it up.

It looks great with the new rugs I got for the living room from the JC Penny catalog a few weeks back during another resting session! I put the other items that came with the sofa cover on other chairs in the room to tie everything together. I better get better soon so I can go back to work and stop catalog shopping so much. I figure I am learning to multi-task better. Now I know how to rest with my feet up and shop at the same time!

Joan and Larry Visit and Joint Birthday Celebration

Whenever Rob's folks come up we (Rob and Larry) always do some projects. This time they moved the compost pile in preparation for a vanishing water feature to come later and also built the Victorian bench. We have been carting around the sides of the bench since our last house. The guy I bought my first house from left them behind. We've been wanting to put the bench together for a while. Rob had already prepped and painted the sides. He and his Dad put the redwood seat on. They also hung up the "pretty" I had picked up at Rite Aid a few weeks ago on the garden shed. The bench and the "pretty" really dressed up that area of the yard. In the second photo you can see part of the compost bin next to the garden shed.

Mackenzie had a great time napping on England Grammy.

Since it was Steven's birthday weekend when he requested breakfast in bed we gave it to him.

He actually didn't feel very well starting Friday afternoon. The morning I took this picture he didn't eat very much of his pancakes.

Since Joan and Steven's birthday's are a day apart we had a little joint celebration.

Steven opened his gifts from Joan and Larry along with the ones from his Auntie Kim, Uncle Jeff, Jake, and Shane. He also opened one of the gifts from Rob and I and a small one from Iowa Grammy and Grandpa. Since he wasn't feel well we had him open a couple of larger gifts later. We were hoping to keep him calm enough so he'd be well enough to go to his birthday party at the gymnastic place the next day. Uh, he ended up still having a fever. We'll save that for another post.

Here he is modeling his new Pittsburgh jersey from England Granny and Papa. He wanted one with a number 43 on the shoulders. He's worn it everyday until yesterday afternoon when his Uncle Ryan and soon-to-be Aunt Katie sent him Superman PJs. Now we can wash the jersey!

Here he is opening his Pod and Pod cars from Auntie Kim and Uncle Jeff and the gang. He loves them.

Steven loved his Star Wars music card from Iowa Grammy and Grandpa

Mom had a bottle of Larry's favorite as a belated birthday gift:

Mom got Joan an assorted "Fiesta" materials along with a giant music card that topped off the theme.

Mackenzie loved boogie dancing to the card too while she waited for some more food.

Then the Grammies "whooped it up" till they couldn't party anymore!

Lovely Visit and Happy Birthday Mamacita!

We all had a great time with Dad here. Mom and Dad had a great time on their date night at Carter House Restaurant. Mom's camera battery was dead so they didn't get any pictures for me to post (darn it!). Here's some pictures of Dad's visit.

Dad (Iowa Grandpa) with Mackenzie and Steven on Pizza and Movie night.

Enjoying the "Wall Family Circus" at dinner time:

Look what Dad taught Steven:

Yep, Steven is learning the ways of the Iowa Grandpa:

The guys enjoying ice cream after pizza on Dad's last night. I sure wish Iowa Grandpa and Grammy would become Fortuna Grandpa and Grammy.

We celebrated Mom's birthday on Sunday March 1st since she and Dad went to Carter House on her birthday, February 28th.

Here's Mom and Steven waiting for cake:

Dad made the famous Hines Family Mocha Chocolate Cake from scratch. It is an old Betty Crocker recipe that is no longer in the newer additions. We decided to not put 58 candles on the cake but instead put five candles in orange and eight in purple since we wanted to eat the cake and not make a fireball out of it.

We sang Happy Birthday and Mom blew out the candles:

Then we ate cake. Steven ate some and turned some into a facial mask.

Mom got a ton of flowers and cards. Thank you everyone! (from Mom):

I taught Steven how to use the camera. He took this picture of me or was it the package of wipes and I just happened to be in the picture:

Rob got some new glasses this past week. They look really nice on him even though they look like Sarah Palin's glasses. Hmm... I'm not going to be too concerned unless he starts growing his hair real long, coloring it brown, and styling it with a bump in the back.

Steven is becoming a pro at using the potty. We are still waiting for that first #2 to hit the potty before it hits his underwear. He's even getting creative with his underwear. Don't worry it is a clean pair he was getting ready to put on in the morning.

Mackenzie is starting to really develop her personality. She's quite the character. She also has started crawling! I'll have to catch a video of that. Here she is sharing silly faces with Daddy:

She also had a great time taking a bath with her brother. She adores her big brother: