Birthday and Routine

We celebrated Nathan's 3rd birthday shortly after Christmas.  He was excited because he really got into opening presents at Christmas time.  He does argue with us that he is 2 but we just keep telling me he's 3 now.   

Brian buttered his nose, as tradition calls for.  :)  He hated it.

We spent his birthday morning together, grabbed lunch and let him open his presents from us.  He was excited to see more trains.  I'm glad because I may have gone a little overboard on train-buying.  

We then went to Grandma Barb and Papa Lee's house for the afternoon.  He got a Mickey Farm!  

We headed to Grandma and Papa PJ's house for supper.  He was impressed with the money Great-Grandma Hill (in the background) gave him in his card.  

He kept saying "Pirates.  Hook." over and over when he opened this present.  

I wanted to provide the cake for his supper but decided baking was not going to happen.  Too much after-Christmas mess and leftovers, etc.  So, I ordered this cake ONLINE.  How cool is that?  

Papa PJ was on don't-let-him-burn-himself duty.  He acted like he knew just what to do, which is funny because we don't have candles all the time.

Yum!

After his birthday, it was time to get back to normal life.  I undecorated the house--I don't like to linger after Christmas.  I'm over it quickly.  :)  I helped the kids put new toys away and the house was clean (it's not now).  Brian had 3 days off this week so that was awesome.  

They spent time playing Skylanders (a big draw for the boys!).

Lily dressed herself and her new American Girl doll up.

And, we slowly started back at school.  We had 2 days with just a few subjects to ease into it.  Samuel started All About Reading Level 1 and it's great so far.  Here he is playing a game with Ziggy.

I think I'm the one that struggled with getting back into the routine so I'm hoping to get things done this weekend to help me feel back on track for Monday.  I changed some stuff in our homeschool routine and I'm looking forward to a fresh start!