Samuel's 3rd Parrrrrrrty

Samuel is 3 now. He is growing up in a house of people who adore him. His birthday was this past weekend on Saturday, though we celebrated his life on Sunday. We were able to pull his day off without a hitch and he was able to pull his day off without some form of discipline. I'd say that's mighty fine work for a 3 year old! Our family had been battling a little virus for about a week and we decided to keep the littles home from church Sunday morning to spare the other saints from our germs. While Jake and the big 5 were at church the littles and I held down the fort and began with some party prep. To start with I needed a shower so.. Hazel took her morning nap and I put a scholastic movie in the computer and had the little boys sit on our bed and watch away. 

Samuel and Silas chilling in front of the tube.

Soon enough the family returned from worship and people were ready to party, but Samuel needed a nap, the lawn needed mowing, and I hadn't wrapped any presents yet. We decided all items were of priority and the party could slide a bit. Because Jake had shopped for Samuel I honestly had no idea what was in the bags from the store until about 2pm Sunday. I discovered that my husband had done very well and inside the bags were the makings of a Pirate Party amongst the birthday loot. We wrapped up the booty, dug out the doo-rags, and scrounged around for my black eyeliner from years ago. I always knew it would come in handy!

Louisa braved the pen of the tattoo artist and had the name of her favorite beau inscribed across her bicep!

The birthday boy himself couldn't resist the urge to skip shaving for the day..

After recovering from the battle scars the captain of the crazy rig was free to pose with his land honey!

ARRRRRRRR, what's that you say? Is it time to bust up the old Pinada? The kids were most excited about this. It's not every day we load cardboard with chocolately goodness, tie it from a tree, give em' a bat, and command them to beat the thing down. That's what we did Sunday.

Samuel took the first blow. He did a-ok.

Colby finished the pinada off after all the kids had taken their hits in turn. If you look close enough, you can see the candy flying through the air.

The kids and the dog were thrilled with the great gathering.

Even Hazel wanted to be free for a moment to gather up the chocolate treasures.

Maybe next time doll.

 We lingered in the back yard for a bit and enjoyed the lovely sunset and the pictures the warm natural light afforded.

Jake and Jack.

Hazel enjoying some hood time.

 Now for the best part. Cake of course. Samuel needed a chocolate cake with bright yellow frosting. Need is very relevant here. Because I said so.

Just look at how pleased he was.

Such a big blow from such a little man.

Have you seen the latest pirate movie? It's rated ARRRRRRRRR!

We had so much fun celebrating a super cool little boy. Samuel Theodore, 3 years ago you came into the world with great strength and endured a huge move. We've drug you to and fro and you have been a resilient young lad to all of the demands we've had for you. You are strong and of a bold character. We pray that your strength and boldness will be a blessing for Christ's Kingdom. May you never back down to the deceitful wielding of the enemy. May any swords that come flying your way be bounced off by the true armor of God! May you stand firm in the day of your battle. We love you son.

So far, Samuel's third year has been interesting. I'll give you a short list of what he's been up to:

1. He's been involved in an evacuation
2. He was run over by my shopping cart. (That was a first, I've never had to pull a kid out from under my grocery cart before. It was rather interesting.)
3. He's had a good hair pulling incident with sister Libby. That didn't end well for Samuel when Jake saw what was happening.
4. He's been to speech therapy and is successfully adding consonants to the end of words!
5. He peed in the front yard like a real boy!

I know there are other fun and notable things but none are coming to mind.

Anyway, Happy Birthday Samuel Theodore Reynolds!!