The groundhog did not see his shadow.
It snowed (hard) from 6:30am until 4pm.
And we celebrated the 5th birthday of this handsome little boy!
To say that he was excited about his birthday would be an understatement. He's been counting down the days for the last 2 weeks. The first slurred words that come from his groggy body each morning are, "guess what, only ___ days until my birthday."
On the kids' birthdays I like to do a little decorating, so it feels festive-like. There's the Happy Birthday banner I put up each year, maybe a few streamers, and usually balloons. I try to get things up the night before so they can awake to the celebration and feel all special. And the kids quite like it, and plan on it. The day before the birthday bash Conner whispered in my ear, "In the morning when we wake up I'll keep Payton busy in our room so you can get the party ready. Okay?" Okay Conner. Thanks for the assist.
This year Payton also got to have his very first birthday party. Because he loves writing his name and the letter P, and the fact that for a very long time Anna called him "P", the theme of the party was The Letter P. So everything we did, ate, and gave away started with the letter P. We made paper airplanes, played with the parachute, went on a picture scavenger hunt to find things like piano, potty, pineapple, popcorn, peter pan DVD, pennies and pillows, played walk the plank, and whacked a treasure chest pinata. We decorated a giant cookie pizza with frosting and toppings (gummi worms, M&M's, and sprinkles) and drank punch. 
Ahead of time we made P's on paper and with vinyl and plastered them all over the place for decoration. There were presents, which Payton loved. And I have to say this was the most entertaining part of the party. Imagine a bunch of 4-5 year old boys huddled closely together and most of them want to tell Payton what their gift is before he even opens it. Payton got a little frustrated and said, "don't tell me what the present is, okay?!" Scott and I had a good laugh. Oh, and don't forget goodie bags filled with pez, play-doh, and pirate eye patches.
Here's that snow I was telling you about.
No snowmen or snow angels today. But there were Hot Wheels tracks to assemble and test repeatedly, a Whac-a-Mole Tower to beat to death, watercolor paints & paper and plans for the perfectly drawn pickle, and a Leapster to steal away every ounce of attention left in this boy.
5 is big kid business and Payton knows it. When it was time for cake and he was handed the usual small fork he said, "Actually, I can have a big fork because I'm a big kid now." He is getting to be a big kid and it's hard to believe that he is growing so fast. Thankfully he still likes to cuddle with me, and he still has squishy arms, and he has the best excited face/voice/eye-popping reaction. We love him and are so glad that he is our 5-year-old boy!
birthday dinner: pepperoni pizza
birthday cake: chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, so it could be "camouflaged."
