There aren't any photos of R3 because it was all on video, haha! But he had a very happy birthday. :) Juju, Jaida and Jonathan came over and we took all the littles to Heights for the Together Richardson launch (swim!) party, and a good time was had by all!
Before the official festivities begin. :)
With cookies and cream cheesecake!
Sleeping on the couch to help accommodate everyone! :)
I've been historically late on birthday posts this year, but hey - they make it up eventually! Our sweet little man turned 12 this year, and for our exclusive birthday date we went to the Sea Life Aquarium in Grapevine (here's when we went to the Dallas aquarium 2 years ago for this 10th birthday - he was so little!). He just loves those aquariums! Afterwards, we went to Steak & Shake (like a couple years ago, too!) and stopped by GameStop to get him some goodies. It was a blast! I had such a wonderful time chatting with him and hearing him talk (and vent!) about all kinds of things, and he was so generous with this thanks when it was all over. HE IS THE SWEETEST LITTLE MAN.
Trying to decide what to buy... and he loved the sea lions! :D
But he eventually settled on his new best friend, "Fat Shark." :P
And here is another little dumpling's birthday! Today's catch-up day. ;)
Richard III turned 11 a few weeks ago, and bless us all - he's turning into the sweetest little man who ever existed. Here's a little recap of R3's great year...
- He LOVES math and science (score!) and doing all kinds of math/sciencey things with Stephen!
- R3 has the cutest idea of having a lemonade stand at our big garage sale last October. (Which, lasted all of 5 minutes because it was hot and boring. But we give him props for thinking of it! ;))
- He's basically BFFs with our neighbor across the street, Jake (who he met because of said garage sale!). They go to the park together, play video games, have sleepovers... thank goodness, because R3 is surrounded by estrogen nearly 24/7!
- And when he's not able to hang out with a fellow dude, he will just sleep on the couch some nights for his boy time. Bless!
- He's pretty much ALWAYS the first one to hug me when I come home (even if his eyes are still glued to the video game on TV ;P)
- He officially discovered his love of fishing (which happened as R would take fishing gear up to Little Elm to pass the time waiting for Sadie's volleyball practices to start). R3 always liked to fish, but he seems to be super into it these days. Like, "Dad, you're bringing all the fishing gear, right?!" ;P
- He did a great job of claiming the only chair in the kittens' room as "R3's Personal TV Chair." BIG DEAL.
- He kinda maybe sort of talks about girls sometimes?! No, of course, he's too cool for that. ;)
- He got a motor scooter for Christmas and drives that thing all around the neighborhood! I mean, he even picks up other kids we've never seen before and drives them around (to our house, to the park...) It's so cute!
- Watching "Death Race 2000" with me!
Great R3 quotes this year include...
- "At first I was really happy our dental appointments were cancelled, but now I see how you feel about it and I'm really sad about it..." (post-Snowpocalypse Dentalpocalypse!)
- "What?! No... I... no, what?!" when you accuse him of anything girl-related. ;P
- When he called Meghan on his own because he missed her and wanted to hear her voice (me = dead)
- "I'm as cute as a great white shark." ;P
- Amazingly hilarious video game commentaries, including "Wrecking Ball" parody ("I came in like an ICE-CREAM BARRR!") and simply saying "MY ANACONDA DON'T---!" over and over again.
- Grabbing my hand and saying "Hi, step-mom..." a few days after we told them R & I were getting married. (RIP ME!)
- "Emily, you look really pretty in that picture!" trying to say something nice to his sister, even though she was being ROUGH!
This year for little man's birthday, we had burgers and he got a FULL fishing gear set-up. Um, R3-tastic! Meghan made a beautiful (and delicious!) Oreo cake and Jake even spent the night! Because his birthday falls so closely to Fathers Day, R had planned for all the boys to go out fishing early over the weekend... but thanks to the rain, that didn't really work out. (Bummer!) BUT, I was able to take the birthday boy to Alamo Drafthouse to see "Inside Out" for our birthday date, and he was sooo excited! We ordered big shakes and a mountain of popcorn, and I cried alot (which thankfully R3 didn't mind ;P).
I'll happily say this 1000 times, because it's 1000% true: R3 is hands down the sweetest little man on the entire planet. He has a heart and soul of gold, this one. We have alot of new things happening on the horizon (junior high!) and I can't wait to see all the things he gets into. We love you so much, HoJu! :D
You know how we didn't get much of Emily's birthday on video? Well, I seemed to have gone over-board on R3's birthday this year! ;P He had the first birthday in our new dwellings, and Meghan made him an awesome Minecraft-inspired cake. For our birthday date, we went the aquarium and had such a great time together. (Even though he said I looked like a farmer in my overalls... whatever, dude!) Then, homeboy got to go fishing with his dad as a part birthday present, part Father's Day present. What a birthday!
R3 is still so much like his daddy. (He drives me bonkers but it the sweetest [young] man! ;P) He is always the first to fall asleep and can bow-out of a ridiculous argument faster than anyone (super great most times, super obnoxious sometimes!) He's still one of the biggest kids for his age, which isn't stopping any time soon, and is so adorable self-confident in many of his thoughts/opinions. I can't get that kid to stop talking with his mouth full to safe my life but he does know how to functionally operate a lawn-mower which is more than I can say for myself! He's so much fun to snuggle-watch TV with (especially when I let him watch an episode of "South Park" once in a blue moon) and can always be counted on to make his bed in stellar fashion.
On the way to the aquarium, he started talking about girlfriends. "Why would anyone have a girlfriend? You have to buy them all this stuff!" When I said, "I don't make your dad buy me lots of stuff...!" to which he replied, "Yes, but you are the fabulous Ms. Kylie." ;P
That's a shark behind him!
With his souvenir... I swear, that penguin ("Pen-gie!") didn't leave his arms for about a month after our trip.
I gotta admit, the flamingos were my favorite...
Not that I expect anyone but me and Richard to look at these videos (I took a lot!), but he was so excited the entire time. He has the cutest little excited voice!
Oh, and I forgot to mention that we went to Steak and Shake after the aquarium. You would think he died and gone to heaven!
We love you so much, little HoJu. Thanks for always making me laugh. :)
R3 finally got the other half of his birthday present this weekend! In addition to his Minecraft t-shirt, I told him that he could pick whatever movie he wanted and the two of us would go see it in the movie theatre. After some serious consideration, he chose "Despicable Me 2," "as long as it wasn't in 3D." (Oh, thank goodness! I don't like 3D, either!) He also got to pick-out a candy bar and soda, so this was one happy camper. ;) He even told me "Thank you for taking me to the movie theatre..." in the sweetest little voice right as the lights were going down... ughhh!
Note: The movie wasn't cute as the first one in my humble opinion, but we did see some super awesome trailers ("The Lego Movie" and "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2!" both look amazing!) which I made everyone watch on YouTube when we got home, because I'm that person.
Continuing with our theme of "Things That Happened Weeks Ago," R3 is now officially nine! I sure am lucky this is the only other boy allowed to kiss me, because he's the sweetest, most hilarious little man. From spelling out "I Heart You" with his sandwiches to saying "Who's that pretty lady standing in the kitchen!?" while I'm making dinner, this kid's got a degree in Melting Hearts. While he still may not have the best attitude about eating his plants, he'll make his bed and empty the trash without being asked and takes home the trophy for "Not Talking With Your Mouth Full of Food."
This year, R3 is really into the Xbox, riding in the car with the windows down, and back-scratches. He loves cuddling in our bed on Saturday mornings and does super awesome backflips in the swimming pool! He loves being a boy and rocking out to "Eye of the Tiger" and any AC/DC song. He makes the silliest high-pitched commentary when he's playing video games and watching TV, which is equal parts Annoying As Hell and really easy to miss when he's not around (I can't watch Wall-E without him!). He also claims to have already planned the rest of life without girlfriends ("video games, soda, and burgers"), however that hasn't stopped him from whistling and pointing to the couch simultaneously when he wants a cuddle right now (REALLY).
We had alot of making up to do this year because last year Daddy's car broke down in the middle of the his birthday and we got to hang out on the side of the rod in Garland for forever! Whew! We were all lucky enough to go to Granner's with Darrah + boys and Matt where there was lots of swimming, presents from loved ones, and eating of cake. We had such a lovely time! Like, "Meg Smiling In Pictures!" rank of a good time. ;)
Goodness, I'm obsessed with this picture!
Ugh!
LOOK AT THAT SWEET FACE.
R3 wanted a Minecraft (video game) t-shirt, and since I'm so out of touch I had to call Meggie from Kohl's before purchasing one: "What does he like? Is this green pixelated dude ok? What's the green pixelated dude? Do you think he'll like it? Do you really think he'll like it?!" So grateful she can help with things like this!
Um, sweet little man had not one but TWO cakes. We brought an oreo cake, and Granners accidentally bought one herself. Lucky boy! If you can't tell, the cake from Granners is camo on the inside, which earned it the "Freedom Cake" nickname. Thanks, Cody! ;P
Our beautiful hostess. :)
Richard, we all love you so much and we're so blessed because we get to see just how much you love us back. I can't wait to see how well you do in school next year because you're really into science, taking things apart, and putting them back together. You can make your sisters laugh like no one else, are the most dedicated helper man, and you give the sweetest hugs to people you've just met. I'm so sorry you're not in Cub Scouts any more, but we promise to help you find as many Boy Things to do when you're with us. I'm also sorry I get so annoyed when you touch things before you ask because you have a curiosity that should never diminish. This year, you've finally gotten comfortable smiling for the camera, and your sweet little Chipmunk Smile can light up my whole day. We just can't wait to see all the shit you get into next. :)
