Family Traditions #14: Happy 3rd Birthday Jonah and Silas!

"Family traditions give identity and belonging to each member." 

- James Dobson

We started celebrating Jonah and Silas' birthday a little early in September with Kiki and Papa in FL!

 They were thrilled with their Buzz and Woody action figures! I regularly get shot with Silas' imaginary arm laser. 

 Since we were in the States where real football exists, Daddy surprised them with football helmets!

 The night before their birthday we skyped with G and MaG so that they could watch them open their presents.

They involved drills... very exciting!

 Jonah and Silas' birthday was the 16th, but we did not have their party until the 20th. We still did some special things on their birthday.

I wrapped their presents a couple days early to build anticipation! 

Only one of my kids was naughty enough to open one early...

It was Eden! I couldn't stop her because she was having too much fun with that crinkly paper. She got mad because I wouldn't let her crawl past me until I took her photo. Dramatic!  

We started off the day with our family tradition of picking your own breakfast. It was no surprise they asked for "penkans'! They also love letters. So they each got pancakes in the shape of their letters. 

You can see their birthday banner in this photo. Our family birthday wreath was also on the door. When I took their banner down to move it to their party Jonah actually cried.  

 The decorations up for a week made them feel celebrated and special... something to look forward to. 

After breakfast we finally opened presents!

"How old are you?!"

Ever since Jonah and Silas saw the Kekchi praise band they have been pretending to play the keyboard, drums, and guitar. 

Jonah got a keyboard with a microphone attached and Silas got a drum set.  

{Silas action shot!}

Their great grandparents in KS sent them puzzles in the mail. They taped a photo of themselves on the present which I thought was a great way to help the boys understand who it was from. 

For our something homemade tradition we made them some family action figures!

 They thought it was cool!

{G!}

 The first thing Jonah did was organized them by family.

{Papa!}

It will be interesting to find out what all they do with them!

We spent the rest of the day together, just having fun as a family. 

Later that night after supper they went with daddy to go get Coke floats from the little ice cream parlor in our town. That is something special they do with their daddy on a regular basis, usually after they visit the barber shop!

 The following Saturday was their party. Their daddy and Lico worked very hard to get the back porch and half bath finished at our forever house, so that we could have a cookout party there this year.

 Here is our porch!

  The garden string lights hanging in the background are permanent. They are on a switch. It is SO quaint out there in the evenings. It has a beautiful ambiance. I absolutely love it.

 Here is our half bath! Jimmy made the pretty wood counter. It has a working sink and toilet! 

Having the party at our forever house made it extra special for us. For Jonah and Silas' second birthday  we celebrated with all of our Guatemalan friends, this year we invited our gringo friends.   

We are so thankful for them and the fellowship we enjoyed together that day. It was a really nice time there on our porch just talking while the kids played!

 
The whistles were a hit!

The string that came with the party hats were too short. This was Jonah's solution:

Jimmy was thrilled to finally have a grill. We had been waiting all these years to get one until we had a porch where it wouldn't get weathered and destroyed. Well... it fell off the truck when it was being delivered! I guess the driver thought that somehow we wouldn't notice. Jimmy having to use a hammer to get the parts to fit together kind of gave it away! So he worked out a deal to use it once (since we got it the day before the party) and then return it. Jimmy ran a propane line from our house tank permanently out to the porch. It will be nice!

Holly's husband's grandfather died, or he would have been there chatting too. We did miss him and his sister Kendra. The boys love Miss Kendra!

{Adults Table}

{Kids Table}

Here are their individual cakes, another family tradition. "Uh-ball cakes!"... as the boys say, out of marshmallow fondant.

This year Jimmy found a Buzz Lightyear piñata! We weren't sure how much it actually resembled Buzz, but when he walked through the door with it Silas immediately yelled, "BUZZZZZ!" They talked about "Big Buzz" for days leading up to the party and I caught Silas beating it with the broom once while Jonah yelled, "No, Mani, No!"Every time I walked into my laundry room that dumb piñata made me jump. It was definitely big. 

 I love how when Silas picks up the broom stick everyone grabs a kid and runs for cover!

Here's Silas telling me all about his bag full of candy.

 Here's my Jonah, completely unaffected by the urgency around him,  just taking his dear sweet time in his own way picking up his candy... love him!

 We all had a great time together!

Here's a birthday party recap!

And here is our last tradition, pavers with their footprints. We have decided where to put our pavers. They will make a path from the front gate to our front porch. We will pour some blank ones as fillers that can be switched out for birthdays over the years. 

 These traditions are so much more sweeter now that they understand what is going on. 

 They thought it was cool, especially when they saw their letters, "J" and "S" being written in the concrete. 

And to finish off this post I must include a birthday victory. I made it by my personal deadline of their 3rd birthday. Jonah and Silas are potty trained!!! It only took us 12 months start to finish, but I am down to one baby in diapers. Happy Birthday to me! (I guess the jokes on me though because I have to clean my bathroom literally every time I go in there... my boys... I love them!)