Constructing a Party

Well Saturday was the big day.

The construction party to end all construction parties.

Here's how it went down:

The Decorations:

 

The Food:

The Family & Friends:

The Presents:

The Cake:

The boy it was all for:

Happy birthday, Topher.  We hope you had a wonderful day. 

As for mommy and dadddy, we're just glad that we have a whole year before we have to put together your next amazing party.  We can only imagine what theme you'll choose when you're FOUR!

--KC

The Adventures of Being Three

Yesterday our baby boy turned three.

He really is a special kid, all full of life and humor and stubbornness, and dancing, and wrestling, and talking, and love.

He got a few presents yesterday, mostly of the knights and dragons variety. 

(He will receive the rest of his gifts on Saturday at his big birthday party.)

Last night, we took him to Fuddrucker's because his dinner request was "chicken and fries".  The milkshake was a bonus.

Oh yeah, the knight helmet came too.

Then we took him to the big indoor playground at Jordan Creek Mall.  He loves it there.

It was a great birthday.  But it didn't end yesterday.  This is his birthday week, after all.

So for today I set up a private, after-hours tour of our local DOT garage.  

The guy let us in the garage and told Topher he could climb in any trucks he wanted.  He went straight for an enormous dump truck. 

And I do mean enormous. 

These are the trucks they use to keep Iowa highways clear of snow and ice. 

That's a big job.

I think this was Topher's own version of Heaven. 

Seeing him so happy and excited was our version of Heaven.

He ended up "driving" three of the huge trucks.

The man giving us the tour was so nice.  He gave Topher a safety hat, a reflective vest, and a toy truck off of his desk.  Then he gave TJ and I vests as well to wear at Topher's construction party on Saturday.

He also mentioned that we were pretty special to get this tour and that to his knowledge, no kid has ever been allowed to do this before. 

Apparently cuteness will get you everywhere in life. 

We can't wait to see what adventures await us in the coming year.

Happy birthday, puppy pie.  Mommy and daddy love you endlessly.

--KC

Why the Clarks should never carve pumpkins...

Yesterday we went to the pumpkin farm and we each chose a pumpkin. 

This afternoon, we thought it would be fun to carve them. 

I asked Topher what kind of a face he wanted mine to have: happy, scary, sad, etc.

He chose happy, so I drew the following design:

Then we looked over to see what TJ was drawing for his face.

This is what we saw:

(If you're a little speechless right now, that's okay.)

Well immediately Topher decided that the  happy face just wasn't going to do. 

He wanted a scary face, too. 

So I revised my pumpkin:

And Topher was happy.

And all the pumpkins turned out just the way they were depicted on paper.

But I couldn't help but notice that that pumpkin next to my pumpkin just looked silly.

 So what can I say? 

I jumped on the sick wagon.

And suddenly I realized that we really are the perfect couple.

 

And that, my friends, is why the Clarks should never be allowed to carve pumpkins.

Happy Halloween.

--KC

A New Love

Topher is in love. 

With an alien robot species. 

They are called Transformers, and the Autobots are sworn protectors of the human race.  Their leader is Optimus Prime.

They wage battle against their enemies, the Decepticons, who would wish to obliterate us mortals and use our planet for their own gain. 

Aren't little boy fairytales romantic?

--KC