Jonah Drumming on his birthday

Here is a clip of Jonah at his drum lesson with Tom Rogers, his buddy.

Jonah's Special Day...

On November 15th, Jonah turned 3. Months ago, David and I decided that we would really attempt to make Jonah's birthday about the experience as opposed to gifts. We have Boots and Dora to thank for this idea. So, several weeks ago we began asking Jonah who he would like to see on his special day, what he would like to eat and what he would like to do. The one consistent answer was "I want to play drums". After some brainstorming, David and I decided to arrange a drum lesson with Tom Rogers, a friend and drummer from church. We told Jonah a few days before his birthday and it was all that he could talk about. He was so excited for "Tom to teach him how to drum". The best part was that Tom was excited as well.

So even though we were going to make it about gifts, I could not resist picking up this little drum set when I saw it in the store. All Jonah really wanted to do on his birthday was drum so I wanted him to have a set to drum on. We had it setting up in the living room when he woke up. The sound of him tentatively hitting the bass drum is what actually woke me up that morning. It was so wonderful to see the smile on his face when he plays it. After making Jonah a banana chocolate chip pancake breakfast, he and David headed to the church for his big drum lesson with Tom. My dad and I stopped in for a while to watch and take pictures. Jonah was enthralled with the experience and Tom and he will be buddies forever now! In fact he now tells me that he wants to show people the little drum set that Tom got him. No need to correct him because it is really sweet how much he likes Tom.

We had a small party at lunch with both sets of grandparents and Danny and Nichole's family. Jonah chose the menu which was quesadillas, peanut butter crackers, gum and cake. He must have eaten 20 pieces of gum that day. As long as he was respectful, we pretty much let him do what he wanted on his special day, even if that was eating a ton of gum!

The day was really perfect for Jonah. Even though he is so young, I feel like he is going to have memories from this day. And he may not be a great drummer at this point, but I think the drum lesson actually helped. It has been cute to see him counting as he plays now. Last night, David actually walked into his bedroom (when Jonah was supposed to be asleep) and Jonah had moved the drum set beside his bed and was sitting there drumming on his knees just moments away from hitting the drum set and waking up poor innocent Judah. It was definitely a moment that David had to hold back the laughs until he spoke to Jonah and got out of the room. Of course, we laughed together once Jonah could no longer hear us!

Oh, I must mention that Jonah got a Peyton Manning Jersey that he got to wear on the day of the best comeback of the NFL season! Go Colts!

Judah had a fun couple of days as well. He thinks he is such a big boy. He is continuing to stress me out by crawling into the drawers in the kitchen and now he thinks it is cool to not only sit in them but to stand in them as well. Yep, we are definitely getting more bruises these days. What cracks me up the most is when Jonah thinks it would be funny to tackle Judah and then Jonah ends up getting pinned by Judah instead. I love my boys!

Silly Jonah...

Now that it is getting a bit colder outside, we are finding ways to be entertained indoors. Jonah (silly boy) loves hiding from David and I. Typically he chooses to hide under blankets where it is quite easy to spot him. Recently, Jonah found some new hiding spots...the cabinet beside our bed and our laundry hamper. Though they are great spots, Jonah is not patient enough to wait for us to find him and usually reveals himself within the first few seconds. Oh, the places we will find our boys hiding over the years....I can only imagine!

Beautiful Fall...

I love Fall. It is absolutely the most beautiful time of the year. It is interesting that David and I often are reminded that many losses have occurred in the Fall...the deaths of his mother and Zoe and 2 of his grandparents. However, Fall has also been a time of new life...Jonah, Judah, and Zoe. The experiences of Fall have been varied but one thing is for sure, the memories are vivid. I kind of feel like the vividness of the memories has something to do with the vividness of fall displayed in the colors and the drastic changes in scenery and atmosphere.

This weekend was wonderful. Time with friends...relaxing with my boys...enjoying the beautiful sunshine...watching the boys cuddle and play together....seeing Judah transitioning into a toddler by taking his first steps....and oh, a surprise from David. On Sunday, David treated me to a special evening with my friends, Jennifer and Casey, at a dinner theater where Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat was showing. It was such an energetic and entertaining show! I had so much fun and have been singing parts of the show all week. I love surprises! I love musicals! It was perfect!

The Mounds Race...

The Smith family spent the day at Mounds State Park in Anderson. The day could not have been more beautiful. David, Danny, Nichole and Al have all been training for a 5 mile cross country race. Before the main event, there is a 1 mile fun run for the kids. At the last minute, David and I decided that I would run the event with Jonah and his cousins. Judah and Noah of course remained in their stroller while Josiah, Hannah, Moses and Jonah "competed" in the race. Jonah is amazing. His energy resembles the Energizer Bunny at times and though he expressed to me that "running races is very hard" he surprisingly ran more than the majority of the mile. I was grateful for the few times where he wanted to walk!

Following the kids' mile, the adults ran their 5 miles in and out of the woods and up and down hills. I stayed with the kids and we somehow ended up handing out water to the runners for most of the race. The kids were adorable and got so excited for the opportunity to hand water to their parents. Danny, Nichole, Al and David all finished and finished well. David even won first place in what he calls "the fat guys division". The official title of course is "the heavy-weight division". I am proud of my "barely" heavy weight champ!