Celebrating Three Years of Ben

Slow down, November. You're getting away from me.

I've known the fall was going to fly by, so I've kept my to-do list close and constantly reminded myself I can't do it all in one day and I shouldn't do it all in one day. Here's the struggle with being busy for me: I spend too much time planning how to make it all happen that I forget to enjoy it. I've tried to prevent that this fall. And, honestly, some days have been a success and others haven't. 

Really, we all need to jump -- or dive, literally, like my boy -- into a pile of leaves. We need to throw the leaves up the in the air. And we need to scream in delight.

Even when our life seems busy.

Thanks to the busyness that is an upcoming five-night trip to Charleston to spend time with family and watch Murray State play basketball followed by Thanksgiving, some more basketball, and a Slugs & Bugs concert I'm hosting, we celebrated Ben's third birthday 13 days early. And, you know, the weather was perfect, the company was dear, and the day was fun.

So who cares that he's confused about whether he's 2 or 3, right? 

It was a dinosaur-themed party. This over-sized toy dinosaur named Koda belongs to Jaclyn's kids and he was the special guest yesterday afternoon. He likes to eat things, apparently. He roars and blinks too.

That's my boy, ever the expressive one. I'm not sure how he knows pirates say "Aaarrrrggghhhh ..." But he does. And he likes to "Aaaarrrrggghhhh" while wearing his new pirate garb. 

We had an egg hunt. You know, a dinosaur egg hunt. Greg called this pile of leaves the dinosaur bone pit. Points for Daddy playing along with the theme! And, hey, Ben told me hunting for eggs was his favorite part of the day. 

The boys were sweetly studying some Lego catalog.

I told you. See that green shirt? Yes, that's my boy. He dived in the leaves like the pile was a pool. Over and over. 

It was a mess of a good time, just like spending the day with people you love, eating cake, throwing leaves, chasing, laughing, and celebrating should be. It was a party worth planning ... and enjoying!
________
Want more? Subscribe to get "Insights" in your inbox. Or follow me on Twitter.