T minus two days = lots of prep work

Alex and Nate turn 3 on Saturday, which means Case Casa has been full of a flurry of emotions and preparation. I wrote earlier this week on HDYDI about my feelings on the boys turning 3. For those who don't want to click through, I'll summarize to say that I feel sad at how quickly the time is passing by. I'm finding the hardest part of mothering is learning to let go little by little as the boys grow up.

First up in the preparations department - gifts. Fortune (and blogging) smiled upon us as Goddess opened her etsy shop Teeny Tiny Quilts just in time for us to put in a birthday order. We wanted something special and handmade for the boys but I am not crafty, so this was a perfect solution. Nate and Alex have stuffed puppies they treat as their children, and the first time I saw Goddess' doll quilts, I knew the perfect gift for the boys: quilts for their beloved puppies.

I gave her the bare minimum: two dog-themed quilts, one red, one blue. She ran with the idea and knocked it out of the park. Here's what the boys will be getting from us (picture courtesy of Goddess' crafting blog where you can see more quilts):

Gorgeous! I can not wait to see the boys' faces when they open them. YAY HANDMADE!

Next up in the preparations department - landscaping. It is no secret it has been a busy and expensive three years for us. After putting together a landscaping to-do list for the summer, we realized we would spend almost every weekend in the yard instead of enjoying the pool. We hired a landscaper (she is awesome, email me if you want her name) to complete the list. In just two days, almost everything is complete!

One work still in progress is putting rocks under the deck. The ground under the deck stays moist most of the year and the boys now immediately head there to play "dig." They recently came up with the game "throw dirt on each other's heads when mom and dad take bathroom breaks." The rocks should stop that game for awhile. (Here Nate is "watering" the rocks.)

She also bed-edged our entire property. While the noise was deafening when it was occurring, the results are magnificent - clean, clear edges between the grass and pine straw. Loves it.

We're also throwing a birthday party at our house. The theme is "messy party" and I'm very excited to see how it turns out. I did have one last shout-out. Via Twitter, I found the Mudpuddle Twins CafePress shop and they have the cutest stuff for multiples ever! I could go crazy in that store. I have my eye on a matching set of "See you later alligator" and "After while crocodile" shirts for the boys. For the party, I bought this yard sign and again, loves it:

The rest of the preparations I must keep off my blog so as not to ruin the party on Saturday. Let's just say PLEASE OH PLEASE hope for clear skies because we've got a lot of people coming and a lot of mess that will be made if everything needs to move indoors.

Yesterday I finished up the big whopping birthday letters to the boys that I plan to auto-post here Saturday. After I spent so much time picking out the pictures to go with the letters, of course I managed to get cooperation from Nate to take a great photo. I don't feel like going back to edit that post, so here's a bonus picture of Nate for you!