Amelia Turns 6!

Today my Gummy turned 6. I can hardly believe that she is already that old! She has been so excited for her birthday, I think she has talked about it nonstop for at least the last month. I didn't post all the pics of everything she got, but I posted pics of the bigger items just to give an idea of the stuff she got.

Once again I tried my hand at birthday cake making. I think I am getting a little better. This time I decided to try out carving a cake, instead of having a flat one, and I carved a domed ladybug cake. It was super messy to make, but I think it turned out cute. She said it was the best cake ever, so that's good enough for me!

I think it's funny that this sleep mask was one of the things she was most excited about. She has wanted one for a long time. I'm not sure why it's so exciting, but it was definitely the cheapest item on her wishlist.

I love Amelia so much. She is so smart, and artistic and silly. I remember when I found out I was pregnant with her, it was such a shock. John and I had only been married a few weeks, and we hadn't even given any thought to having a 6th child. (Although we obviously didn't give any thought to NOT having one). I am so glad that we did, because she is so fun and a wonderful addition to our family. I love to watch her constant thirst for learning and for all things artistic/musical. I hope that she continues to hold onto that love, and I can't wait to see the amazing young lady she grows into. I love you Amelia!

Happy 2nd Birthday Hayden!

I can't believe my baby boy is 2! Where has all the time gone? He is just getting cuter by the hour, and although it makes me sad that he's not a little baby anymore, I still just can't get enough of him. I just love him so much I just can't take it! The little boy I never thought I would have. Sometimes I think I love him a little too much, if that's possible. I just want to hug and kiss him and squeeze his guts every chance I get.

It was fun to get to have my parents here for his birthday, but I was enjoying Hayden so much I forgot to take any pictures of him with them like I had planned. Lame, I know. I had planned on taking a picture of him with John and I too, but having a new baby and NOT having had a shower very recently, I smartly opted to just let John be in the pics.

He had a ton of fun playing with everything he got and eating "CAKE!". It has to be all caps, with an exclamation point, because that's how he says it every single time. Hilarious! I'm glad he liked it, because once again I tried my lame hand at cake making. I don't know that I am getting any better, but the kids like it so I guess that's good enough for me.

The birthday cake. He was super excited because it had a car on it. :)

Hmmm, and which one should be first?

Hello? Is anyone there?

Way excited, because the puzzle makes sounds when you play with it.

"Helping" dad because he wasn't getting it together fast enough!

Playing with his cool new track that's almost as big as he is.

A firehouse and truck. Fire trucks are his favorite thing ever.

Cute dinosaur puzzle. Hayden calls them "Roar's". hehe

He sang to himself while he was getting sung to. He loves singing the birthday song.

Finally! CAKE!

A Teenager?!!

So, today Tyler turned 13. How crazy is that? I told John it doesn't make me as old as he is, since I didn't give birth to him, but I have had him for more than half his life and he still makes me feel old. Ha!

We had our usual family party tonight, and John's mom joined us via skype for singing and cake. It was funny because before the party Tyler told her that he didn't feel like a teenager yet, but before bed he came to me and said now he felt like he was a real teenager. I told him maybe it was because we had the party, so it had sunk in now that he was really 13. It really cracked me up.

For his birthday I tried to get him everything he asked for. It wasn't a lot, and it wasn't super expensive, so I did my best. I spent a little over what John had agreed to, but it was only like $10 and I didn't feel bad because 13 is a big birthday.

For his birthday he got 4 books (3 of them are a series), 2 belts, a pair of flip flops, and a skateboard. He was super excited because everything he got was stuff he had asked for. After opening all the books he told me excitedly,"Now I won't be bored doing my reading for school for at least a couple months!" I doubt it will be that long, since he is as book obsessed as I am, but I'm glad he's so excited to have and read them.

For his cake he asked for a camping themed cake, so I did my best. I am by no means a cake decorator, and I have actually only made my kids' cakes a couple times, so it wasn't very impressive. Still, it must have been good enough for him because when we sat down to sing Happy Birthday and have cake, he told me it was the best cake he had ever had. And that's the most important part.

Camren turns 8!

Camren turned 8 on the first, but we didn't end up doing anything because we were so busy getting ready to go to Idaho the next day. Instead, I shopped before we left and we planned to have a surprise party for him while we were at Hailee and Alan's house. He had no idea, and we all had a blast! I can't believe he is already 8! It seems like just yesterday John and I were getting married and he was only 2. Boy how time flies!

The awesome cake

Oooh! Presesnts!

Still stunned, not sure what's going on.

Just a little excited. hehe!

Magic Tree House books are a favorite around here.

Happy for more Bionicles

If you can't tell, cars are pretty much his favorite thing ever

Oooh! Another Bionicle!

Getting sung to

My kids love to lick the frosting off all the candles

The big, blue, toothless grin says it all

Party Pics

So, a little after birthday party post. I had a bunch of fun stuff planned for the day. First, while he was at work we decorated the house and porch, and I made carrot cake. When he got home, we surprised him and had cake and presents. He loved the 2 terabyte external hard drive that I got him, and he was totally surprised and didn't suspect anything. I arranged like a week ahead of time, for my ex sis in law to watch the kids, and John and I went to Tucanos and then went to see 'How To Train Your Dragon" in 3D. I know some people may think that's dorky, but it was actually really good and nothing else in the theater sounded good, or it was rated R. Anyway, it was fun to get to go out alone on a date for once.

Porch all decorated (ignore the Christmas lights. haha)

Ready to open presents.

Yay, the external hard drive I wanted!

Hamming it up like a dork.

Attacking the cake.

He really did take a bite out of the corner. Haha! He was totally hamming it up the whole time. I took tons of pictures, too many to post here, and even though he acted like his birthday wasn't a big deal I could tell that he was totally soaking up all the attention. I swear men are just over sized little boys. :)

John's Birthday - Car Pics

Here are some pics of what I did to John's car. I had fun doing it, and even though he said he thought it was dorky/embarrassing, I could tell that he really did enjoy it and just didn't want to admit it.

John's 33 Today

Today is my husband's birthday. He turned 33. I have been torturing him the last few days about how he is getting so old. haha! Today is going to be so fun because he totally thinks I don't have anything planned. I started last night by getting a car marker, and writing all over his car windows. I put Happy Birthday, and Honk! It's My Birthday Today, Birthday Boy, and I Love You all over all the windows. Then I got a big bag of balloons and blew them up and filled his car with them. I hope he liked it. I haven't gotten to talk to him today, 'cause he's been in surgery (working) all day. I also have fun planned for tonight. I am SOO excited because he has NO idea!! I have overheard him tell several people that he didn't think we were doing anything and that as far as he knew I didn't have anything planned. That's right, as far as he knows. Hahaha! I have had a babysitter lined up for like a week, and we are going to dinner and a movie sans kids. I am super excited. 1 - because he has NO idea, and 2 - because we rarely, if ever, get a night out alone. I also bought him an external hard drive he has been wanting to get for a while. He tried to buy it a couple weeks ago while we were at the store and I had to be like NO! let's just wait a while longer and think about it! Ugh, so close!

Anyway, I also made carrot cake (which is cooling so I can decorate it) and I got Happy Birthday decorations to put up before he gets home. The kids are cleaning right now to get ready to decorate, since he gets off in a couple hours. I figured we will do cake and stuff with him when he gets off work, and then Jessica (my babysitter/ex sister in law) will get here in time for us to leave at 5. I am thinking of going to Tucanos and then hitting the movie theater that is nearby. I still plan on taking Hayden, since he thinks he needs a boob all the time, but I am hoping to just take him to dinner and then drop him off before the movie so he can go to bed. We'll see how that goes. He is hard to part with, for me not him. Haha!

I hope that he has a great birthday today. I have been working on it for a while. I love him so much and I am so glad that we are together. He makes me happy, and always has me laughing.

Brooklyn's 6th Birthday

Post and pictures coming as soon as I get my pics from Sandy. My camera battery died and of course I didn't have my spare with me. Yeah, the one that I got just for problems like that. Brilliant I know.