Scenes From This Big Boys Day...

Brysen turned 5 yesterday...

People!

He IS 5!!!!!

Oh My!

The end of the baby years has come and gone.

He is a big boy now.

Awwwww....

For those of you who couldn't be with him yesterday...

here are a few scenes from his day.

And...

You were GREATLY missed.

The doctor pepper in a football bottle was one of the two things he asked for.

He opened it right before bed, but mean old mom made him put it away.

This morning... right after breakfast... it is out and being sampled again and again and again...

If it were in any other bottle he wouldn't care.

LOL...

 Talking to Bampa and Grandma...

He hasn't put this thing down since he opened it!

Seriously...

 I had the normal plan of catching the perfect shot of him blowing out the candles...

but he blew the darn things out before the cake was even on the table!

He just couldn't wait.

What a great day...

What a great boy!!!!

Not a Baby or a Toddler...

Today we are cleaning the house... just like every other saturday.  However, tomorrow is not like every other sunday...

Tomorrow is Lily's birthday!!!!

5 Year Old, baby...

I am planning on making a hot fudge cake for her... have any of you made this?  The picture looks so yummy.  I hope she loves it!

Take a good hard look at 4 year old Lily...

Everything changes tomorrow... right?

I mean, 5 is not a baby or really even a toddler anymore.

Dramatic stuff ahead, I'm sure.

I will post birthday pictures as soon as possible...

His Old Lady...

My husband has always called me "kid".

But, yesterday...

His "old lady" turned 40!

Holy Cow!!

I never thought it was possible...

especially since I think I turned 20 about 6 months ago.

I had the BEST birthday, though.

I like laid back, relaxing days.

So, we had a normal day and didn't think about the birthday too much until dinner time...

When they fed me good food and then...

just what I asked for...

Apple Crisp and Vanilla Icecream!

I was in heaven!

This is me crying over the fact that I am 40!!!

...and such a drama queen...

Italian Crockpot chicken... Yummy!

My crazy family...

The most sane person in the house...

excuse me...

I was choking on that laugh!

I didn't... but I could have eaten this whole apple crisp by myself!

Really... but then I would have had to throw up and that would have ruined everything.

I have NO clue what this was about...

But...

I'm 40 now and so I don't care what anyone thinks!

I almost stuck my head in the bowl... but decided it would have probably gotten stuck and the fire department would have laughed at the  40 year old lady who had her head stuck in the bowl of apple crisp.

Talking to my boy...

He was trying to steal my presents...

This is me... acting a little more normal...

We decided to take a picture since it doesn't happen very often.

Yes, it is sideways, but I was too lazy to turn it...

Yes, I have the ribbon on my head that came on the present from my mother-in-law...

it is a tradition.

...and then I had to go and read her card and get teary... because I miss my Mom...

and because it is really something amazing and special and touches me to the core to know that I have a Mom who loves me, still... even though I wasn't born to her.

She may not know how much it means to me... but when she reads this, she will...

And then...

to break the teary tension...

The real me came back...

Crazy and 40!

It was the PERFECT birthday...

even if that number is 40!

Lordy, Lordy...

Look Who's 40!!!

A Great Day...

Happy Birthday to you...

We took Aubrey out to lunch today to celebrate her special day. The kids love to get some one on one time with mom and dad. We had a wonderful time. Then we came home played a little and went into party mode.

These were not the relighting kind of candles, but amazingly...

after she blew them out, one of them relit!

We all burst out laughing. Silly, but fun...

Aubrey couldn't wait to get to the gift that came in the mail.


Her FAVORITE part was seeing her name on the address label.

Grandma's know how special that kind of stuff is!!


After Lily received a grandma blanket (that is what the kids call them) for her birthday in January, Aubrey couldn't wait to open her gift. She was praying that she would recieve the same gift.

I think the smile says it all...


Shortly after opening the other girls grabbed it and Aubrey had to fight to get that blanket back!

-very popular, these grandma blankets!

Okay, this photo has nothing to do with the birthday except it shows a very tired mama after a full day of birthday celebrations. Ari is sitting with me. She has a sty in her eye and we are really trying to get it to heal up.

It didn't take long for Aubrey to spread her blanket across her bed and give it a permanent home.
Finally, we took a family photo. Unfortunately, Chey had to work today, so... she is not with us in the photo.


What a great day!

Happy Birthday, Love!

How does my husband spend his birthday afternoon?

...Putting in our new bathroom flooring!

I love it!

After a dinner of chicken parmesan, we had marble cake!

Oh yeah, it was really good!

Babe, what's with the creepy eyes?


...and the crazy, fake blowing out the candles face?

Hmmm... maybe this is what 45 looks like... craziness!

He finally gave me a good picture.

There is the face I love!

...and then...

there was this beautiful card!

Here is what it said...

Any parent

would be thankful

to have a son like you,

because you give

so much of yourself

as you share

the sometimes fun,

sometimes touching,

always wonderful moments

that go with being a family

and having a family

of your own...

So thank you, Son,

for the special ways

you enrich all of us,

but mostly for the opportunity

of seeing you turn out to be

the strong, caring father

we always dreamed you would be--

the kind of man you are.

It makes cry--reading it over again.

Beautiful!

...and just the way I see him.

Look who turned 4 last weekend...

Lily (the hillbilly)!!!

She received her cheerleading outfit just in time to cheer for the Superbowl.

Her favorite gift was the blanket that Grandma Carol made just for her!

(Although a little jealousy from sister Aubrey did poke its head up... I guess that would be a good gift come June, Grandma.)


Happy Birthday, Lovely lady!

You make everyday a Happy day!