Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my Dad's 76th birthday.  As much as we wish we could celebrate with him here on earth, I know that he gets a much better celebration daily in Heaven.  That doesn't change the fact that we miss him! 

One of the "traditions" we had started was meeting my parents for dinner on or around my dad's birthday so the boys could give Papa hugs and their gifts.  Now, in honor of my dad, we eat Ice Cream!  See he loved Ice Cream - especially from Uncle Rays, a local ice cream place where he lived.  Now, I just try to make sure at some point throughout the day, we enjoy an ice cream treat in honor of celebrating my Dad's birthday and sharing memories together.  

Happy Birthday Dad! 

Darryl's Birthday Fun

Friday the 22nd was Darryl's birthday but we had some fun planned for the entire weekend. 

Our Friday plans got changed which was ok.  The boys had a plan for something to do with Darryl Friday after work but they also got invited to a friends sleepover birthday party and they started to do some thinking.  Then we were down to one car for part of the week which included Friday.  The boys and I had the privilege to take Darryl to work on his birthday (so yes, we sang happy birthday at 4:00 AM in the car driving to Grand Rapids).  Which meant we also had to pick him up!  The boys got to thinking that their original plan might not work well on that day . .. and they REALLY wanted to go to their friends birthday on time.  So in the end, we made it for the birthday party drop-off about 10 minutes late and then Darryl and I went out to dinner.  I took him to his favorite Chinese Buffet where he ate his fill of Shrimp and Mushrooms.  We then came home and both fought to stay awake until 9;30 HA!

Saturday Darryl and I planned for a day out. 

After picking the kids up from their friends and dropping them off at home with the babysitter, we headed out for a fun day.

We started with lunch at :

Darryl and I both love Long John Silver's but the boys do not!  So, we enjoyed a nice lunch with just the two of us!

Darryl has been waiting to get an amp so from lunch we headed to the music store where he finally got to get his amp!  It's fun seeing him get a new "toy".  Especially one that show cases his fabulous guitar talents

After that we headed to see a movie.  It's another one of those things we love to do without kids because we can see non-animated movies :-) It's a movie that has been talked about a lot and we both wanted to see it.  Ultimately it was a pretty good movie, but I can't really recommend it in good conscience :-)

Finally, we headed downtown to a place called:

Mojo's is a dueling piano "bar".  It was so much fun!  We got some great burgers and fries and sang along with some songs.  It was really a fun thing. 

We really had a great day being out together.  We would do it more but, boy oh boy, paying a babysitter for that many hours is expensive (It will be nice to have my mom closer next year HA!)

The party was still going on Sunday!  We enjoyed a quiet Sunday at home.  Thanks to some nasty weather, we didn't even head out to church, which really,  both of our kids needed to sleep - they were lacking sleep from Friday and Saturday.  We had a wonderful brunch.

 I made some of Darryl's favorites - Sausage Gravy and Biscuits and Fried Eggs.  

 Darryl spent a good part of his day playing with his new toy - his amp.

We spent the afternoon relaxing and then watching a movie together as a family (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) and laughed a lot. 

Dinner was some of Darryl's favorite snacks - Shrimp Cocktail, Crescent wrapped Sausages, Bacon Bites, and Chili Cheese dip!  Yum!   

 Finally we celebrated with Darryl's favorite cake - Carrot Cake and Cream Cheese Frosting.  

 And we gave him his presents.  

 Josh got him a coffee cup and a gift card to Starbucks. 

Nate got him this Spongebob t-shirt and a gift card to Starbucks. 

It was a really wonderful weekend celebrating Darryl!  (And we are so thankful that the power never went out in the wind storm!) 

Happy Birthday to the Big D!

Happy Birthday to this guy!!

He turns . .. . a year old today and the boys and I have fun celebrating his day even if it isn't his favorite!

A birthday pillowcase, birthday balloons, decorations, presents, his choice of a meal and his favorite cake! 

He brings fun to our family; laughter to our days; and works soooo many hours so I can stay home with the boys. 

He plays a mean guitar, drives better than anyone else I know (Did I tell you the story about how we were at the top of a hill and started sliding . . .we slid through a stop sign and were picking up speed heading straight down when he carefully put the front tire into a snow drift to stop us?  I would have crashed HA!), and loves to play games with the boys. 

Our family wouldn't be complete without his laughter and wisdom so 

Happy Birthday Darryl! 

The Birthday Boy!

This past weekend we celebrated Josh and his 9th birthday.  He's such a great kid with a sweet, tender little heart.  He is a rule follower and is always concerned about others.  We are blessed to have him in our family and we got to do some special things with him this past weekend!

I have some traditions for birthdays and sometimes I feel like no one else notices but, just the week before Josh's day, both boys mentioned some things matter-of-factly that happen on their birthdays.

 One of those things is their birthday shirts.  The boys talked about getting their shirts to wear on their day.  I love these shirts and might make them wear one every year until they are 18!

 Josh chose to do his "stuff" on Saturday, the 21st.  We started our day at a place called Glow Golf where we got to play golf in the dark with a black light.  It was awesome!  We had never been to this place and it was so much fun.  Once done golfing, there were video games and an Air Hockey Table to keep us busy for a bit too.

 Josh also got to pick his lunch restaurant and he chose a Grand Rapids staple - Russ's.  For whatever reason, he loves their chicken strips, fries and applesauce.  To top it off, he got a free hot fudge sundae for his birthday too!

 Josh second activity of choice was to go swimming at the Kroc Center.  It has some water park like activities with a lazy river, a water slide, and more.  We spend about 3 hours there and had so much fun.

After all of that swimming we were hungry and Josh's choice for dinner was . . .Checkers (or Rally's depending on where you live). Yep, a drive-through only hamburger place HA!  I should be grateful my kids are in their "inexpensive food taste" stage right now!

 Of course, another tradition is the balloons.  I get them one balloon for each year - thank goodness for the dollar store and their balloons!

 Normally, I'd be a stickler about waiting until the actual day for cake and gifts but Josh had his heart set on doing it all on Saturday so we decided that since it was just the night before, we'd let him do it this time.  He picked out a dirt cake with (gummy) worms from Meijer (another tradition - they get to pick out their cake at the store!) .

 Enjoying his delicious cake and ice cream!

 Gifts are always fun!  He started with opening his gifts from Nate.

 These were his two favorite gifts at one point - a Minecraft Sword and a thing to grow cat grass for the cat.

 But . . then he opened this science kit that he has wanted for an entire year and it became his favorite HA!

 One last photo of my cute 8 year old before he turns 9.

 All of the fun decorations that go up after the kids go to bed.  Those balloons - another tradition that was talked about very matter-of-factly.  "Mom, I will wait until my actual birthday to pop the balloons with my money". HA!

 On Sunday, we met Nana at Arby's (Josh's choice) for lunch and gifts.  Nana had the whole restaurant sing Josh Happy Birthday and then, when we ordered, the guy taking our order payed for Josh's lunch since it was his birthday.  Seriously.  It was such a nice thing to do!

 Josh finally got to put his "money balloons" ($1.00 for each year stuffed inside balloons!)

 A little photo shoot with my cute 9 year old.

Such a fun weekend with a great kid!

Family Fun - The Start of Nate's Birthday

This is the first year in several that Nate and/or I have not been so ill that we skipped his birthday.  (The poor kid!)  This year we were healthy and really enjoyed celebrating this wonderful 6 year old!

We started Nate's celebration week with a birthday party with the Munchkin and Princess.  The 17th was the last day they would both be at the house so we celebrated with cake and gifts. 

 The boys love getting to decorate their own cake for their "friend party".  Nate helped me make the cake - he picked out a carrot cake.  Which was just weird since this kid is so picky and won't eat any veggies.  Yet, he loves carrot cake.  And yes, the more sprinkles the better!

 Oh my, the candles.  He put 60 candles on his cake because, well, he is six.  Some of the candles were almost burned out by the time I got the last one lit!

 Time for gifts from his friends! 

He got a couple of matchbox cars and a rocket.  It was one that shot in the air with a foot pump.  We only lost it behind the desk once ;-)

I'm so thankful that he got to finally enjoy a fun start to his birthday! 

Family Fun - A Seventh Birthday

On October 22nd, Josh turned 7.  He had one very specific request - no school!  I am in total agreement.  No one should have to go to work or to school on their birthday - it should be their own personal holiday. 

 Waiting for the birthday boy to wake up :-)

 Josh and Nate together. 

 Every time I wanted to snap his photo he would pose and say "seven!!!"

 Can you tell he is a little excited that it is his birthday????? 

 The day before his birthday, Josh helped me make a birthday cake.  Then, on his birthday morning, he frosted and decorated the whole thing.  This cake is for celebrating with the munchkin and princess later in the day.

 Once the cake was done, I took the kids to McDonald's for lunch and to play at the play land.  From there, we went to the store so Josh could pick out his "family birthday cake".  It's tradition - the boys gets to pick out any cake they want from the grocery store. 

 Once the Munchkin got home from school, we had cake and Josh got to open his gift from his friends.

 Josh got to pick out his birthday dinner which was Spaghetti.  (I added garlic bread and salad so we had more than just spaghetti!). 

 Then it was time to pop those money filled balloons!  Such a fun tradition for the kids to get some money.

 Finally, it was time for the gifts. 

 Josh opening one of Nate's gifts - Legos, of course.  He also got more Legos from both Nate and us; Matchbox cars from Nate; Monopoly Jr and a video camera from us and . ..

This giant stuffed bear.  He has been asking for this bear for MONTHS!  He saw it when we went to buy their bunk beds and cried when we didn't buy it (the one at the furniture store was MUCH more expensive HA).  Needless to say, he was thrilled.