Happy 7th Birthday, Forrest!

My Forrest turned 7 on May 5th. My BABY is 7?!?! I can't stand it. He woke up to balloons and a few little gifts. His favorite gift was the motorcycle and police car set from the Lego movie. For his birthday he wanted to go swimming and he wanted a square cake with lots of sprinkles and number 7 candle on top so that's exactly what he got. Forrest is my sidekick and my little companion. He gives me unsolicited kisses and hugs all day long and loves to snuggle.

He's the best Mother's Day gift I've ever received.

I love this sweet boy.

One More Sleep

We have been counting down how many more sleeps until Forrest's 7th birthday. The first thing he said when he woke up this morning was, "only one more sleep 'til my birthday!" A few months back, I bought a vintage plate that says, 'happy birthday' in the center of it. I thought it would make birthdays a little more special if every year the kids get to have their birthday meals on this pretty plate. I showed it to Forrest and let me tell you, he has NOT forgotten. It makes me smile... and Summer tells me how much she LOVES the gold on it and speaks of this special plate with almost a sense of reverence. She can't wait for her turn.

For the last two weeks Forrest has gone to the chest in the kitchen where I keep it a few times a day and just stares at it, asking when it will be his birthday so he can use it. Today I finally let him get it out. I am happy to report that we now have it all washed and ready for his birthday breakfast tomorrow morning. How sweet are the simple pleasures.

Egg Hunt

The egg hunt in the backyard was cute. They were each trying to find "their own eggs", the ones with their initials. Summer was sweet and helped Forrest find his eggs. 

Their faces show exactly how excited they were.

Easter Morning

Before the kids went to bed on "Easter Eve", they put out carrots for the Easter Bunny. Forrest was contemplating what beverage to leave for the bunny. He couldn't decide between milk, water or juice. After thoughtful contemplation he decided water would be the best. In keeping with tradition, the kids also got to put on their Easter Pajamas.

Early in the morning both of them rushed into our bedroom to wake us up so they could go downstairs. It really is the most adorable thing to watch them be so excited about finding out what the bunny has left for them. Summer was screaming with excitement when she saw that the carrots had been nibbled at and the water was gone. The kids each found their baskets. The Easter Bunny left them lots of foil wrapped chocolate eggs, jelly beans, peeps, a milk chocolate bunny for each of them, pez (of course!) sunglasses and a few other little prizes. They were thrilled.

Happy Easter

We had a very happy Easter. It had been raining for days leading up to Easter Day. The kids were so worried the Easter Bunny wouldn't deliver in the rain. I had David take our picture under the front porch before we headed to church. Summer's dress looked cuter without her little cardigan but she INSISTED on wearing one since I had one on. She wanted to be just like me.

I have more pictures from our morning. We had an early morning egg hunt and ate lots and lots of chocolate for breakfast. It was perfect.

David's 50th birthday (6 months late)

David celebrated turning 50 last November...

50 has never looked so good!

In many respects he looks younger than 50. He is an incredible husband and father and there's no on else I'd rather journey through this life with. He's the most kind and loving person I know. He is good to his core. I'm so happy he's ours.

His birthday fell on the same week as Thanksgiving so everyone had plans and couldn't make it to join us to celebrate his 50th birthday. I was a bit bummed about it. I decided to make this video. The kids and I have been working on it for a while. There were soo many pictures to choose from, so these are some of our favorites. I can't help but tear up every time I watch it.

Happy Birthday to David! Here's to many many more years with my David.

Ruff

Forrest has a little dog pillow pet. He names it Ruff. The most important part of his Ruff is the little strap on the side that has the velcro on it. That strap is like GOLD. When he sleeps at night he has to put his head on Ruff and then he holds the strap. Every morning he walks into our bedroom in his jammies dragging Ruff. When we go downstairs for breakfast - Ruff gets dragged down the stairs. I have to make sure when I wash his pillow pet that it is dry by the time it's bedtime. One of these nights I'm going to sneak in his room and get a picture of him with him sleeping and holding on to that velcro strap.

Locks of Love

I don't get to our family blog as much as I would like to these days. As the kids get older my spare moments are fewer and fewer. Summer decided to donate her hair to Locks of Love. This girl has a heart of gold. She loves her new hair 'do. I have lots of pictures but just enough time to post this one taken right before she got her hair cut. I can't wait to show the afters. I seem to take the lazy route and post on Instagram more frequently than here where I should be posting for our "family scrapbook". My goal is to get back to my real camera and be better about documenting my kids so that they have pictures to put with their memories as they grow older.

Thumbs Up

I just ran across this picture of my Summer. It makes me smile. This was taken on the day we went to the fair. She was so excited about the rides that she could barely sleep the night before.

I sure love her. Thumbs up and all.

Snow Day

We had a very fun snow day at home. The kids were hoping for lots of snow to build a snowman but when they woke up the next morning all they saw was ice with a dust of snow. They were very disappointed. Then I realized the little hill in our backyard would make a perfect bunny slope and suggested to Summer and Forrest to take out their boogie boards to test it out. It worked!

The kids sledded with their boards most of the day. With no school for a few days this was the best entertainment ever. I was in the kitchen making hot cocoas and brownies while David spent the day teaching the kids all the ins and outs of sledding and snowboarding. The kids figured out how to stand on their boards to snowboard. This was a fun day for David with the kids getting some things he could actually relate to! They're not babies anymore and I am loving watching their personalities develop. I want to freeze them just like this forever.