The last of the celebrations - Happy Official 6th Birthday Paul!

Yep, the celebrations are finally over and the real birthday finally arrived.  The day started with birthday boy breakfast which included a slab of birthday cake. There are 3 times per year when eating cake at breakfast is allowed and appropriate:  (1) On Christmas Day to celebrate the birth of Christ (2) On your Gotcha Day and (3) On your birthday.  Paul took advantage of that rule and happily ate his cake this morning.

The obligatory mommy and Paul selfie.

The slab of cake.

The birthday boy got to pick dinner....so he chose HuHot.  Of course he did. We all enjoyed a yummy stir fry meal....his was soba noodles with pineapple, mandarin oranges and carrots.

It was a school fundraiser tonight at Cherry Berry so we headed over for some soft serve.  It was cold and rainy so Paul had to break out his Spiderman rain coat and umbrella.

It was home to open presents.....can you tell he was super excited for this one.

A fish tank!  We will get the tank ready this week and then Paul can choose his fish this weekend.  He was thrilled as he has been asking for a fish for some time.

His friend Zach sent some really cool stuff.....a shark tooth necklace!

And a cool Eagle theme....with Legos and a stuffed Eagle.  So stinkin' awesome given Paul's love of all things Eagle.  So thoughtful.

Huge smile for the Chima Lego set from Mimi.

And the final gift....a basketball.....and a promise of the installation of a permanent hoop in the next week or so.  We ordered it but it just didn't quite come in on time.  He was pretty excited about that one too.  Lots of excitement tonight.

I still have a hard time believing my little guy just turned 6 whopping years old.  I thought a lot about his birth mother and foster mom today. I am sure they thought of him a lot today too. Birthdays are bittersweet because I know there are women halfway across the world that probably have mixed emotions about this day.  I hope they both know how loved he is and that he is well taken care of.  I hope they have peace in their hearts.

Lillie loves to read

I was able to sneak a video of Lillie reading to herself the other day. Seriously excuse the messed up bed - embarrassing to post it but worth it because this is a super cute video.  I love the intermittent clapping.

The kids finally meet Ryker

It was a beautiful Saturday and we finally got the kids together with new baby Ryker.  A picnic and some fun at the park!

Now that is a big stick.

Hello cute children.....

Paul, why is your face all red?!?

Climbing, climbing, climbing.

A windy selfie.

Three kids with sticks....nothing to see here.

Jason got to spend some time with Ryker.....he's a natural even though we aren't experienced with babies this little!

Checking out the burrow hole in the tree.

So much fun spending time with our friends and enjoying some nice weather. 

Paul's 6th Birthday Party

I love all of the choices for fun places to have kids birthdays......and since we all know that I would NEVER host a bunch of 6 year olds in my house, I love the choices even more.  Since Paul is so excited about art stuff right now, he chose a party at Glazed Expressions so he and his friends could paint pottery. He invited 12 of his classmates and 5 of them were able to come to help him celebrate.  Here's the crew....including Daddy and Lillie before the painting started.

They each got to choose a figure to paint.  Once complete, you leave the painted pottery there and the staff glazes and fires it.  We will go back in a week to pick it up and deliver it to Paul's friends.

Here are a few of the pieces all done.  The colors will get much deeper and glossier once they are glazed and fired.  Can't wait to see them all done!

Even Daddy got in the action - we had one more figure to meet the party minimum so he painted an Angry Bird while some of the kids looked on.

This year Paul chose Furry Friends Refuge for his birthday party donations.  His friends brought all sorts of great donations based on the rescue's wish list. Here's the cute picture....

....and then the silly one!

Nothing better than a big T-Rex birthday cake! He picked 1/2 strawberry and 1/2 white cake and both sides were fantastic!

The cake was clearly a hit.....

 Hello birthday boy!

End of the party and I think I still look reasonably good considering....with a cute birthday boy and a cheesey little ladybug.

Check out the cool Spiderman raincoat and umbrella that Kingston and Ryker gave to Paul this weekend.  He needed them today!

Awesome T-Rex balloon bouquet hand picked by Paul and Mommy.

And finally.....the big crafty project that this mom threw together yesterday. We needed a quick game for the end of the party and since it is art themed, I made Art Bingo cards for the kids!  It was a hit.

What a fun day....it was super rainy and windy so it was nice to have so much fun INSIDE stuff today.  Still can't believe my boy is turning 6 years old....and we have one more day to celebrate.  Stay tuned for more birthday fun!

Easter 2014

We started the morning with some pictures before church....check out my posers in front of Sacred Heart.

Cheeseballs before we left the house.

Family picture!

Gotta love a good silly face.  Lillie looks concerned.

Loving on Gram and Pa.

After Mass we headed to GranJo's for some more Easter fun.  First up was Easter baskets!

Handmade Peep stuffed animals.  Precious.

And time for the egg hunt.....it was custom made for Paul and Lillie with eggs that were color coded for each kid.  Paul's were trickier to find.  He was pretty excited.

Looking like such a little man now.

Under the tree....check!

Warm enough to remove her sweater.....such a dainty lady.

Found one!

Lots of eggs in there.....

Checking out part of the new tent from Auntie Jen!

Wind up chick....cool.

Our table decorations - courtesy of GranJo.

Peep fruit kabobs.....good stuff.

Clearly they were a big hit.

What a full and fun weekend.  We made it through with pretty darn good behavior even in light of all of the sugar, presents and activities.  Love seeing the kids spend time with our family.