Terrific Two's(hopefully!)

Ethan turned 2 yesterday! I am in complete denial that my "baby" isn't a baby anymore. These last two years have flown by. Ethan has brought so much joy and laughter into our home. He is so loved by his brothers and sister. They spoil him with lots of attention--sometimes too much! I LOVE having some time alone with Ethan in the mornings while the kids are at school. He is my little buddy and I love him so much!
Here are some pics from his birthday:

Reading books with Grandma and Cassie. This boy LOVES books!

He was a pro at opening presents!

Cass, Kaden and Spencer rummaged through their old toys and wrapped them up for Ethan.

The cake(it's supposed to be a fish if you can't tell!) I gave Ethan the choice of a fish cake or a race car cake. He of course wanted the race car cake, but then I ended up doing the fish because it was so much easier and required less time. I figured he is still too young to care and we will do the other cake next year!

Trying to blow those candles out!

He was trying so hard to get the candles out--I love the look on his face. He looks like he is going to cry he is blowing so hard. In the end he was successful in getting them out!

He LOVED the cake! He made a mess, but enjoyed himself!

Here is Ethan telling me how old he is. He says "two", but will only hold up one finger. So funny!

Playing with his new shake and go racetrack. He is obsessed with this toy!

Another one of his obsessions--dinosaurs!


Happy Birthday Ethan! We love you!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We had a fun St. Patrick's day. Our "leprechaun" who visits every year came again this year. He left his traditional green breakfast: green scrambled eggs, green yogurt, toast with green butter, and green milk. The "leprechaun" has been coming for years, but the kids still get so excited for it!


I was able to go to Kaden's class and help with his St. Patrick's Day party. That was really fun; I always love to help in the classrooms! I wanted to have a fun St. Patty's treat for the kids when they got home from school so I made homemade donuts with a glaze that I colored green. In keeping with the days theme instead of a regular hole in the donut I did a shamrock instead. This was my first attempt at donuts and I thought they turned out pretty good.

Then to finish off our day of green I made a traditional Irish dinner--corned beef with cabbage, carrots, and potatoes. Growing up, I remember my mom making that every St. Patrick's Day and I just loved it. I have actually never made it for my kids, this was my first time. It was SUPER easy and SO yummy!

But the highlight of my day was after the kids got home from school. I was going through their school work and found a shamrock that Kaden had made. They had to write about what they would do if they found a pot of gold. This is what he wrote: "If I went down on a hill and went to the end of a rainbow and found a pot of gold I would get poor people a house, get them each a jacket, and I would give them half of my gold." That just warmed my heart! I really expected it to say something like he would buy all the wii games he ever wanted! Glad to know my sweet, sensitive, caring boy is still in there.

Double Digits

I think I am still in denial when I think I actually have a 10-year-old. Cassidy celebrated her 10th birthday this past Monday. I don't know where the last 10 years have gone. They have been 10 wonderful years, she has brought so much joy into my life! Cassidy is a wonderful example in our home--especially to me! She shows so much compassion for others and is the most caring, considerate, and loving girl I know! I gushed about Cassidy in my birthday post for her last year, so I will try to control myself this time. Instead, I will just share the highlights from all her birthday celebrations.
We kicked off her birthday on Saturday with a party. We had 11 girls over for a spa and salon birthday party. It was a BLAST! I was a little nervous about the party having that many girls and just imagining them being, well 10-year-old-girls! They were all so great and well-behaved that it made the party so much fun. I had three different stations set up. I was in charge of pedicures, my sister Laura came and did makeup on the girls, and my friend Trish did their hair. We had pizza, a pinata, opened presents, and instead of the traditional cake Cassidy opted for an ice cream bar. By the time it was over we were all exhausted, but it was well worth it. A big thank you to Laura and Trish for helping me out.

All the girls, minus one, who was busy getting her hair done! So cute!

The lipstick pinata. The hook that holds the pinata up broke when Cassidy took the first hit to it. Andy bravely held it for the girls, hoping only the pinata would get hit!

Aunt Laura being crazy!

Cass and Maddie together


Laura did everyone's makeup just perfectly!


Ethan wanted in on all the action!

Trish did a FANTASTIC job on all the girls' hair. She did hair for 3 hours straight--what a friend!

Sunday, we headed up to Morgan to Andy's parents home. They invited us up for dinner and to celebrate. My MIL fixed a great dinner and ordered Cassie a Hannah Montana cake. She was spoiled by them, as usual.

Presents, presents, and even more presents!



I am so lucky that my kids have such great grandparents! They were so thoughtful to have a special day just for Cass.

On Monday Cassidy wanted me to come eat lunch with her at school. I love doing that so I was excited to go. She requested McDonald's so I brought her lunch along with one for Ethan. He absolutely loved eating in the cafeteria and getting lots of attention from all her friends. Monday was not only Cassidy's birthday but Dr. Seuss' also. The school had turned it into a birthday party for Dr. Seuss and had the lunch room decorated with balloons so it felt like a celebration for her. All of the girls at our lunch table sang happy birthday to Cassidy. The cat in the hat was also at school that day and he came over and sang to her too!


That was SO EMBARASSING(Cassidy's words, not mine)

That evening we invited Laura and Jon over for birthday dinner. Cassidy asked for steak(she has expensive taste!), mashed potatoes, and veggies(so glad my kids LOVE their vegetables!). We opened presents(again!), sang(again!), and had cake and ice cream(again!).

Cassidy LOVES the Jonas Brothers

Finally. . .the coveted iPod!



HAPPY BIRTHDAY CASSIDY! We love you!