Year 8!

Going through  the pics from this blog and last year, I found that many look similar.  The same Ninja turtle pajamas, the same pics at Happy Joes...but if it makes for a happy boy, why not!

 Timothy was up bright and early once again.  I think it was 5 am this time!  But he was very patient waiting for his gifts and hardly even asked about them.  When he did open, he was delighted to receive some things he had wished for!

 I love the joy on his face in this picture!

 Since he had to go to school for the first time on his birthday, I offered to join him for lunch.  He was pretty happy to have me with him and all the other kids were intrigued with an adult at the lunch table.

 And of course the evening had to include a trip to Happy Joes for pizza and ice cream--and a few quarter games.

Overall it was a great day for our 8 year old.  It is so hard to believe that Timothy is getting this old.  We see ways in which he is maturing and leaving little boyhood behind.  That is fun to see, but also a little sad.  We are proud of who he is and look forward to seeing the coming years unfold.

Party time!

It was birthday party day! Timothy was certainly excited.  He was up at 1 am ready to start the day and wondered why he could not get up and read. He was able to sleep in until 5:20 am.  The early wake up made the wait until 10:30 seem like forever!

This years theme was rocks and gems.  His cake was decorated with chocolate rocks to spell out happy birthday.

A highlight of the party was breaking some geodes.  The kids got the chance to hammer away at the rocks in hopes of finding a sparkly center.  A few of the rocks were hard to crack.  One of Timothy's friends loved hammer away.  Troy moved the kids outside to protect our tile floor from the eager hammerers!  Eventually all the geodes were opened and all were quite pretty inside!

Next we did a scavenger hunt around the house. The kids found 10 clues that led them to a bag of homemade baking soda geodes.  To open these geodes we used vinegar and got some fizzy fun!  They discovered some bouncy balls inside these geodes.

Another rock activity was digging for rocks in the sand.  They all had fun finding some new rocks to add to there collections.  I believe all the kids said they had rock collections, so a perfect party favor.

We played a few balloon bopping games to get us all up and moving.  And please notice the little girl in a skirt in the picture below.  Yes that is Teresa in a skirt.  She chose it to honor the special day we were celebrating.  What a nice sis! (She did, however have a few jealous little sis moments, wishing for gifts, and wanting Timothy's new things.)

And of course there was the fun of opening gifts.  Everyone is excited to see what the surprises are.

And for the second year in a row, Santa came through on his fire truck adding a bit of extra fun to the celebration.

After a pizza lunch it was time to have the rock cake.  Timothy opted to have a couple relighting candles on his cake which delighted everyone!

It was a very fun party, with some great kids.  Timothy had fun and as he went to bed, he wished he could go back in time and have his party again and not know what his surprises were.  A special day for a special boy!

Christmas time

The feeling of Christmas is in the air.  There are gingerbread houses being decorated Christmas programs being preformed.  Yesterday it rained all day so I got out the goods to make some graham cracker houses.  After a bit of a struggle to get our frosting to harden, the decorating was pretty fun.  Teresa was pretty excited to eat hers.  Timothy worked hard on his too.  He was careful to use just about every piece of candy I put out!

Last night was our church Christmas program.  Due to construction at our church, it was held at Heritage Manor, a senior center.  Both Timothy and Teresa had speaking parts and did super.  Troy was the main accompanist on the guitar.  I was a microphone holder and kid positioner.  Overall it went well and was a fun evening.  Despite not wanting to go, Timothy even said it was fun.  Teresa looked forward to the program all afternoon!

After the program we had a quick family picture.  Turned out pretty cute!!

Thanksgiving weekend

Thanksgiving was a good time for the most part. We had a nice time visiting family.  It was only some sickness that dampened the trip.  Troy got sick on Friday, but recovered quickly by Saturday morning.  My dad was a bit sick too, Cal got the croup, and Teresa was fighting a cold.  For Christmas we need to be healthier!

We spent Thanksgiving day with my family.  We had a nice day and dinner.  The kids enjoyed their favorite toys (dalmatians for Teresa!) and time with cousins.  Jeff got the kids and Troy to join in snowy football game.

And we are certainly a family of readers.  Many times all the cousins could be found reading together.  Here they all read comics over dinner.

Next it was on to Susan's place on Friday for another dinner.  Timothy discovered the candy canes on the tree and Teresa loved the reindeer.  The kids had fun planning with Ari and Vanessa and kept busy.  It was good to visit with Judy, and Susie and other family.

And of course there was lots of reading going on here too.  Grandma Judy was Teresa's favorite story partner!

When we returned home, Timothy and Teresa decided to play Santa.  Teresa changed into a red shirt and borrowed my hat for her costume.  The laundry basket was the sleigh!