Birthday Boy!

Troy's birthday celebration started out last night with a party with friends and neighbors.  It was supposed to be on his birthday, but more people had conflicts that night.  We put out a spread of some of Troy's favorites...bread, cheese and olives.  That often is a theme for his dinner.  We were just missing the olive oil!  But add veggies, cold cuts and fruit and it made for an easy kid friendly dinner too.


Teresa surprised Troy with a Happy Birthday song on the keyboard.  She had been practicing all week.  He also got a little gag gift of a tiny guitar from some friends.  The kids helped me put out some super hero decorations as Troy chose that for his theme this year.  I made a couple little cookie cakes.  One was a Captain America cake and one was Superman.





Today, his birthday is a little more low key.  A work day and some family time tonight.  We kept the presents for the evening celebration.


Troy picked Junction 21 for his birthday dinner.  He loves the cod there.  It was a nice night, but a bit breezy so we did not actually sit outside--just snapped a picture.  Teresa was happy to see Mrs. Clothier, her 1st grade teacher who works as a waitress at the restaurant.  We watched baseball, shared birthday trivia and munched popcorn as we waited for the food.  Everyone had a good dinner.

Back at home we enjoyed treats from the party and left over cake from Timothy's Italy project.  Troy opened his gifts getting something to wear, something to read, something he wanted and something he needed.


His request this year was a superman shirt.  Teresa was happy to sport her super girl dress and match her daddy!  After presents we went for a walk under the stars.  Teresa wanted to play Happy Birthday one last time before bed.  That turned into a little jam session with Troy and the kids.

All in all, it was a delightful few days of celebrating a very special husband and father.

Fall Fun weekend

We went on a little Wisconsin getaway this past weekend.  We spent two nights with Aunt Mary--although I have no pictures to record that.  We had lots of fun at her house watching sports games, going to playgrounds, going to a garage sale, and even having a water gun fight as it was so hot!

We made one outing to an apple orchard not far from Aunt Mary's house.  It was really, really hot, but we still had some fun.  There was a play area for the kids with hay bales to climb, games to play and kittens to visit.  We got to go for a hay ride and Timothy and Teresa tired out the apple sling shot.  I liked that we could actually pick our own apples!

On Sunday we drove to Milwaukee to watch a Cubs-Brewers game.  The kids played up their love of the Cubs quite a bit while staying with Aunt Mary since she is a Brewers fan.  Although it was a hot day, we were not in the sun and got to see the Cubs win.  The kids enjoyed watching the game and since coming home have talked about how much they want to go to another game.

Sundays have a special feature for kids--they get to run the bases after the game.  That was a fun bonus for a great afternoon.  Troy is working to pass his enjoyment of baseball on to the kids.  After this weekend it seems they too love to go to a ball game!

Baptism celebration

Teresa's baptism day always falls right around Labor day.  This year it was on a school day, so we had to do our fun activities the weekend before.  We had a picnic lunch at Storybook zoo--our only trip there this summer.  Then to bring in the water aspect, it was an afternoon of water balloons!


On her baptism day she was treated to a special breakfast and was in charge of choosing dinner and dessert.  Her dinner menu was Casey's pizza, french fries, cooked carrots and cinnamon pears.

We prayed a special blessing for her and lit her baptismal candle.  She also requested we sing happy baptism day!

After playing pantry bingo at Grandma Rebecca's and seeing a rainbow cake mix and hearing about Uncle Dan and his rainbow cakes, Teresa decided that is what she wanted for dessert.  I think she was pleased!

Teresa is a beautiful Child of God and we pray that her faith continues to grow each year!  Happy Baptism Day!