Don's Birthday

In November Don celebrated another birthday.  Jake woke up extra early to make sure Don was able to open the best present ever before he left for work.  Jake thought it was a perfect gift for those "family movie nights that Dad just loves!!"

Hayley was super cute and made a fun scavenger hunt up for Don to find his present.

We celebrated with cake balls, experimenting with German Chocolate Balls, Don's favorite type of cake. It was a great day. We love ya Don/Dad!!!

JAKE IS 7!!!

Jake turned 7 years old on Friday, a day he has been planning down to the last detail for months. He was so excited, he woke up at 5:23 am and was ready to go for the day, bringing his sister out with him!

Happy Birthday Jake - up before the sun!

So we started off with a small present to play with until breakfast was ready.

Puzzle Time

For breakfast Jake wanted french toast (for the 3rd day in a row), so we made Grammy's fancy Decandant French Toast as a special treat.

Birthday Breakfast

Don was going to be gone during most of the week-end, so Jake got to open a couple more presents early in the morning so his dad could see... Jake was more than happy to oblige :)  It was a Star Wars type of morning.



Opening Padawan Menace DVD with Dad



Clone Trooper Jake

Jake got visits from both sets of his grandparents that afternoon.  My parents made it into town just in time to meet us at the school for pick-up, which made Jake smile from ear to ear.  A little while later, Don's parents came by for more fun and presents. 

Hugs for Grammy

Jake wanted pictures with everyone, including one of "just the guys" since we had already snapped a photo of him and his grandmothers.

An excited Jake with his grandparents



 

Pokemon was the theme of the afternoon, and before Grammy and Grandaddy left, Jake had acquired several new Pokemon action figures and got to blow out his candles on his PokeBall Cake.

Our Pirate/Star Wars/Pokemon Master making a wish to save the world

The cake was a big decision for Jake.  For the last 4 years, it has been all Star Wars lightsabors, in a variety of colors - green, blue,and double Darth Maul red, and Jake had a hard time deciding what he wanted this year.  But Thursday he finally declared he wanted a Pokeball cake and he was pretty excited to see it when he came home from school on Friday.  He did think the only thing that would have made it cooler is if there were real Pokemon figures in the middle of the cake.  Crazy kid.

The  Cake

After cake it was time to switch gears again for his last present.  For a long time Jake has been eyeing the Lego Pirates of the Caribbean Wii video game.  He loves jumping around to the "He's a Pirate" song and playing pirates.  So for his big gift, he got the game.  I also found several fun pirate things at the dollar store and I stained a wooden treasure chest I found at Hobby Lobby.  It was a huge hit and our house has been filled with pirates all week-end long.  Even Luke is walking around with a telescope and compass saying "Arrgh". 



Jake and his Treasure Chest

 


It's a Pirates Life for us




Trevor



Grandmommie getting into the action

Michael



After all the excitement of the day wound down, Jake found time to snuggle for a story with Grandpa before bedtime. 

Jake is a fun loving-kid who squeezes absolute most out of each day.  He has an unique enthusiasm for life and is a very passionate person.  Jake adds such a element of fun and excitement to our house.   It was so great to celebrate Jake this week-end.

Happy Birthday Jake!  We love you!!

One Year Older

I had a fun birthday, especially once I finished renewing my license at the DPS...just a mere 2 1/2 hour wait. I definitely felt older by the time I finished there. But I came home to sweet kids and birthday treats from friends and family, it was great!

Fun with family and presents that evening. Hayley made me a cute as a button bracelet.

Hayley helped decorate the yummy strawberry shortcake and Luke was loving the candles action.

Luke's Birthday Celebration

Luke is 2 years old!  Poor kid was spotted with hives on his birthday week-end but he didn't let that slow him down any.  Saturday was insane and there was literally only one 10 minute period between the hours of 6 am and 11:30 pm when all 7 of us were home together.  So we celebrated on Sunday instead.  He started of the morning with a splash, dunking donuts in milk just like his big brother Jake.  He was pretty excited about this fun new twist to breakfast.

 



One of the only shows Luke watches on TV is Disney's Phineas and Ferb (definitely the funniest cartoon on TV, the boy has great taste!).  He loves it, especially Perry the Pet Platypus, who also happens to be a secret agent.  So it was an Agent P kind of birthday for Luke. 






Giving Agent P some of that
famous Luke Lovin'



Not letting Perry out of his sight

Luke got great gifts from his grandparents, a fun train and this Noah's Ark Little People set.  For Christmas Luke had gotten a Little People Santa Claus who looks suspiciously like Noah, as Luke exclaimed "HO HO HO!!", excitedly pointing at Noah.  It was so funny, especially since none of the rest of us had noticed the similarities.  That is one smart 2 year old!

Is it Noah or Santa?

Hayley even made him a Phineas and Ferb coloring book with coloring pages she taped into a blank notebook.  Luke has loved it and it was the perfect gift to open right before church.  He had a great time, sitting still, smiling big and coloring the whole time.  It was great!

Luke and his coloring book



Showing his skills

Another thing Luke loves are bubbles, so he finally got his own no-spill bubbles.  He had a blast with Hayley and Jake, blowing/eating bubbles. 

 


So we had to try to make a Perry the Platypus cake. After a failed Perry/Twinkies experience, I finally used his Agent P action figure, popping out of the ground/cake,like he does in the show when he is secret agent mode (as opposed to pet platypus mode!).


 

Agent P!

Luke was memorized by the cake, just jabbering, smiling and pointing.  And apparently, redecorating as well, adding the sister Candace to the top of the cake.  It works!

So Excited - cake, Perry the Platypus and Ice Cream!

Happy Birthday Luke!

Our 2 Year Old!

On April 16, 2009 our family changed forever.



It's hard to believe our sweet baby Luke is already 2. 

Luke is such a fun, calm, easygoing kid. 

Luke can always bring a smile to all of our faces with his goofy antics.  Last week I had put him down for a nap.  A few minutes later I walked into the front room and he was curled up on the couch, eyes squinted shut (faking sleep!) and clutching the remote to the off tv in his hand. When I walked up closer to him, he started to giggle, but still kept his eyes shut, with the death grip on the remote. 

Sleeping Luke?

Nice Remote!

He was being so funny, I just laughed and threw a blanket over him...which resulted in a game of peekaboo.  He charmed his way out of a nap that day!

                            

He gets away with things nobody else can, just because he is Luke!



Sporting Hayley's glasses




Michael and Luke listening to Michael's Ipod on a road trip



He talks like a Wookie, mainly grunting and pointing, but definitely lets you know what he wants, and will make sure you understand, grabbing your hand and pulling you.

Luke is my # 1 kitchen helper.  He loves to help cook and do the dishes.  Right now his favorite thing is to scramble the eggs for me.  Anytime he sees me with a carton of eggs, he runs and gets out a fork, runs back to the table & babbles insistantly until I crack the eggs and place the bowl in front of him to scramble.  He does an "eggs-elent" job of course!

Scrambling the eggs

Drying the dishes

Luke's sweet hugs are a huge hit around here and you often have to wait in line to get some of that lucky Luke lovin'!

Snuggling with Jake

Snuggling with Hayley

We all love hanging out with Luke!



Luke and Trevor

 





But there are a few things that have already started happening to let us know that Luke  is already getting good at being 2.

It's gonna be a fun year!