David's Birthday and Photos from June 2014

Jay's 6th Birthday Today

This is the message that greeted Jay this morning when he woke up at 6 a.m. like usual...

He read the message all by himself! (Homeschool kindergarten teacher and student success!)

Before Dad left for work Jay was able to open his birthday gifts.

(It saved this Mom's sanity knowing the boy didn't want to wait much longer - the excitement and anticipation was high!)

A new swimsuit for this summer in size 6T! He has outgrown his old swimsuit.

Jay and David enjoyed opening their combined birthday gift from the Anunsons (Aunt, Uncle, and Cousins) and couldn't wait to put together the treehouse creation. I'm sure it won't be long before they tear down this and build one of the other 2 things this Lego set can do. They LOVE it! Thank you so much!!

Everybody got in on the action of opening the gift from Mom and Dad (along with other family members who contributed towards this by giving Jay money for his birthday). I will readily admit this is a pretty cool set. Jay and David are always imagining/playing with the Legos with the cops getting the "bad guys"/robbers, so now they have a place to lock up those bad guys (although they are tricky - always trying to escape)!

If I wasn't helping the boys out this morning building their new Lego sets, I stayed busy in the kitchen making (amped up) devil's food chocolate chip cupcakes and decorating them for the Newcastle Shetland LA Dodgers t-ball game that started at 6 p.m.

Jay is the player in the middle there looking at the camera in front of Coach and just to the left of the red team. They had just gone through the line and congratulated the other team on a good game.

Coach announced it was Jay's birthday today (Jay had quickly informed his coach of the fact during warm-ups) and all the players and parents sang Happy Birthday to him. He got all shy, but I know Jay - he loved every second of it!

Look at the smile! So happy and excited to share birthday cupcakes with the team. And his teammate was excited to have a cupcake treat, too! (That boy happens to be the coach's son...)

Matt assisted with distribution of the yummy cupcakes along with napkins, water, and bananas.

Jay ended his night with a special phone call visit with Grandma Amy here at home. He isn't one that typically likes to talk on the phone, so I was pleasantly surprised at how well he did on the phone with her this evening as he recounted the events of his birthday. He also told her of the special early birthday gifts he received from PopPop and Nana this weekend...

Jay had a wonderful day and so did the rest of us - all 3 kids are now tucked in bed and fast asleep. I'm tired too - but in a good way. It sure is fun to have a day dedicated to sharing with someone how special they are to us and how glad we are that they are part of our life, no matter how young or old they may be.

LOVE YOU JAY!!!!

Fun Weekend

Nana and PopPop arrived Friday afternoon for the weekend. 

The kids entertained all of us by playing with their toys and such in our downstairs family room area. Prior to their arrival, David had wanted to be "hulk man" (a.k.a. The Incredible Hulk to the rest of us) which means his shirt must always come off. :) So here is a shirtless cowboy.

 Below: "Shooting" or "Stick 'em up!" - one of the two, I'm sure.

 The kids loved Nana reading a book to them.

 Friday night after dinner I decided it was time to fire up the backyard fire pit (it was here when we moved in - previous homeowners left it). We roasted marshmallows over the fire for backyard s'mores for dessert.

 Below: My favorite photo of two of my favorite gals whom I love very much.

 Below: Freshly picked peony bouquet from one of the the backyard peony bushes.

 Saturday morning Matt assembled a new patio table and chair set. It was a BEAUTIFUL morning - so calm and a perfect temperature. We all decided that would be a great place to open early birthday gifts from PopPop and Nana! It truly was wonderful.

Below: Jay's excited reaction to a new board game.

Amy enjoyed opening her own special, thoughtful gift - her very own sandwich box and some new princess stickers!

 Below: I was able to capture Jay's excited reaction to every gift he is given - so apropos that I captured his expression while holding a new Lego! Ha!

 Below: Such a cute picture of David as he posed with one of his new birthday gifts.

 Below: Amy saying "cheese" for the camera while holding a new princess sticker...

 Below: (continued) ...and this is her favorite spot to place beloved stickers - on her belly!! HA!

Jay had a t-ball game Saturday at 11 a.m. PopPop Worthington captured these two short video clips of Jay in action.

We ended the day by hosting a terrific end-of-year potluck BBQ with my MOPS table ladies and their families. The food was delish, the fellowship was wonderful, the weather was perfect for spending the late afternoon and evening in the backyard, deck with new patio set, and kitchen/dining area. All of the kids (17 kids plus 3 little ones under 2 years old) were well behaved, they all played so well together, no fussing, whining, or complaining...it was really terrific!!

It was so wonderful having Mom and Dad here this weekend. Our fellowship was sweet, wonderful memories were made, and they both so willingly lended such helpful hands. As usual and once again, they blessed our socks off! We love you both SO MUCH! Thank you for making the trek here to spend the weekend with us.