My Birthday 2011

Times are crazy and yet the birthdays come along and provide times of rest and celebrating. Peter made the beginning of the day special by making a delicious french toast/strawberry/whipped cream breakfast.

Gifts. For me. Amazing. :)

Dinner was Chicken Cordon Bleu, asparagus and surprise something underneath the foil. The beautiful flower arrangement was from my sister, Joy and her family.

The surprise food was crab cakes. I've never had crab cakes. Peter found some that you take home and fry yourself. I thought they were great. It was fun to try something new.

I received a whole grain baking book from King Arthur Flour. Just my kind of gift. :)

The highlight was this wonderful, homemade apron from my mom. She made it by copying the design of a vintage one that her mom made back in 1938. I have a feeling my mom put a lot of work into making this when she didn't have a real pattern to use for it. I love it.

Last, a turtle cheesecake for a birthday cake. Happy day.

It was a happy day. I think it was the only happy day in the midst of a lot of hard ones. Peter always does such a great job making it a special day. I never expect it and he always finds a way to surprise me, even this year. After the lovely breakfast he made, he loaded up all of the kids and took them to the park and for a walk down by the river in order to give me several hours at home by myself to do whatever I wanted. I couldn't have thought of a better birthday gift considering our phase of life just now. It was just what I needed and was like balm to me. God knows what I need and so often provides it through my husband. Thank you to everyone who helped to make my birthday special. It meant so much.

Funny Doll Moments

Yes, this doll is nursing. And being sung to with the other dollies.

Two cuties in blue dresses sitting on potties. What will I find in my house next?

Catch up on Elijah

Here's some photos of the littlest one's changing self:2 1/2 weeks old

He still has his dark hair up in the front.

4 weeks old. Starting to lose the hair in the front of his head.

February 28th, (4 weeks). Looking pretty bald. :)

March 1st, my birthday.

Spending some time with his siblings.

This picture didn't come out well, but I wish it had. They were having such a good time sitting with Elijah.

Guess he's done now.

This one I took today, March 19th. He's 7 weeks. If I don't remember to get out the camera, I'll miss it. He changes so fast!

Calvin's Birthday (6)

The birthday marathon has begun and Calvin is next in line after William. He chose the customary spaghetti and meatball dinner for his birthday meal.

Excited about his gifts.

He had requested anything that was construction vehicle related. Aunt Leslie picked out this sticker/activity pack for him.

Ever since Benjamin got his blue Star Wars light saber, Calvin thought he'd like to get a red one to play with Ben.

Benjamin made a gigantic mural/drawing for Calvin as his gift.

Enjoying the cards he got in the mail.

Something from Grammy and Papa.

It has a really neat firehouse box.

Oh yeah! Fireman boots. He was very surprised by this and thrilled to replace his old ones that are full of holes.

A nice letter and drawing from William.

William took a turn holding Elijah while I was snapping pictures of the gifts.

A tool kit of his own.

Some Matchbox dump trucks and an airplane.

Calvin's cake was decorated by his dad and brothers. They wanted to make a road/construction scene.

Here's a view from the other side. A very "busy" cake, but everyone had fun doing it and Calvin, of course, liked it a lot.

There was one more gift to open after the cake was served.

It's a play rug for Calvin to use his cars/trucks/airplane on.

It's big enough for everyone to play around it.

I think he was pleased. He still really like his vehicles. This should give him something new and fun to do with them this year. He is 5 no longer. Moving up and moving on to 6. Very exciting. Happy Birthday, Calvin.

We Got it!

And it's adorable!! :)A sweet friend in Oregon sewed up this cute hat for the little boy.

He'll have to grow a bit to fit it just right. :)

Elijah even got his first photographed smile taken in it. I love it! I turned the hat so that you could see some of the other colors on it.

Mr. Elijah Franklin and his mommy thank Miss Kathy very much for her kind and thoughtful gesture of this home-designed and home-made hat! Love you, Kathy!

1st Piano Recital

Samuel and William got to participate in their first piano recital. The recital was held at a local church that has a nice grand piano.
These are the piano students. The recital also combined some voice performances of some of the students who also take voice lessons. There was one violin and one flute performance as well.

Most all of the kids involved are homeschool families that we know.

Sam and Will's teacher is the tall lady in black standing next to them. The voice teacher and violin/flute teacher are on the end.

We are so happy to be able to be a part of such a wonderful way to learn music. The boys are loving it and are enthusiastic. They are only beginning students in piano, but they played well and it was a very good experience.

William's 10th Birthday

While Mom and Dad were still here, we managed to get down to the bowling alley to have a fun evening in honor of William's birthday.

We haven't been bowling in years. Sam and Will had to learn over again and it was completely new for the younger ones.

Dad and Mom know what they're doing. They helped the kids learn some technique.

William is competitive and determined to figure things out. Here he goes.

Determined to figure out how the scoring works and how he's doing.

Dad helping Amelia give it a throw.

Calvin loved bowling. He really got into it.

Ben.

Will he hit it?

Of course, they mostly watched. We tried to help them keep their fingers from getting smashed between these balls.

Sitting with her Grammy is a great way to watch the others play.

:)

Dad's good. And he has great form.

Even Cecily got to try it out. She can't lift the ball, but at least she got to feel like she was participating.

The lane on the left had bumpers on it so that the balls couldn't go into the gutters. The one on the right didn't have them. Mom, Dad, Sam and Will all played on the right. I think Sam and Will were a little jealous of the higher scores and the many pins that the little ones hit because of the bumpers.

Sam

Right at the end, Sam and Will each got some strikes and it really made the night for them. They were SO excited. Before that, they were borderline frustrated. Hurray! Success.

I took this picture so that Sam and Will could see the scoreboard.

Before we left, William opened his gift from my Mom and Dad.

He got a set of 2 play flintlock pistols.

And a real powderhorn.

And one more little thing from his Papa.

A multi-purpose tool/knife, complete with a flashlight.

Thank you, Papa! I love it!

Here begins Part II. It took a while after the baby was born for us to be ready to do our family celebration of William's birthday at home. We finally did it 2 Saturdays ago. So here he is, still wearing feeted pajamas and celebrating his 10th birthday.

First gift: A new radio drama set of Jonathan Park.

This gift was from William's Aunt Leslie. It's the second book in a series that he is reading.

Any avid fiction reader will understand how happy he was about his book.

We always enjoy the cards we get.

William also got a DVD of Davy Crocket movies.

A bow and arrows set of his own.

The requested dessert was apple dumplings.

"Happy Birthday to you..."

Yay. He's officially 10.

:)