happy birthday daddy

June 1st was Miles' birthday and we went out to the Keg for supper :) The next day, Jackson brought home a card he made in 'centre time' @ school. We were in AWE at this card - he drew a cake and cut it out but left a fold at the bottom to 'open' the card. His cake patterns are continuous on both sides. We laughed at the inside of the card:

Side One:
I Love my dad

Side Two:
Hppy
berthday
To you
Happy
berthday
To you
you Look
like a munkee
and you
Smell like 1 too

birthday supper

Usually, for the kids' birthdays, we let them choose where they want to go for supper. Liam chose Montana's because Ethan has gone there a couple times & he knew the novelty of wearing the horns... until they actually brought the horns out & he got soooo bashful! Thankfully he consented to a picture when it was 'just us' though :) After supper we meandered next door to Starbuck's and warmed up with a hot bevy. We usually grab an ice cream cake too (on the day) but the boys had ice cream at the restaurant & our waistlines didn't need it, so maybe next week for Miles' birthday! (we definitely don't need two in one week)

The birthday boy & daddy

Montanas's cornbread... mmmm (he ordered a grilled cheese sandwich & mandarin orange slices)

Jackson - ribs

Ethan - ribs

Cole - fries

gotta have the worm in the ice cream :)

(or in your mouth)

Coley

Jackson

Ethan

... doesn't know whether to laugh or cry

being super bashful while they sang to him :)

after everyone (waiters/waitresses) left and it was just our family, he consented to put the horns on for a picture :)

High FIVE Liam :)

Our 'Wee Wittle Wiam' is FIVE years old today! He is such a joy in our lives and we love his facial expressions - they tell EXACTLY how he's feeling! It just seems like yesterday that he was a 'little' 9 lb 9 oz baby in our arms and now he's such a big boy ready to start school this fall! Tomorrow is his last day of playschool and then he starts a whole new 13 year adventure & will get to ride on the bus to school with his big brothers...
These pictures don't even begin to tell you ALL the mischief and happiness that Liam has 'discovered' in his lifetime but I'm sure they'll jog your memory from posts-gone-by :) HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIAM! We LOVE you! XO

boys n' girls...

Here are some recent card creativity... as you can see both sets are based on the same stamp sets and colour combos but have their own 'tweek' to them. I made these baby girl cards awhile back but had to make sure they got to their blog reading recipients before posting :) The boys birthday cards were for my friends 4 yr old twins and Liam went to their party on Sunday, after church. My colour inspiration was the wrapping paper! Could you tell?!

'Welcome Baby' - for Emerald & Megan

Happy Birthday - Cale

Happy Birthday - Seth

Colour inspiration - I bought a couple rolls of this paper, the ribbon, gift bags and tissue paper at 'TARGET' in spring '08 when we were over the border

out for a date...

It's kind of a blah wintery day & not much planned for Cole's birthday (Miles is working tonight), so I had an impromptu trip to the local coffee shop with a friend and her birthday boy! Mona and I had wanted to get together with the kids at a park or where ever, towards the end of summer/beginning of school but it just didn't happen, so today was a nice excuse for a visit!

The birthday boys: Cole (2) & Joey (3)

Mommy & Cole

Mona & Joey

Coffee Shop decor...

Cole admiring coffee shop decor - he also managed to stand on a table when I wasn't looking!

holey moley, coley's TWO!!!!

Where did TWO years go? It is so hard to believe that my 'baby' is already two years old! Maybe it's weirding me out because I don't have another baby!? Who knows!? Anyways, it's kind of a bittersweet thing - nice to know that our 8+ years of diapers & bottles are coming to an end and we are embracing new things we can do as a family, minus all the baby 'stuff' BUT at the same time, I'm really going to miss all the baby stuff... I LOVE the baby phase! Anyways, in denial or not, my little monkey is two and life at the zoo is getting crazier! This week I have found him teetering on the edge of the crib rail (so much for keeping him in the crib until he's 7 *wink*), he won't stay off of the kitchen table, he won't stay out of the fridge and the list goes on! He has turned into a very busy little boy and is the source of a lot of laughter in our household :) He is starting to put small phrases together and is learning to hold his own with being the youngest - to the point that he's quite bossy! Very entertaining! Just the other day, Ethan & Cole were on our bed and Ethan said, "who needs TV when you have this crazy clown for entertainment!?" ...zoo... circus... same thing! Happy Birthday Cole! We love you! XO

Our first 'complete' family photo - Oct 14th, 2007

Crazy Baby

Mmmmm.... anything messy....

Baby chub :)

The grand finale - summer 2007

Happy Birthday Jack!

The birthday boy is in da house!!!! Jackson is the big #6 today! Just seems like yesterday he was our little 9lb 3oz bundle of baby! Unfortunately, it WAS a school day & he did have to GO to school but I took in some cupcakes to make the day seem more festive. We haven't been feeling great & daddy is especially not doing so good, so we will do our birthday supper another night - hopefully tomorrow. Jackson will get to pick where he wants to go... um providing it's not McDonald's or Chuck E Cheese! Kidding! (well, not really!!!) Miles did pick up a DQ ice cream cake on his way home from work though & it had a football on it, which was very fitting since that was Jackson's fave thing to do this summer! Note: after this post was writen, he did ask... "is McDonald's an option?" He ended up asking just to go to the local golf course, near our house.

Blow....

Not sure if you can see it but the flames are coloured too!
(something I got in my stocking that was useable!)

All out = NO girlfriends! Good job!

Six years old

And a little walk down memory lane... it'll be short though because I've only got the lap top and my photos are limited! Sorry! Happy Birthday Jackson - WE LOVE YOU! XO

Bahamas... 2006 (just turned 3 yrs old) - love how the sand just stuck to him!

Starting to feel more comfortable in the water... no lifejacket! Mexico '08

On the Buccaneer Queen - Mexico '08

Mexico '08 (5 yrs old)

Happy Birthday Ethan!!!

We had a great day on Thursday, celebrating Ethan! The night before, he had been to the dentist to have a filling replaced (they ended up capping the tooth) and on the way home, Miles stopped at Blockbuster & let him pick out a movie to watch on his birthday. So - the boys watched the movie in the morning & in the afternoon, we headed to a park to meet up with some friends for a playdate. Following that, we had to run into WalMart to do a quick exchange & ended up running into the family (now out of town) that used to babysit Ethan when he was a year old & I was working part time. It was so good to see them! We then got daddy & went to Montana's for supper, which was Ethan's choice since he loves wearing the horns :) Afterwards, we walked around Sport Check for a bit & picked up a bike for him... then Miles picked up a DQ cake, while I headed through the car wash (another blog entry) and we met up at the Cressman household for cake & coffee :) The boys went to bed way too late & were grumpy the next day... but that's what ya do for birthdays! Have a great year being EIGHT!!!

Mucking in the little stream @ the park...

Brothers

Climbing Coley...

Feeding the ducks

Such a beautiful area to walk through....

Tire swing - always a hit!

Regular swings are too :)

Daddy & the birthday boy

Ethan's picture Montana's style - on the 'tablecloth' (some kind of a monster with tiki torches or something)

Mmmm.... ribs! (it was on the kiddie menu)

MMMM - more ribs :)

Jackson's picture - house, car & garage :)

Ice cream n' worms :)

The birthday horns :)

A special birthday bowl of ice cream & worms

And since we didn't get enough ice cream at Montana's, we needed to get an ice cream cake (good job picking the cake daddy!)

Lighting the candles...

The birthday boy :) Where in the world did EIGHT years go???