Birthdays, Birthdays and MORE BIRTHDAYS!!!

four of our six birthdays fall between June 7 and August 5...talk about a lot of celebrating, crepe paper, cake/ice-cream, presents...and MONEY!!!

Boe turned SEVEN on june 7--since it was his "golden" birthday, he got SEVEN cool gifts. he really wanted a remote control truck (and NOT a SMALL "dumb" one) so that was his "big" gift this year. he got some other fun stuff too. Boe just started the SECOND grade, he is getting so much better at reading, he is an awesome big brother to ryder and lucy, especially lucy. he just can't get enough of her. unfortuanetly, she CAN get enough of him and doesn't let him love on her as much as he would like to. boe loves math and science and has such a logical brain. he just gets it. he just finished up his second year of competitive soccer and he is excited to start flag football this fall. he is still taking piano lessons and really enjoys them. boe is a GREAT friend and has a bunch of cute, fun buddies that he LOVES to play with. all the other mom's always tell me how nice boe is and how much they enjoy having him at their house-this seriously makes me feel SO good! what a great kid! here are my top SEVEN fave things about boe right now:

*his sense of humor. he totally gets adult humor and can even participate in it
*his ability to love. boe is so loving and he still likes to cuddle with neal and i
*his voice, it is seriously so cute. i guess you'd have to know him to get this one
*his lopsided little smile
*how kind he is to his little brother and sister
*his brain-he is so good at math-me, not so much
*his passion for life, he is curious and excited and awed by so much still-i love that he still has that little boy innocence about him

Happy Birthday Boe-Boe we LOVE you SOOO much! xoxoxoxo

my BABY girl turned ONE on july 15th---seriously, where did the YEAR go?! i can't believe it. lucy is so fun. she is drama all the way around. she will throw her head back and scream with the best of them if she doesn't get her way. lucy's hair is SO blonde-i don't even know if you can call it blonde, she is a tow-head to the max. she HATES having her hair done---i on the other hand have waited a LONG time to be able to do a little girls hair and well, it doesn't look to me like either one of us is giving in on this one ;) she started avidly walking around 11 months. she can sign more, thank you, yes, bottle, food, no and milk. she will "say" mama, dada, she can quack like a duck and bark like a dog. she LOVES her brothers, she LOVES her daddy. she is full of life and can take apart a room in ten minutes flat. she loves to be naked and takes her diaper off ALL the time if she doesn't have pants on. lucy LOVES to be outside, she LOVES the pool and she LOVES animals. we are so grateful to have her in our family---happy birthday baby girl-thank you for bringing a little bit of "PINK" into our lives! xoxoxox

my baby BOY turned THREE on july 27---seriously, i remember the day that this kid was born like it was YESTERDAY---how can it have been THREE years ago?! ryder is still the funnest, easiest, most adorable three year old on the planet. he LOVES mickey mouse, CARS, legos, playing house, playing games, reading, riding his bike, playing outside and being with his family (epesh dad-still a TOTAL daddies boy) ryder LOVES dora and got the whole back-pack ensemble set up for his birthday this year. he also loves puzzles and he can entertain himself for hours if you give him a bunch of toys to play with in an empty room. ryder is by far my best listener. rarely do i have to tell him more then once to do something or not to as the case may be...ryder is very opininonated and has his ideas and the way that he wants things done, he is quirky and fun--he is my little shadow in the day and neal's at night when he comes home from work. he adds so much to our family and we love him SO much! here are my top THREE about ryder:

*his little voice and the way he talks-seriously, i could eat him up!
*his loves and kisses
*i LOVE how he KNOWS what he wants, he will make a birthday or christmas wish list six months before the date and he DOES NOT deviate from his list

HAPPY THIRD BDAY ryder we sure do LOVE YOU!!! xoxoxo

neal turned the big THREE-FIVE on august 5---since we have SO many birthdays, we combined neal's and ryder's so our family only had to come out once. neal wanted a raft and running shoes this year and he wanted to pick both of them out...bor-ring...so no fun bday surprises this year from me. that's okay, i already told him i want a BIG combined shopping spree to H&M for my bday and christmas ;) i am not going to lie, this year has been a bit rough on mine and neal's relationship. i don't do well with change or stress and there has been A LOT of both this past year. we had our fourth child which quite honestly put me over the edge emotionally, i had a horrible recovery from her birth and i am not going to lie, over a year later, i am still feeling not quite up to snuff, we put our house for sell and don't worry, went under contract only to have the sell fall thru two weeks before we were supposed to close, life has just been pretty crazy and it's taken it's toll. we are working on it and even though this hasn't been the most rosey filled year, i love neal so much and am so thankful for him. can't imagine my life without him and all his crazy quirks. he works hard for our family, he tries to do what's right, he is an excellent dad who really gets down on the kids' levels and really talks to them. they adore him and i so appreciate how involved he is in their activities and lives. happy happy birthday sweetcakes-can't believe you are such an OLD man and that this is the FOURTEENTH birthday we have celebrated together. xoxoxoxo