Joe's 5th Birthday, Matey!

Forenote:  I am not a huge fan of pirates.  I don't like glorifying them due to their lack of morals.  And the fact that they are still active today gives me more pause.  But during our stay at the Camosy's we indulged in the Disney channel and Joe's favorite show was Jake and the Neverland Pirates.  And a five year old boy after 6 months of crazy transition deserves to go on a treasure hunt and find some booty.  You can click on any of the pictures to make them bigger. And if you click on the bigger picture it will proceed to the next one.

His first clue led him to the upstairs bathroom where he found Thomas trains.

His second clue led him to my sewing room/guest bedroom.  There he found Angry Birds shirts (one for him and one for Ben).

The third clue led to the laundry room where we just got this really neat coat cubby.  There he discovered a Super Mario puzzle.

The fourth present was hidden in the oven.  He got the Angry Birds pig.

The fifth present was hidden under his pillow.  It was an I Spy game and book.

The sixth clue led him to the school room.  He got an Angry Space Bird.

The seventh present was in the fireplace.  We used money from his AZ grandparents to buy him Sonic figures.

The eighth present was hidden in the toy closet in the basement.  He got an Imaginext Dragon Wagon.

His final clue led him to the dining room where his treasure chest cake was waiting for him.

All these presents were not from us.  My parents were visiting for his birthday and so we added them to our treasure hunt.  It really was a blast to follow him throughout the house looking for his presents.  The joys of being five!!  For breakfast he had french toast.  We were very happy that opening day for baseball was cancelled.  It was a high of 47 degrees and raining on and off with a wind chill.  There was even sleet/hail this morning.  For dinner we went to Panera at the request of the birthday boy.

Side note:  You can see my new couch in the pictures of Joe opening his presents.  We really like it.  He is also sitting in our new dining chairs in the dining room.

Charlotte's 2nd Birthday

Charlotte's 2nd birthday was celebrated before we moved. Aunt Ann, Uncle Pat , Arizona Grandma, and Illinois Grandma and Papa were there to celebrate. She received a vacuum, some play food, some Elmo books and a pink purse book. She also got a sand and water table that we haven't opened yet. Maybe on the next warm day. She had the traditional Sesame Street cupcakes.

The Castle Birthday Cake

Here is Mia's awesome castle cake made and

decorated by none other than my mother!!

Isn't it adorable! If you want to see it closer just click on the picture.

Amelia's 6th Birthday

Amelia celebrated her 6th birthday this week. She completed her American Girl mini historical dolls. She also receive the historical books from her Arizona grandparents. Because she received so many little gift she received presents all throughout the day. For dinner we went to Famous Dave's and we sang Happy Birthday to a cookie-brownie.

The next day we had her birthday party. I wish I had taken more pictures but being pregnant with twelve girls in the house made that difficult. We made princess crowns and bottle cap necklaces. We had lunch and cake and then a pinata.

Here are some of the presents she received.

Here are all her mini dolls in her old suitcase

(my great $3 garage sale find.)

Her Illinois Grandma and Papa gave her this pioneer outfit for her doll.

The Dausman girls gave her a ballerina outfit and puppy dog.

The Brown girls gave her this great cookie set (Charlotte loves it, too.)

She also received a Barbie doll and clothes, candy, a book, headbands,

Strawberry Shortcake doll, Cinderell and gift cards. What a spoiled girl!!

Happy 8th Birthday, Ben!

Happy 4th Birthday, Joseph!

We celebrated Joe's birthday with his Illinois Papa, whose birthday is three days after his. He had a dinosaur train cake and received number of Toy Story Duplos.

Charlotte's Birthday Party 2011

We had Charlotte's birthday party yesterday. Grandma, Papa and Uncle Rick came over. Grandma made the cake. The clowns were very cute. And Charlotte enjoyed her cake. She grabbed the clown and stuffed it in her mouth.














The following videos are of Charlotte's opening her presents. Although you'll get to see her up close because she kept charging her mommy who was holding the camera.

Happy 1st Birthday, Charlotte!

For Charlotte's birthday she got play silks. It was a bunch of 8 -3x3 colorful silk squares. At first the box was more interesting than the gift but soon she was having fun.

And her brothers and sister were thankful it was her birthday and she was sharing her presents.

A Great Gift from the Girardins

Other than learning to ride her bike and doing school,
changing her doll's clothes is all she enjoys doing these days.
Thank you!