Birthdays 2

My Newest Happy Place

 D surprised me by staying home from work on my birthday this year. He sent me on an "as long as you want"  run (such a treat~) where I found a new ridge trail with a view. Then we spent the day together and bless him, he let me decide where to eat (even though it ended up being a crappy coupon-motivated choice -- I'm sure I'm the only wife who gets genuine praise for choosing NOT to save money as he keeps my "thrift gene" in check.) It was lovely to spend some relatively uninterrupted or pounced-upon time with my sweetheart (and of course, Sum and Des, affectionately dubbed Family #2.)

 I proudly share a birthday with two of my brothers. Well, one is the day before mine and one the day after, but we always do a big family party with 3 cakes and I've sorta been missing it. So here was my Instagram shout out to Weston and Marty this year.  :)

 Who can help but feel fully loved with a card such as this?

Or heaps of the world's best chocolate posted straight to my door. (Sidenote: Mer, I may or may not have banned Darren from joining in my late night indulgences, as he tends not to slowly savor each bite like I!)

Conveniently, all seven of our birthdays are spread out once a month from April to October. Will pulls up the rear and ended the birthday run with a shabang.

 

 Cheesecake, shopping spree for treats, shaving cream wars, body paint, the chocolate bar game, endless Nerf wars...

It was his dream combination of friends, Nerf, music, sugar and mess. You can bet I was finding remnants of that "epic" sleepover for weeks afterwards (!)

 Will is the forerunner in this fam and also the guinea pig. I'm grateful for his GUSTO (definitely inherited from his namesake, my Dad) enthusiasm, energy, fairness and strong sense of right and wrong. He's compassionate and sensitive, yet totally full-throttle. An awesome combo.

never was a boy happier to get a little brudder

cool dude's b-day lunch, the boy can put it down

We also commemorated 9/11 helping post flags on the Embassy gates - always a breathtaking display, representing each life lost that fateful day.

And we recently had our 13th wedding anniversary. My mom, a numbers gal who remembers the dates of baptisms, her and Dad's first kiss and even our engagement, left a voicemail with congrats.

Which was a good reminder because... well, we had both forgotten. Aaaahh, at least it's not a reflection of our love. (And truth be told we were climbing out from under the rubble of a week long camping trip at the coast.)

So we celebrated the next day with a family candlelight dinner re-telling all the details of our engagement and wedding then sharing favorite things about our family with each other. Will, newly inspired by his awesome breakfast at Scouts campout, even brought us Cowboy Hash in bed.

I had fun finding D pics. It has been a great 13 - looking forward to as many adventures in the next 13!

The Dad Magnet (bottom: late to church yet again)

Birthdays

We've had a string of birthdays. Kenna turned NINE in June...

 Abundantly blessed with gifts and talents, she's our little Renaissance Girl. All she asked for was a heart shaped silver locket with her parents' pics in side. Okay, why don't you just melt our hearts into a puddle right here on the floor. That girl... such a beauty inside and out.

(Being just one year apart in school, Kenna and Will have lots of mutual friends. At times it can be frustrating for one or the other, but I don't think Will minded joining in on the pillow fight...)


Des turned ONE in July...

 Walking at 9 months, this kid has always been on the move. And he's pretty happy about it too. Except when I squelch all his escape artist tendencies and keep every door locked tight.

 (Unfortunately, when you're #5, mom takes advantage of your innocence and concocts some lame healthy "cake" instead of making you a decked out puppy dog cake or something awesome like that.)

Summer turned the magical age of THREE in August...

That was a long time in coming and she was sooo patient.

 Her cuteness and endearing behaviors cannot be put to words. And while she's not the easiest 3 yr old in the world, she makes up for all frustrations by her incredible bottomless affection.

Oh, she's a treasure!!

Her only birthday request was a pink kangaroo cake. Done.

Celebrations

Annie Bananie Bop is a deep sleeper, probably because she is such a ball of energy during every waking hour. This fiesty, sensitive, sweet little lady turned 7 recently and we celebrated with her very favorite thing in all the world, a sleepover party.

Nothing's ever low-key with this one. Her enthusiasm, silliness, and joie de vivre is truly a delight to behold, if hard to keep up with! I want to always remember her darling questions, sweet scratchy voice, violent kisses, sneaky sweet tooth, honest heart, aversion to touch (but needy snuggler) and fierce fairness. She's generous, loving, intense and light hearted and we just can't get enough of her awesome belly laugh.

 Then there's this guy - who as pictures can attest - we also can not get enough of. He always has a few kids draped over him wherever he decides to sit.

He turned the big 3-8 a few weeks ago and we celebrated with one of the things he loves best: movie night.

The kids were gorgeous with their gift-giving. They saved up, pooled in, purchased and wrapped with intensity. They even spent hours on his cards and were almost in tears hoping he would like their gifts. It was really sweet.

And I got to get in on the action too with some lovely Mother's Day love. Kenna accompanied and advised Darren's shopping jaunt for gifts and they all presented them to me, lavishly wrapped, with breakfast in bed before church. What a treat!

Then a candlelight dinner to boot.

 I felt super loved. 

(But don't let those matchy matchy pictures fool you - we still showed up to church late, two without shoes and one without knickers *gasp*)