Happy #14

Happy Birthday Big Al!!!!

My little guy is TWELVE!!

I am having a hard time with how fast time has flown!!! My little guy is TWELVE today... Holy Cow! 12!! Where did the time go???? And man oh man has he grown!!

Happy Birthday Little J (or should I start calling him medium J?)

Her first attempt at Bowling!

A few days ago, we met up with my BIL/SIL and all my nephews to celebrate my nephew Tommy's birthday. They had decided to have everyone go bowling!

I can honestly say, in all the years with our kids, we have only gone bowling maybe 2 or 3 times!!! It has been well over 5 years since we have gone, because Miss O has NEVER gone! While we do have a small bowling alley in town... it's just not something that we do because it seems to cost over $30 for us all to bowl a game or so... and for that much - I'd usually rather take everyone to a movie!! Not to mention that I am not a fan of bowling... Many moons ago, I ruined a beautifully manicured set of (my real) nails on my right hand... haha! Broke every single one and then had to cut the other hand to match.... anyways - back to current times....

Miss O was SUPER excited that they had PINK balls!!! She did really well (we used the bumpers on the sides so the kids had more fun!) with throwing the ball and watching it (ever so slowly) make it's way down the lane! She jumped up and down the whole time while watching it go too... so she got a workout as well!

She had a great time, so did the boys as they got to spend some extra time with their cousins, so it all worked out! And of course, she wants to do it again... soon!!! :)

Miss O is SEVEN!!!!

Happy Birthday to my little Angel!!!!

Happy Birthday Big Al

Somehow, we survived to reach Happy Birthday #13!

Wow - we have a certifiable "teen" in the house! Happy Birthday Big Al!

Somebody is ELEVEN today!

Happy Birthday to my Baby BOY! Today he is ELEVEN! I cannot believe how time has flown! Had to believe that he is truly a "tween" now!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today would be my Dad's 71st Birthday. It is so hard to believe that he has been gone for four months. We had a batch of brownies in his honor tonight and the kids (especially Miss O) talked about how much they missed him and some funny Grandpa stories! We sure all miss him! Happy Birthday Dad!

Her first official birthday party!

I gave in to the pressure!! Miss O wanted to have a birthday party with friends from school. In the past, with her brothers, most parties end up being so crazy, stressful and exhausting, that just the idea makes me cringe!

So, we ended up inviting about 6 other girls that she gets along with, and whose parents I know, over to the house after school for pizza and cupcakes. The girls all had fun being a little crazy and playing, and the birthday girl was THRILLED! She told me it was the best birthday party EVER! Haha - since she has really only had one! She is so excited to be six!!

Somebody is SIX today!

Happy Birthday to my Favorite Princess of all time!!!!

My favorite Birthday Gift of all time!

Four years ago today, we met a little girl that stole our hearts and changed our lives! We spent my birthday on the over night train from Kyiv to Zaporizhzya, Ukraine. We were tremendously nervous and stressed about meeting this little girl! Meeting her was one of the most joyous days of my life! She has changed us all for the better and continues to fill our heart each and every day!

My Birthday

Being a kind of crazy weekend... I did not bother to make myself a birthday cake! Instead, Little J and Miss O made up some chocolate banana bread! Later in the day, we celebrated with hot choco and banana bread! Worked for me... as I am not big on celebrating my own birthday anymore!
I did get a nice new baking stone for my bread and a tin of my favorite Harney and Sons tea... so it was all good!

Big Al turns 12

Hard to believe that we made it to 12!!! But, here we are! Happy Birthday Big Al!

Wow - Turned Double Digits!

Our little baby boy is not so little any more! Today, he turned TEN... that's right 10!!
I love to look back at the pictures and see how much he has really changed!

Happy Birthday Little J!!!

Happy Birthday Miss O!!!

Hard to believe that our sweet little Miss O turned FIVE today! Seems like just yesterday she turned three! Happy Birthday sweet baby girl!

Big Al is 11!

Today, Big Al turned 11!

Wow how time flies!!!
Happy Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday Papa!

Since he was a St. Patrick's Day baby... its tough to find an "appropriate cake!"... so above is the end product....

Miss O was in charge of mixing - you can't see it well.. but we dyed the cake batter GREEN! She loved it!

Miss O and the boys did some birthday shopping and of course wrapped the gifts in green!

Papa was happy to get a chess set from Little J.... (though none of us play chess!)

Happy Birthday to Papa!!

More birthday fun!

This year we were a little belated in getting out the bithday invites from Little J's party... but never the less - he was happy! He had a few friends from school and family show up to his pool party on Saturday... it turned out pretty well - with the exception of the melting cupcakes! hehe!
Little J and his buddies from school - all three he has been in classes with since kindergarten!

A quick pic before the fun in the pool begins!

He got a pump up rocket/plane thing (Papa did the shopping this year!) and of course he had to try it out when there was no wind!

Little J enjoyed opening presents at home and of course the cards! Miss O had to be in EVERY picture - I think that she just loves birthdays in general -regardless of who is having the birthday!

And of course - we had our traditional Mexican dinner out on his actual birthday - had to wear the sombero and have fried ice cream! Happy 9th Birthday!!

The Birthday Boy!

Congratulations Little J!

Today marks his 9th Birthday! Hard to believe that this little bundle of joy used to weigh only 16 pounds and wore size 6 month clothes until he was almost 20 months old! He is 4 foot one and 58 pounds... It is amazing how things change! He is excited to have a family dinner at the traditional Mexican restaurant tonight and to have a birthday party at the pool on Saturday... He has had a pretty good year - so it is all well deserved! Happy Birthday to our little Dink!

We love you!

Happy Birthday MISS O!!!

" NO TREE - OWA DOOR!"
That was what I heard the most of today! She is very happy that she is official FOUR! Here is a quick picture of her in her crown from preschool....

And here she is two years ago to the day on her 2nd birthday in Ukraine! She has really changed!

Happy Birthday to our Little Princess!

Cutie-pa-tutie has a birthday party!

Today we had a little birthday party for Miss O's 4th birthday! Though her "true" birthday is not until Wednesday.. with everything going on this week, it just seemed easier to do it today!

Pj is ALWAYS in on the action! He really enjoys "party favors" (aka cleaning off the floor after the kids all eat!)

Miss O shows off her crown and her Diego Birthday Cake - which she picked out all by herself!

Miss O received a wonderful little Princess Dress-up kit and just HAD to try it on right then and there! Too cute!

Blowing out all four candles!!! The cake was almost bigger than her!!!

She had a fun time opening gifts! Each one was fully opened and were played with immediately!

She had a blast just playing with balloons before and after all her guests arrived! That was probably the best buck I spent on the whole party!