Heather's Birthday

So I'm only a couple months late, but I had a great birthday in February and we had a fun evening with some good friends (the Jones). As usual, I didn't get many pictures, but here is one of the birthday cake and the kids enjoying it.





The cake was a devils food with strawberry cream filling and a dark chocolate ganache - yum! It was good, but the cake layers were very dense and dry - I would make that part more moist.

Happy Birthday to Joe!

So this is a few days late (the 19th was the day), but I still wanted to document it.

Joseph had a pretty good day I think. Some time to himself, a yummy dinner at Lonestar (did you know they send you a coupon for a free entree on your b-day), and then some play time at Chuck E Cheese.

Jase likes the tokens and the tickets equally. Getting him to use either takes some effort...

I love these pics of Jase! He is such a nut when it comes to "cashing" in the tickets for a toy. He would rather bring the tickets home and cut them up... Nevertheless we have a new rule that states any tickets won must be cashed in each visit... He's so happy to have his jelly beetle!


Joe's homemade b-day dinner was on Sunday (beef stroganoff and a from scratch German Chocolate cake - yumm). I didn't get a pic of the cake because it was cut into before I even sat down to eat dinner...

Meghan turns 1!

Meghan's 1st birthday was Friday, September 12. She enjoyed a fun day at daycare and brought fresh fruit to share with her friends. The fruit was a huge hit and it was all eaten (and we brought a lot). When we got home there was a package of birthday goodies from Heather's parents. Meghan got a book,
some smarties (although Jase wanted them all),
a new baby doll,

and some cute clothes. I was surprised how well she actually opened the presents and tore the paper...

Then it was on to her birthday dinner of spaghetti. This is likely her favorite meal, although she loves to eat anything and everything.
Jase also loves spaghetti, and Joe could eat it once a week, so everyone was pleased.

After we ate dinner, Meghan was ready for bed, so we decided to save the cake for Saturday.

Saturday morning we went to Chuck E Cheese's for a little bit and both Meghan and Jase had a blast.
From daddy, mommy, and Jase, Meghan got a baby stroller and a ball pit. Meghan loved her baby stroller for her dolls, although she also thinks that she can ride in it as well.


Meghan gets very upset if Jase takes any of her dolls or her stroller from her, or even if she isn't playing with them.

Meghan hasn't been too into the ball pit, but she is warming up to it. jase on the other hand loves it!

And finally last but not least, she loved her cake and kept reaching for it while we were singing to her.

Meghan's first year

At 1 year old Meghan can do so many things. Here are some of the things I remember right now:
*Walks all over the place
*Climbs on everything
*Fights back with her brother (by scratching, clawing, and biting)
*Eats everything that is placed in front of her
*Drinks whole milk
*Says the words: mama, dada, uh-oh, baby
*Loves peek-a-boo
*Claps
*Waves and says bye-bye
*Dances to music
*Loves watching Johnny and the Sprites
*Finds it very necessary to open all cupboards and drawers that she finds

We love you Meghan and can't believe that you have been part of our family for one year already.

Happy Birthday Jase!

We hope you had a great birthday, spent with family and friends!

Jase started his day with his favorite breakfast of blueberry pancakes and then got to open his presents from mommy and daddy and baby sister, and from his grandparents and great-grandma.

Then, since we still weren't sure on how the weather was going to be for the party (we were planning on being outside), we finished some stuff inside and outside, so we were prepared for both scenarios...
Heather finished Jase's cake, a dinosaur one, which ended up taking almost 2 hours to cut and frost and add the candy, due to one excited 3 year old and one teething 7 month old... But it turned out very cute and very work the effort.


Jase's party was a huge success with 15 kids and 12 parents!included Festivities included a dino egg dig in sand (the only outside activity we did due to the cold and extremely windy day), dinosaur tattoos, foam dinosaur stickers and construction paper, yummy food and cake and cupcakes, a dino egg pinata, presents, and goody bags for all attending.

Jase loves having his friends over and had a wonderful time - thanks for helping to make his 3rd birthday memorable!

Happy "Wicked" Birthday!

On Thursday Heather turned 30 and Joseph surprised her with a day in the windy city (without kids) and what a wonderful day it was. We started the day by going here as a family. Then we dropped the kids off at some friends houses (who so graciously accepted watching our children for us) and headed to Chicago. On the way to Chicago we stopped here for lunch (and Heather got her free birthday burger, the banzai burger, and a dreamy orange smoothie). Then we went to the Art Institute of Chicago for a couple of hours. One of Heather's favorite restaurants is Bennigan's, so we had to stop in there for an appetizer and dessert, before going to see Wicked!
I love seeing musicals and plays. In fact the first date Heather and Joseph went on was to see Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk at The Wharton Center at Michigan State University (Go Spartans!). Heather has seen several shows, including The Phantom of the Opera (2x), Les Miserables, Riverdance, Madame Butterfly, 42nd Street, Macbeth, A Mid Summers Nights Tale, Peter Pan, and several others. She has always loved being swept away for a couple hours into a different culture/era. We had a wonderful day and Heather had a wonderful birthday.

What is your favorite musical/play that you have seen, and what would you see if you could see anything?

We have some cute pics of the kids to post, but I (Heather) am too lazy to download them right now, so check back soon (I'll do it this weekend for sure).

Happy 2nd Birthday Jase!

May 3rd was Jase's 2nd birthday - my how the time has flown. We had a nice pizza dinner and Jase got to open his presents from Dad and Mom.

The following morning we left for Michigan to have a party for Jase with family and friends there. The weather was cooler and brisk. Jase loved getting his presents from Grandpa and Grandma (1st photo) and Great-Gramma (2nd) and also loved playing with Great-Gramma's dog, Molly, a one year old Shih Tzu. Jase's favorite outside toy was a ride-on train and the tricycles, although they were a little too big for him still.

Jase and Katelyn (Jase's cousin, 2) eating lunch - who really wants to eat a sandwich and chips when you can have dill pickles and oreo cookies...

The highlight of the weekend was Jase's party on Saturday! He had a train cake (one engine, 3 cars, and a caboose) and had a difficult time keeping his fingers out of the frosting (each time he walked by, he poked it).








Everyone had a lot of fun watching the little ones run around and play and have a good time. Below is Lucy, Jase's 2nd cousin - almost 3, waiting for cake., followed by Jase, Haley (2nd cousin - 5), and Katelyn.



It was great to see family and friends, most of whom we haven't seen since Christmas.



Some of the presents Jase recieved included a scooter, puzzles, roller skates, clothes, remote control car, bug catchin' kit, Deigo jeep, Lego helicopter, bowling set, fishing tackle/tool box, and more. He wasn't too interested in his clothes, but he thought the clothes hanger made a terrific hammer.