Happy 12th Birthday Addison!

We celebrated Add's 12th birthday at home with family. I cannot believe how fast he is growing up. Next year, I will have two teenagers in the house. Wow! I don't know if I'm ready for that.


Here are a few shots from his party:

It's always fun to have Savta and Oompah around.












And because he's such a stud and I love him so, here's one of my man looking mighty fine.
















Buds: Ayden & Micah



Joshua & Austin




Asa hanging out with the presents.


Christopher's handsome profile.




Addison being silly.



One with dad.



Kisses for the birthday boy.



Happy birthday Addison! I love you and feel blessed to call you "son".

Our girl hit double digits!

On May 10, 2010, Anna-Kate turned 10. It was her "golden" birthday, as our Anderson friends like to call it. She asked if she could have a slumber party and invite 10 of her friends. That seemed feasible to me and so the plans were made. We invited a few more than 10, but in the end, only 10 came and 8 were able to stay the night. We began her celebration with a hot dog dinner. Her (boy) cousins joined us for dinner, cake and the opening of gifts, but around 6:30 pm, the guys headed over to the Colemans and the girls got in their jammies and prepared to watch an "Anne of Green Gables" marathon. With sleeping bags spread all over the living room floor and the movie started, the finger nail polish came out and the hair braiding began. Giggling, twirling and girly time made for some very sweet memories. Here is what it looked like:

Kisses from mom.



Back row: Cara Beth, Elizabeth, Sarah Bess, Fiona, Annie Rose & Bella Front row: Emma A., Emma G., Anna-Katie and Natasha








Make a wish!




Pretty girls!



Daddy's girl



Kisses from dad




Another daddy's girl

It wouldn't be the same without a shot of Oompah and Savta (pronounced "Softa"--Hebrew for grandmother)

Back row: Annie Rose, Sarah Bess, Cara Beth, Anna-Kate, Emma G., Fiona, Addie & Bella
Front row: Elizabeth, Natasha & Emma A.


French braids for (almost) everyone!





The braids from the back.



These two were still at it at 3:45 in the morning. This is what they looked like at 7:00 am. I really did try to get them to go to sleep around 11:00, then again at midnight. At 3:45, I just felt sorry for their parents and what they had to deal with later on in the day.









the birthday girl











The next morning, the girls who were left decided to release some balloons. A few still had "effective" helium. Only three made it over the trees.



Happy birthday Anna-Katie! I love you and I'm so proud of the young lady you are becoming. I'm glad your birthday was a "10"!

My Baby Turned 5! How Did That Happen So Fast?

Asa just celebrated his fifth birthday and this year he asked if he could have a "friend" birthday party, which meant that he just wanted to invite his friends over to celebrate with him. So we invited several families to the local splash pad, ordered a bunch of pizza (although Asa's pizza had to be made at home so as to minimize his fat intake), and ate angel food cake for dessert. He thought it was the perfect day. It looked a little something like this:




The cake had fat-free icing too, which turned out to be tastier than I thought it would be.

















"I'm 5!"
















Asa running through the sprinklers with his buddies, Joshua and Jack. That's Creed with his back to us.







Addison








One of my favorite's. . .Creed braves the water too.








And because Asa's birthday is the day after those 10 days in April that are so difficult for so many and because Knox was Asa's buddy, we released balloons in Knox's honor. We miss you, Knox.

Just a few more. . .Asa with mom and dad. . .










. . .and Oompah and Savta.









From Savta and Oompah's point of view. . .





I'll try and get the rest up on Facebook in the next couple of days for those of you who are interested. Just thought I'd give a glimpse of Asa's day. He enjoyed it so. We all did.

Three down, two to go. . .

Addison & Anna-Kate celebrated their birthdays this past weekend. Anna-Kate turned 8 on Saturday and Addison turned 10 on Sunday. We decided, in our true fashion, at the last minute, to have a pool party. We decided at 1:00 on Saturday afternoon to have it at 5:00 that evening. I had been thinking of putting it off for a week, but then realized that we already have plans next weekend, so we made a few phone calls, gathered up as many of our friends who could be as spontaneous as we are, and we met together to celebrate two beautiful children.

I love you Addison. I cannot believe you are 10! You are a delightful son and it is a joy being your mother. You are intelligent, creative, obedient, hard-working and a wonderful addition to our family. I'm so glad God blessed us with your presence. Happy birthday son.

I love you too Anna-Kate. How did you get to be 8 so quickly? I love your sweet laughter and tender heart. You are smart, beautiful (on the inside & out), artistic, genuine, and eager to please. Our home is more well-rounded with you in it. You are a blessing and I'm glad to be your mom. Happy birthday beautiful.

Here are a few more shots from our evening at the pool. . .


Anna-Kate & Lizzie

Christopher, Kenneth & Addison

A self-portrait of Ayden & me

Anne Michal

And my very favorite from the day. . .


I posted the rest on my facebook page. It's much easier to post them there than it is here. So if you feel a need to see the rest, you can check them out there.