Ethan's Birthday

This has to go down as the worst b-day ever! This poor little guy spent all day in the freezing cold rain for the big boys baseball games! I wish I would have taken a picture of Ethan and Alexia all bundled up in the blue chairs. I sat them in the middle and built these little tents around them so they would stay warm, you could just see their little pink faces poking out!

They were so good about it and did not even complain. Ethan asked for Dino Chicken (yummy!) for his b-day dinner and ice cream cake. My last attempt at a cake did not go well, but I was really excited to try this one. There was no baking involved, so not much to mess up! Again, went to the store, bought all the ingredients, had everything ready to go and nothing about this day went as planned. We were on "baseball stand-by" all day. Game-on/Game-off all morning.

By the time we got our little popsicles home, there was not time to make an ice cream cake, we ended up buying one from Ben and Jerry's. Ethan did not care, he had more fun playing basketball and riding his scooter in the kitchen. He is such a little boy and so easy to shop for. I can never resist wrapping up something that I know my kids will make a face at! Now that he's a big boy and potty trained, I had to wrap up underwear.....it was too funny! I must get the urge to do obnoxious thing from my dad!

I always want to make each of kids birthday's their own special day, and in it's own way....this one was definitely memorable. One that I will never forget!

Here are a few pictures, we've been having problems with our camera and the quality is not great. Time for a new one!

Movies and Color Wonder from Aunt Jill Grandma.

We absolutely love Color Wonder at our house,

no-way for him to color the walls!!!

Ethan wanted a bat and glove like his brothers.

He loves to do everything they do.....he was

not too excited that they did not look

exactly like the big boys though!

Just what every little boys wants

for their birthday.

Socks and Underwear!!!

The face is priceless!

What did I say in my previous post

about getting a picture of my kids

NOT doing something obnoxious!

I'll take this though, this makes the

whole icky day worth every second!

We try to tell him it's rude to point,

but it does no good! It's become his

trademark, along with sticking

his tongue out at everyone he

sees.....we actually tell people

it means he likes you!

The cake was yummy, and he was happy!

(No-one is allowed to comment on the fact

that there are matches in the cake.....I could

not find the candles!!!!!)

This was the highlight of his day, because mom
never lets the big boys play basketball in the
kitchen or ride scooters in the house! Did not
have the heart to tell him that it was all
moving outside in the morning!

Jake's Birthday!

Oh my gosh, I have a teenager! Where does the time go??? He is no longer that giggly, mischievous little 3 yr. old that had to be watched every second. (although he is the one that keeps me on my toes and running non-stop!) Jake has got such a funny, quirky personality and I love to just sit and talk to him. That's not to say that he is not developing what I call the "teenage moodiness"! I'm sure it will get worse.....before it gets better.

Since we've been in CT, birthday's are CRAZY!!! Jake and Ethan's fall right at the beginning of baseball season, end of the year projects and field trips and so we are usually throwing something together quick! This year was no exception. For the first time ever, Jake actually made a dinner request....and it was actually something I could do. He asked for kabobs on the grill and he wanted me to make an Oreo cheesecake for his cake!!! (see photo's below, that one did not turn out so well!) We were able to eat a quick dinner as a family, which does not happen very often in this busy house. He even ate my cheesecake, what a good sport!

These pictures definitely need some explaining.


I'm sure this comes as a shock....but my boys LOVE the Red Sox! "Aunt Jill Grandma" (I will explain the grandparent nicknames later....that takes an entire post!) called a couple of months ago and asked me if I thought the boys might like Red Sox Nutcrackers for their birthday's. She seemed so excited about it and I did not have the heart to tell her NO! They love her so much and Jake was a good sport to smile so I could have a picture to send to Grandma. I believe Ethan has tried to crack everthing imaginable (including his fingers) in this thing and he managed to break Cameron's......yes, Cam got one too! (sorry MOM, I could not resist, it was just too funny!)

This would be the Chocolate Oreo Cheesecake that my son asked me to make him. I have never made a cheesecake in my life, I really don't even like Cheesecake...or Chocolate! I looked online for the perfect recipe, bought all the ingredients and followed every single step. I have no idea what went wrong, but we all decided it was the ugliest cake we had ever seen!!! I always tell my kids that the word "QUIT" does not exist in our vocabulary and that it's not allowed in our family. So, I am not quitting.....but "RETIRING" from Cheesecake making!

Another thing that I should "RETIRE" from.....trying to get a picture of all 4 kids......smiling and not doing something obnoxious in front of the camera! (and getting Jarrod to smile would be an added bonus!)
Against my better judgement, we decided to get Jake a ripstick! If you don't know what they are, look them up online. They are scary! It's kind of like a skateboard, but it's all bendy and twisty. I was actually excited that he asked for something that was not a video game!