A Birthday Party for Nate, er I mean David

It's gotta suck having your birthday near Christmas.

We hope that David doesn't realize this for a long time!

On Dec 21st, we stop all things Christmas, and take the day to celebrate our Davey.

The gift theme this year was definitely Legos.

Which is perfect since he does little else all day long.

He spent the day creating Star Wars battle scenes.

He also got a punching bag which he quickly put to good use:

And then on to his party...

Each year we have his party right on his actual birthday.

We pick some venue- this year's was BOUNCE- and we pretty much have the place to ourselves.
Apparently, everyone else in town is a bit busy with Christmas stuff.

A good time was had by all....

...but mostly Nate.

Would you like me to hold your tie?

But really, it was David's big day so let's end with some more cute pictures of him...

Is that a mistletoe cake? Why yes, yes it is. (Hey, David picked it out.)

CanNOT believe it's been six years!

Love you baby boy.

Happy Birthday Sweet Davey

"I dreamed of how you would look, smell, even what you would sound like. And every day I thought of how wonderful it would be to hold you in my arms."

"I started seeing you everywhere, in the leaves of the giant oak and in the bark of the pine, Even in the stars! Oh, how I longed for the day that you would arrive, when God would find us you."

"And then I came?"

"Oh, no. No matter how much I prayed it would happen, I still had to wait."

"You waited and waited and waited?"

"And waited. But I knew that someday you'd arrive, when God
would find us you."

Dear David,

Today you are six.

When you were 2 days old, we brought you home.

I held you in my arms and whispered in your ear that I would never let you be the forgotten middle child.

Little did I know that you'd have a personality so big, the entire world couldn't contain it.

You are hardly one to be forgotten.

I love you to the moon and back,

Mom

David's "cool yet sophisticated" look. He currently has exactly 4 shirts that he will agree to wear.

"That is my favorite story of all. When God found us you, it made me the happiest mother in the world."

"Just by comin home?" Little Fox asked with a yawn.

"Especially by coming home," Mama said.

(Excerpts taken from "God Found Us You" by Lisa Tawn Bergren)

A Room with a View

Last night for FHE we went doorbell ditching.

Yes, we left goodies and love notes.

But mostly, we just wanted an excuse to ding-dong-dash.

Because that's good fun. Yes siree.

The kiddos love it.

They pretend they are sneaky spies.

Have I mentioned that we currently live in a 3rd story, 1100 sq ft, unfurnished apartment?

It's awesome.

I could go on and on (and on and on) about the woes of such living arrangements for a family of 6 plus a 65-lb dog.

But instead let's focus on the positive:

• It takes us a total of 1 hr and 15 min to clean this place from top to bottom


• There is a swimming pool & hot tub across the street.


• The apartment below us is rented, but no one currently lives there...(a huge blessing considering the amount of noise we generate each day. Think 4 screaming kids and 1 dog running up and down the hallway all day long.)


• We have this view:

Summer

Downtown through the trees

3 stories up

Autumn



Winter




This morning

Pretty pretty right? It's hard to imagine that we have lived here long enough to see 3 seasons worth of views.

Here's to hoping that we will be in our newly-remodeled home by the time the 4th season comes along!

P.S.

Check out Tess' art. She's really getting good!

Someday I plan to have only original artwork by Tess Meeker hanging in my home.

Anyone want to place an advance order?