Ethan turns 9!!!

I know I'm a little behind...as usual, it's now 2 weeks past a birthday and I'm finally getting around to blogging about it! Better late than never, right? I learned that one from my mom (who some of you refer to lovingly as "Never Ever Ready Betty," but you didn't hear that from me!)

So, to celebrate Ethan's 9th birthday, we had a little family party, complete with a homemade chocolate cake and a new skateboard from Dad! It was such a beautiful fall day (a real rarity here), so we ALL went outside to try out the new skateboard (yes, even mom...and I didn't fall off despite Wade's prediction ;).

Ethan had a Wall-E sleep-over party with a few friends a week later, but I haven't downloaded those pictures yet. Baby steps.

Hmmm.What to wish for....?

Jonah is more than happy to demonstrate a few moves to his little brother.

Time to monkey around!

Lorin is our resident Monkey Bar Specialist. She pretty much does this all day.
You should see the callouses she's built up!

Happy Birthday, Lorin!

Our baby girl turned 4!!! Can you believe it? It's amazing how fast they grow. I just wish they would stay little for a while longer. Don't get me wrong, I could do without the temper tantrums and sleepless nights, but she is my baby and she doesn't want me to call her my baby anymore. My heart is breaking.

Her birthday was September 11th! We celebrated as a family on the night of her birthday and let her decorate her own cake! (Truthfully, I couldn't find my decorating bags, and she was very keen on helping out...so it became her own birthday project. Didn't she do a lovely job?) Then a few days later, we invited a few kids from her preschool over for a birthday "playdate" (that's what you call it when you don't invite the entire class, so no ones feelings get hurt.) She was so thrilled to have so many friends over to play! It was great fun! Happy 4th Birthday, baby girl!

The cake is a "Lorin" original. One-of-a kind design. Notice the intricate patterns. Priceless.

The kids are playing "pass the parcel," which is sort of like musical chairs. We play music and when it stops, the person holding the package gets to remove one layer of wrapping paper (I wrapped it seven times). At the end, they find a treasure inside for everyone...this time it was bubbles!