Choo Choo, Miles is 2

We celebrated Miles 2nd birthday over the weekend.  It was so wonderful to have Grandma Cindi over for the weekend.  Miles loved opening presents, his "choo choo" cake, and being with family.  

 She has their full attention.

 Barrels (root beer) on the train.

 Logs.

Sweet cargo.

Engine.

 The Birthday Boy!

 Cute hat from Grandpa Tim & Grandma Karen.

Bike helmet from Papa, Mimi, & GG.

Miles Timothy you are 2!  You are not terrible, but you are busy, busy, busy.  When I was making your birthday cake I got a phone call. I stepped away for a moment (literally, less than one minute) and you had reached your hand up and grabbed an entire handful of cake.  Your train had four cars instead of five.  You have so much energy and love to follow your brothers around.  You yell "boys, boys"  when you are outside and they are hiding from you.  You can ride your bike so so so fast (we are thankful for your new helmet).  You always say "pray" when we sit down for a meal or climb into bed at night.  You love to sing the Itsy Bitsy Spider and do the little hand motions.  You love music and sing along to songs even when you don't know the words.  Your favorite books are Busy Town, The Truck Book, Little People Around Town, Lego Star Wars (although I think you just like it because your big brothers do).  You could sit for an hour and listen to stories read aloud or flip through pictures books.  You love pancakes, apples, goldfish crackers, carrots, noodles, and caesar salad.  You dislike grilled cheese sandwiches.  Nearly every Sunday, you fall asleep during the worship music at church and sleep in our arms for the whole church service.  Even though our arms get tired and you are like a big heating pad, we treasure this time with you.  You are happiest when you are playing outside, going somewhere in the car (even to pick Maddeck up from school), and wrestling with Maddeck and Evan.  We are so excited to see what God has planned for your future.  We are so blessed to be your parent and we love you Miles.  Happy 2nd Birthday!!      

Birthday in the mailbox!

Thank you to all our family for blessing Maddeck with a wonderful 6th birthday.  He has even more Legos to keep him busy and he couldn't be more pleased.  Elisa and Nathan, thank you for the package you sent in the mail.  He loved opening it and building the Lego set.  Keri and Adam, thank you for the Target card ... he bought a Star Wars Lego set, a 400 page Batman coloring book, a Green Lantern action figure, and a few things from the dollar section for his brothers and himself.  Sarah and Pete, thank you for the magazine subscription!  He will be so excited to have something to look forward to in the mail every month.  His $$ went straight into his piggy bank for a rainy day.  We love you all!!

Cute card Auntie E made for Maddo.  

Picture Free Weekend

We went to Seattle for the weekend and I forgot my camera.  Big bummer!  Here is the picture-less recap:

We went to Tacoma to the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium on Saturday with Kyle's Dad.  The boys were so excited to see their Grandpa Tim.  The day was beautiful but chilly and windy.  We didn't bring a stroller and Miles LOVED the freedom to run and follow his brothers around.  We all had a wonderful time and enjoyed seeing all of God's creatures up close.  Highlights for the boys were the tigers, gibbons, meerkats, walruses, and sharks.  Miles says his favorite part was "zoooooo".  We went to great Grandma Strong's house for dinner with Jes, Steve, and Riley and then to Tacoma Community College to watch Tim play in a piano orchestra.  The piano orchestra was five grand pianos on one stage with pianists playing all together.  It was really enjoyable and a privilege to enjoy seeing Tim in concert.  At the end of the show all 10 of the pianists played together (2 per piano).  It was awesome!  The boys enjoyed it and did so well sitting still throughout the concert.

We spent the night with the Heads in Issaquah and enjoyed our morning with them.  We didn't make it to church but did the live stream from our old church, Crossroads Bible Church.  The boys had fun playing with Ella and Romy and we sang Happy Birthday to Maddeck in the morning (he was born at 9:26 AM).  Our next stop was to Kyle's Mom's house.  She made her famous design-your-own ice cream cake.  Maddeck chose a strawberry ice cream cake with oreos.  It was in the shape of a heart and G'ma put M&Ms and chocolate sauce all over the top.  This may be his request for the rest of his life!  The boys loved it.  We sang and opened gifts and loved on Maddeck for his birthday.  Kyle and the boys stayed the night and I left for downtown Seattle for a bachelorette party.  Jesica was able to reserve the Governor's Suite on the top floor of the Westin for the party.  We went to dinner at Tutta Bella, dessert at the Melting Pot, and then back to the room for the party.  We played games, opened gifts, and had a little dance party.  The room was amazing!!  Laurie and I stayed the night in the room after the party.  We grabbed some Top Pot doughnuts in the morning and then headed home.

We had a great weekend, except for the fact that we don't have any pictures to remember it.  Thank you everyone for the gifts you gave to Maddeck and your generosity and thoughtfulness.

Birthday at TRA

 The class was celebrating Dr. Seuss's birthday today along with Maddeck and his classmate, Grace.

Maddeck with Mrs. Patterson.

The class sang to Grace and Maddeck before they ate their rice crispy treats and cake pops.

Robin Hood 6th Birthday

I took a bunch of pictures at Maddeck's Robin Hood party so prepare for a long post.  We will be in Seattle for his birthday this year so we celebrated with his friends a week early.  Maddeck picked the theme of the party, the lunch menu, and what type of cake he wanted.  His plans became a reality and we pulled off a really special day.  Thank you to my awesome Mom for making merry men costumes for all the kids and special birthday boy hooded one for Maddeck.  Mom, you are amazing, talented, creative, serving, and patient.  You bless me.

Now, on to all the pictures...

 All the boys had name tags with their Robin Hood names.

 Sir Caedmon of Aplets, Sir Macadam of Benton, Sir Owen of Titus.

 Robin Hood and his merry men.

 The boys and the castle cake.

 I had so much fun making a castle cake for Maddeck.  He LOVED it.

Maddeck's lunch menu ... pulled pork sandwiches, coleslaw, bbq chips, and grapes.  

I can't believe our Maddeck is six years old.  Sniff, sniff.