Happy New Year!

Happy New Year
From Judy and her Guys!

Her love lives on...

We went to the memorial service for my sister. It was so reflective of who she was. My brother Darryl snapped this image of the balloon launch. I love it. I thought about taking a snap shot of it, but forgot my phone in the funeral home. I am glad someone got a shot.

My big sis...

Many of you have been following my blog for sometime and know that my older sister was diagnosed with Lung cancer about 4 months ago. This morning, she lost her battle. We are very sad. Her service is on Tuesday in her hometown of Monroe Michigan. She will be greatly missed.
As I tried to sort out my feelings today, I had bouts of anger, frustration, sadness, helplessness, and one itty bitty joyful moment. Wait, did I just write JOYFUL? How can someone who lost a loved one feel a tinge of Joy? Before you place the judgment...let me explain.
I had some errands to run today. I had to pick up the large portrait of my sister and the memorial cards at the photo lab. On the way out, I sat in my car...praying and asking God to give me peace about the situation. I then put out there "Hey God, if you are into giving signs...please give me a sign that Lolly (my sis) is dancing with my mom in Heaven".
Well...
Within 5 minutes, I pulled into a Starbucks to grab me a coffee. As I entered the shop, I listened to what was playing. It was the Sarah McLaughlin song "Angel". For most people, this song does not have a special meaning. For our family...it does, a very big meaning. It is the song that was played at my mothers funeral. Every time we hear the song, we think of her home going to Heaven. We usually cannot get through the song on any given day. So, I am standing in Starbucks crying tears of shock and tears of Joy. A coincidence you may say...I believe it was a confirmation. Not because I tried to make it into something and read into the situation....But because I felt God's love and Peace with me at that very moment...right in Starbucks. God met me there in a very special way.


Things about my sister I will not forget...
*when I was little, she would always give me pieces of her jewelry. I think I have about 50 pieces in a box that I have collected over the years. They have never left the box.
*Her kind heart and compassionate spirit. Always willing to give.
*The love that she passed onto each of her children and her husband.
*The way she would call me "Hun"
*She never complained about anything. She always had a thankful heart.
*I was always introduced to her friends as being "my baby sis". I seriously do not think she ever referred to me as "Judy". Cute.
*and the list goes on....

This picture actually cracks me up a little. I never brought it out until now. We were at the beach together and she said "lets play Photographer Judy". This was about 12 years ago. So I snapped a bunch of mockery pictures making fun of cheesy photographers and their poses She then snapped some pretty good ones of me too. It was totally her idea to do this pose. I remember her laughing really hard after this picture was taken and squeezing her legs together so she wouldn't pee her pants. I actually love the picture now just because of the story behind it.


Well, am heading off to bed. I had some sorting out my thoughts to do before I hit the sack. Please lift our family up in prayer this week. It is going to be a difficult one. You can view her online obituary and leave a thought for the family here.

Christmas.

Christmas Eve festivities... *Went to church in the evening, came home and sprinkled oats oats and glitter on our lawn for the reindeer to see, set up the camera on a tripod to "catch" Santa in action, put cookies and asparagus (didn't have carrots for the reindeer)out for Santa, watched Santa's radar (noradsanta.com), had an eggnog and butterscotch schnapps, went to bed.

Christmas Morning festivities... Woke up at 7:00 to feed Elliott...the kids soon followed. Opened presents, played with presents. Mom got a digital photo frame, Dad got a Mozart CD and gift card to Barnes and Nobles, Andrew got a skate ramp, a lego set, and a mini digital photo key chain. Owen got a 10$ MP3 player, a soccer goal, and a remote control spider. Elliott got a baby toy. We spent the afternoon cooking a meal that was yummy. We then headed over to our friends Kristi and Cal's to spend time with their family. Twas a fun day. Here a little video clip. Most of the really fun videos are on my other digital video camera that I don't know how to get on the computer. Merry Christmas to all of you... I hope your day brought great joy!

2008 Christmas Letter....

Yes, I am breaking all rules in the etiquette book posting this.


From our home to yours…
Greetings from the newly expanded Crawford Family! We have had quite the year with lots of changes and lots of news. In past years, it seems that my opening line usually has something to do with the year passing by fast. This year, it didn’t pass by that fast…I think because I spent 9 LONG months of the year carrying a baby. If you have ever been pregnant, you know what I am talking about when I say 9 LONG months.
Let’s start with the biggest news of our year…the birth of our 3rd son. Yes, another son. I don’t think my husband has the ability to produce a female child. At the end of 2007, we were ready to make a final decision on whether or not we were done having children. There were the days that we thought that 3 would just really complete our family. Then there were the days (usually when the boys were bouncing off the walls) that we were DONE. We were definitely leaning towards being done…until we found out we were expecting in January. SURPRISE! Little Elliott came into the world on September 16th . His online birth announcement can be viewed at the following web address…. www.photodex.com/sharing/viewshow.html?fl=3030764&alb=0
Elliott had a bit of a rough start and was in the Intensive care unit for 11 days. He was born with immature lungs of a 28 week old baby. It was a trying time for our family. The boys were confused, we were scared. However, God is good and did not fail. Elliott is a healthy little guy and is so much fun. He doesn’t have really any good stories to tell at this point. The boys love watching him smile and coo. It is such a neat sight to see Andrew and Owen as little nurturers.
Andrew is a second grader at the same school he has been at since Kindergarten. He is starting to figure out where he fits into this big, big world. It amazes me with the things he comes home with. Just today, we were eating out with friends and he couldn’t finish his fries. He knew ice-cream was talked about earlier in the lunch. He asked me if he could have an ice-cream and I told him that he had to eat more of his fries. He responded with this…”Mom, the real reason why I don’t want to eat my fries is that when you eat fries your blood becomes hard and it can’t move through your body…that is why I don’t want to eat my fries and I just want to eat ice-cream”. Ha…we couldn’t help but laugh…we really wanted to give him the ice-cream just for the sake of knowing about clogging of the arteries.
Andrew enjoys skateboarding and challenging all of the older kids at school at tether ball. He is quite the little player I may add. This year he kept asking us to put a tether ball court in our backyard. Aaron objected to the idea…but all it took was for Aaron to go away for a week . Upon his return home, a tether ball pole was installed in the backyard. The boys love having it in our backyard and Owen has now taken up the sport. Andrew also played soccer again this year. He really enjoyed playing and will most likely play in the spring.
Owen started kindergarten this year. I miss having him home. He was my little coffee shop date on Fridays. Kindergarten has been so good for him. I absolutely love his teacher. He is doing very well and loves to learn. He is at the stage in life that he needs to know how to spell EVERY word that comes out of his mouth. I believe he is going to be one of those kids that becomes a reader overnight. He wants the challenge of learning how to spell difficult words…it is just his nature. Owen also played soccer again this year. He has been on the same team for 3 seasons. It is so much fun to go to his games. I guess I have become one of those moms that will soon put a soccer sticker on the back of her van that says “Soccer mom”. That is not a hint. Please…do not get me one of those stickers.
Owen has a great sense of humor. He is always making Aaron and I laugh. Kids really say the darndest things and when it comes to Owen, he just says it. Owen lost his first tooth this year…yeah, exciting news isn’t it. Well, the other part of the story is that he was super stoked about the tooth fairy. Our tooth fairy isn’t the best at remembering to come and get the tooth. Every morning for about a week (no joke, bad fairy) he would check for his cash…no money. He finally wrote the following in a journal of his. “I wunder whin da tuff fary is gong to come”. In an adult translation…“I wonder when the tooth fairy is going to come”. Yes, the tooth fairy felt really, really bad and made sure to come that night. I think she redeemed herself by leaving 2 dollars instead of 1.
Aaron is still working at the same company based out of Chicago. He traveled some this year, but since the Elliott has been born, the traveling has been minimal. Aaron loves to ski and was able to take a ski trip earlier on in the year. The pictures are just breathtaking. I am not much of a skier for I inherited my mother’s bad knees. It is pure torture for me to get on a pair of skis. So, for him to go on a fun ski trip like this is just so fulfilling to him.
Aaron is such a good dad to his boys. There have been so many nights in the summer that they are outside playing pass with the football until 9:00 at night and I just watch in amazement. I love watching the boys play with him. I am lucky to have such a great husband who loves his kids and enjoys playing with them and making them feel special.
As for me, I am a mom again. My days aren’t too exciting lately. I have adjusted to having another baby and have adjusted to a new routine. I am not always on time for everything, but I have adjusted for the most part. I change diapers, feed a lot of bottles and do a lot of snuggling during my days at home. I thought having an infant and 2 older boys was going to be easy. WRONG! I think it is actually harder than when I just had the 2 smaller ones at home. I am not saying that that was even an easy task…it was just very different. I think the reason is that now, my boys actually have social lives…soccer, school, friends, parties, and so forth. Poor little Elliott is always being waken up from naps to pick the kids up to go here, and go there.
As for my business, I originally thought that I was going to take a break. It is hard to stop your job when you LOVE it. I photographed several families this year but kept it manageable. It was a good year all in all. I have also taken up blogging /online journaling. I have always loved the idea of keeping a journal for myself, but always hated writing. My hands would get so tired. I love typing and online journaling has been a lot of fun for me this year. I originally started journaling to keep my family members up in Michigan updated on our lives and to use it as a way to sort out my thoughts with the help of other‘s thoughts. It has now been a way for many of my old friends to stay connected with me. If you are interested in keeping up with the crazies in our house, you can visit the site and see for yourself how crazy we really are. www.judycrawford.blogspot.com

In wrapping up our letter, we always say….We hope this season brings much Joy for you . If you need a place to stay when you pass through, remember you are welcome at our home. After reading about the crazies on our blog, you may reconsider or… you may want to join in on the fun! Remember the reason why we celebrate Christmas. The birth of Jesus Christ. Keep it close to your heart this Holiday season and remember all of the abundances he gives. May this upcoming year be a year that you draw closer to the ones you love.
Oh, Happy Everything!!!





Love,
Aaron, Judy, Andrew, Owen and Elliott

Some misc...

A few things from this past week... A recap of the Zoo...
Parties at school...

The nativity...Crawford style.

So, it is really hard to buy for parents. This year, the Crawford family had just enough small grand kids to create a nativity scene. We are missing our dear cousins from New York...but they are older and teenagers. They would most likely think this would be silly for them to do. Here is the picture. I photographed each child separately (except for Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus). I then put them all onto a canvas that made them look like they were all well behaved children posing for the camera.
It was fun. It took me a total of 16 hours to complete. I have never done this before so the time also includes reading up and trying out the method.
Grandma and Grandpa loved the gift. We had it framed in a 20 x 24 frame for above the fireplace.

more holiday stuff..

So, I just spent like 45 minutes writing a post and I am not sure where it went.

In a much shorter version of our day...
~Had school.
~No snow storm.
~The boys had fun at their parties.
~We went to the zoo to see the lights. They were beautiful, much cooler than past years.
~Saw Santa and got a crappy picture because as soon as you would take a picture, their huge unnecessary lighting equipment would go off which in turn made a crappy picture come out on your camera. Ugh. I honestly think this was done on purpose. Anything to get you to buy their picture.
~Went for pizza afterward and Owen and Aaron attempted to recite the reindeer's names.


In the post that took me 45 minutes to write, I had all sorts of fun videos and pictures. I am too mad now to post them. Mad at the button that erased everything and mad at that stupid Santa visiting station they called the North Pole. Sorry, we are big on pictures with Santa in this house. If we go to the mall to get a "RETAKE", you are forbidden to use your camera. ugh. I should sit and protest.
This is the way the picture turned out without photoshop.
These are the crappy,pukey colored photoshopped versions of the pictures. They look like they were taken back in the day of Beaver Cleaver. Bah Humbug.


I did have a ton of fun with my family and the Slifer family though. If I have the energy, I will post everything that I had in the "LOST" episode that took me 45 minutes to write.

Busy bees and lots to blog

So, we have been pretty busy over here lately. I finished my annual Christmas letter and it will be put in the mail tomorrow. I absolutely hate doing labels on the computer. They never turn out the first time around. Does anybody else have that problem? They never never never line up right. ugh. I have to say, I am a bit late on the letters this year, but I am getting use to the fact of being late for everything these days. I did the late thing this year...and most likely, I will follow pattern for the next 20 years. It turns out that it isn't so bad to be late.

Andrew and Owen had a school Christmas concert today. It was so stinkin crowded in the school. I am thinking I am going to give Extreme Makeover a call and see what they can do. It is a fabulous school with so many neat aspects about it...one being that is an inclusion school with children with handicaps. Anyway, we went to the school concert and it was cute. Crowded, but cute. Owen has this suit that he has worn for the past 2 years. It barely fits him anymore. He dug it out of the depths of the closet and put it on this morning. He had a cute little basketball tie and everything. One thing that we didn't have was a pair of dress shoes. We do not attend a church that requires dress shoes...so why own them? He ended up wearing his sneakers. It was such an Owen look. Here is a short clip of the concert. Take note of the cool decorations hanging from the ceiling...I did that, thank you very much. Just kidding on the Pride factor, but I did do them. Target is nice enough to donate their old decorations and I snag them up for the school holiday shop and concert.


We are supposed to get some bad weather tonight. The kids were pretty devastated. The School Christmas party and Santa's annual visit to the students is supposed to be tomorrow. Santa (the PTA and Rotary club buy a present for every child in the school) is supposed to come and make a visit to the students. Andrew actually started to cry tonight because he heard of the bad weather. I made it to the store tonight and bought some cookie ingredients...just in case we are stranded. Ahhh...cookie ingredients. I wasn't going to make cookies this year. Why? My family does not eat them. I like to make some Polish cookies (from my background) and nobody will try them. So, what happens? I EAT THEM ALL! No, seriously, I bought the basic chocolate chip and sugar cookie ingredients this time around. The extra money I usually spend on the Polish cookie ingredients went for stamps for my Christmas letter this year. 42 cents! Are they kidding me?

Owen lost another tooth tonight. We're in an *almost* recession here guys...that means the tooth fairy is hurting too! Owen is pretty stoked about this tooth falling out because it leaves a perfect spot for his thumb to fit into.

Elliott is great. He is 3 months old now. How time flies.


Andrew is such a good big brother. Owen loves Elliott, but Andrew actually pays attention to him and likes to interact with him. He and Elliott have this thing going...just check out the video and you will see. Elliott LOVES when Andrew does this.


That is all. ALL? I wrote a book here. Just my little outlet to wrap up the evening I guess.

Is it corny....

To post your Christmas letter on a blog AFTER you have sent it out? Just wondering. There are so many people I would love to send out to and new people I have been reconnected with BUT I just dont have enough to go around. What are your thoughts?

Really...

our tooth fairy is a big loser. She better remember to come tonight. It is the
14th, and still no money. It has been over a week since the tooth fell out.

Owen even made a journal about it yesterday using his phonic abilities as a kindergartner.

"I wundr whin the tuf fary is gowing to come".

In Adult translation "I Wonder when the tooth fairy is going to come"

Bad bad fairy.

Owen Loses a tooth.

Teeth are falling like apples do from a tree in this house.

The tooth fairy hasn't come yet (it has been 3 days), because the tooth fairy keeps forgetting. Stupid Fairy. I am curious of what my readers tell their kids about the tooth fairy. Please share your story.

Our tooth fairy story goes a little something like this...
*she is very little and you can't hear her...you can barely see her.
*she is a "she"
*she lives in a castle made of teeth
*Sparkly teeth go on the castle, rotten teeth go in her driveway as rocks
*It is against the tooth fairy's policy to give more than a dollar.
*there is a tooth fairy for every family. There are multiple fairy's and the Crawford fairy does not go to anybody elses house but OURS!!

Our fairy leaves fairy dust (extra fine glitter) on the dresser when she takes the tooth.

attempt at a family picture.

here is our first attempt...
I dont think It went so well...what do you think?
We actually got a pretty good one prior to this shot. I am waiting till Christmas to put it out there.

Crawford Picture...

Here is the picture of the entire Crawford family at Thanksgiving. My brother in law sent it to me tonight. I am totally amazed that our faces are normal for the most part and that someone isn't picking their nose.

Do not Fear Heidi...it's only Aaron.

Silly title for a post, but funny to my friend Heidi who is a little afraid of the big man in the red suit.
I found this picture while I was working endlessly on photos tonight. Seriously, I think i spent 8 hours at this computer today. I am fried. I am taking the day off tomorrow. Anyway, we were going to do something for our Christmas card this year that was a little outside the box. I decided against it, but thought it would be fun to embarrass my loving husband by posting his picture for the world to see. What a sport. Gotta love it! (even if you think Santa is a bit creepy.)

At the end of our little photo shoot with Santa, the boys wanted to be silly and sit on his lap.

Elliott is 2 1/2 months

I love him.

Bye Tree...

Our neighbors have had problems with their big old tree in their front yard this year. During the wind storm, most of the tree was on the ground. It has been a nuisance for them especially in the fall. This is what we have been watching (ring side seating) for the past couple of days. The boys were hoping that the big "timber" part of the process would happen when they were home from school....it didn't, so I taped it for them. As the tree fell to the ground, the ground shook. How masive! Here is the video...

Is it really worth it?

Aaron brought this to my attention. I am so glad that I only bought a gallon of milk on Friday...only because we HAD to. These stories just make me sick.

Thanksgiving 2008

Happy Thanksgiving from our home to yours


Went to our In laws for Breakfast. Monkey bread, stuffed french toast, sausage casserole and Amish oatmeal were the foods of choice. Great Grandma and Grandpa McCullough were there too. Twas Divine. (picture coming from My brother in law soon)

I made these Pilgrim hats for the kids. They are marshmallows dipped in chocolate and placed on top of a cookie. They were not so fun to make, but they sure were cute.


We headed off to a friend's house for dinner. MMMMMM....good. Great friends and a great time. Everything you can think of was on the menu. My dear friend Michelle makes everything from scratch. She is one of "those" people that when you ask for the recipe, she gives you a recipe that doesn't taste like the one she prepared. (I know she reads this blog...this has been an ongoing joke for years). I was in charge of sweet potatoes. I made the kind my mom made every year...and they turned out! Usually, they don't. Here are the sweet potatoes bubbling in the pan. You can almost smell them through the computer huh?

My mom use to jokingly say that if we got the sauce on our hands, it felt like hot melt glue. You know what I am talking about if you have ever had Hot melt glue from a glue gun on your fingers. Seriously, this sugar sauce gets so hot, she wasn't lying. Anyway, the dinner was Double the Divine. We had a fabulous time with them and their friends. Thanks Michelle and Duane!

Here are some pics from the rest of the day...
Our Thankful tree ended today. Everyday, the boys would get up and write what they were thankful for on a leaf. We forgot some mornings. I got the idea from my sister in law Jen. Thanks Jen!


Elliott's cute outfit and turkey smile...


The Yoders...

What our family would look like if we were pilgrims and Indians. This totally was going to be our family picture until Michelle snapped one for us. The first attempt to snap a family picture was in the Morning at my In Laws. Owen wasn't so cooperative and we didn't even get one shot.

The grub.

The gang minus me...again.

The kids...

common picture in our house lately...

What the picture doesn't show is the loud humming noise the vacuum cleaner is making. Elliott loves "white noise". This is the only way I can get things done around here.

Thanksgiving dinner ideas.

A traditional Thanksgiving dinner would look something like this...
Turkey
Gravy
Stuffing
Cranberry Sauce
Sweet Potatoes and/or
Mashed Potatoes
Pumpkin pie
bread/rolls
Green bean casserole

Our Thanksgiving dinner looks like this...
Aaron's dinner includes:
Bread, Turkey, Mashed potatoes

Owen and Andrew's dinner includes:
Turkey only.

Judy's dinner:
Everything on the above list, plus a big dollup of Whipped cream on that pumpkin pie.

Thanksgiving isnt so fun when you have a household of picky eaters. Actually, everyday dinners arent so fun either. I watch these Thanksgiving cooking shows and dream that someday, my family's taste buds will be come more refined and that I will be able to make these dishes. Aaron has ventured into sweet potatoes, but the way mom made them, it takes so long and just isnt worth the trouble for only him and I to eat.

This year, we are going to a friends house for Thanksgiving. It should be fun and I am looking forward to feasting on the many things that I usually don't get to have. I am bringing my mom's recipe for Sweet potatoes because there are going to be more people there to spend the time on this dish.

I think I am going to start a tradition of Pizza on Thanksgiving. (not serious, but tempted). If we had Pizza, my family would actually enjoy a meal together.
Here are some pics of our first Thanksgiving as a family. May I add, most things I made that year went unsampled and not eaten. Not a happy mommy afterward. I am not trying to preach off my soap box or anything, but I am a pretty decent cook. If they only knew how much worse it could be. My kids usually dont give things a chance. Wouldn't it be funny to see a huge pizza box on top of a nicely decorated table as this is?

Just cant avoid it any longer.

About 2 weeks before Halloween, I was walking through Target and noticed that they were starting to display Christmas things. Are you kidding me? Even Owen got a little flustered and put his hands on his head and said "People, it's not Christmas yet." Seriously, the hype of the season comes a little earlier every year. By the time the holiday season actually comes along, I am tired of it and all of the Christmas ads and the way I feel sucked into buying, buying, buying.
Well, this week, it started to snow and Starbucks has their Christmas cups out. It feels like we are approaching a holiday season. So, I guess it means that I can no longer avoid holiday...especially since Starbucks says it's time.

Owen and Andrew have always wanted to make a Christmas list. I honestly am not a big Christmas list person. Christmas isn't about the things that "I" want, but in our family, we try (I say try) to help the kids understand that it is about giving to others and not thinking about ourselves. WELL, we went to Target today just to look around. I got a nice peppermint white chocolate mocha from Starbucks (in the Holiday cup) and we looked at things. Originally, we went to search for ideas for the Crawford gift exchange because I like to be prepared. We ended up in the toy isle somehow. The boys were careful not to say "I want this, I want that". Not because they didn't want it, but because they knew that if I started to hear that from their mouths, we would leave the store like I have done countless times before. I have to say, the trip was pleasant. It was nice to get ideas by what the boys were getting excited about.

When we got home, Owen made a list. Here it is. I didn't have the heart to tell him that I don't like lists because he was working so hard at his letters and sounding out the words.


Anyway, here is a YouTube video I found on another blog. I hope we can live by this principle this holiday season. Rather than spending so much on silly gifts, I would rather spend my time blessing others.

oh, I just can't stop...

taking pictures.

I have an addiction...

Someone needs to take me to a baby rehab center. I wasn't so addicted when he cried for 6 hours straight the other evening.

does anybody....

Have a simple cure/treatment for cold sores? My poor Andrew. He woke up with another one this morning. He just got rid of the huge one that he had (just look at his birthday picture below). I use to get these bad boys when I was little, but the only treatment then was a little Ambisol and chap stick. It was a family joke (and still is) that saying "cold sore, cold sore, cold sore" while waving your fingers in front of their faces would give them one. The weird thing is, someone would always get one. (A BIG SORRY to my family members for reading this post. You all will wake up with a big old cold sore tomorrow). Seriously, they will.

I just noticed that there is only 1 picture of the below pictures that he does not have a cold sore. Seriously, does anybody have any suggestions?

I have googles treatments, but I am looking for a tried and true solution. I am not willing to try cat feces or anything like that.

Dear Andrew...

Dear Andrew,
I remember the day you were born like it was yesterday. I couldn't wait for your arrival. I remember the nights that I would pray for a safe delivery, a healthy baby and for a son that seeped compassion. You were born on Election day...the year of the "questionable chads". Grandma Crawford thought your name should have been Chad. We obviously knew your name should be Andrew...after Jesus's disciple Andrew. He was a great man. Mom and dad watched the election unfold in our room. We were tired of hearing on EVERY station about the drama. It didn't seem to bother you though. You were such a mild mannered little baby while in the hospital. You didn't cry, you didn't fuss. You just slept.... THEN YOU CAME HOME! You cried, you fussed and you didn't sleep. Your daddy and I had all of these child care books out on the nursery floor trying to figure out what was wrong with you. We took you to the Pediatrician the next day to find out that you just wanted more to eat. Nothing wrong, you just wanted more grub. As you got older, you became more and more fun to hang out with. I loved going through your many stages. It was always fun to see what you were going to be obsessed with next. You loved Elmo, Thomas the tank, and Buzz Light year (to the point you really thought you could fly to infinity and beyond). Now your days consist of trying for hours to complete an olley on your skateboard, playing and assembling your Lego's without wanting help and playing with your Pokemon cards. I love watching you grow up. You are learning things on your own and learning how to become a great young man. I am proud of you Andrew. I am proud that you think of others feelings and how to be a servant to them. You are becoming the young man that I have prayed that you would become. You are special to me and to our family. Love, Mom.

Andrew gets a trophy for perfect attendance
Below...Andrew as some super hero he made up... Andrew as some other character... For Andrew's 7th birthday party, he wanted kids to bring animal shelter items instead of Birthday presents. That following Monday, we delivered the items to the animal shelter.


Andrew had his 8th birthday party on Friday.

I haven't posted, because I was up in Michigan this weekend to see my sister and dad. Anyway, the party was simple and sweet. Andrew had a big celebration at the bowling alley last year, so this year he got the scaled down version of a party. Of course, we had such a difficult time with trying to pick who to invite. I felt bad because there are other boys in his class that he is pretty close to. We just couldn't do all of the kids he wanted to invite. At school, he had a little party where he brought cupcakes that were baked into ice cream cones. THE KIDS THOUGHT THESE WERE GREAT. My mom use to make these for me at my school parties. Hers were much more decorated than mine. She use to put a sour cherry candy on top....I couldn't find them. After the school party, the 3 boys he invited came home to play Lego's and to learn Pokemon. I guess that is the "IN" thing to do. It was really funny watching the one boy Isaac teach all of the other boys how to play. I am not kidding you when I say he explained it once like a 2 minute lecture) and all of the boys picked up on it. We had cake and Ice cream and pizza. We played a few games of Freeze dance (look at the video below...hilarious) and then the boys headed to the movies to watch the opening night of Madagascar. Mommy stayed home with Elliott. I missed all of the smelly boy fun.