A 6 year old...

Today our little man turns 6!

With school and Daddy working nights we celebrated his birthday all weekend long. So far we have done the following:

Friday- Ate pizza at Barro's and saw Gnomeo & Juliet at the drive-ins
Saturday- Shopped at AZ Mills, visited G&G Hunt, ate lunch at Oreganos (pizookie!)
Sunday- Church, party at G&G Karafa's

He gets to take cupcakes to school for all his friends tomorrow!

Of course Jordan wanted all things Mario, Wii and DS related. He made out like a bandit.

An interview with our 6 year old boy:
Favorite color: YELLOW
Favorite movie: ALPHA & OMEGA
Favorite TV show: PHINEAS & FERB
Favorite food: SPAGHETTI
Best present: SUPER SMASH BROS
What he wants to be when he grows up: A PHOTOGRAPHER

Happy birthday JoJo!

Happy Happy Birthday Dillon Dear...

Yesterday (the 21st ) was the birthday of my little sweetie Dillon James. I cannot believe my baby is already 4 years old. Time goes by way too fast.

A Birthday SourPuss

We celebrated first by going to Amazing Jakes's on Saturday with G&G Hunt.Well and Ben & Courtney & Noah too (of course)The boys had an AMAZING TIME! The loved the pizza and pasta buffet and all the games. 

We most enjoyed the bowling, air hockey and laser tag. Dillon like laser tag because he got to shoot little girls. Such a Romeo that one. He has been asking for a Pillow Pet every time the commercial comes on or we go to Wal-Mart and big brother came through. I treasure these brief moments of brotherly love.

They have a ride that is called the Froggy Hopper. The kids are strapped in while the ride goes up and drops them down slowly and repeats. Blair and I had the best laugh watching Dillon's face when the ride dropped. He smiled all the way up then cringed the whole way down. When he got off the ride he was laughing and kept saying "I peed my pants, I peed my pants"! I took him to the bathroom (dry) and figured that the sensation of his stomach dropping must have made the poor thing think he was peeing!


We celebrated with the Karafa family on the actual birthday. Dillon requested a store bought cake. After the "Elmo Fiasco of 2007" who could blame the kid. He also wanted chicken noodle potato soup and rolls. It was delicious. The boys and I spent our afternoon at Dollar Tree gathering supplies for hand made birthday hats. Since we celebrate Grandpa, Dillon & Daddy's birthdays all at once we wanted it  to be festive.

He looks so much like a "Mini Barry" (my Dad) here...

Fun Facts about a Four year old DILLON:

• His favorite color is orange
• His favorite thing to eat is hangabers (hamburgers)
• His favorite movie is Toy Story
• He is 33 pounds... lightweight
• His favorite toy is stuffed animals (beanies to be exact)
• He loves going to a party

Happy Birthday Pickles!!

Jordan turns 5...

We've just returned from celebrating Jordan's 5th birthday at Disneyland. My poor kids are in for a surprise next year when the find out that you don't always get to celebrate there!

We had a magnificent time. The weather was great. The lines were short. The company was fun. And the birthday boy was as handsome as ever.

We were mean parents and told him he would have to wait until we arrived home for presents & cake but Jordan took it in stride. Especially after Mom told him that he could be in charge for the day. He got to pick our meals, snacks, which rides to rise etc... and was happy as a clam.

Up first was french toast sticks. And we ate them picnic style next to a wishing fountain.

Jordan wished that we could stay for 4 days. We stayed 3. Guess that will teach him to tell his wishes!

Our first ride of the day was Peter Pan. Jordan got to ride with his Daddy. They are best riding partners.

We rode all the fun Fantasyland rides. Nothing like imagination in the morning!

We had pizza for lunch (birthday boy's choice) and even had a little birthday surprise.

The birthday boy kindly shared with his brother:

He sure is a sweetheart like that. "Jordan in Charge" chose to spend the rest of the day in California Park. He "tricked" his Grandpa into riding Grizzly Rapids telling him that he wouldn't get wet. Blair told me afterwards that he laughed hysterically and shouted "I Lied to You!" after the first splashes. Silly JoJo!

Next we braved the rope bridges of Brother Bear. I recently bought the movie for the boys and this was the first time they have been interested in doing it. Jordan took a swing and fell right on his bottom. He sat up and laughed. That's our boy!

Jordan joined in on a little impromptu jamboree. He got a funky hat and everything. Yee Haw!

Toy Story Mania called my little buddy's name and off we went for our 45 minute wait. The ride is so fun that we don't mind the long line. It really doesn't get much shorter anyway, and allows for precious moments like these.

We ended our fun day on a great note... Sorcecer Mickey (as the birthday boy calls him!)

Then it was off for Happy Birthday Happy Meals and a nice long snooze at the hotel. Jordan has deemed this "The Best Birthday Ever". Just like he has the last 4.

He is such an incredible little boy. Blair and I love him so much and he blesses our lives everyday. You could not ask for a better son or brother. We love you Jordan!

My Nemesis...

One year ago a little brown eyed boy was born. His name is Brigham... Brigs to his Auntie.

This little chunk of a boy is now lovingly referred to as "My Nemesis". He hates me. If I come into a room  he immediately looks for a safe haven and a quick exit. He doesn't know that I am headed to his house next week for a visit. It's his birthday after all so I think I will keep it secret.

Thanks to my new zoom lens I was able to get a few shots of him that were from an acceptable distance. I am counting this next one as a smile. It's as close as I am gonna get (especially after next week).

Happy Birthday Brigs! I love you, even if you can't stand me. Love your Auntie M!

Twas the day before Christmas...

Otherwise known as the Merry Birthday of my darling hubs. Today we are celebrating his 31st birthday. He hates being featured on the blog but has to endure a post on his birthday at least!

I'll have to keep it quick so I don't get in too much trouble later... So Merry Birthday to my wonderful husband. Thanks for being such a great dad to our kids and a loving and respectful husband. We love you so much!

On the 21st day of Christmas...

The 21st Day of Christmas is an especially wonderful day around here. It's the day our little Dill Pickles joined our family 3 years ago.

Disneyland is a pretty great place to spend your birthday. I think Dillon agreed.  Being there with his best buddy made it even better!

We did our early morning Fantasyland day to make sure Dilly got on his favorite rides. He flew Mommy in a blue Dumbo and spun me and Jordy around in a yellow teacup.

Jordan is our little Mickey man and Dillon is all about Toy Story. It's Woody Buzz all day long with him. So of course we braved the 45-60 minute wait for Toy Story Mania!

What a wonderful birthday surprise for our little guy...Woody was out to meet and greet! Just look at his little face. He was in 3 year old boy heaven!

The evening was spent with me and the Karafa boys after the others were back at the hotel tending to my sick nephew. We went with Grandpa to see The Princess and the Frog (again...still love it) and we rode the Monorail back into Disneyland to watch the Billy Hill & The Hillbilly's show while we enjoyed ice cream sundaes. Next we were off to A Small World to check out the lights (beautiful) and to ride the train back to Main Street.

Dillon is such a fun & wonderful boy. He lives life to the absolute fullest and always wants us to share in his joy. His moods are very reminiscent of his Mommy's...good and bad. That's probably why he is such a Momma's boy. We just love our little Dilly.

Her special day...

We pulled off the biggest surprise of the year this past Sunday. All my Mom's children were able to come together and surprise her for her birthday. I cant believe we were all able to keep it a secret. Not to mention hide 8 children and 6 adults in her living room and keep everyone quiet long enough for a proper

"SURPRISE"

The birthday girl requested her picture removed.

All the grandkids were glad to wear party hats and thourougly enjoyed the cupcakes brought all the way from Snowflake. Gill even made a homemade German chocolate cake for the adults.

 I didnt get a picture but she had equal amounts of cake and delicious coconut pecan frosting. And it was delicious!

The  gathering of all the family sure made Mom happy, but I think Grandpa was just as glad to see everyone.

We were able to see my brother Ben and his cute girlfriend Courtney. Wedding bells may be ringing in the future for these two so it was nice to get to know her better.

As usual Dillon wants to go back to Grandma Hunt's (and play with baby Buzz & Woody). He tells me everyday.

To the birthday girl-

Thanks for being my mom. I know it hasn't always been an easy job (hopefully it has been worth it). Thank you for teaching me to be a strong woman.Thanks for teaching me that I can do just about anything, and that I won't know unless I try.

I hope you were really surprised, and that you forgive me ignoring you in my attempt to keep it a secret.

I love you!

Mindy