On this day, six years ago . . .

On this day, six years ago, Chris and I were holding our very first child.  I remember those first moments of wondering how in the world we were really going to take care of this little blessing.  Today, that little blessing turned six years old. 

I don't know why I couldn't get this kid to take a serious picture just once today! :)  He said, "This is my six year old picture, mom!"  So, here you have it: Haydn at 6 years old!

To celebrate his birthday, Haydn got to choose today's menu.  He picked waffles for breakfast, taco salad for lunch, homemade pizza for dinner, and icecream brownie sundaes instead of a birthday cake.  Of course, we still had to have candles and sing "Happy Birthday!"

Six candles on melting ice cream . . . make a wish fast! :)

No birthday would be right without a couple gifts!  Between some close friends and family, Haydn came away with a Hot Wheels color changing track, a Corvette Transformer, a Toy Story wrist watch, K'Nex, Scooby Doo game, and some card games!  It was pretty cute hearing him list each one of those items in his thank you's to God tonight!

It was so hard for Rylee not to "help" Haydn open his gifts!

With three kids and lots of nieces and nephews, we decided once the kids turned five that we wouldn't do big parties anymore.  So, Haydn got to choose two friends to do something cool with him for his birthday.  This Saturday, he is taking two friends to the Monster Truck Jam!  Haydn is super excited! 

I can't help be reminded of a popular country song whose lyrics say, "You're gonna miss this.  You're gonna want this back.  You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast."  So, as we bow our heads in thankfulness tonight, I pray for these days not to go by so fast!

Velma and Daphne

Halloween weekend, Chris and a couple buddies went to Cedar Point for Hallo Weekends.  That left my best bud, Julie, without a date for her work Halloween party.  So, she and I scoured our brains for hours trying to come up with a perfect costume theme for us so I could essentially be her date.  Here's what we came up with:

So, hopefully you've figured out we were Velma and Daphne from Scooby Doo!  It was so much fun to dress up and play the part!  I actually felt like a movie star that day as Julie was in charge of putting together my hair and makeup!

One of the funniest things about this whole costume adventure was when we walked into Walmart on our way home from the party.  You could hear people saying things like "Scooby Dooby Doo" and "Where's Shaggy?"  The checkout lady was very surprised that Daphne had gone anywhere without Freddie!  It was all quite funny!

And, yes, that is my hair!  I have had so many people ask me if that is really my hair!  It's amazing how light my hair is with no products in it to help keep all the curls from frizzing!  Though I really like the idea of being able to have straight hair if I wanted it, it took poor Julie two hours to straighten my hair that day (not to mention the extra time to style it)!  There's no way I have an extra two hours to get that look on a given day!

Two Knights and a Princess

 Two knights and a princess . . . sounds a bit like a fairy tale, huh?  Actually, it was the kids' Halloween costumes this year.  Grandma was extremely creative - what started out as a Cinderella dress for Rylee turned into an amazing dress along with two incredible knight outfits for the boys.  

This first picture is actually my favorite.  The boys were in full knight mode as they acted as if they were protecting the princess.  Rylee doesn't look at all like she is enjoying the knightly protection, huh? :)





May we introduce Sir Haydn!  This is his sword-handling stance with his most serious warrior face!

There is a cute story behind this costume.  When Haydn asked if he could be a knight, we thought it would be perfect for McKay to wear the dragon costume we already had in the basement.  When I asked McKay if he'd like to be a dragon, he cried and said, "But Mom, the knight kills the dragon!"  So, hence, McKay became Sir McKay.  What a cute little knight he was!

You must notice Rylee's glovelets and the sparkly shoes - no princess dress is complete without such accessories!