Sean turns 9

My baby turned NINE!  It just breaks my heart to watch my children grow up right out from underneath me!  Sean has turned in to quite the little person.  Everyone loves Sean!  He is sweet, tender-hearted, respectful, a rule follower, very intuitive, my snuggler, my video gamer, he idolizes his Dad, wants to be a Marine when he grows up, loves Lego's, he can be stubborn, he's extreme (either it's the BEST day ever or the WORSE day ever), but he is always predictable.  We enjoy watching this little man grow, but I just wish I could freeze time & enjoy him at this age for just a little longer! 



We started off Sean's day by decorating his bedroom door &...

waking him up by singing, "Happy Birthday".

Then we planned a surprise birthday party for him, on his actual birthday.  I picked him up from school & we ran errands while all his friends were being dropped off at our house.  Once we got home, he got quite the surprise.  The boys had a little bit of time to have a Nerf gun war, but then we headed to Sky Zone.  The boys had a great time jumping & playing dodge ball together!

Sean does a flip in to the foam pit:

It was a busy weekend.  The day after Sean's birthday, my sister & her family came to stay over night at our house.  Sean & his cousin Logan love to spend time together.  So we planned a sleep over & our families got the chance to hang out together.  Sean also had a basketball tournament that weekend, so he enjoyed having family here to come & cheer him on in getting 4th place in the tournament.

Then Sunday we had a family birthday party for Sean.  I think he had a pretty great 9th Birthday!

Braces Off!

Ah...  What more to say than...  OUR BRACES ARE OFF!  Lauryn & I had a competition going to see who would get their braces off first.  Well, we told our orthodontist, so he wouldn't let either one of us win.  He put us on the same schedule & made the appointment for us to get them off together.  But if we want to get technical...  Lauryn did have hers off 15 minutes before mine!  So I'll let her win;)

Morning of:

Our names made the board!  I did feel a little too old to have my name up there too!

After...  We went out for lunch & enjoyed eating again.

Our ortho gave us treat bags with lots of goodies that had been forbidden for awhile.

Jim turns 40!

Jim turned FORTY in the beginning of January.  We had a great time celebrating the milestone!  On his actual birthday, we made dinner reservations for our family at the Melting Pot.  The kids LOVED it & have been asking for us to buy the fondue equipment so we can make our own meals at home.

Jim also had a birthday party with friends.  We invited some of our close friends to join us for dinner at Murray's Steak House.  We enjoyed a limo ride, taking us downtown.  After dinner we went to the Shout House where many family & friends joined us to help Jim celebrate the big day.  I think Jim had a little too much fun because he claimed he caught the "flu" the next morning after not being able to get out of bed!...  Ah, you only turn 40 once!  ;)