Yes, Silly Boy is seven years old today. That means he’s lived more than half of his life in Wyoming. . .which just boggles my mind.
January 2008, age 3
January 2012, age 7
Fifteen candles
With Advent vespers tonight, we celebrated Drama Boy’s fifteenth birthday yesterday evening. He’s hoping today will bring an opportunity to get his learner’s permit–we’ll have to see if the local WYDOT office is open on Wednesdays. 
I baked and frosted his cake, but left the decorating to him. That’s a UNI Panther in case (like me) you didn’t already know that.
For our supper he chose ham baked with pineapple rings, roast asparagus, and orange slices. . .and (what else) chocolate cake.
After dinner it was time for presents. . .with a little help from Baby Boy.
Can you guess that it’s time for him to open Silly Boy’s gift?
Everyone got a good laugh out of the card from Mimi and Papaw; or at least, everyone old enough to know what a haz-mat suit is. 
We rounded off the evening by heading to the local theater to watch Happy Feet 2 at Drama Boy’s request.
Thirteen
So we now have two teenaged boys in the house–eeks! 
Send chocolate, send wine. . .
Last night we celebrated. Boy Genius has developed an interest in France lately, so he chose the dinner recipes from this website: a hamburger-potato casserole and a chocolate mousse cake. Both were clean-your-plate good.
He had also requested black cherry soda “wine” (Larry and I opted for the real deal) and had fun playing wine steward.
After dinner, Boy Genius got out the tiger pinata he had made. . .the kids had fun whacking it with their duct tape swords. Twirly Girl had bought some of the candy as her gift to him.
Next up, of course, were the presents.
Baby Boy had drawn him a series of pictures, which involved a lot of explanation. Bouncy Boy made him a card, and Drama Boy bought him a team sweatshirt for the local high school.
Larry and I gave him a physics workshop set, which has kept him pretty busy. The grandparents all sent money for his bow fund–he is almost ready to order this bow.
My baby is four
So now my parents have left. . .leaving me with a lot of pictures to share. 
And I do mean that quite literally, as Dad took the lion’s share of the pictures. Let’s start with Baby Boy’s fourth birthday, which was yesterday although we celebrated on Sunday.
I bet you can’t guess what he chose for his birthday dinner! He asked for sausage and pepperoni, though I made the second “adult” pizza with sausage and vegetables and added a green salad on the side.
Mmmmm cake! (for the curious, I used this cupcake recipe, doubled to make two 9″ layers; put peanut butter between the layers; and made a non-vegan version of this frosting)
Bring on the presents!
His siblings all wrapped up a little something for him, and he thanked each one with a hug.
Dad and Mom brought him a new big boy sleeping bag. . .he was very excited when he opened it, then asked “what is it?” He was just as excited by the cards with money in them. Mimi sent him some new pants, and we gave him a set of Romans Playmobil.
He was tickled to be the center of attention for the afternoon, and it was one of the few times I have wished for a video camera as his giggles were positively hysterical (and contagious!).
Fifteen years
Today is the fifteenth anniversary of Larry’s ordination into the Office of the Holy Ministry. Like many anniversaries, that seems like only yesterday and long ago all at the same time. His was the first ordination I ever attended, and I do not really remember much about the day except that it was overwhelming to this introvert. Everyone knew who I was immediately, but they were just a sea of faces and a blur of voices to me. I was so proud of myself when I found a seat next to a sweet white haired lady, and then someone came and told me that I had to sit in the front pew because it was reserved for me. All by myself, except for the unborn barely a bump Drama Boy. I do remember that Pastor A. (in black) came from Larry’s vicarage congregation to preach; he had also preached at our wedding seven months before. And Pastor T. (viewer’s far left) was his senior pastor for his first three years in the ministry. Also Larry wore a borrowed stole for the occasion because I didn’t manage to finish his until two years later.
Happy anniversary to my beloved pastor-husband!
Bouncy birthday boy
This past Friday evening we celebrated Bouncy Boy’s 9th birthday with pizza, presents. . .and of course chocolate cake!
I’ve been reading Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone to him, so Drama Boy made him his own wand. Twirly Girl knit him a washcloth, and Boy Genius and Silly Boy bought him a couple little toys.
Baby Boy and Silly Boy watch as he opens his Narnia poster from Papaw & Mimi. Great Mimi sent him a football and we had gotten him a Playmobil set; Grandpa & Grandma, Uncle Pete & Aunt Janet, and Aunt Vicci all sent money to burn a hole in his pocket.
Bouncy Boy had far more ideas than I could fit on one cake, so I told him I would surprise him. One of his sketches included the sun, moon, and stars, so I used gold and white sprinkles to create the Milky Way.
Happy Carrot Day!
Well, not really–it was actually Twirly Girl’s eleventh birthday, but her menu made it feel like Carrot Day. For dinner after church today she requested Cheeseburger Soup, which includes carrots, Carrot-Coconut Salad, and–of course–Chocolate Carrot Cake.
I should have just gotten her a bag of carrots for her birthday.
She received cards (with $!) from Grandpa & Grandma and Uncle Pete & Aunt Janet.
We gave her a hymnal, after months of not so subtle hinting on her part.
Papaw & Mimi sent her a turntable for her cake decorating endeavors.
And Great Mimi found a purple toiletry organizer. She’s already started packing it, even though we have no plans to travel until May.
I didn’t get a very good picture of the cake, but you can use your imagination: it sank in the middle, so I heaped on the lavender cream cheese frosting and attempted to add sprinkles in the shape of a flower. Seems to me that most of my cake flops happen in February. . .I hope Twirly Girl doesn’t take it personally.
Happy Birthday to my silly little Twirly Girl who is just on the verge of growing into a lovely young lady!
Silly birthday boy
Six years ago today, in the wee hours of a Thursday morning in January, my Silly Boy was born. He took to nursing right away, and is still a non-stop eater. He has a shy smile and the funniest little “hee hee hee” giggle I’ve ever heard. He’s full of mischief but he’s also my little right hand man.
I told him that he is only allowed to be six if he will still be silly. . .
Time flies
And now my baby Drama Boy is fourteen. Fourteen!! Actually he has been fourteen since Tuesday, but it was tonight that we celebrated. Here he is with a glass of his home brewed root beer:
(yes, he has hat head–sigh!!) The flavor was fine, but somehow the natural carbonation did not happen. Time to try, try again! With the root beer we had two kinds of homemade pizza: shrimp, and bacon cheeseburger. Evidently I need to make shrimp pizza more often. . .it disappeared first. Dessert was a new recipe, Tropical Cheesecake.
Yes, we put candles in the cheesecake and sang. After the dishes were cleared it was time for presents. He had already received his gift from us, the supplies for his root beer.
I was a bit slow with the camera, but Baby Boy was quite excited about the FOOTBALL card! Drama Boy received money and shirts this year. . .see, he really is getting old.
Notice I said old, not mature or serious or anything like that.
Twelve
Last night we celebrated Boy Genius’s birthday. . .and now he is twelve. He chose enchiladas for dinner (in spite of a minor uproar from little boys who feel pizza must be served on Friday) and raspberry pie for dessert.
I didn’t even try to put candles in pie this year, but slashed a big 12 in the top crust instead.
After dinner he opened his gifts–tools and trading cards from his brothers, yarn & needles from his sister, snap circuits from Great Mimi, and money from Grandpa & Grandma and Uncle Pete & Aunt Janet. We had given him his gift early, an L.L. Bean rolling duffel bag, so that he could use it on vacation.
