Gabe The Babe is Growing Up!

Gabey turned SEVEN!

{He doesn't want to be called Gabey-Baby any more so KNOCK IT OFF or he'll get pretty whiny! We told him seven-year-olds are not allowed to whine and he looked at his big brothers and asked "Then how come THEY get to?!?" (Life isn't fair.  That's why.)}

He's a super cute and sweet boy but is also a poor, picked-on middle child, so we'll cut him some slack on the incessant whining.

He pretty much had a full week of non-stop celebrating.  On the actual day of his birthday, he requested crepes for breakfast, and pizza with root beer for dinner (at the pool, of course).

The following day he got to go camping over-night!  To make up for missing the Father/Son's campout the church has coming up, Doug took the four "big" boys camping to Camp Pendleton Marine Base right on the beach.  (He is still in the inactive reserves for a few more years and still has military I.D.)  Two other dads and kids went and they had a lot of fun.  I had a lot of fun staying home and watching HGTV.  (We just got cable for the first time! Yay HGTV and Cooking Channel!  Booooooooo ESPN!!!)

Then, Saturday, we took advantage of the school discount and went to LEGOLAND as a family.  It was blazing hot--right up until the boys went on a ride that got them all wet, and they it cooled right off and left them all shivering.  Fun day though, and we got to see the Lego Movie set

The boys love the ladies. 

Super fun to see the Lego Movie set!

Got soaking wet just in time for the sun to set.

Anyway, back to Gabe:
He is a cutie.
His love affair with Secret Agents is waning, but he still loves playing anything action-y.  Light saber battles are common.
He loves to color and write books.
He is newly obsessed with Pokemon. Sigh. (The neighbor kid gave him a whole bunch so at least we didn't have to buy the dumb things.)
He is happy, friendly, and outgoing and is constantly being invited over for play dates with classmates.
He loves life, his friends and playing outside.

And we sure love our Gabey-Boy!

Gray-Gray's Birthday

Gray had his birthday on a Friday and this and since the boys don't have school Friday's, (Charter School home school day) and Daddy happened to have the day off, we all went to the S.D. Wild Animal Park.    We had a fun day and at the end Gray got to pick a stuffed animal for a present.  (Except he wouldn't cooperate and kept drifting over to the cheap plastic toys so finally Doug picked a Cheetah for him so we could just go home for-the-love!)
ANYWAY...!  Highlights included Wallaby up-close, Baby Gorilla, and Butterfly Exhibit.  It was a fun day.

Gabey was full of questions.

Well hello!

The baby was playing in the mote and was hard to see but he came up to taunt his family a few times.

Sammy would not leave until a butterfly landed on him.  Finally, I broke the rules and picked one up and stuck it on his hand.  Then another one came over, landed on top of the first one and they both flew off.

Baby bat.  Doug uses pictures like this to torture his Bat-hating mother.  Very mean of him.

Since this was his third birthday, (odd year) he didn't qualify for a "friend" party.  Instead he got to share a "family" party with his cousin Ashlin who turned 17 the day before he turned 3.  Ashlin is his favorite babysitter so he was okay with it!  

(Fun fact: they would share a birthday had Gray been born in the states.  But since he was born in Japan, his birthday is the day after hers.) 

As an added bonus, my sister Karie was in town with her family so they all got to come too.

We had a big party for them at our pool with Costco pizza and cake.  Of course, we had our neighbors the L's come over too, cause they're practically like family.  All in all, it was a fun day with our cute little tyrant.  

Three candles for Gray, seventeen for Ash!

Looking Back:

Lucky Baby got to go to Australia while brothers stayed home.

Big in Japan

First bath from Grandma Fae

Just chillin' in Hawaii with some turtles!

What I get for leaving out the lunch stuff.

At Daddy's new office in California!

Daddy's Mascot

Tahoe for Thanksgiving

At the beach

"Just hold me every single second Mom!!!"

In Mommy's old t-shirt

Chubbiest baby of them all

Newborn-9 pounder

Don't mess!

Max is 11!

My sweet little Maxer is growing up!  He's 11 going on 20 and we're very proud of the neat kid he is.

A few of Max's favorite things:

*Reading.  He goes to bed reading and wakes up early to read some more before school.  We used to have him write down all the books he read.  But that took too much effort.  Needless to say, he reads a lot.
*Lego's.  He's a great builder and keeps his closet shelves filled with cool planes and buildings.
*Sweets.  He's got a sweet tooth like his Mama.
*Food.  Max was a very picky baby, but fortunately has grown out of most of his pickiness.  Some of his favorite foods are Pizza, Crepes, and Wonton Soup.
*Scouts.  He loves it and recently got his Arrow of Light.  (Which is a big deal or something?  I dunno.)
*Water.  He loves playing at the pool and at the beach.  Thinking of getting him surf lessons this summer.
*Sports.  Basketball is his current favorite.  Though he's also great at soccer and swimming.
*Me.  I don't think it's unreasonable to assume his mother is his favorite person in the world.  Do you?

A few of my favorite things about Max.
*Humor.  He's got a pretty great sense of humor.  He actually makes me laugh a lot with his witty observations.
*Vocabulary.  All that reading has given him a great vocabulary.  Those who've known me for a long time, know I love words.  I know some people find it pretentious, but I love it when he uses big words in context.  Cracks me up.
*Helpful.  Max is a great kid.  He used to be sooooooo mischievous as a toddler that people who've known him a long time can't believe what a responsible, helpful, polite kid he's turned into.
*Sweet.  He doesn't ALWAYS show it, but he really loves his brothers and takes good care of them.
*Thoughtful.  I don't worry too much about Max's future.  He's smart and thoughtful and tries to make good choices.  I hope he'll keep that up even during surly adolescence.

Love you Maxer!

Happy Birthday Gabey!

Poor Gabe.


Here it is June and I'm just realizing I didn't write about his birthday.
At least I REMEMBERED his birthday!  I'm not that out of it!


So he's four now.  And has been since last month.
(Seems like forever ago.)

He requested pizza for dinner!

Gabey is a very sweet kid.  He's happy and lovable and occasionally whiney.  (But we forgive him because he's happy and lovable.)

I made him a dragon cake...saw the pattern on "Family Fun".

Gabe loves his Mama the best.  I know this because he says "I yuv you Mama!" about a thousand times a day.  And then kisses me with his cute slobbery lips and says "I'm a kissing monsta, Mama"

Gabey spends his days romping around with his buddies, begging for popsicles and pieces of gum, and getting filthy dirty in the back yard.  (A dish scrubber is kept near the tub specifically for his feet--he's shoe averse.)  Never has a child led such an idyllic life.

Buddies:  I, G, and A

A few more things about Gabers:  (Hard "a")He's an obedient boy.  Sometimes we marvel that we have a son who actually obeys and doesn't get into TOO much mischief at this age.
He still thinks "peacock" is a siyee (silly) word.
He loves to play with his friends, and WISHES he could play Legos with his big brothers more.
He loves whatever his brothers love.
He loves Baby Gray
He has a great imagination and can entertain himself.  (Miraculous!!!)
He loves helping me in the kitchen
He loves his friends


And we love him!
Happy Birthday, Buddy!

Max is NINE! Part 2

We really know how to celebrate birthday's around here!

Pre-Party:

Saturday, D-Fresh took the boys to the Weasels Den 

Then; Max got to open a present one day early.  

Super Dad found it at the base "Great American Garage Sale".  

Hooray for $7 Wii games!!!

When Gabe and Gray were down for naps, D took the big boys to the Misawa City Pool to swim.  It's a little ways away, but it has a water slide so it's always a big hit.

Sunday after church it was time for his Family Party. (We do friend parties on even-numbered birthdays.)  He requested Wizard Won Ton Soup, fruit salad, and a Harry Potter Castle Cake. Dad made the soup, I made the cake.  I used the book "What's New Cupcake" (Thanks Claudia) for the cake idea, but unfortunately didn't have all the correct componants.  (No oblong chocolate wafer cookies to be found on base--hence the white door and shutters.)  I wasn't thrilled with it...could have used a few more hours and a few fewer distractions, but of course, Max never seems to mind.  He loved it.  (A few have been pretty scary--like the possessed "Thomas" I made when he was two.)

The chocolate trees started re-melting the minute they came out of the fridge so they fell over shortly after this picture was taken.

The H fam are our family here.  We love 'em.  They brought a "Gross Science" kit for Max.  They're clearly awesome.

And the extra present promised at church?

A Toy Story tin filled with popcorn.

All the kids were so excited to see it come out of the gift bag!

"OH!  TOY STORY!  Maybe it's ARMY MEN!

Maybe it's BUZZ and WOODY!

Me:  "No no!  It's not a toy!  It's just a cool TIN!!!  Ya know, to keep stuff in!?!"

(Note to self:  Kid's aren't impressed with cool tins filled with plain popcorn.  I think I've got it.)

All in all, I'd say he had a fun birthday.

Max, what's your favorite?

(Mom asked:) What is your favorite cartoon character?  Jerry (From Tom and Jerry)

(Sam) ...game?  Phase 10

(Michiel) ...Lego set?  Harry Potter (which he didn't have, but got the next day.)

(Dad) ...book?  Harry Potter series

(Gabey)  ...color?  Red.  No blue.  Really dark blue.

(Gray)  ...fruit?  Cantaloupe

Dinner?  ...crepes