Evie's 8th Birthday

 Evie is 8! This year we had to have a very small birthday party for our littlest one. The Pandemic of 2020 is in full swing at this point and we couldn't really do much for her party. It was small, but it was fun with just our little, happy family. I'm not going to lie though. Evie was really bummed about it. She put on a brave face and smiled through it all, but deep down, she was struggling. Of all the kids, the pandemic hit her the worst. She is a social kid and loves her friends. Not having the opportunity to see them for her birthday was tough on her. On a bonus? She wore her pajamas all day for her birthday.

How we did this birthday was by setting out a bin on the front porch with a birthday balloon attached to it and hoped that everyone would drop off her gifts in it. Sadly, it was cold and raining and the image was just a sad one. As a mama to this sweet girl, it made my heart hurt. I'm so proud of how she handled it though. And I promised her that this next birthday, we'd make up for it. 

She really wanted her own camera to take pictures with and the look on her face in the picture says it all. She was very happy with all her gifts. She is also really in love with Harry Potter right now. Though she isn't quite ready to read the books, she loves the movies and wanted a Monster Book of Monsters cake. It wasn't the best of my decorating, but it was fun to make and she loved it! She loves How to Train Your Dragon, Scooby Doo, the Peanuts, Harry Potter, and pretending to be a cat. She wants to be an Otter Trainer and maybe a P.E. teacher when she grows up and she's the best little helper and buddy you can ask for. Happy birthday to my sweet Evie! We love you so much!

She really wanted one last picture with our giant tractor tire before I gave it away. She gets so attached to everything so easily.

That one moment you get what you want.

She loves all things cats!

The Monster Book of Monsters cake!

This is what a pandemic birthday party looks like from the outside.

Alex's 14th Birthday

 Fourteen. Wow. It's hard to believe that fourteen years ago, this kid made me a mom. He has gone through so many phases in his life and I can remember each and every one of them as if they were yesterday. It went from Elmo to the Wiggles, to sharks, to classic monsters (Frankenstein), and then somehow, we fast forwarded to today: Cars. It's his passion and obsession all rolled into one. He talks cars nearly all the time and went from super car obsessed to muscle car obsessed. He collects Hot Wheels and has a massive collection by now. His other passion is Fishing. If he isn't talking cars, then it's fishing. 

He's grown so much in the last year that I can hardly keep him in the same clothes or shoes. He finally surpassed me in height and it's the oddest thing having one of your own kids just look down at you when you're grounding them. (Not that he needs to be grounded ALL the time.) This year for his birthday, we were in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic and I wasn't allowing an indoor birthday party. So we opted for an outdoor one. It wasn't too bad outside. It was chilly, but we powered through nonetheless. He had his friends over and we had cake and ice cream with some snacky-snacks to go with it. He wanted a Go-pro (or the cheaper version of one) which is what we got him. His goal is to get video of his fishing escapades and make a YouTube channel. I can't believe how much he's grown up and how big he is. I feel like time is speeding by at a rate I can't really comprehend and before I blink the title of the blog post will be "Alex's 18th Birthday". I hope time slows down just a little bit.

We are so proud of the young man he is becoming and it's always a great day to see his smiling face and hear about his dream cars and dream fishing trips for the future. Keep being you, Alex. Happy Birthday kiddo!

That is one crazy group of boys. Matt, Alex, Wesley, Noah, and Zach.

Maskin' it up for the opening of presents inside.

This year he wanted a catfish birthday cake. The eye was a little wonky though.

His actual birthday dessert - Jello Cake!

A go-pro! Yay!