Malia's 9!

And just like that she's 9!  It seems like this summer's events have been mainly birthday celebrations. We have eaten a lot of cake, sang a lot of "Happy Birthday to you's" and wrapped lots of presents. We love these little spirits that have helped shaped our family.  They each bring something unique to our crazy group and I love each and everything they bring, even if it's hard to deal with sometimes.  This little girl's love for everyone is awesome.  She loves to be with people and trying to get her to leave her friends can be somewhat of a challenge but I love that she wants to be with others all of the time.

Right before her birthday she had been bugging me to get her hair cut and McKenzie has been wanting to practice on people so we said why not.  If it's really bad, she'll have a very short cut (which is what she wanted in the first place)  Kenz did great, a couple of non-noticeable things but overall she did awesome.  Malia loved it as well which was most important.

 She requested a two layer blue and yellow cake.  So that's what she got.

 Love this girl.  She's always there to brighten your day!

Golden Birthday! Masie's 4 on the 4th!

Our little cheeser turned 4 this year.  Her little personality is sure starting to shine through that cute little smile.  Having her birthday on a major holiday has always brought for interesting celebrations but they have always been fun.  She really wanted to have a balloon fight so I bought that amazing quick filling balloons and had at it in the back yard.  She was in heaven.  Of course we had pancakes, opened presents and then got ready for the day.

 Some friends invited us over for a Bbque and a little celebration.

 We hung out and played games and chatted and then headed down to a nearby baseball field to watch the fireworks.  It was a perfect view without the mess of the crowds.

 Happy birthday to this spunky firecracker of a 4 year old.  Our family wouldn't be the same without you!

McKay is 2!!!

 I feel like a broken record (I probably am) but this growing up stuff has gotta stop.  Maybe it's because he is our last and I have been really trying to enjoy these baby moments but I really cannot believe that lil Kaders is 2!   Recently he has discovered that movies can be fun to watch and those movies have consisted of Big Hero 6, Home, Inside Out, Star Star, and Minion's (or Nana's as he says).  He loves those little yellow guys, so I decided to make him a Stuart birthday cake.  It turned out pretty cute.

 My little mop head.  There is no controlling that hair.

 He was pretty fascinated by this "Nana" cake.

 He waited so patiently to dig in.

 That mop had to go a couple of days later.  It was driving me nuts.

 This little guy is always keeping us on our toes.  He loves chilling with the IPad, playing with cars or Star Wars, or driving his sister crazy. He's still not talking a lot but he is smart cookie.  You can see wheels in his head turning trying to figure things out.  Love this little stinker of mine.

Micah's 11!

This kid is 1 year away from 12 and I'm not ok with that.  Our lil man is not so lil anymore.  He is such a kind soul that wants to help everyone and he loves to give hugs.

 We let him open one of his gifts in the morning since it was something that would help with these cold Minnesota winters.

 This boy is always cold! Hope this helps.

 Last year kind of got away from us with his birthday and it never right to throw him a friend party. So we pushed it to his 11th birthday.  I'm glad we did! Back in Indy he didn't have a lot of friends and there really wasn't any boys his age at church so it was hard to decide who to invite.  Moving to here has helped.  

 We had a fun movie/game party.  They boys had a blast.

 Turning 11 also meant that Micah would be graduating cub scouts and be moving up to boy scouts.  We had a ceremony for his crossover.

 My handsome little boy!

Love you Micah!  Happy Birthday, thanks for being you!

Happy Birthday Randy!

Well it happened.  Randy is his last year of his 30's  We celebrated in style by going to Culver's (of course).  

 This guy does so much for our family.  He works loooong hours and puts up with lots of crap to provide for our family.  I hope he knows how much we love him. Thanks toots for all you do.  Hope your birthday was awesome!!!

McKenzie's 15!!!

And just like that she's 15!  Going back and posting these life events has really made me see just how fast things change.  I stopped blogging right as McKay was born and now here I am 2 years later trying to catch up and it seems like yesterday we were leaving Utah.  I have 3 short years with this girl before she graduates.  She has grown up before our eyes, next thing we'll know, she's be having kids of her own.  I remember turning 15 thinking being an adult would be so much more fun, ruling my life, doing what I want, when I want.  But I realize my teenage years were one of the best times of my life.  I hope she sees that right now.  I hope she enjoys these years and stops worrying about trying to grow up so fast.  I promise lil Kenz, those days will come and you'll miss these annoying teen aged years.

 I don't remember what we did for her birthday other than sing to her.  Probably because we had just moved in and restarted school so I was heavily involved in unpacking and trying to settle the kids into a new routine.

 But this girl can always bring a smile to my face.  You never know what is going to come out of her mouth, what "deep" question she is going to ask or what masculine burp will escape.  There is never a dull moment with her around...unless she is on her phone snap crapping.

 While unpacking we found a pair of XXX sized sweats Randy bought for work back in Indy as a backup pair for his employees just in case there was chemical spill.  Not sure why he got such big pants but Kenz and I decided to put both of our booty's in those before finding them a new home.

 Over the years she has changed her mind a few times of what she wants to be/do when she grows up.  Some days it's been a veterinarian, other days a nurse or a teacher. At this moment of her life, she wants to be a cosmetologist.  Not sure where she will use this kind of makeup, lol. 

All I know is that she is really good at captivating an audience.  She loves to engage people in doing something fun.  Being the social butterfly that she is, she is never content sitting around at home and I know as soon as she gets her license we will never see her again.  Stay little Kenz, for my sake. 

Morgan's 12!!!

This was a tough party for Morgan.  This was the last weekend before we were packing up and moving so this kinda turned into a birthday/goodbye party.  I'll admit, there were some tears shed.  She invited kids from school and church and these girls had a blast!  They made some ducts tape crafts, ate dinner and watched a movie.  This is Aw-Bee (Masie's bestie) who is actually closer to Morgan's age.  They always had fun together.

 We rented Home which they made it through about halfway before deciding to be creative and goof around outside.

 Let the goofiness commence.

 Love that Masie joined in this shot.

 Wouldn't be complete without a crazy baby pic.

 Or two!

 Or Three!

 Ok I give up, he's just so squishable. 

This is wear the tears flowed.  This is Lily who also recently moved into our neighborhood.  She was having a hard time making friends and Morgan was her first friend.  This was a hard goodbye.

 Love this girl of mine.  She is always conscientious of those around her.  She is so loving  and helpful.  Being the youngest in her school class made me worry a little bit, but she has stepped up to the plate and is always on time, and does not like to procrastinate.  Not sure where she got that from...not me that's for sure.  Love you Morgie Poo!