cohen's sports party

 Cohen's 8th birthday party was at the Willamalane Center for Sports & Recreation.  The kids had a court to themselves & played games organized by Aaron, Cohen's dad.

Super cool cake made by Becca, Cohen's mom.  :)

 I had fun wrapping Cohen's gift.  :P

 There was quite a crowd surrounding the birthday boy!

What a fun party!  We hope you have fun being 8!  What a big kid.  Crazy!  :)

a party at home

 At Finley's request, we hosted an ice cream sundae & video games birthday party at our house.

 I had to put aside my concerns of our house being too small for such an event.  We rarely host events during the cooler months of the year, when it's less appealing to use our backyard.  But the birthday boy always wants to have friends & cousins over to his house to play, so this was what we did!  And it was a lot of fun!

 Cedar was feeling a little disappointed with how the game was going for him.  ;)

 Singing "Happy Birthday" to our 7 year old!

 A gathering of 40 people in our small home.

So much love for our oldest boy!

The kids were given the "go-ahead" to make their ice cream sundaes & they instantly mobbed the kitchen!  They were ready!  ;)

 There were 4 babies under the age of 6 months.  I kept hearing one cry out & searching to see if it was Elsa needing me.  :P

 Nursing Mamas

 Ready for gifts!

 Photos of the birthday boy.

 There he is!

 It was fun to see that his gift opening etiquette had improved since last year.  He opened cards first & read them on his own.  He rarely needed to be reminded to say "Thank you."  ;)

 Our neighbors, Lewis & Prescott

 Sweet smiles.

 The Novemberists sticking close.

 I love how the kids gather close to get a good look at each gift.

 Funny candids.  I like Aaron & Elsa's expressions, in particular.  ;)

 Poor Macey bonked her head & had a pretty big goose-egg for the rest of the evening.  :(

I asked Finley what he thought of his party & he said "It was AWESOME!"  Lovely to this Mama's ears.  :)

and now he is seven

 Waking before the sun rises means using flash photography.  :\

 But it also means we get to start the birthday celebrations early!  Finley turned 7 years old today!

 Fun cereal for breakfast!

 We let Finn open some of his presents before he went to school.

 A lamp that clips to his top bunk, so he can read at night.

 A Minecraft hoodie.

 Seven?!  Such a big kid.

 Kenton & I went to eat lunch with Finn at school.  He likes to sit at the peanut butter table with his cousins.  They're all in different classes, but if they bring peanut butter, then they can sit together.

 Lunch was super quick & we barely had time to chat with the birthday boy.

 But we enjoyed seeing how things go at lunch & helping him get hot lunch for the first time.  :)

When we left, Kenton & I laughed about how it seemed like we weren't as exciting to Finley as we thought we would be.  :P  But later that night, he asked why we didn't stay longer & told us that he liked having us there SO much!  Warmed our hearts.  :)

 After school!  Handsome boy.

 The cousins love visiting together at Memaw & Papa's house after school.

 Dinner time!  Elsa is reclining in the high chair.  :P

 Seven years old & he lost his 6th tooth at school today!

 Dinner request: sloppy joes & carrots "the way Mummi makes them".  I think that means cooked with basil.  He said they were delicious, so I must've gotten close.

 After dinner, we let Finn open some more gifts & Mummi & Pappa brought a gift for him to open.

 Seven dollar coins!

 And a new jacket from Mummi & Pappa!

 Mohawk helmet from us!

 What a dude!

 Cedar taking a turn with Elsa.

 We finished off the night with a surprise trip to play mini-golf!

 It was a first for our boys.

 I actually got two "hole-in-ones" even though I was wearing Elsa the whole time.

 Cuddled up to Mama.

 All done!  What an awesome day!

We sure love you Finley!  What a joy it is to be your parents!