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So yet again the time is here where my oldest has his birthday. What can I say about the boy, he has always been such an awesome example to his brothers and cousins on how to be a great kid. He has a strong work ethic and high standards. I don't think we could've picked a better son to have as a first child. Chili always chooses the right path even when we as parents step aside and let him choose for himself. He has a great sense of humor and never takes himself too seriously. I know that he will always be a strong leader in our family. So again we say... HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHILI!!!

Happy Birthday Gager!!

What can I say about our Gage, Some days he is the joy of our lives with his quick whit and great Gage-isms and other days he's the kid I want to duck my head and walk away from at the store while saying 'whose kids is that?' In all honesty Gage is our joy. From birth he has had the biggest smile and when he smiles it feels like the whole world should smile with him. His eyes have always been so expressionate so that you always know what he is thinking just simply by looking into them. He is always getting into mischief and somehow with a flutter of his lashes and a half-hearted apology he is back on your good side and leaving you to wonder 'what just happened here, am I still in charge?' Somehow he is able to trick us into staying up just a few minutes longer, and swindle us into video games on a school night... He is probably going to be a handful later, but for now I am going to love him and enjoy him just the way he is!! I feel like it was just a couple of months ago that we brought him home from the hospital... wow time flies!! Happy 6th birthday little buddy!

Mason

May was a pretty crazy month for us and though it was difficult the boys did their best to help us take it all instride. Mason was an especially helpful trooper and has tried not to hold it against us that we spent the week of his birthday in the hospital causing the delay on certain special birthday traditions like our one-on-one date the night where he gets to stay up as late as he wants, his brothers doing all of his chores for him, and a few other things like presents since I have not had the opportunity to get him anything yet. With our lives so busy Mason was great about it all and I really appreciate all that he sacrificed on his special day so that we could take care of Jer... We love you Mason!!

Sewing

So usually we try to have some sort of fun during our Spring Break but this year we are on an especially tight budget and Jer is down a from surgery this week so instead of going somewhere to have fun we had to improvise a little bit. I decided to take some time to teach my boys how to sew. We went with pajama bottoms which my boys wear often and they are super easy to sew. they all did pretty well and all of them did most of the work to make their own pants. with exception of Gage who helped out mostly by pushing what he called 'the gas pedal' on the sewing machine... as it turns out with Gage pushing the pedal and making the machine work as fast as possible I can complete a pair of pants in about 25 minutes including the time it takes to iron as I go. Mason and Beppe both made a couple small errors requiring them to get to know a little tool known as the 'seam ripper.' I assured them that I too am well acquainted with the 'seam ripper.' Chili needed the least amount of help and got the job done pretty quickly. They really enjoyed learning how to sew and are excited to do some more of it!!

St Patricks Day

So for St. Patrick's Day traditionally, though I am pretty sure that I am not of Irish descent, I prepare all of our food green. The boys simply love our silly little tradition and we are all so amazed at how much my food looks like vomit once it is tinted green.

Green Eggs

Garlic Toast, Punch, and Shepard's Pie

and below we have added some celery with green cream cheese as our after school snack!

Mmmm... does anyone want to come over for dinner!!!