happy birthday to my little man!

today is my connor's birthday. four years old. can you believe it? i don't really remember life... daily life... without him. or maybe it's just that i choose not to remember it b/c everyday life with him is so fun. even though he's a pistol at times and makes me want to scream, i love the gift that he is. truly, children are a blessing from God and i try so hard to remember that on the bad days. i was so scared to have kids. the whole process just freaked me right out. connor was a perfect first baby for a freak like me. he breezed right into this world and eased me into the hardest... but best... job i've ever had. i am loving how he thinks. sometimes it's so scattered and makes absolutely no sense, but then there are times when he remembers things and connects memories with happy times. maybe i love it b/c that's how i tend to think. i can't always analyze and most times i'm more scattered than most, but give me a chance to recall old memories and i will sit around and talk forever.

connor wants to do anything his daddy does. he wants to play every sport, and has the energy to do them all in one day. he wants to paddle like his grampa, and he says "amen, praise the Lord, hallelujah" ALL the time like his poppa jo-g. i'm so thankful he has godly men surrounding him and helping to shape his little life. i'm so excited that he asks questions about God. every once in a while i can see the little wheels turning. he wants to know about God, heaven, what happens when we die. it's fun to see him growing and learning.

usually all those serious moments are broken quickly... b/c of his scattered thought patterns... by something either completely off the wall or something super funny.

the other day it was one of those funny things. we were at wendy's for a special trip... just us. we had gone out to get some decorations for his birthday cake and we were at wendy's ordering. we were waiting for our food just chatting away about life and growing up. i asked him where he wanted to sit. he looked over the entire restaurant. there were some business people, families, and a ups guy sitting in the corner. connor looked around, pointed in the direction of the ups guy and said, "can we sit by the king of queens?" cracked me right up. i wish the guy would have heard him.

a few nights ago he was making a river out of couch cushions and pillows. he looked up at me with such excitement and yelled, "mom! my brain just told me a GREAT idea!!!" that one struck me as funny b/c it gave such personality to his brain. :)

so today, we remember and give thanks for the fun times we've enjoyed with this little guy, and we eat cake. lots of cake.

such a little thing, and he was SO EXCITED to see it. i love kids. especially mine. :)

part one of his birthday cakes. connor had the unfortunate... uh... misfortune... of being born near a holiday and certain hunting seasons. which means his birthday party is usually a little difficult to plan. someone's always out of town, grampa's always hunting.... SO... this year i decided not to try and get everyone together but just to wing it. wouldn't ya know this has been the easiest birthday year yet. papa and gramma have been doing pizza on sunday nights for the fam, so i just asked if i could bring cupcakes for that. done. my dad climbs back down from the colorado moutains monday, so we'll do dinner tuesday over there. done. party crisis averted. i knew i couldn't do two big cakes in one week. that would NOT be good for my overall well being. so i thought cupcakes would be easy. NOT SO MUCH. connor wanted a golf party this year. try making cupcakes look like a golf hole. i think it turned out ok. i'll let you know how the big dog goes after we have what connor has been calling "the grampa party".

his FREE birthday donut WITH sprinkles.

look over his shoulder... on the right... that's my latest garage sale pick up. a cute little bag for meg's church stuff. $2!! it was marked $5 and i didn't have any money on me. i rode my bike home, scrounged up $2 of change and thought, "if they'll take it, it was meant to be." turns out it pays to have two cute kids in your bike trailer when an old lady is running the garage sale. score!

and this is why i love him. how can you not love such a fun kid???

i was trying to get a picture of meg and she kept walking away. connor jumps in and goes, "well, i guess you'll just have to take a picture of me. i'm ready."

"hiding" to scare dad. he's become quite a big brother in the past few weeks. we're still working on the obvious "don't push your sister when she ticks you off" moments. but still... it's getting there.

chillin' together. they love when they can watch cartoons... aka when mom needs them out of her hair for five stinkin' minutes.