Max's Birthday Party

We had a fun time at Max's "Scooby Doo" Themed Party. We had friends and food and cake, oh my!

Here's the birthday boy making a Scooby Doo picture frame. I had a "mystery" to solve and they had to do a craft and other stuff in order to find clues and solve the mystery. It sounds better than it turned out to be, it was fun, but just not quite how I imagined!!



Next was the Scooby Snack race on a spoon!! The two little guys (Max was one of them) held on to the spoon with two hands and sped on ahead!! Zoey, always the rule-enforcer, was a little upset, as she legitimately won!!



Here's Max blowing out the candle on the cake! I never got a picture of it, but it was a cute Scooby Doo cake! Max went to the cake shop to pick it up with me and he was so excited when he saw it!



Just another one of him smiling with the cake:


And how is that cake, Max?

MMMM...So good, I'd say. So good that I can't get a big enough piece in my mouth.

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Here he is excitedly opening presents...


Thanks friends for making it such a nice day for him!!

Zoey the Second Grader!

School finally came to a close last week and Zoey is now a Second Grader!! I just wanted to post her first and last day pictures! I am not even sure she is the same kid!!


We are glad that summer is here and are ready for a fun, but also relaxed summer. Here is a picture of Zoey's boat that she made for a boat race at school... She did a great job and won!




I have been away from the computer, so I have lots of posts and pictures to share! We had Max's birthday party and went on a little trip. See you soon:)

Our Sweet Max

Our Dear Max,

I don't know how many times I could have titled a post that way... "Our Sweet Max"

As "boy" as you are becoming, loving cars and leggos, wrestling and digging in the dirt, you have a sweetness about you that always shows through. If I bump myself in the other room and say, "Ow!", you quickly ask what's wrong and if I am okay. If you see a tear in my eye (a lot of times I am just reading a story on-line), you tell me to smile and that that will make it all better. We are blessed with little hugs and kisses from you all the time. There are lots of random ones, too, that just come out of nowhere and make the moment so very sweet. You're more snuggly than your sister, too, so we can still just lay and hug you sometimes. And as "the baby" I guess we just take the snuggle moments as much as we can. We know it is passing us by. You are really already to big for me to carry any distance anymore.

Here are my memories of your Birthday...
Our sweet Max was born on a Friday. It was a beautiful, sunny, not too hot or humid day in Massachusetts. One of the "top ten" days there. (I didn't make that up. It is a weather saying up there and really there are only about 10) Ross' mom had come in to town to help out for a couple of weeks, so we were all ready to go. Since Zoey was so big, they were watching his size, and decided to induce a week early, so I called Friday morning, to see if there was room available at the hospital. They said yes, so off we went. I went in around 7 am and Ross went home for lunch and to check on Zoey, and we were actually waiting for him to return so they could break my water and he would actually be there for the birth! The Dr was right, too. Once they did that, Max-man came very quickly. Ross and I actually got to do the final delivering together which was very cool... and then, there he was. Our Sweet Max, actually looking almost exactly like Zoey! That was my first thought, once they said all was fine. He would have been as big as Zoey, too if we hadn't gotten him out of there, too! Whew...

And now, it is five years later. Again, I am amazed at the way the time flies by. You have changed so much since we have moved to Ohio even! Some of our very favorite things are your smile, which lights up your face so much that strangers often comment on it, your laughter and jokes (we just love your sense of humor), and your songs. We look forward to what lies ahead, all of the laughter you will bring, the smiles and sighs because of your sweetness, and even the tears... the tears that come from watching you let go of anything baby or toddler that's left in you, and gain the maturity that is coming with your boy-hood. All the while, staying Our Sweet Max. We so love you. God Bless you today and always.

June 11, 2004 - newborn

June 2005 - Age 1

June 2006 - Age 2

June 2007 - Age 3

July 2008 - Age 4

June 11, 2009 AGE 5

Here he is this morning doing the "height check"- he said, "I'm getting bigger!"



Here he is opening some presents tonight!


Here's last years montage to see again if you're interested in taking a walk with me down memory lane! ( just click)

smiles

Just wanted to share some of my favorite smiles from the past couple of weeks.

Max and Daddy waiting for food at a restaurant.

And here is Zoey and Grandma, too. I just like this one of the both of them for some reason.

Just chillin' on the stairs... Doesn't Zoey look so old in this picture? Like you can just see her when she is 16...eek...

And Max giving Grandma a ride on his chopper trike...

Minor League Baseball

We have a local minor league baseball team, the Dayton Dragons, that sells out every game! It is pretty cool. We went one Sunday afternoon, and got free hats!! We sat on the lawn with blankets (we couldn't get other seats) and ate stadium food! (the "stadium food" is a reference to Scooby Doo; he and Shaggy love to eat, and their favorite is stadium food, so Max was sure to ask for it when we went)

CHEESE!!!

Here's the gang... Max trying to sneak in the choke hold pose.

Whew... just watching is making me tired. I need to take a break and snack on some stadium food!

Zoey just loves to be out and doing things... it doesn't matter what. So here she is, enjoying the day and the event!


Here's Max, taking it all in. He reminds me of my nephew Josh in this picture. (don't you think, Tina?)


And then, Zoey had to join in... *Smile*

Miniature Golf

We didn't get too far from home while my parents visited, but we did get out and play some golf... mini-golf that is.

Here is Max in his classic golf picture... I love the way he is holding the club and the ball and standing just so...



And then one of Zoey and Grandma:


Here are the kids with Ross:



And then Papa and the kids. He told them, "Okay, lets all hold our balls for the golf picture!" If you look close, or even click to enlarge (look how he's holding the ball)... you can see what Max thinks of that! Ha ha.



Before we left, we had to take a slide down the big slide...

Grandma and Papa are here!

So that means snuggling:


And wrestling:



And planting flowers!