Happy Birthday, Ya'shar!!!

 "Rut-ro!!  My baby just turned 6!!!"  I can't believe it.....   No, I mean I really just can't.

 This was my first time doing a molded cake.  Next time I won't be lazy and use a can of store-bought whipped frosting....  That was a little difficult.  But it turned out pretty cute!

 Ya'shar and his new globe and his favorite "teacher".  He opened it up and said, "Wow, you got me the WORLD!!"

 If the weather ever warms up again, I'm sure those boys will put these to good work!

 Fuzzy picture!!  Ugh.  He was excited about his Oakland A's jersey and helmut.  We are going to our first Pro baseball game in a couple weeks - Oakland A's VS New York Yankees!!!

 This cracks me up.  I got both the boys 49ers t-shirts when we were in San Fran a couple weeks ago when Daryle's sister was visiting.  Ma-lak loves the 49ers, so when I got him one for his birthday I thought I'd get one for Ya'shar, too.  Little did I know Daryle was trying to recruit a new little Oakland Raiders fan!  Nice brotherly rivalry there!

 Triceratops.  Still a dinosaur fan! 

Kami's Bridal Shower

 Kami and I have known each other for 6 years!!   Her mom is a nurse with me, and Kami used to be one of our care partners till she moved to Connecticut to become a nurse herself!  She recently moved back and is working in oncology now, and it's so cool to see her at work!  She and Michael are getting married in September, and her sister Lindsey threw the most beautiful bridal shower!!

 I'm having such a weird hair moment there....It was a gorgeous day to be outside!  Kami's parents live out in the country outside of Sebastopol - my kids have loved romping around out in their big yard!

 I was in love with all of the thoughtful and whimsical little decorations and thoughtful touches.  Can you tell her sister is an event planner!!??

 Beautiful Kami!!

 Playing the "How well do you know the bride" game!  We all tanked pretty bad....

Many congratulations and blessings to you!!!  I'm so happy you're back!!!!!

Toys R Us Traditions!!

 Every year during the month of their birthdays, the kids receive a little $3.00 gift card in the mail from Toys R Us.  You can just see their little minds exploding as they think of all the possible things they could buy with their gift card.  Yesterday we ventured out to Toys R Us to cash in on the fun, and it was so entertaining!!  Ya'shar still has a little trouble understanding the value of money and grasping how much certain amounts are worth.  Case in point - the $159 toy he picked out..... (And no, he did not get it!!)

 Decisions, decisions.....

 The girls paced up and down the Barbie aisle......

 The boys spent most of their time in the Transformers aisle....

Happy Birthday, Ma-lak!!!!

 It's hard to believe that this little boy is NINE years old!!!  He's growing into such a kind, smart,  ambitious, courageous and thoughtful young man.....

 In "ode" to his current obsession with horrible grade B sci-fi creature movies, I made this cake.  (So sorry I had to leave out Crocosaurus and Sharktopus.....)  The edible sand was a big hit!

 With our busy schedules this week his birthday celebration turned into a 3-4 day affair!  I sent 3 dozen chocolate mud/sour gummy worm cupcakes with him Wednesday to swim practice.  His birthday was Thursday but I was working, so we let him open a couple presents.  Friday he opened another one, but we didn't actually have cake and ice cream and play games and CELEBRATE till Sunday night!

 One of the candles is hiding, but there really are 9 of them!!

 Gotta love the good old favorite of Pin the Tail on the Donkey!  They'd never played before and thought it was hilarious good fun!

 Not too bad, Rea won!!

 Ma-lak informed me that "When David takes us to the park, we have footballs and baseballs and bats and gloves, but the only thing we don't have is a basketball!!"

 Found the perfect traveling chess board for taking along on swim meets!!