More birthday fun

We celebrated Cameron's birthday on Sunday at the Friendship Center with all our family.  Cameron wanted a Star Wars cake, so we went with the light saber theme.  I found two different kids of cakes online and thankfully he chose the easier one (even without any hinting from me!). He also chose the colors and I went with them even though they weren't classic Star Wars colors.  

 Trae and Cameron, don't they look mischievous?

 I love how excited he is here

 This is so typical of all the kids at present time.  No matter how many times we asked them to scoot back, they kept creeping forward to be closer to the action.

 Even though it is February, it was a gorgeous day and the kids spent all afternoon outside using Cameron's new bug explorer kit.

 More outside fun!  Ashlyn and Aubrey did a wonderful job of watching out for Lilly and Lauren

Great Grandma Marner and Lauren

He is 6!

Monday was a big day for Cameron, he turned 6!  He was born on a Monday, President's day, and this year his birthday fell on President's day again.  Lucky for him, his friends didn't have school, so he got to go to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate.  He wanted Mason and Trae to be there, and this year he wanted their older brothers to be there too.  Thankfully Chuck E. draws kids of all ages, so the age difference wasn't a problem.  I didn't know how big of an adventure I was getting myself into by taking 5 boys to a kid-filled arcade, but it went very smoothly; thanks especially to Amy who went with me to help supervise.  They all loved it and were even happy to split the tickets evenly at the end.  They took awhile to spend all their tokens because they were caught up in a "spy" game in the tunnels for so long.  We even stopped for ice cream on the way home.  I have to say that it proved to be more smooth than some parties I've had here at home.

The party goers:  Trae, Mason, Cameron, Micah and Tyler

Ryan has planned Cameron's gift since before Christmas.  I think it may have been as much for him as for Cameron!  We gave Cameron an air soft gun; actually we gave him a pistol and a rifle.  He was excited, but not too sure of whether it was real or not when he first opened it. 

Aubrey taking a picture of Cameron with the present she bought for him with her own money.  She had the idea soon after Christmas to buy him a hot wheels car that he saw at Wal-Mart.  I was very proud of her because she doesn't have much money and doesn't easily part with it.

Everyone had to get in on the action of figuring out how everything works

These next two pictures crack me up!  Cameron wanted to learn how to aim and was trying to close one eye.  That proved harder than he thought and looked hilarious!

Cameron is an energy filled boy!  He loves to wrestle, run and play.  He hardly holds still!  He is so inquisitive and notices every tiny detail around him.  One of his new loves is telling time.  He asks me multiple times a day what time it is, so I figured that it was time to teach him how to tell time on his own.  He picked it up very quickly.  An example of his love of time:  When Ryan took him out for his birthday dinner, Cameron told him that we got to Melanie's house at 2:09 and left at 3:48!  Hilarious!  We think he might be our Olympic hopeful.  He will run the stop watches for all the races!  Despite his rough and tumble behavior, he is a sensitive boy who loves his family and looks out for those around him.  He is always willing to give up something for someone else. We love you buddy!

Catching Up

This winter has been wonderful in the fact that it hasn't felt like winter.  It has been great to be able to play outside, take walks and get some fresh air.  The kids have enjoyed it so much!  One day they took advantage of the weather and jumped on the trampoline.  Cameron took it to the extreme by taking off his shirt, but I figured if he could stand it, then I would let it be! 

Cameron also lost another tooth, this makes 3 for him.  It had been loose for so long!  One night we put the kids to bed and I was in the living room reading.  Cameron came walking into the living room and I was just about to scold him for getting up (something he really doesn't ever do) but I looked over and saw him holding out his tooth.  He was very excited and showed everyone at church the next day.  I didn't get a very good picture of him, I kept telling him to smile with his mouth open, but he wasn't understanding what I meant.  Oh well!  I have to say, there is something so cute about kids with missing teeth!

Lauren has a new pastime of playing with my shoes.  She especially loves my boots, which is hilarious because they are extremely tall and large on her feet; they basically cover her whole legs.  When she's wearing them, she has to walk along furniture or the wall in order to keep her balance.

Aubrey has been asking for these fake, sticker nails that she saw at Target.  I thought it was a bit extreme, but then decided that it would make a good Valentine's day present.  They were only a few dollars and it didn't matter if they lasted long or not.  The good news about them is that they go on and come off very easily.  The bad news is that they come off very easily.  We went swimming within 24 hours of her putting them on and they came right off.  She wasn't too disappointed though, so it was worth it. It was funny to watch her try to do things with these long nails on because it was very awkward.  I think she was just getting the hang of it when they came off.  There are two sets in the pack so we get to try again!