Back in April...

Aaahhhhh...
The kids have been sleeping in late this week.  All the preparation for Carrie's graduation open house on Saturday and then the party itself with all the playing and visiting has left them tired.  Me too.  I have been up at the regular time the past couple mornings, but I find myself dozing off as I'm reading the Word and praying.  I used to feel so sad about that until Carrie said that she heard someone say once that as a mom, you wouldn't get mad and upset if your child fell asleep in your arms as he or she was talking to you...so why do I think that God would be upset.  I love that visual...falling asleep in the arms of God.  Resting in His presence.

This morning, I'm a little restless, so I decided to get up and check my email and work on a blog post.  It's 8:30 and the house is quiet and cool and smells like the hazelnut candle that I have on the warmer, along with the smell of burnt food.  I've set the oven to self-clean...and it really smells like it needed it.

The blogs that I most want to catch up on right now take me back to April!  I never blogged about Matthew's 6th birthday.  Things got pretty busy around here right after his birthday and haven't really slowed down.  So this morning, while everyone else is still in bed and I can concentrate, I'm going to blog about the day Matthew turned 6.

Six!  The day began with Matthew being the second one up...which is pretty normal.  Josh usually has him beat in that department.  He came smiling through the traditional birthday streamers, favorite dog in hand (thank you, Uncle Rick!), ready to begin his day.

The first thing that he did was take a look out the back window at the baby foxes in our neighbor's back yard!  We discovered them romping in the sunshine with each other that morning.

The rest of the day is a blur to me (which is why it's important to me to blog).  I can't even remember what we did for breakfast or lunch, but we usually do something special.  And we always take the day off school for birthdays.  After Paul got home from work, we took a trip down to the Rural King to buy a cowboy hat and boots.  That's what Matthew really wanted for his birthday.  When we got home, we enjoyed watching him be a cowboy...on his horse named Fliker.

Poor Josh.  He had fallen off his Fliker just a few weeks before and had to be in a cast for five weeks. I think at this point he hadn't tried to get back in the saddle again, so he's looking a bit sad.  

Here you go, Uncle Rick...a picture just for you!  

Ooohhhhh those eyelashes!

I love these pictures.  Carrie says that they will be the ones used on his first country record album cover.  That is...if he sings.

I love this one...blue teeth from a sucker and all!

Daddy was finally able to squeeze some smiles out of Josh...

And of course, Charlie was begging for some attention.

"Play ball?"
(That's in quotations because I know that's what she's thinking.)

Then it was time to go in and open presents!
The kids got Matthew LEGOS!  Josh and Matthew are both having lots of fun with their LEGOS.

More LEGOS being unwrapped...

And then...what every cowboy needs!

His very own BB gun!

And BB's!

Presenting...Cowboy Matthew!
You know, when we were choosing names for Josh and Matthew, one of the things that I loved about those names (besides being really cool men of God names) was that they also sounded very cowboyish.

Breaking ol' Daisy in...

Love! Love! Love!

Lately, Matthew has been choosing two events or holidays and then asking which I like best.  Christmas or Easter?  Valentine's Day or Groundhog Day?  Fourth of July or Halloween?  Yesterday he asked me Christmas or Birthday?  I had to ask him whose birthday, because if I had to choose between Christmas and Kids' Birthdays, it would be a really tough choice.  I love celebrating the kids' birthdays!  I think because it reminds me of how they have grown.

Birth to age six...

May 2008

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

My Matty-Boy.