Lukie's Bike

I just realized that I never blogged Lukie's new bike and outfits. Lance braved the crowds the day after Thanksgiving for Lukas. He had outgrown his bike and needed a new one. We discovered that Wal-Mart had some for $29 and told him he could get one. Well, they were sold out by the time Lance got there and only had this really nice one for $50. Still not a bad deal. He also bought Lukas two new "work-out" suits, which Lukas absolutely loves. We should have bought seven of them. He would wear them everyday. These were his early birthday presents from us.

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Disclaimer: All poses are the sole idea of the persons in the picture.

My Chefs. The boys decided they would make the cake without the help of Drue because she and Cassia did not let them help when it was her birthday.

The finished product. The boys added ingredients and mixed the batter. Mom did the icing. They told me I should work at Sam's Club decorating cakes. Aren't they the sweetest boys!


THE BIRTHDAY BOY very happy that it is his birthday.
My sweet boys.

My "normal" boys. Don't let the first two pictures of them fool you.

Lukie and his Launa. Now these two are tight.

The very "posed" Drue and Lukas.

Lukas, Sam, Daniel and Bro. Roger at Jason's Deli. Papa and Nick also joined us for dinner, but Papa was taking the pictures and Nick was beside him.

Lukas in his shirt from Bro. Roger and knitting with his needles and yarn from Daniel.

Lukas learned to knit just a few days before this with two pencils and a shoe string. I would not buy him needles until he learned how to knit. I thought he was too young. Come to find out, he is too determined. Drue gives him lessons three days a week. He doesn't let her forget. (As a side note, I think Drue was "talking" on Launa's phone. Launa found it very entertaining and I didn't realize that she was in the picture. She will really appreciate this being on the internet in a few more years.)

10 years

PRAISE THE LORD! This month we celebrated our tenth anniversary. We worked all day, seperately, and then Lance and Lukas went to a friend's house for dinner. We were leaving in two days for Anaheim for a week (I will blog that later) and I had a ton of stuff to get done. However, while we were in Anaheim we went to Lance's favorite Korean restuarant and had some soup that I don't know how to spell, dumplings and lots of kimchi. He spent two months with some Korean brothers last year in Anaheim and this past summer I spent a week with a Korean family. We both grew to love Korean food and especially kimchi. We have yet to find good kimchi here in AZ and although I have been "told" how to make it, I cannot remember what she said and was never told amounts. We bought some extra and took it back to the hotel to enjoy for the rest of the week. (The point being, we did take some time to celebrate, with the kids of course!)

31

Well, today is my 31st birthday. I almost made it through this year without any birthday attention. Not that I mind being 31, I just don't like all the attention. The older I get, the less I like to be noticed. A huge change from my younger days! Lance is in California, Drue is in Florida and Sam and Launa do not have any concern with dates (except for their birthdays). However, my ever-needing-to-know-what-the-date-is son, Lukas, asked me yesterday, "What is the date today?" I said quickly, Dec. 30. He looked at me quickly and said, "Tomorrow is your birthday. Hey, tomorrow is Mom's birthday!" The secret was out. At least to those of us in the van. Anyway, it is our family tradition to go out to eat at your choice on your birthday. The kids quickly chose Jason's Deli, our new favorite place to eat (they have free ice cream). And, because Wed's are kids eat free night, I consented. No cake or candles, just a nice dinner out with three of my kids. We took these pictures the other night when we were bored. I let each kid use the camera. Launa never figured it out. We let her try at least twenty times. I told her she could try again when she is four. By the way, my Mom called while I was in the shower and all the kids were in the living room. She left a message of her traditional singing Happy Birthday and my Mema also left a message of her traditional singing the last verse of the Happy Birthday song while we were out, so I guess the secret would have been out sooner or later. Lance also called and woke me up this morning with his own rendition of Happy Birthday. I think he made it up on the spot and I don't think he could ever sing it again. It didn't really have a tune. It had some "Happy Birthday to you", "O Lord Amen Hallelujah", and "Praise the Lord". Kind of three songs in one. It was sweet none the less. He said he had just woken up too and wasn't even out of bed yet.

Figuring it out!

Hey, I am getting the hang of this blogging more and more. I just figured out how to get a nicer background. (Once again from Tiffany's blog.) I should be sleeping, but since I am up, I will update some of our very full December.