Oh Jake...

I asked Jake to go and lay out his clothes the other day...this is what he came up with :) He thought he was funny, I thought he was pretty creative. Love that kid.

Teenager!

Trying on shoes...I wanted those brown booties!

Blowing out her Birthday candle

Cheesecake...of course!

double stack sandwich ....mmmm

Lunch time...crazy with this many teen and pre-teen girls!

Is it just me, or is Emilee's mouth always open?

Zaidie, Chloe, Lindsay, Emilee and Annie

Blowing out her candles

Jake, my little poser...um, notice Emilee's mouth...uh huh, open.

Happy Birthday Emilee

Homemade yellow cake with Chocolate frosting...

I know...I look wayyyy to young to have a 13 yr old, right? That's exactly what I was thinking. Ok, maybe I "look" like I could have a 13 yr old easily, but I definitely don't feel like it.

I remember when Emilee was born, how little she was, how friendly and funny she was. And now, well, she's not so little, she's friendly when her hormones don't interfere, and the only thing funny apparently is me, funny-looking that is. I can't dance, I can't sing...the list goes on and on. It's so weird how your cool factor goes out the window as soon as you have a teenager.

This year I wanted to do something special for Emilee. She was able to invite 4 of her closest friends to go down to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch, hang out at the Gateway Mall (which was torture for me, I'm not a mall person or much of a shopper), then headed home with a dessert stop along the way.

I'm grateful Emilee has such good friends. I know I don't have to worry about Emilee too much. She does very well in school, she loves Young Women's, she has a lot of good friends, and I know she wants to do what's right. I just hope that these teenage years will prove to be a time where we grow closer and not apart. Emilee and I have some similarities, but the truth is, she is very different than I am and I hope I can understand and learn to accept some of the things she may want or not want. Starting to let go a little bit is killing me...because I know everything of course. :) But we all love Emilee and know that our family is better off and laughs more often because of her. Happy Birthday Emilee, we love you!

Riley

Riley...with buddy Jake

My Riley turned 9 January 22nd. Time flies when you have 5 kids! Each year for the kids' b-days, Delon and I let them choose where to eat and what to do. Riley usually always chooses some kind of sports bar...and then we go hunting for basketball jerseys. He is so obsessed with Basketball right now. Delon loves it...I find it somewhat charming, especially when he says, "Mom, you have to see this dunk!" or " Can you imagine being 7 and 1/2 feet tall?" No, no I can't...I would settle for 5' 10 though :)

Anyway, I never got pics of his b-day. I'm a little sad. It was very simple and low-key. We had a cake for him, and then all he wanted to do was play ball in his new jerseys. I love the passion that Riley has for life, which is only confirmed by the fact that he still tries to play even though he's wearing a boot because he broke 2 toes and pulled the ligaments in his foot pretty bad. That's another story...let's just say Delon feels really bad. But we are grateful for Riley and hope that one day he can be 7 and 1/2 feet tall and play in the NBA...I know, wishful thinking. :)

Happy Birthday little man!