Balloons for Gramma

We had something sad happen in our family this past week: Gramma went to heaven. So today, we decided to write some letters to Gramma to tell her how much we miss her.

Then we got a beautiful bunch of balloons.

And we attached the letters to the balloons.

The boys were a little sad and a lot excited.

They held on to the ribbons with Grandad and counted, "1, 2, 3!" 

Then, they let go.

We were in a beautiful place, and the sun came out while we were there. There were lots of hugs, and lots of love.

And Gramma would have loved every minute of it.

Cody's Birthday

Cody is 7! We celebrated on the day of his birthday with donuts, some play time at Chuck E. Cheese, a viewing of Cars II, and a yummy Daddy-made cake masterpiece. 

Look! It's a tie-dye cake!

And then he added Cody's name out of M&M's. And sprinkles. And frosting. Awesome overload!

And this is what the cake looked like on the inside. Have you ever seen a cooler cake?

Happy Birthday, Cody!

Luke and Cody's Birthday Party

Cody and Luke had so much fun at Jackson's birthday party last summer, so they wanted to have their party at Bounce U, too! They jumped and bounced with a bunch of their friends until they were sweaty and red. 

They got to share the birthday throne.

I'm not sure how Luke can see anything with the crown over his eyes.

That cake sure was yummy!

Cody's day was made because his best girl, Julia, came to his party.

And Luke's best friend, Jared, AND his "girlfriend," Murphy, came to celebrate with him. 

Feel the love!

Happy Birthday, Boys!

Cody's 7 Yr Portraits

Cody picked the location for these pictures I took for his 7th birthday. He loves the cool rocks and the waterfall at St. Andrew's, a beautiful church near us.

There were actually some pretty fall colors out, which is almost unheard of in Texas!

He's so much more serious than Luke, who is SUCH a ham and giggles throughout photo shoots. Cody is more pensive and controlled, but his great sense of humor and sweetness comes out at times, too. Like in this cheeky smile over his shoulder. And in the sneak peek of his lucky red boxers. LOL

Look how OLD he looks in this picture!!! Where is my Codybear?

Oh, never mind...there he is! Thank goodness for the gap teeth, or I'd be worried he was already all grown up! 

What a handsome 7 year-old!

A Date with Cody

Last Friday, Anthony and I took Cody out for a special dinner to celebrate his birthday. It was just the three of us, and we decided to take him to a very fancy restaurant that the other boys have never been to. Cody always amazes us with how responsible and mature he can be, so we thought he'd enjoy a "grown-up" restaurant. 

He got his very own lemonade without a kid-friendly lid, and we toasted to a happy birthday! 

After dinner, the waitress was nice enough to bring Cody a birthday surprise.

And she took this nice picture of the three of us.

Here's the outtake of that shot....look at Cody eyeing his cake! LOL

Here's me and my Codybear outside in front of the lion...that's his mane over my shoulder. ;)

We had a nice time, but I think our Codes would have been happier with Chuck E Cheese or something more kid-friendly. He does behave in quite a grown-up way sometimes, but I think he's happy being a kiddo for now...at least when it comes to restaurant options. So next time? Rainforest Cafe. :)

Luke's Birthday Cake

For Luke's birthday cake this year, I wanted to try something a little different. After Jackson's and my success with the cake balls, we felt like doing something a little more creative. We basically wanted to do a cake in disguise, or as Jackson put it, "a cake in a Halloween costume." :)

We started with a totally normal chocolate cake.

Then I crumbled the cake into a flowerpot (it's actually a sand pail, but we worked with what we had!).

I put in layers of gummy worms and frosting.

We ground up Oreos in the food processor.

And voila, dirt! 

Then we put an artificial flower in the top, and the cake's "costume" was complete!

After dinner, Luke was so excited because it was time for cake. But Anthony told him that the store had run out of cake, so we got him a flower instead.

"But I wanted cake!"

Then Anthony said, "Who will give me $5 if I take a bite out of this dirt? Watch me. I'm going to eat dirt!"

Luke thought Daddy had lost his mind.

Until Anthony dug in with a spoon and actually took a big bite of "dirt!"

Well, Luke thought that was pretty funny and decided he should try some dirt, too.

He was a little nervous about how it would taste.

"Hey, that's not dirt! That's....OREOS!!!"  And Luke promptly dragged that flowerpot closer to him and dug in with his shovel.

And then...he found a worm! 

This was SO much fun! The older boys just loved knowing the cake's secret and waiting to see Luke's reaction, and Luke totally loved his "dirt cake....'cept it wasn't really dirt." 

Happy Birthday, Luke! Gotcha! ;)