Our New Couch! :-)

Before (aka crap):



After (aka awesomeness!):

Our new couch just arrived! :-) It's a bit of what Pete and I liked. It's the leather with recliners that he wanted and a sectional like I wanted and I got to buy the pillows and throw that I liked too to help soften it up. It's sooooo super comfortable too. My dad has already said how much he's looking forward to coming out and trying out the recliners. There's a space behind the couch and I'm not sure what to put there yet. We have a small oval table that would fit perfectly, but if I put a lamp back there you wouldn't be able to see it. I think putting the table back there with a tall pot with palm branches or something would be cool. What do you think? At any rate, we love it and though it's WAY different than what we had before, I think it's going to be a lot of fun. Em and Jeff are coming tonight, so we'll see if they approve or disapprove. Granted, if they disapprove, it won't matter much, because we just blew a huge chunk of change on it, but it'll be nice if they do. :-) Oh, and we moved the old couches to the basement and they are perfect for down there. I'm sure the cat asleep on them at this very minute. Now, if we ever get around to finishing the basement, we might actually have a livable space down there. :-)

Flashback Friday

This is a picture of Madie the first time she was in VBS. I'm pretty sure she was 4 yrs old, but she may have been 3. But, it was the year I took over as co-director and I'm pretty sure I was pregnant with Olivia at the time, so she must have been 4. Anyway, she just LOVED it! We did "Jerusalem Marketplace" that year and the teachers and some of the kids dressed up as people during the time of Jesus. It was one of the best VBS's I've ever been a part of. It was insanely hot that year - 100 degrees almost every day that week and even though we had it in the evenings, it was still awful! But, at the end of each night they did this song where they did these motions and I remember watching her do them and just getting tears in my eyes as I watched my sweet little girl praising God in this way. I remember a few people coming up to me and saying how touched they were to see her doing that dance as well. It was a slow, soft, beautiful song, made all that much more beautiful by seeing over a 100 kids lifting up their voices to God. And, especially beautiful to see my sweet little 4 yr old doing it so sweetly. :-)

Worn-Out!

Livie had a busy day of gymnastics and then shopping and when she got home, she got pretty sleepy. I thought she was sitting there watching her cartoons, but when I looked over, she had kind of started slumping down and next thing I knew she was sound asleep. :-) And, of course, she has fallen asleep about 10 min before we have to leave to pick up the kids from school. Doh! Also, this is probably the last time she'll be falling asleep on THIS couch, because we're supposed to get our new one tomorrow!! Stay tuned to see which one. We ended up finding one that wasn't even on our list before. It's really nice and filled my wants and needs as well as Pete's. :-) So, hopefully sometime tomorrow afternoon, I'll be blogging about that. Hooray!!

P.S. - Aren't all children just absolute sweeties when they're sleeping? So cute with her little butt in the air and her little leotard still on. :-) Love her to pieces!!

Oooh! A Surprise!

A package came in the mail today for Madie and boy, was she excited!! When Nana and Papa Drexler were here a couple weeks ago, they got "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" cards for the kids. Madie loved them and did a lot of sorting with her Papa, trying to see if she had collected them all. Well, Papa went home and found MY old Star Wars cards from the early 80s - when Return of the Jedi came out - and sent all the extras to Madie. She shared them with her brother and sister and they spent most of the afternoon looking through them all and finding their favorites. I found my favorite Luke Skywalker card that I used to dream over when I was a kid. I was so in love with him when I was 8. :-)

Livie found her R2D2 card, which was her favorite, and Madie was excited to find Boba Fett.

She was even more excited to see that there were stickers included!! Granted the stickers are almost 30 years old (Eek! Am I really THAT old now?!), so they have absolutely no sticking ability, but I told her they were special, so they all made sure not to ruin them by using them. Now, she has SW cards and HSM cards. Maybe someday he'll actually get her to like baseball cards too. :-) She didn't grow up sorting baseball cards from infancy like I did, so she's just now getting into the joy of them. Anyway, thanks Papa!! It made her day!!

The Israelites

In Sunday School the kids have been learning the story of Moses. We do a rotational thing where we all meet together as a group, do our memory verse, our song, our books of the Bible, then have the storyteller tell us about the message that day. Today we had an "Egyptian" come and tell us about the last plague - where the firstborn of every household died. Well, we then dismissed and because we are doing a short 2-week rotation instead of the normal 3, we combined some classes to do that. Today, I had the preschoolers and kindergarteners. We were talking about the plague the storyteller told them about as well as the exodus and how God provided a pillar of smoke and fire to lead their way. I had them dress up as Israelites and hold either one of the pillars. It was seriously the cutest thing!!! We had a really small crowd today and I was so disappointed, because it was really so much fun to watch them pick out outfits. I wanted to share the pictures I took of Noah and Olivia (Madie will do it next week).



Noah just HAD to wear something black and thankfully he found just the right thing. Unfortunately it was an adult-sized costume, so he could barely move in it, but it was cute for the picture! I took pictures of all the kids in the group today and will next week too for the 1st-5th graders and then post them on a bulletin board for everyone to see. :-)

Olivia's picture seriously cracked me up!!! She's such a little peanut and with her outfit and stuff, she looks like a little muppet!! hahaha Such a cutie! She didn't want to get dressed up at first either. She only wanted to wear something blue and the only blue piece was like a kerchief size, so we wrapped a scarf around her middle to make it cover her. Isn't she a riot?!! I've been the director of our Sunday School program now for 3 years and I gotta tell you I took the job kicking and screaming - literally! Someone else was supposed to be the director, but 2 weeks before we started this new program, her mom died and she gave me all her stuff. So, I did what I could to help while another woman kind of lead the way, but then that woman also lost her mom, so once again it was handed to me. So, after 2 people passed to it me, I relunctantly (angrily is more like it) took it and it just kind of grew on me. When God wants you to do something, He doesn't let you wiggle your way out of it. I learned that the hard way. ;-) Now I love it and write all the curriculum and come up with all the games and crafts for the whole program 3yrs - 5th grade. And, it's days like these, where it's silly and fun, that I enjoy the most. Especially when I know it's bringing the bible to life for these kids in ways it never did for me. Anyway, just wanted to share these pictures. I just thought they were the most adorable Israelites that ever lived!!

Flashback Friday

I was going through some pictures, trying to decide what to post about on another one of my Flashback Fridays, when I came across this picture. This is a picture of my grandma Drexler and her sister, my Aunt Anne (that's my dad's mom and aunt in case you don't know). My grandma is the one on the right. I've always loved this picture, because my grandma looks so beautiful in it. Even as a little girl, she was beautiful. My grandma was born in 1909 and was born to italian immigrant parents. I don't know a lot about her childhood, because I was too young to know to ask before she died. But, I remember what a sweet spirit she had and I've been enjoying reading the stories my Aunt Judi has posted about her life when my grandma was a young mom and raising 4 little rambunctious children. :-) I do know that she lived in Philadelphia and was very poor. Her dad died when she was young and her mother had to care for all 5 children on her own. But, despite all that, she was a loving wife and mother and a very strong, devoted christian woman. And, even though she was sick most of the time I knew her(she died when I was 13), she was always so kind to us kids and would give us hugs a lot, something my grandpa didn't really do much. He wasn't a hugger. And, I remember she made the yummiest lamb I've ever had! Oh, and I can't fail to mention that she and my grandpa were married for over 50 yrs when she died and they were completely and totally in love those 50+ yrs. Makes me smile when I think of them together. :-)

Now, my Aunt Anne (the one on the left) we got to know really well, because she lived until I was in college, and many times when we were out in NJ visiting them, we'd stay with her. She was a riot! I remember wishing that I was more grown up, because my mom and dad would be downstairs after we were in bed, laughing it up for hours and hours with her. And, while my grandma was a quiet little thing, my aunt was a loud, funny woman. She loved to joke and laugh and she would have the best time with my dad who's exactly the same way. I remember her saying something about going to the beach and seeing these women with their "boobies" hanging out. My dad was shocked and said, "Aunt Anne!!". She's like, "What? That's what they are, aren't they?". As a 9- yr old, I thought that was hilarious! ;-) She loved us kids too and everytime we had to leave to go back home, she would wave to us and then walk away, because goodbyes were too hard for her. And, she too loved God dearly. She and my grandma were amazing examples of what a godly woman should be. I loved her dearly and was so sad we didn't get to see her before she died.

But, the picture above, though taken almost a century ago, is just a small moment in the lives of these two wonderful women. Women that I wish I had been able to know as an adult , so I could have learned more about their lives. But, what I do know and love of them is enough to hold me over until I see them again in heaven one day. Ya know, as I look at that picture, I realize they were probably the same age as my kids now. Wow. Things sure have changed since then. No Wiis or legos or 50" plasmas. I wonder what they would've thought of what our kids get to have now? Maybe I'll ask them someday. :-)

Crazy Hair Day!

Today is "Crazy Hair Day" at school. They are having a food drive to bring canned goods and stuff to the local food pantry. If the kids bring something, they get to dress up for that day. Madie's hair is longer, so it's easy to do something wild to her hair. She's sporting the 4 ponytail look today. :-) Noah just got a haircut a couple days ago, so his hair is really short and I couldn't figure out what to do to it. I tried making spikes, but it wasn't long enough. So, I thought maybe adding some of the girls' barrettes would work. He thought it was hilarious!!!! All the kids were laughing at him. He said Madie looked like Kit Fisto from Star Wars and he was now called Mr. Lady. ;-) hahaha I'm sure once Pete sees this, he's going to be so thrilled he left for work early.

Here's a better shot of Noah's hair. He had 5 of the pretty barrettes we have. Oh, and Livie's not actually trying to do the crazy hair. That's just her morning hair. ;-) It makes you wonder though where they inherited their crazy hair. I mean, who are they related to that would know how to make their hair the talk of the town? Hmmm..... I wonder..........

A Little More Q & A

While sitting around the dinner table tonight, we started talking about our favorite foods and I thought, why not ask the kids what they think about certain foods. See if they are for it, against it, or not so sure about it. Here are the responses I got...



Livie was QUITE enthusiastic about chocolate...

As was Noah. He started dancing.

And, Madie too. She also was dancing. Can't blame them. Chocolate makes life worth living! ;-)

Me: So, guys, what do you think of crescent rolls?
Madie: I love crescent rolls!
Noah: Infinity thumbs up!!!!! (he says as he starts chanting "crescent rolls, crescent rolls!")

Olivia: I love crescent rolls too. My thumbs up.

Me: Wow! Quite a response there. How about chips?

Madie: double yay!

Noah: I give it one thumb.

Olivia: I like that!

Me: Um, pie?

Madie: yes!

Noah: No way, Jose.

Olivia: uh, yes.

Me: I almost hate to ask, but what about (gag) broccoli?

Madie: I like it.

Noah: 1 thumb up, 1 thumb down (darnit! he's slipping back into the evil)

Olivia: I like that! I give 2 thumb.

Me: OK, now that we got that out of the way. How about ants?

(laughter ensues!)

Madie: Thumbs down!!!!!!!!

Noah: Ewwwwwww, ants? blah!!!

Olivia: (shakes her head)

Me: How about worms then?
Madie: Ewwww!!! That's gross!!

Noah: No way!!!!

Olivia: Mmmmm. Gum worms!

Madie: Oh, yeah, gummy worms! I like those. Say gummy worms, not worms.

Noah: Me too. I like the blue ones.

Me: Well, I guess gummy worms work too. So, Madie, tell me about your favorite foods?
Madie: I like food because some are healthy for me. I like sweets too, even though they aren't good for me. When I travel around the world someday, I'll collect food to eat. Like healthy foods. Fruits and vegetables, oranges, strawberries, corn, salads. Things like that.

Me: Good to know! Noah, how about you?
Noah: I like crescent rolls and that's all. My birthday is going to be crescent roll day and I'll have crescent roll cakes every time and that's all I'll eat for infinity.

Me: I guess you really like crescent rolls, huh? Livie, what do you want to tell us about your favorite food?
Olivia: Um, I like, I like gum worm. 'Cause, yeah, daddy come home, eat them. Yeah, daddy come, yeah gum worm, daddy eat. And, have hawp on Wii. Yeah, daddy play that.

Me: I have no idea what you mean by "hawp", but thanks for sharing. Well, this has been quite informative. You like all kinds of food, except bugs. Good to know. Thanks everyone!

***Just an aside to let you all know that the fight against the broccoli continues. Yes, my innocent, easily-swayed children all apparently still enjoy it, but I have heard a movement has begun as a result of this blog. People, whose minds were once clouded by the weed, are starting to see the light. The light, that is, of a broccoli-free world, where children can roam free without the threat of running into a broccoli pusher or sprout dealer. Granted, the movement consists of me, my sister, and maybe one other person, but it's growing! The talk that we've stimulated here is bringing questions to people's minds. Whether it really is good to teach our children to the consume such evilness. A known corruptable plant. Now, the broccoli has gotten wind of this and is fighting us thistle and root to keep us down, but as our numbers grow to 4 and even 5, so too is our resilience! So, I encourage all of you to put down your forks. Avoid the salad bars (Amy!!) and tell Chilis, "We will no longer accept broccoli as a side dish anymore!!!" Onward we go!!!

Bed-Making 101

I got permission from dad to take this picture of our bed the other day. When mom and dad come, we let them stay in our room, since we have a bathroom in there and a tv and it's just nicer for them to stay in there instead of say Noah's room, which doesn't have either of those things. Anyway, he told me he had to show me the bed. Why, you ask? Well, to show me how he very nicely arranged his Cubs pillow in with MY pillows. Of course, that is not what my eye went to when I walked in the room. It went to the hilariously BAD bed-making attempt on his part. Now, granted, when we stay at their house or Pete's parents' house, I don't usually even bother making the beds, because I'm usually too busy to do it and, quite frankly, it's easier to close the door and forget about it while we're there. But, the fact that he thought he'd be a funny guy with his Cubs pillow, made it even funnier to me that he thought that somehow his bed-making skills would be overlooked! He's received much mocking and ridicule, which is quite on par in our family, about his skills at such things. He actually tried to defend it, by saying his pillow arranging was quite nice. The Cubs pillow, again, adding to the "splendor" of which he spoke. I pointed out though, that typically you make a bed to look like you HAVEN'T had 15 people rolling around in it. The blankets are usually pulled taunt. The comforter lined up nicely with the floor. You know, things like that. So, the next day, he came to me and said, "Check it out again. I did a MUCH better job this time." As I walked in, another smile crept about my face as I saw that really nothing had changed. I look at him with a smirk and said, "really?" "Yes!" he said, quite emphatically! The line of the comforter was straight. The blankets underneath were laying flatter. BUT, as he forgot to mention, the bottom of the coverlet was about 2' off the floor on one side and the end of it was hanging about 2' ONTO the floor! I chuckled and congratulated him on a job mostly done. :-) Now, granted, I'm the first to admit I am a bit, oh, how do I say, um, ANAL about these things. I like my beds made, so that not a single wrinkle shows. The pillows much be aligned evenly on the bed, and seams pointed inward. I want to know if I took the time to make the bed that it looks like I spent that time REALLY making my bed! I don't think he quite understood that when he decided to "show off his skills". ;-) Pete let him know it's just pointless to try and please me, so he eventually gave up his quest to impress, knowing that he had a better chance of me liking Obama than me liking his bed. So, the whole weekend was full of mocking and laughing over his bed-making skills, while he mocked me for my lack of hearing skills (and whatever else he could think of) and the teasing continued for the remainer of his time here. And, when I was changing the sheets this afternoon before they left, he came in to laugh at me for how I was doing it. How my angles weren't all perfect and straight (they were of course) and how my pillows weren't "just so". I'm sure if I had thrown his Cubs pillow on there, put the comforter on cock-eyed and let the kids jump on it for a half hour, it would have been up to his specifications. ;-) Anyway, this blog entry was just a little laugh at my dad's expense. Ya know I love ya, despite your lack of knowledge as it relates to making a bed..... and I won't even get into your skill at folding sheets. But, you're the original broccoli-hater and for THAT, I give you props!

A Visit From The Drexlers

My parents came for a visit this past week and we all had a lot of fun together. :-) Dad took the whole week off and decided in order to really get away from the stresses of his job, he and mom would come out here for a few days. They came on Thurs afternoon and just left today after lunch. The kids are always so excited when they have visitors, especially when it's their grandparents. And, this time was no exception.



Here Noah is showing his grandpa his book about SPACE. He was looking up "Red Giant" in the glossary in the back. Since MY grandpa, my dad's dad, was into outer space, he was pretty interested to see what Noah had learned.

Madie was showing Nana her dinosaur book and showing her what her favorite ones were. I think she was impressed with how many dinosaurs Madie could name. :-)

The day of Noah's birthday, Noah got a package from his Aunt Jill and Uncle Apple and in it were presents for all 3 of them. So, they were very excited to open them up! Grandpa was excited too!

Madie got a bunch of lip glosses. She wore some today to church. :-) Livie got "Puppy in my Pocket", which is perhaps one of her favorite things ever! And, Noah got some diving sticks, which will be perfect this summer when he practices going under the water.

When grandpa found out that the kids like "Star Wars: The Clone Wars", he just happened to find SWCW cards! Granted, they weren't baseball cards, but pretty darn close and the kids LOVED them! He bought them over 30 packs of cards (wow!!), which they opened up and sorted and some of the packs had tatoos, so they each have a SW tatoo on their bellies right now.

Here Livie is showing off her Anakin card. :-)

Madie's showing off one of her Anakin cards too. You can see in the background that grandpa is bringing grandma in for a closer look. :-)

And, Noah is holding up a special see-through card! It was REALLY cool!!

Dad told Madie to make a list of all the cards she had, since she had a checklist in one of her packs. She sat there for a good half hour making a very detailed list of what she had and what she needed. She was so impressed with herself for doing that and couldn't wait to show him when he got back from going out to dinner with mom. Both mom and dad got an education about Star Wars during their time here. Dad and Pete stayed up until midnight (at least) last night watching Episode 3. Pete was able to fill in all the gaps and answer all the questions he had too. This is the family to come to if you need a Star Wars question answered, I'll tell you that. Even Livie can list off about 40 SW characters. Madie and Noah are quickly becoming experts on the subject!

They had a really great time hanging out with them, celebrating Noah's birthday with them, and sorting out cards with them. Thanks Nana and Papa for coming out and playing with the kids and sharing those gifts with them. They LOVED it all!! And, next time you come, I swear we'll have a much more comfortable couch for you to sit and watch Family Feud on. :-) Oh, and maybe a little beach volleyball, dad? ;-)

Noah Paul Trolinger

Literally days after I had Madie, I knew I wanted to get pregnant again. I wanted another baby. Having Madie made me realize that being a mom was what I was put on this earth to be. But, we decided to wait at least a little while before trying to have a second baby. And, as is my tendancy, I got pregnant pretty quickly. I didn't have to take a pregnancy test to know either, because I was sick all the time and felt about as much energy as a dead person would have. Smells made me want to vomit - garlic, tires, Pete's soap after he showered. There was a whole list of them. So, it didn't surprise either of us to find out that I was pregnant a second time when I finally got around to taking the test. This time it only took one test to show me that I was indeed expecting. :-) Those first 3 months were really rough and I remember laying on the bathroom floor asking the baby to please take it easy on me! I remember telling Pete that it was probably going to be a boy, just because everytime I ate chocolate it made me sick and since Pete doesn't like chocolate, I figured it must be a boy taking after his daddy. :-) After that first trimester, I felt a million times better and just enjoyed watching my growing tummy. And, grow it did!! We never found out what we were having, but we always referred to him as a HIM and as he got stronger and his kicks were more noticeable, I'd wake up in the middle of the night with him kicking my ribs and swimming all around in there. He was an active, busy little guy!! Well, since I had a c-section with Madie, I opted to go that same route with him. We talked to the doctor and since we had Em coming out to watch Madie, I wanted to have him on a Friday, so she wouldn't miss much work. It worked out that the friday he was looking to deliver was Valentine's Day. I thought that was about the sweetest thing ever! Pete just thought "Woo-Hoo, I can get out of v-day gifts now." ;-) hehe Anyway, we went in at 6am that Friday and by 8:15am we had a beautiful, sweet little boy looking up at us. The nurses kept telling me what a big boy he was. "A 9 pounder, I'd guess" they said. But, he ended up being 8 lbs even and just an absolute joy! We named him after Pete's grandpa Paul who was a really special person to Pete especially, but to the whole family as well. And, I think he had a lot of pride in knowing that he had a great-grandson named after him. And there was no greater person to have him share a name with that his great-grandpa.

Here he is, probably only a day or two old in this picture. Such a cutie even then!

This is one of my very favorite pictures of Noah as a baby. A little duckie, sucking on his binky. He was such a lovable, huggy little guy. He loved nothing more than to be kissed and snuggled. I ate it up!!

As he got bigger, he got busier. He loved exploring and discovering new things. Mostly he liked following Madie around and doing everything she did. He worshipped the ground she walked on. And, he was still a cuddler. So sweet.

Again, another favorite picture of mine. Look at that sweet face!

He's always been a joker. Loves to do silly things and make people laugh. Just an ornery little guy who, while he might not always listen to what you say, he almost always has the best of intentions. Especially when he took all of Papa Drexler's flashlights apart to see all the pieces and how they worked. Then left him with no working flashlights in the process, but his curiousity was quenched in the process. ;-) Just likes to see how everything is put together. Takes after his dad that way.

His first day of preschool was a big milestone. He had wanted to go with Madie the previous year and was soooo sad when Madie started and he had to leave her behind. Now, he got to go and he's loved school ever since. He's such a smart boy too. Like I said before, he doesn't always listen, but that's mostly because his brain is going a different direction at the time and he's too focused on something else to hear you. But, his teacher told us last year that he is one of the smartest kids she's had in her career as a teacher. He figures stuff out quickly and is always curious to learn more.

This was kindergarten round-up day. He has the same teacher as Madie and he just walked right in without a fear in the world. Granted, when we dropped him off his first REAL day, he seemed a little more unsure of himself, but he's so outgoing and so personable, he seems to find friends easily and fit in with anyone. He has a funny personality, but a kind soul.

He started tball a couple summers ago and just loves it! Granted, sometimes he'd rather just be hanging out on the sidelines goofing it up with the other kids, but I think that's what makes it fun for him. He loves being around other people and being outside and laughing it up is about as great as it gets for him. Well, unless it's building something with his dad or fixing something with his tools. He loves that too.

All in all, having my son 6 yrs ago has brought more laughter, more silliness, and more love than I ever thought possible. Yes, often times you'll hear me say "Noah! don't do that" or "Noah, stop messing with your sisters", but most times, I just give him a hug and thank him for being such a sweet, kind boy. Always willing to share his stuff or give things to others or make silly jokes to make us all laugh. Noah Paul, we love you to pieces. Happy 6th birthday, buddy!!!

Noah's Birthday Party

Noah is 6 yrs old today!!!! We had a little party for him with his Nana and Papa Drexler who have been staying with us since Thursday. He wanted a Mariokart birthday party. We have a tradition that I started back when Madie turned 1 that we decorate the house the night before, so when they wake up, it's all festive and cheery for their birthday. :-)



This is Noah standing in his party zone! :-)

Noah doesn't really like cake. So when I asked him what he wanted for his birthday, he said crescent rolls (his favorite food in the world). I said, "Well, how about a crescent roll cake?". He thought about it for a while and decided that yes, he did indeed want a crescent roll cake. So, making it's debut, the one-of-a-kind Mario Bros. crescent roll cake. All I did was take different kind of crescent rolls and layered them into a mountain, poured melted butter all over it, and added some Mario figures and candles. Voila! A masterpiece that will be talked about for generations, I'm sure.

Here he is admiring my artistic endeveour. All the kids were quite impressed. Granted, I could have put candles and Yoshi on a plate of spaghetti and that too would have impressed them, but I digress.

Pete lit the candles, we sang Happy Birthday, and Noah blew out all his candles. Livie helped as she always does. I don't know why little kids like blowing out candles, but that's a very exciting moment for them when they get a chance to do it.

I told my parents to get to the other side of the table, because I wasn't getting them in the pictures, so dad wheeled mom around and apparently felt the need to "pose". Not sure what he was pointing at, but he wanted to make it interesting. ;-)

This is Noah and I as he's getting ready to open his first present.

I found this by chance the other day when Livie and I were shopping and knew I had to get it for him. Mario lights up and flashes! Can't get better than that!!!

Noah got a BLACK HOLE Planet Hero from my parents. He didn't have him and was very excited that he got him. He talks too, which makes him even cooler!

Pete's parents got him a gameboy and some games. You can see from the look on his face, he was more than just a little happy. :-) He was like "Whoa!". His Aunt Francy gave up her gameboy for him, which was so super nice. He loved his card from them too, by the way. It was of Darth Vadar and if anyone knows my kids, they know that they are Star Wars maniacs!!

Aunt Jill, Uncle Adam, Trevor, and Ty got him a matchbox car that changes color and I'll tell you, he got 2 cups out almost right away to test it out. He's been playing in the sink off and on all afternoon. :-)

This is Noah taking the elbow and knee pads out of its package. Now it looks like he's excited about them and he was. But, his expression is because he just looked up and saw the big present we got him which was.....

This awesome Matchbox Car bike!!! He loved it! I am dedicated to finally teaching my kids to ride bikes without training wheels, so I'm hoping that by the time summer starts, he'll be cruising along without them.

The snow we got last night melted, so he was able to take it outside for a couple quick passes. He was staying pretty close to Pete there for a couple laps, then just took off and went to town. I think he's going to have a ball on it this summer.

So, that was the end of Noah's birthday party. He's now down in the basement with Pete and the girls, riding his bike down there and playing with his new presents. He said it was the best birthday he's ever had, so I'm taking it that we succeeded in making him happy. Happy Valentine's Day!!