Birthdays and Easter

Well, the boys are another year older. Ian is the big 6 tomorrow, and Tucker turned 1 on Friday. I can't believe they're that big already. Their party was a combo deal, so I had to come up with two totally different themes that still could work together. (Those of you with kids who have birthdays close together, I totally recommend a combo party! It kept my family members from being tied up on multiple Saturdays, and the stress on me as a parent wasn't any worse.) Back to the post: I decided on Yoshi for Ian, because of his addiction to Super Mario Brothers games and with some of his Christmas money from family, he bought all Mario Bros. Collectables. So that decision ws pretty easy. Tucker's, on the other hand, was a little challenging. I wanted something cute, and memorable, but nothing to compete with Ian's. I settled on a stacked cake, decorated as a present. I didn't want the same loop bow that you usually see on cakes, so we tried something a little different. Overall, the party went great, we had lots of fun, and it was awesome having distant family visiting. I want to thank all the parents who came and brought the kiddos!
While the whole family was up, we decided it would be a great time to celebrate Easter, because some of our family can't come up on Easter weekend. After the birthday party, we all jumped in the kitchen, done a LOT of chopping, and cooked Chinese food. Yes, Chinese on Easter. It's not your typical Easter meal, but by the time Easter rolls around, we're all tired of ham, turkey, and your usual vegetable sides. I had a ball in the kitchen with the family cooking. It's not often that this happens for us, so I definitely want to do it again soon. We all over-stuffed ourselves and went to the yard for hiding and hunting the eggs. I think we hid 60 eggs, and only found 50-something. They were all plastic, so I guess Granddaddy will find them with the lawn mower when spring rolls around. We had a ball this weekend, and crammed as much as we could in one weekend. Anyway, here's a few pics from the occasions, (and I kinda mixed them up a little):

Brotherly Understanding

I don't have any cute pictures to post this time, but I do have a cute little story I'd like to share with all of you. My youngest has definitely started developing his temper. He gets so mad over the least things. I had hoped he would be my calm one, but it seems he's not going to be. Anyway, to my story: We were riding home, and Tucker fell asleep about 10 minutes from the driveway. Apparently, 10 minutes is just enough to make him ILL!!! Ian was so sweet. He gave Tucker every toy in the toy bin, and Tucker would have nothing to do with any of them, and was doing that constant cry/whine (emphasis on the whine) that we all love so much. Ian didn't give up, and finally satisfied him with a Hot Wheels from his own overflowing collection of cars. This seemed to work for about 5 minutes, until Tucker lets out a spine-chilling scream, and chunks the car as hard as he can. Instead of Ian getting mad, he gently pats Tucker on the back and says, "I know how you feel, Tucker. sometimes I just have to throw stuff, too."