7 Years Old!

This past week, we celebrated our baby, our youngest little one turning 7!  Noah is so full of life, intensity and joy, and being his parents is one of life's most wonderful adventures.  He is tender-hearted, helpful and kind, and he can also push us to our limits of frustration some days.  My heart wants to burst with pride over how much he has grown, learned and accomplished in the past year, and I also want to cry at how quickly he is growing up.  For now, I am grateful that he is still my little buddy that is quick to give a smile and a hug.  He loves Legos, Star Wars, building things, all types of workers, and music.  Our big gift to him this year was his very own electric guitar.  We are looking forward to some family jam sessions!

We celebrated Noah's birthday in a very similar way to Evie's birthday - a family driveway party!  Thankfully we are able to gather pretty safely since so many of us are fully vaccinated, so we were able to come in and watch Noah's birthday video and have cupcakes when the evening got chilly.  Noah loved having everyone here, and he was SO excited to take his new scooter out for a spin with his cousins.

Evie made a driveway card and had everyone sign it for Noah

We continued the celebration the next day with a couple of Noah's good friends.  We picked the boys up at school, played a round of mini golf, and then went out for donuts.  Our original plan was for ice cream, but with a chilly high of 50 degrees on Friday, we all opted for a warmer sweet treat!  The boys were hilarious (lots of bathroom jokes!), and had A LOT of energy, but it was really fun to see Noah hanging out with his friends.  Matt and I gained a whole new appreciation for First Grade teachers, though!  Phew!

Aside from the birthday, we connected with a few friends over Memorial Day weekend, again feeling grateful that we can see other families safely now!

Congrats to our nephew Stefan - VALEDICTORIAN of his 8th grade class!  (We watched the ceremony via livestream)

A real Memorial Day BBQ - the "kids table" (plus Matt!)

Playing with Godcousin Emily at the park.  Luckily these kiddos didn't mind that it was raining!

Sunday Night Bingo

And here are a few other glimpses of the week:

Noah worked really hard on this Mandalorian mask

I got a new window cleaning tool, and everyone was fighting over it.  I love having help with the windows!

An afterschool ice cream with my girl 

Fresh trout - yum!  (Matt usually does catch and release when he goes fishing, but if a fish isn't going to survive, he will bring it home so it doesn't waste.  This was a nice treat!).  

Last, but certainly not least, our fluffy princess.  She is STILL in heat and has been needing some extra snuggles at various moments.  It's been pretty funny!

A swimming party with her buddy Ivy - it was adorable!

Frankie loves to follow us into the bathroom when we shower!

Enjoying a pup cup ice cream treat

Emily LOVES Frankie!  They were so cute, and Frankie was really good with her.

I looked back and saw Frankie resting her head by Evie in the car over the weekend.  It gave me a flashback to our final car ride with Roscoe when he was riding the same way.  Goodness...this side-by-side makes me cry!  How blessed we were/are with these dogs and kids that make life rich.