Samuel's 7th Birthday

Samuel's birthday is on New Year's Eve and I think this one was his favorite yet. I asked him what he wanted to eat, start to finish, for the whole day. He requested pancakes for breakfast (and no, not the spelt blueberry ones, the white trashy ones :)), Vietnamese restaurant for lunch and homemade pizzas that we "decorate" ourselves for dinner. He didn't even want fun Sunshine pizza for an outing. So, he got all his food wishes granted. He also wanted to go bowling and ask a few friends to come along. Luckily these friends obliged even though it was completely last minute. Here are some pictures, totally out of order (sorry - I can blame my lack of organization on chemo brain, right??).

Juliet eating at the Vietnamese restaurant:And excited about it! My children LOVE the vegetarian rice noodle soup bowls - weird children, they are.
Samuel even attempted chopsticks.
This is what Abe did most of the time. Easy peasy!
And firs thing that morning, Colin bestowed Samuel with a bb gun. He was extremely excited! He also received a vat of Legos and some other specialty sets as well.
Such a cute picture of Wes, Samuel, Steve and Jude at the bowling alley.
Jude loves sugar more than life itself so he was pretty excited about this chocolate cake!
Here is the whole crew partaking in the birthday cake.
Samuel and I - do you mamas ever notice how little you are actually in family photos?
Yes, Jude chooses his own clothes.
Here's the whole crew! Ruby, Steve, Sissy, Wes, Samuel, Steve, Jude, Eli and Wyatt.

Eli bowling.

Ruby enjoying her cake.
Samuel enjoying thoroughly one of his presents.
Sissy is SUPER excited about bowling!

And she picked out her own very pink ball with Grandpa's help.
Samuel's about to blow out his candles.
Sissy really enjoyed helping me make frosting that morning - and of course she had to test it to make sure it wasn't poison.
John sweetly took Sissy to wash her hands.
Action photo.
And Tiffany was the baby whisperer for me. Bless her heart.