Who's taller?

I think it's funny that 6 of my kids are almost the same 3 heights.  Nathan and Michael are about the same height and I think Michael might be a slight bit taller than Nathan.  (See the pic below to see how happy he is about that.)  Anna and Katie (although Anna's passing her up fast, lately).  And Lydia and Elizabeth.  I predict Lydia will always be short like her mommy.

Anna's birthday party (or should I say birthday week?)

Anna decided she wanted to go see the last Harry Potter for her birthday.  We went to Fork and Screen where she got to pick anything she wanted on the menu.  (And a note to my sister, yes we went to Fork and Screen! Too bad you've never been to something similar. ;) )  The boys had already seen Harry Potter for a church activity and Blake and I saw it on a date.  We didn't think the little ones would like it so that left Anna.  I took her by herself.  She told me, "This is the BEST birthday ever!  Well, and last year was the best birthday ever too.  So now I've had 2 best birthdays in a row."  Most days are the best days ever for Anna, which is something I really love about her.

We went to the movie the weekend before her birthday.  Then on her actual birthday she went camping with Dad (pictures to come).  Then on the Sunday after her birthday she got to open presents and have cake.  And then the next day they celebrated her birthday at school.  So she pretty much had a week of birthday celebrating!  She loved it.

Happy Birthday Anna!

Our sweet Anna turned 11 on Sept. 16th!!!  I've never known such a tenderhearted, sympathetic, kind, happy, energetic person. Anna loves life and is excited about everything. She loves anything girly/fashion/frilly, but she also isn't afraid to get dirty. She really just puts her whole self into everything she does (sometimes literally). She has an enthusiasm and love of life that is contagious. She is almost always happy (although we do have the pre-teen years trying to change that lately), she gets along with everyone and is so friendly and outgoing. She makes friends wherever she goes and always includes everyone.  She is super funny, incredibly smart, friendly, and very compassionate.  We love our amazing girl! Happy Birthday Anna!

Now for some pics! 

New baby Anna (really old, bad quality but the only digital one I have of her this early)

And a few of the 11 year old Anna. Here she is with her requested Coca Cola cake. Katie and Lydia enjoyed singing Happy Birthday in our family's typica,l SUPER-CRAZY style. The pics tell it all:

Caleb's birthday party

Caleb wanted another Train Birthday.  You might remember he had one last year for his 2nd birthday.  Well, Caleb remembered his train party so well that he wanted to do it all over again.  Last year we went to Union Station in downtown Kansas City.  That's where we went again.  We even ate at the same restaurant.  There's a fun restaurant nearby where they have trains that bring your food to your table.  Caleb loved it even more this time.

We went to lunch first.

Wearing engineer hats while waiting for food:

Anna wanted her picture taken by the Coca Cola train!

 Lydia had a tummy ache during the ride downtown.  Then her anxiety kicked in and she was so worried that she was going to throw up that it made her stomach hurt more.  I tried to convince her that she was probably just hungry and should just eat, but that wasn't enough for Lydia.  I ended up taking her to the bathroom about 20 times.  (UGH!)  I finally asked for a bag and told her to hold it.  She felt sick all through lunch and as we walked around - till I was sneaky and took the bag from her.  The minute she couldn't see the bag, she was fine.  I do believe that her tummy hurt, but I think it was just from lack of food.  Ugh, Lydia!  It's probably mean, but I find this picture pretty funny!  This is what she looked like for most of lunch.  (Notice in the later pictures though, that she's fine.)

Caleb was so excited... which made him silly!

Here comes the food on the train!

Then we headed to the train station.  It also happened to be the Irish Fest so Anna wanted her picture taken by the green fountain.

Checking out tons of miniature trains:

His favorite is still Thomas!

Then we went outside to see the real trains.  There was only one this time.

Present time!  He got a wooden train set which he has played with non-stop. Loves it!

And cake!  He wanted another train cake like last year.  You may remember that I wanted to throw that cake out window while making it.  I still remember the pain.  What he remembers about the cake is that it was a train with "crunchy wheels" aka mini Oreos.  So I just made him a chocolate cake, used mini Oreos to make a track and put a toy Thomas on it.  Worked fine and took about 5 hours less time to make!  He still loved it - especially the crunchy wheels.  He also loved everyone singing Happy Birthday to him.

So now Caleb's a big boy!!! He celebrated by potty training himself... in ONE DAY!!!    He told me he's a big boy now and proved it.  He's the current Chosen One!  And for those of you who are quick to say, "Oh how lucky" or "Not fair" or "I wish my kid would do that", I've paid my dues with the other kids who were impossible to potty train and were way too old when they finally got it.  So Caleb gave me a little break.  That probably means he'll be a horrible teenager or something.  For now, I'm jumping for joy and I tell him how amazing he is every single day.  He always says, "I know - I'm awesome!"  My jaw is seriously still on the floor in amazement!