Happy Birthday, Ethan!

A long time ago, Ethan turned 14!  I wanted his day to feel celebratory despite the fact that we were quarantined and all fun had been cancelled.  I came up with a pretty good idea though.  I sent him on a scavenger hunt around town for his birthday presents.  I had hoped to have Marcus drive him around which would give Marcus something to do too, but the DMV closed before he could take his driving test.  If there's one thing I've learned from this pandemic it's to be flexible so I adjusted and decided Marcus would drive Ethan around while I sat in the back saying nothing, not even complaining about the loud music they played.  I wanted them to feel like I wasn't there and it was fun for me to be a fly on the wall and see these brothers in action.  It was a lot of fun!  I quickly made up a few clues and hid a couple presents at different locations with the help of neighbor Barb (I think she was happy to have an excuse to leave her house).

Ethan's first gift was a Starbucks gift card that he was supposed to use to buy three drinks (not coffee, of course) for him, Marcus and Randy and then deliver Randy his drink for the next clue.  We pulled up to Starbucks and the drive-thru was closed.  Ugh!  But I'm flexible so I told him to give me a head start and we ran up to Randy's office where Ethan received his new iPhone.  Ethan has been impatiently begging and waiting for the day when he could have a smart phone to replace his "dumb calculator phone."  I haven't seen Ethan smile so big in a long time when he opened the box.

From there we went to the library where he eventually found a gift that I had carefully hidden behind a huge rock in hopes it wouldn't get stolen before we could get there.  Next we went to McDonald's drive-thru to pick up lunch, where Marcus proceeded to order using his best British/Australian accent (but I didn't say a word even though it was super annoying).

The next clue sent us to our church parking lot to eat lunch and get the next gift.  

'Thanks for the lava lamp, Grandpa!"

From the church we drove down to Issaquah to a bakery where he went inside and asked if they had an order for him.  The baker handed him a box with a HUGE donut cake inside.

We drove back home with the sun shining, music blaring, and the boys having a great time together and for a little while all thoughts about the pandemic were far from our minds.  It felt glorious and was the best part of my day.

The donut cake made up of 3 giant donuts and large cinnamon stick donuts for the fries on the side.  And yes, that's real bacon on the sides to make the "burger."

 After dinner and cake, we had an intense game of water balloon volleyball to end the party.

Happy Pandemic Birthday, Ethan!

Happy Pandemic Birthday, Marcus!

Marcus turned sixteen!!  Or should I say, Marcus turned sixteen and who even cares because he can't do anything so he doesn't feel too excited about it.  Poor kid.
I ventured out to find a bakery that a friend told me about so I could surprise Marcus with some amazing donuts in the morning.  While I was out, I figured I'd try to find some toilet paper since apparently it's gone if you're not at the store first thing.  A lady at the bakery tipped me off to a junky store called Big Lots so I headed there and bought the last two packages.  Score!!  By the time I got home, Marcus had already gotten up and made himself breakfast.  How depressing is that??
We ate donuts and hung out, frequently checking the news and our phones for more updates since things were just beginning to shut down.  I think we were still holding out hope for something to stay normal.  I can't remember what we even did that day but I know we finished the day off with spaghetti and meatballs--his favorite meal since the age of two.  He didn't get to open many presents because they all arrived late (even the grandparents failed this year).  Poor Marcus.  But eventually he got some clothes, a fixed screen for his cracked phone, and a fancy massage gun that feels pretty amazing after a long run or tough workout at the gym.
Marcus doesn't have his drivers license yet because the DMV is closed.  He passed the written exam with a 94% and will be one of hundreds of kids anxiously waiting for May 4th when things might start opening so he can take the drive test.  Marcus got money to take a girl out on a date and instead, he used it to take his brothers out for ice cream because we all know a date is not happening anytime soon.  Luckily we have a friend who bought a home gym set for his garage and is kind enough to let Marcus use it (by himself) every other day.  It has saved us!  So even though the world seems to have shut down, I still get to do a normal thing by driving Marcus somewhere, dropping him off, and returning to pick him up.  It's frustrating he can't drive himself but I LOVE getting out of my house.
So happy birthday, Marcus!  Sorry for a lame, pandemic birthday!

Happy Birthday Ethan!

Another teenager is in the house!  Ethan is thrilled to be thirteen because that means puberty and growth spurt are just around the corner, he hopes.  Why is that sometimes the very thing you want most in life just doesn't seem to happen?
Ethan is a great son.  He is smart, funny, obedient, athletic, and has righteous habits.  He always makes good choices and isn't swayed by peer pressure.  He's good at fixing things and taking care of Henry and has become my right-hand man whenever I'm in a bind.  He loves scouts and is on track to getting his Eagle soon.  
Ethan had a pretty low-key birthday this year.  He went on a camp out with his scout troop the night before so I sent Randy up with a birthday cake so everyone could celebrate him.  We spent his birthday in the sun watching lacrosse games, doing yard work, and prepping for Easter the following day.  Ethan chose to go out for dinner at Dough Zone, a dumpling restaurant.  The dumplings were delicious and when we told our waiter how much food we ordered he thought we were kidding because we ordered so much.  But we ate every single thing!  After dinner we opened presents which was uneventful because his awesome hover board I ordered on Amazon wasn't delivered until the next day.  But I'm sure Ethan was thrilled with his new socks :)

Eating dumplings.  This boy has mastered chopsticks like it's nobody's business

A new hoodie, new socks, new shoes, and an empty box with a promise of a hover board arriving soon

Birthday cake number 2

He found this little guy while playing in the yard

Eating cake while hover boarding around the kitchen.  I can't believe I don't have a picture of him on it.  Just videos.  He rides it all.the.time.   And Henry loves riding with him.

Happy Birthday Ethan!  We love you!

Happy Birthday Marcus!

Birthday Boy with the flu

Marcus turned fifteen!  We were excited to celebrate this boy.  Poor kid came down with the flu on Wednesday and still wasn't feeling great on his birthday the following Sunday.  We let him stay home from church and I'm afraid to ask him just how much he enjoyed that little gift!  He cleaned the kitchen while we were gone so that was a pleasant surprise.
You should know that Marcus HATES his birthday.  He doesn't ask for much, refuses any sort of party or small gathering and if I hint that I might have something up my sleeve he gets a horrified look on his face and begs me to not do whatever I might be thinking of doing.  I think it's weird but it's his day so I have to honor his request at some level.  I still did all the usual birthday traditions we have like decorating his bedroom door with a sign and balloons, hanging up lots of pictures of the birthday boy all over the kitchen, and making a cake and dinner of his choice.  At dinner over grilled burgers with fried onion strings, everyone said something they loved about Marcus and then we clapped and cheered.  Marcus hated it but endured the compliments while silently pounding down two giant burgers.

Marcus chose a cinnamon roll cake for his birthday cake which is absolutely delicious when it comes out of the oven, but it isn't a typical birthday cake and it's super easy to make.  But I still failed.  I pulled the hot cake out of the oven, yelled for all the boys to come to the kitchen to sing and blow out candles, and quickly poked the candles in the cake.  By the time Marcus arrived the candles had started to completely melt inside the cake.  Duh!  I pulled them out and to my horror saw puddles of wax filling the holes where the candles once stood.  We put the party on hold for ten minutes while the cake cooled down enough so I could scoop out the wax, then I put the candles back in.  It was a mess but Marcus was forgiving.  So that's how we celebrated the big 15 for Marcus and now comes the part when I get to tell you some of the reasons why Marcus is so awesome...
Marcus is a great kid!  He's a natural leader, comfortable talking to adults, super athletic, musical, and kind to everyone.  He is smart and knows how to work hard.  He loves his little brothers fiercely and they love and admire him in return.  He is very attentive to others, whether it's noticing his brother is upset about something or that I'm wearing something new, he notices it.  His future wife is going to love him for that!  He is disciplined and will do whatever it takes to reach the goals he sets for himself and the ups, downs, and drama of his love life always keep us on our toes.  In his words to Ethan, "Only one more year until I can date girls without Mom being mad."
So accurate. 
We love you Marcus!
Here are some random pictures of him throughout the past year.  It took awhile to find them.  He truly isn't around much these days, and if he is he's got Henry in his arms or his shirt off or both :)

Scout camp Marcus

Marcus at Disneyland

Marcus at Hobuck Beach

Marcus playing church ball

Happy Birthday, Henry!

Henry turned one!  Hooray!  Good thing he's too little to know what should happen on birthdays because we didn't do anything to celebrate his birthday on the actual day.  Well, I did tell him happy birthday, but that was it.   We were too busy having fun with Laura and her family who came to town.  We spent the afternoon at Pine Lake so the kids could experience paddle boarding and water trampolines, and then our friends took us boating on Lake Sammamish.  Ironically that night was also the first time since we opened our office that Randy had to see an emergency patient on a weekend which meant I had to assist him.  So we cut our boating experience short, raced home, threw on some scrubs, and ran over to the office while Marcus put Henry to bed. On his birthday.  Without a single present or birthday cake.  So now you know why I'm glad he won't remember his crappy first birthday.  Summer birthdays just plain stink.  And we have 4 of them in our family.  Ugh.
Here are some pictures of cute Henry sporting the one-year-old look.  We love him to pieces around here (even when he's fussy and clingy from having too many strangers around). 

catching some Z's on the boat

 The day after his birthday and I was too lazy to make him a cake so he got a giant Costco muffin with leftover homemade frosting from Randy's birthday cake.  It took him a minute to figure out his favorite muffin was under the frosting.

We quickly wrapped his ball in old Christmas wrapping paper.  I really outdid myself.

Grandma Great sent a gift that plays music so it is now Henry's most favorite toy.  This boy LOVES music!

His look of fear was due to the fact that he kept trying to touch the flame on the candle.

It's hard to be 1

Marcus shoved it in his face and then he cried. 

Eventually he figured out the goodness of cream cheese frosting and made quite the mess