YIKES- Happy birthday, Matthias & Benjamin!

One of my goals this year was to be more consistent with blogging. Yeah, I know. I've said it before. It's so easy to make plans... it's the follow through that trips me up each time! :) But I know I'm not the only one who does this! ;)

I have this goal of maintaining my blog for a few reasons. It helps keep family & friends up to date with our lives, it's an easy way to share pictures with others & it's a place for our own family to look back & remember. In an effort to simplify, I'm no longer trying to scrapbook for each child beyond their one year albums. Instead, I'm printing out favorite pictures each month for a family scrapbook. I'm also going to print a blog book of each year for each child. If they want any more pictures (and I have a ton!), they can print & scrapbook later. :)

When inputting this year's blog into the book (this will be the first year I actually PRINT out a blog book- exciting! I plan on going back & printing previous years later), I realized I never posted happy birthday posts for Matthias & Benjamin. WHAT?!?! Those poor children! In my defense, we were sick with hefty-duty stuff & life was at a standstill. We did celebrate their birthdays (but just amongst ourselves so we didn't get anyone else sick) & I did take pictures, so I'm going to post them here. :)

Matthias turned 10 this year- DOUBLE DIGITS! We celebrated his birthday with The Hobbit theme. Patricia did all the planning & cooking- so thankful for that because I wasn't up for it.

"Shoot an arrow at an orc" was the first game:

Next up was "hit the bag, NOT the wall." Wait, that's not what it is called? Oh. That's what I called it. :) I was very nervous how this game was going to end but thankfully it went pretty smoothly: 

Next, a quiz of Tolkien facts:

Opening of gifts & the treasure hunt:

Sickness aside, some years, birthday celebrations are bigger than others. The children don't seem to mind & I'm grateful that they are happy with simpler celebrations. Benjamin's birthday was pretty low key because we were still sick but I did snap a few pictures. He turned 12 this year & he's  looking older:

They had a great day hanging out playing together:

Everyone enjoys deciding on the day's menu when it's their birthday but NO ONE enjoys it as much as Benjamin! :) He's always loved food. This year, he requested bacon brownies with vanilla ice cream. It tasted a bit weird:

Matthias & Benjamin, it's exciting to see how the Lord is maturing each one of you. You're taking on more responsibilities & serving your family. I love the laughs you bring to our home, Benjamin. Matthias, I love your wonder at God's creatures. We love you both!