Birthday Mania: Troy

Nat's family has birthdays every week for three weeks at the end of July through the beginning of August. She always worries that we'll get "caked out" from going to her house for the three parties every year, but I always tell her that there is no such thing as getting "caked out." Yum. Cake...

Troy turned "flea," as he calls it (three) last week:

So we had a little party for him. So much fun. That's his Bumblebee t-shirt. He is immensely proud of it.

He had been asking his dad for a "walmart" (lawnmower) forever, so he got a bubble-blowing one:

Oh, he was SO EXCITED. He had that smile plastered on his face all night long.

Here he is, singing, "Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you," to himself:

Troy got a stuffed Mickey Mouse toy that instantly became the hit of the evening amongst his siblings. Ivy and Brock were fighting over it all evening. If Ivy had it, she would go up to Brock and gloat about it, sending Brock into upset howls. If he had it, he would saunter up and let it just within her reach, then yank it out of her grasp, sending her into shrieks. Here is Brock, hiding behind the chair in despair at not having the Mickey Mouse in his hands:

Micah was in the worst mood that night, of course. I placated him with many, many graham crackers:

Which Ivy also enjoyed:

It is so hard to catch Ivy on camera, because she just runs around all the time. The girl can't hold still!

Lexi was reading to Micah, and Micah wasn't sure if he wanted to pitch a fit about Mommy not reading to him. You can see he's trying to decide how to react to her:

He's such a punk.

Dylan found this pretend microphone toy and hit himself on his forehead with it all night:

He's so weird.

Pete was "pulling a Ben," as I call it:

That is, reading a book when company is over. I always catch Ben doing that, and I have to pry the book out of his hands so that he can be a good host. Pete is currently re-reading Harry Potter 7.

Little boys hate getting clothes, but for moms, it's the best thing about a child's birthday, because moms know how often clothes get torn and worn out and grown out of. Troy opened his present with clothes in it and immediately dumped it on the floor. Here are Mom and me, saying thumbs up to cute clothes for Troy:

It was such a nice night that we went outside to play. Troy pushed his "walmart" around all night long, that crazy, happy smile plastered on his face:

My dad pitched a t-ball to Dylan and had him practice batting:

I didn't get a picture of Dad pitching, dang it. He said later that he thought to himself, while we were all outside playing around that evening, that this is what it means "to have joy and rejoicing in your posterity." I agree.

Jake and Sadie spent much of the evening jumping on the trampoline:

I love how Jake is jumping with his hands in his pockets in that shot.

At one point, Jake did some sweet dance moves for me:

Slides, anyone?: