Celebrating Drew

We went back and forth trying to decide how we were going to celebrate Drew's birthday this year. The past two years, we've had a "party" of sorts, inviting our families to come celebrate with us. This, we decided, has become somewhat impractical as we live quite a distance from them, and Drew is beginning to reach the age where he is developing friendships. Then the next question became, do we invite his friends and set some kind of precedence for the future? I always want our kids to feel special on their birthdays, to know what a wonderful blessing they are to us, and what a great day is was when they were born. But "special" doesn't equate with toys toys toys! Look, we just had Christmas, and the last thing we need at this point is more toys around here. And Drew has grandparents coming throughout the next couple weeks to celebrate his big day, and no doubt they have gifts in tow, so presents he does not need. In the end, we decided to invite some of his favorite friends from church (with "No gifts please" clearly printed on the invitations; however, you will see that apparently some people can't read!) over today for pizza, cake, and ice cream to celebrate Drew.

Abby, Keegan, and Amy

Lucas and Josh

Drew was very fascinated with this musical card. He kept opening and closing it to hear it sing.

Opening forbidden gift #2.

"CHEESE!"

Since today was party day for Drew, we gave him one of his gifts from us. At the end of the day, there were 181 pictures taken on this camera (I'm pretty sure it passed through the hands of 4 or 5 different kids!). I hope to get a few of those uploaded and posted so you can see the party through three-foot eyes. :)

I wish I would have gotten a better group shot of everyone that joined us today, but this is the best I have. THANK YOU for celebrating with us!

It was a Lightening McQueen-style party, complete with this cake, made by our good friend Manda. She does a great job, doesn't she?? (You'll remember she made Drew's VeggieTales cake last year, too.) So cute! (You'll want to remember those cute cars on top for a later story.)

I think he might have been a little embarrassed as we sang to him!

BLOW!

One last smile before he got to dig in!

Jessi, Drew and Bekah

After the party ended, our very dear friends, Rich and Chris (whom Drew adores) asked if they, along with their grandson Lucas, could take Drew shopping for his birthday gift and then to a movie. Of course we said yes, and much to our surprise, Drew didn't fall asleep during the movie! He was so excited when he returned, after picking out some new Cars cars at the store and eating M&Ms at the theater. (I wish someone would volunteer to take me shopping on my birthday!) Once he settled back in to his nightly routine of play, he couldn't find that little McQueen car that was on top of his cake. We encouraged him to look in the couches and in his car case, when he disappeared into the other room to have a look. After a few minutes of quiet, I hear Drew say, "Mom, he's not on top of the cake!" I come into the kitchen to find this...

Apparently there's no frosting left on top of the cake either! :)

This is just the beginning of our party extravaganza as Drew's actual birthday is Tuesday, Brad's parents come to visit on Thursday, and my parents will be here the following week.

Happy (early) Birthday, Bubba! We love you!