Celebrate!

Rich's 36th birthday was a big deal around here. In fact the preparations started the night before. Rich was on call at the hospital giving us extra time to get ready. After cub scouts we decorated and baked a cake.All the kids put a lot of heart, soul and marker into making Rich cards.Trey's a nut. His card read: "You're not the man of the house.... (inside card) You're the KING!!"You have gotta love any birthday when you can get away with drawing a Jack-O-Lantern on the card!Matt's card read, "You are the top dog. I love you."The boys gave Rich their cards the next morning before school.The girls were so thrilled it was their Daddy's birthday. They couldn't even contain their excitement and insisted we add the candles BEFORE we frosted the cake. Or took it out of the pan.This is Rich's dream come true. For years he would resist opening all his presents at once. Now he has two very eager little helpers that ripped everything apart before any of us were ready. The girls got through most of the gifts before breakfast. Good thing since the girls were chanting, "Shirt. Shirt." Maybe next time I'll wrap with out their assistance.Rich was on call and didn't get home until 10 PM. We tried to take a few group kid shots for him. This is the best we got- blankets, PJ's and all.All the kids were in bed when Rich got home, but everyone rushed out of bed to greet the birthday boy. All except Josh who I was unable to wake up. At least I have one child that actually likes to sleep!The girls happily opened the final few presents. It is never too early to pull out the Christmas wrapping paper....Photo taken by Matt.Photo taken by Trey. (Not bad since his broken arm would not allow him to get the camera close enough to look through the view finder.)

Happy Birthday babe. WE ALL LOVE YOU!!!