Happy Birthday Boo Boo!

I totally forgot to bake or pick up a treat for Justin's school tomorrow!! It's his birthday, and he wanted to bring M&M cookies. So guess what I am doing at 9:00 at night??? Oh, and I had NO baking soda, so my WONDERFUL husband ran out for some!! Isn't he great? It is soooo cold out and I really REALLY didn't want to go out! He also surprised me with roses and Fannie May raspberry creams (OH MY GOD. My absolute favorite candy. I think it's only available in the Midwest. Am I wrong?). And today, since Patrick was home early, we went sledding!! Great night for it, but Corinne took her mitten off after half an hour and screamed when we would try to put it back on, so I got to hang out with her in the van for an hour. Yay....


Here's Justin on his first birthday...

Please ignore the short hair-do...

Here's Justin now...

This was in January for my youngest niece's first birthday party.

He's now considered the "big kid" instead of the spoiled only grandchild on both sides of the family. He's now very good at piano and singing, loves to be WEIRD and make people laugh, is incredibly intelligent and enjoys reading books that amaze me. He loves speed: roller coasters, sledding hills, roller skates... He's a Wolf scout, is into pirates and Xbox, likes to draw but not color, likes to be active but not compete in sports, is best buds with his brother and ADORES his sister. He and I butt heads like there's no tomorrow, but still are sooooo similar that we can connect in a way that no one else can. He still likes to cuddle before bed but doesn't want me to call him "Boo Boo" in front of his friends (that's a hard one to remember...). He's changed so much in 8 years. And so has my life!

Ok. The timer's beeping (again) so I have to finish baking these cookies. I can't believe he's turning 8 tomorrow! When he was born, he was the length of my forearm. Now, he's almost as tall as I am!