Birthday's Galore!

I am finally catching up on my posts...

Samantha's Sweet Sixteen!
I am truly bummed that the pictures did not turn out for her birthday. (I really need a new camera Santa). Sam's dad gave her a car for her birthday and we gave her spending cash for new clothes. It is tradition in our family that on non-party years we go to the birthday person's favorite restaurant. Sam chose the China City Buffet and it was super yummy! We almost asked them to sing to her, but we envisioned a scene like the one in "A Christmas Story" where the Chinese staff is singing "Ra-ra-ra-ra-ra" instead of "Fa-la-la-la", so we passed on embarrassing her at the restaurant. We then went shopping for several hours (seriously, she tries on the whole store). All clothes had to be Mom and Sam approved. It was fun to spend time with her and shop till her money was gone. She does not have her license just yet (she has a couple of requirements to meet first), but she will probably get it when the semester is over. So - watch out world! Sam is on the streets!

Christian's B-day!
The big boy is now 11. Where has the time gone? My "baby" is 11? I guess I'm starting to feel old now when my youngest child is passing my shoulder and has the same size feet as me. *sigh* Christian's birthday was spent with the family and his restaurant pick was to have Papa John's pizza delivered. Christian also opted for spending cash and bought several games for his Game Boy Advance (his only item on his Christmas list this year was a Nintendo DS). At least he will be able to play these new games he bought on the "hoped for" gift.

Christian also needs glasses now. All my kids got my bad genes in that department. So here he is in his new spectacles.

Marlayna's B-day!
Poor Marlayna is last in the birthday season. She always has to wait patiently through her siblings birthday's before finally getting hers. she is now 13 and growing more beautiful every day. Her restaurant pick was the Golden Corral and we pigged out there too. I'm sure I gained back the 5 pounds I lost during the birthdays. She also opted for cash this year. Older kids seem to enjoy picking out their own gifts. Or, maybe I'm just not good at shopping for what they want. Marlayna is much faster at picking out what she wants and was done in about 30 minutes. She bought new clothes as well.

We are all another year older. Imagine that.