Happy 4th Birthday Ty!

 My sweet little Ty Ty turned 4 today. I know it is so cliche to say every year that I have no idea how he got this big, but it's just so true! Time is just flying by and I look at him in awe that he really is 4 and not my baby anymore.

He brings so much happiness to our family. Out of all my children, he definitely has the biggest stubborn streak in his personality (it wears me out at times), but he balances it out with his affection and sweet nature. He is a mama's boy all the way and will tell me over and over again that he loves me every single day. He'll just yell it down the stairs to me out of the blue. He is always asking to cuddle or to give him a hug and he tells me daily that I am his best friend. See why he's wrapped around my heart so tight? He sure knows how to make a momma feel good.

For his birthday we went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, about 45 minutes away from us. Honestly it was one of the most amazing zoos I have ever been to in my whole life. It is up in the mountains so all of the exhibits have the natural vegetation and surroundings just like in the wild. I was impressed with the way the zoo was set up, including the ski lift that took you to the top of the zoo with amazing views of the animals below. My boys thought it was awesome to ride a ski lift together even though I was slightly nervous at times with them on it!

But in all honesty, the absolute highlight was the giraffes. You could pet them and feed them and when I found out that little big of info, I practically hyperventilated out of excitement. And it lived up to it because it truly was an awesome experience and we had so much fun getting to interact with them up close and laughing about how extremely long their tongues are. It was kind of freaky at first, but it made it easy to give them food without getting too close to their mouths. They would whip those tongues out so fast as soon as they saw we had lettuce for them!

Heading up the super slow ski lift

This picture makes me smile!

Brady has Felix the Bunny visiting us for the week from school so we took a few shots of him around the zoo.

 And I saved the best for last. The #1 highlight of the day was the 3 week old baby giraffe. I just about died, he was so cute. I have never seen a baby giraffe before and he was truly adorable walking around with his wobbly knees. I wanted to just watch him all day :)

 After we left the zoo, we drove through Garden of the Gods real quick since we were in C.S. Amazing as always. I can't wait to explore more here this summer.

When we got home it was time for the party! Ty wanted a robot cake so I attempted one and did my best. He opened his presents and blew out his candles like a pro. I guess when you are 4 you know exactly what birthday's are all about :)

Cake Time

I think he had a pretty good birthday and we all loved celebrating with him so much. He's a pretty special kid!

Ty's 4 year Birthday Interview

• Favorite color- green
• Favorite food/snack- Pancakes, Waffles
• Favorite toy- castle and play dough
• Favorite movie/TV show-  sonic the hedgehog
• Best Friend- BB 
• Favorite thing to do with Dad- play game with him
• Favorite thing to with Mom-  love her and cuddle
• Favorite thing to do with with your brothers- play mine craft
• What do you want to be when you grow up?- a dad
• Favorite animal-  giraffe
• Favorite book-  curious george
• Favorite sport-  soccer
• Favorite song-  e-i-e-i-o
• If you could have a magic power, what would it be?- run really fast like sonic

• What is your favorite holiday?- christmas lights
• If you had a million dollars, what would you buy?- cookies
• How old do you have to be to drive a car-   14
• What is your goal for this year?- just have fun
• How many kids should we have in our family?-  15
• What is something that you think you are good at?- being a nice friend at church
• Tell me your best joke-  flacka (his made up word that he says all the time??)

Valentine's Day 2013

I love Valentine's Day. I love being able to show the people I love how much I love them and to have a day dedicated to that. I continued with my tradition of hanging hearts in my kids rooms/outside their door the night before V-Day with things I love about them written on them. Getting on the top bunk without waking Brady up as I hung them on the ceiling was comical, but I managed it!

 I had a lot of fun decorating for our valentine's breakfast.  I truly love any excuse to decorate and have a party, it's one of my favorite things to do! I made the kids little baskets with dollar store goodies in them and Guy picked up krispy kreme doughnuts for breakfast. The boys were so cute in the morning and my heart overflowed with love for them about a million times (like it does pretty much every day!)

 Cute valentine note from BB

 I love all my valentine's so much. I am grateful they are mine!!!

Morning Snow

Ty and I went out in the morning and played in the snow. We've learned in Denver that if you don't play with the snow fast it will melt by the next day. It was fun to have some one on one time with him and I loved when he told me he needed to hold my hand so I wouldn't fall. Always looking out for me :)

snow angel