Happy Birthday, Tabby!

So yeah, I'm posting older pictures.

Tabby had a great birthday.

Starting with Happy Birthday wishes from our wonderful neighbor, Mary Ann

Jack came up for the day.

We went to Bay Beach Amusement Park with two of Tabby's best friends, Ella and Amber.

Cake!

And, of course, sparklers.

Happy Birthday Becky!

Yay birthdays!  Last Thursday Becky had another one.  We didn't do much.  Becky said she didn't want to spend money going out.  I think she just wanted to stay home and watch Gray's Anatomy.  But we had cake!

On her birthday she interviewed for a position at the Brown County Library.  They had, like, 420+ applicants for six open positions.  I don't how many of those got interviews, but wow.  Before the interview, Becky had to take a shelving exam.  She found out during the interview that she aced it.

Unrelated to Becky's birthday, but still noteworthy: Sam got a job!  He's a lifeguard at Tundra Lodge.

Happy Birthday Sam!

Sam turned 16 on Friday.  Man is he an ambitious kid.

The current big adventure he's planning for is a trip to Germany next summer.  This summer we're hosting an exchange student named Florian then next summer Sam gets to spend a few weeks with Florian's family.  Man has Sam latched on to the whole "Germany is cool" thing.  He's even looking into how he can attend University there.

Sam is also looking for a job.  He's been networking like a madman and lined up babysitting gigs several times.  Other than that, the most promising prospect at the moment is a frozen custard place called Culver's.  They actually called him back for a second interview.  Can you believe it?  A fast food place that conducted multiple rounds of interviews?  But hey, Sam got to the second round.

His big past time is creating electronic music.  He participates in online forums dedicated to it.  Spends a lot of time at his keyboard playing.

"Hey dad, you know how I wanted to learn more about music theory and how to improve what I make?"

"Yeah?"

"Well I found some colleges that offer free online courses on the subjects and signed up for three."

"Wow. That's a big load to take while still going to high school."

"Oh, not at the same time.  Just one at a time."

"Ah, whew.  What colleges?"

"Like, Berky?  and Emmy?  Or something like that."

"You mean Berkley?  and Emory?"

"Yeah, those are them."

"Wow, those are some impressive schools."

"Are they?"

"Umm, yeah, Sam.  They are."

Turns out the course he's taking is at a Berklee College of Music, not UC-Berkley.  Not being part of that scene, I had to go look it up.  Apparently it's pretty impressive in its own right, having graduated a large number of big name music stars.

So between a trip to Germany and music production equipment, Sam's future paychecks are already spent.  But well spent, I'd say.  He's a cool kid to have.

Pictures

So much has been going on I don't even know how to catch up well.  Fortunately, Becky has taken pictures, which will save me many thousands of words.

Back in January, Ben turned 13.

In Feburary, Sam turned 15.

Most days were a series of normal events, though.  I go to work all day at UHC.  The boys go off to Edison or Preble all day.  Some evenings, Jack goes to work at the Y.  Tabby goes to Peace Nursery in the morning.  Becky spends the morning running errands or taking care of the house.  When Tabby gets home, she almost always asks to play with her best friend Ella. 

And Becky, being the awesome Mom she is, makes it happen.  And brings a camera.

They went to the new "purple park" with Ella's dog, Chewie.

The went to the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary and were beseiged by ducks.

They always have a great time.

Sometimes she's gotten to play with her best friend from school, Emma.

Or with her other best friend, Brindley.

Once the weather warmed up some, Becky decided it was time to grab the camera and head down to her favorite picture taking spot.  Baird Creek.

And by "warmed up some", I mean, the ice started to melt and she thought it would be cool to get some ice/water/snow pictures.

Eventually, it warmed up enough that she started taking people with her as subjects.  The boys usually aren't too thrilled about it.

Tabby loves it.

And once they're down there, even the boys seem to end up having a good time.

Though Becky still has to bribe them with ice cream to get them to show it in a picture.

The other day Becky said to me, "I'm actually starting to feel kind of guilty that I have so many more pictures of Tabby than anyone else.  Our boys are going to think I don't love them."

I guess she may have a point that most of the time when she picks up the camera, it's like the Tabby show.

But at the same time, Tabby is the only one who really cooperates with getting her picture taken.  She'll do what Mom tells her to.

Stand where Mom tells her to.  And smile!

Not to mention, she is the cutest.

Of course, more has happened than we've caught on picture.  Just the past few weeks, Becky had a birthday, Tabby and I went to a Disney on Ice show, and I went to the Fire & Ice game convention.  But this will do for now.

4!

We had a great party with My Little Pony presents and fireworks. Yay Tabby!

Happy Birthday!

One of these girls now has the answer to life, the universe and everything.

The picture is actually from a trip this summer to the botanical gardens in Milwaukee. But Becky still looks just as good.

She got candy for her birthday. When I picked up Tabby from school I told her we were going to get Mom flowers for her birthday and asked what she thought we should get Mom for a present. She suggested the candy. Of course, Tabby also told me that for her own birthday I should get her flowers and candy . . . so you know, maybe she wasn't thinking so much about what Mom would like. Which is okay. Becky had recently mentioned wanting chocolates, so I thought it was a fine idea.

We also went out to eat at Jimmy Johns. And Becky didn't have to fight for the computer to watch Ghost Whisperer. It was all hers for the evening.

14!

Happy Birthday Sam!

A few days late, I guess, but he waited for the weekend for his party so a couple friends from Sheboygan could come up.

Our Sammy is 14! Last year of middle school. He made that ice cream cake himself. He can go to church dances! I think he's kind of excited to do that.

Happy Birthday Ben!

Kind of a late post, but this guy just recently turned 12!