Happy Birthday Ty!

Today my first little man turned 7. Man, Where has the time gone?

This year he decided he wanted a chocolate cake with chocolate icing. Does the fact that he didn't want the Tractor pan and wanted to make it himself mean he's growing up? If so, don't I get a say? ;)

The last picture of Tyler as a 6 year old. Believe it or not, this is a vast improvement over picture taking in years past.

And the first as a 7 year old. We went through a horribly long phase (and it sometimes re-appears) of Ty refusing to have a picture made. In fact, most birthdays, Christmas, etc. pictures show a Ty with red eyes from crying. Because of that I'm always a little surprised when I get a good one. LOL

We had our traditional birthday supper with menu determined by the birthday boy. This year it was ribs, mashed potatoes and gravy, homemade mac and cheese, and green peas. He wanted broccoli and corn as well but we decided to limit the sides to three.

Ben is in his minimalist phase. He's getting the hang of potty training and these days I'm doing good if the boy is wearing underwear!

I mentioned Ty's aversion to the camera - well, Griffin has never had that issue!

The helpful big sister who peeled the potatoes for the wonderful meal.

The grill guru, Daddy. The kids love ANYTHING Kent grills but I have to agree, the ribs were fantastic.

Of course, our little Henry bug was there. I think he enjoyed the party.

I had this great plan to buy re-lighting candles. I thought Ty would really enjoy it and we'd all get a good laugh. I wasn't counting on my big boy blowing them out so hard that NONE of them re-lit.

Nana and Papaw came by (Papaw ate with us and Nana made it in time for cake) and delivered the 1st gift of the evening. It's a replica telescoping forklift with cranks and dials to make the boom move and interchangeable forks and buckets. It was a huge hit!

We decided to get Ty a GoBible. It's a MP3 player that's loaded with the KJV version of the Bible but it can be searched by topic (Love, Anger, etc), story (Noah, Adam, etc), chapter and verse. Madisyn has one and we've really been amazed at how much she has learned just from listening to it on her own. Ty was pretty excited about this as well.

Madisyn made Ty a box of handmade cards. She put a lot of time and thought into each one. I think he told her Thank You about 20 times. :)

Please excuse my dirty little boy - we did have chocolate cake and I already explained about the "minimalist phase". :) Ben had a great time playing in the box. He would close himself in it and wait for someone to ask "Where's Ben?", then he would giggle and pop out. He had such a good time.

This is one of my favorite pictures from Ty's birth. Madisyn seemed so big then but now I realize that she was just a baby herself. They don't always get along but I'm so proud of how well they compliment each other. They are often mistaken for twins and it won't be long before Madisyn will be the "little" sister.

I never imagined when Ty was born he would be the big brother to 3 little brothers. At birth he weighed in at 8 lbs 10 oz, at 68 lbs now he's still big for his age. I can't believe how blessed we are to have him in our lives. He is a joy and is growing into a wonderful young man. I so wish I had the work ethic and Bible knowledge as a 7 year old that he does. Sure he has ups and downs but he is really a very good boy that I love dearly.

Happy Birthday, Ty!