Happy Birthday, Mattycakes!!!

This date in 1973 was a big day for the world. A baby boy was born who has made everything around him better everywhere he's gone. Today we celebrated Matty's birthday low-key and low-stress.

It started out late, because M got to sleep in as long as he wanted, and even G stayed out of the bedroom so he could rest. When he got up, he had a Birthday panCake(tm), which was a stack of pancakes with some of that Kranz frosting in between and on top, cut into the shape of a heart, with a candle in the top. Chip helped blow out the candle.

When we got moving, we went to the Cobb County Radio Control Modeler's Club, which is like an airport for RC planes. M was very surprised at our destination, and we had a great time. We watched airplanes the whole time we were there, but as we were leaving, a helicopter started flying. The guy flying it was fantastic! He had that thing flying upside down, doing rolls, and going so fast that it was almost a blur. We pulled over to watch for a few minutes before we went off to explore the big-house neighborhoods nearby.

For dinner, we went to Johnny's New York Style Pizza. We'd never been there before, but there are a lot of them around, so we decided to give it a try. Not only was the food really, really good, but Chip sat in his seat the entire time!!! Now that was a birthday present!

We came home for cake and presents, and when Dad went home and G went to bed, we watched a little Sopranos to wind down. It was a very relaxed, very fun day.

Happy Birthday, my Matty!!!!!

Happy Birthday, Wo-Wo!

Happy Birthday to the girl with the best abs in the world!!!

Birthday Week Continues!

Since Dad K's birthday fell on a Tuesday in a busy week, we celebrated today with barbeque and cake (cake from mix, frosting from Kranz family secret recipe). Gabriel helped blow out the candles.

You can't say you've ever seen a cooler birthday card than this - yes, folks, that is a velvet Elvis!

In other news, a 3 or 4 foot long rat snake came over to the front porch to say hi to us. Gabriel said that it was No Feet from the Little Bear cartoons. We talked to it for a few minutes, and then we went inside (in case it knew how to climb steps!) and No Feet went off in search of a good nest for its eggs.

G got to stay up super late for the festivities, and he still had a lot of energy to burn off before bed. Here is a video that shows only a few circuits; there were many more:

Happy Birthday, Dad K/Grandpa K, aka PawPaw

We want to wish a very happy birthday to Dad Kelly! We know that it's hard to turn 40, so thankfully he had the support of his grandson to help him through dinner. We all thank "PawPaw" for his constant generorsity and his nonstop entertaining of our son. Happy birthday!

One Day We'll Think This Is Cute, Part Two

Yesterday, Gabriel stuck his hand in the toilet and made the sign of the cross. Insert your own punch line here. Here are some suggestions:

• Well, we do keep telling him it's a sacred space...
• At least we know he's Catholic.

One Day We'll Think This Is Cute

Can you guess in which drawer we keep the Sharpies?

This next photo shows him making the "th" sound at the end of "cheesth" (cheese).

And finally... drumroll, please... we have an actual photo of Gramma! It resides in a place of honor on the mantel. Finally, right?!

Some Cheese-y Fun

We went to Chuck E. Cheese's today. After Chip drove the birthday girl, Alison, around in the school bus, he challenged Christopher to air hockey. We also played a lot of Skee-Ball. We didn't know you could "tilt" a Skee-Ball machine!

The Junior Intimidators

Gabriel, his friend Brooke, and another Intimidators fan had their own game going on the sidelines today.

Rebel Soldiers and Rebellious Toddlers

The best way to get back into the swing of things is a quick entry.

On Friday, we made our favorite three-ingredient meal, beef negamaki. Here's how it turned out compared to the recipe. Yum! We do love taking pictures of our food!

On Saturday, M got his first couple birthday presents, including this new rear-view mirror that tells us everything from the temperature outside to whether we need sunscreen:

Later that day, we went to Thomas's fourth birthday party. There were a lot of little blond-headed boys there! We had a great time!

On Sunday, we tackled Kennesaw Mountain. When we got back down, there was a confederate demonstration in progress. They even had tents set up!

On Monday, Chip looked so cool in his new shirt (Skye might recognize it), and he finally got to wear his Converse from Jack and Laura for the first time, although they're still a tiny bit big: