Tim turned 32!

For some odd reason, Tim said, "I want a carrot cake for my birthday!", so the kids and I (of course mostly me) made him a homemade Aunt Kay carrot cake! My Aunt Kay (great aunt) owned a restaurant and they were known, at least that's what I've always been told, for her special carrot cake. Well, my aunt passed away when I was only 8 years old and the secret recipe has been passed down. It was the first time I've made it and let me tell you, we all understand why all the hype! It was awesome! It's funny, I'd love to share it but it's one of those things that I just don't think it's right, so the recipe will remain a secret, but man is it good!

Back to Tim, he worked over 80 hours last week and will do the same this week, so it's been pretty hectic for everyone, (maybe that's why I'm blogging at 8, kids have been down since 7:30). Hey, when it's been a long day, everyone's tired :)

Mackie's 4 years old!

The gift she has been asking for since Christmas, a hula hoop! I love this picture!

She even got to go to school on her birthday! We made chocolate suckers for everyone in her class, that she got to hand out.

This is right after she got her fish, she was so excited!

On her actual birthday she had a banana split. She loved us singing to her.

Tim and his little girl!

Here are the kids, notice Mack's new fish, Polly, on the table.

Mackie wanted a princess party with a Candyland cake! Well, we had all the cousins

scheduled to come on Friday and Jackson and Cole woke up with fevers. I think it was just the end of their cold and seemed to be just fine afterwards, but we felt it necessary to cancel the party. We rescheduled it for Sunday, but ended up only having my brother's family and my cousin Jodi and her family. The kids helped make the cake and although it's certainly not professional looking, I thought it came out perfect.

The finished product!

We are so proud of our little girl. It's pretty hard to believe she's 4 years old already. She's such a smart kid and has a memory like no other. Ahh, the love you have for your kids, it's pretty much unbelievable. Happy birthday to our little Mack, we love you soo much!

Florida vacation!

We did go to the beach one sunny day, although it was a bit chilly!

The last night, my mom got Mackie a cake for her birthday, she loved it!

We came to learn that Cole absolutely loves going for a stroller ride, ahhh, how we long for warm sunny days.

It was so nice to have Tim come for a few days. We even got to go out for a nice dinner, and it was so nice to have a little time away.

This is at the splash park that's right by my parents. Jackson and Mackie loved running through the water, and Cole loved watching them. We were always the only ones at the park, made it really nice.

Cole's first dip in the water, and he liked it more than Jackson ever has!

My mom and her little princess. She holds a special place with my mom since she's the oldest and the only girl of 8 grandkids.

Here's the splash park!

We had a great trip. My parents were so helpful and so generous, made for a such a great break in the dead of winter. My Dad watched the kids each morning, so my mom and I could go on a nice walk, he really does amaze me on how easy it is for him to watch the kids. I'm so glad that Tim was able to come for a few days, it was a much needed break for him as well.