H a P p Y B i R t H d a Y to a S u P e R S i S t e R

I know I'm the luckiest girl to have FOUR of the most FABULOUS sisters and best friends ever, and one of them is celebrating a big birthday today.

Happy Birthday to Suzanne!!!

Here are a few fun pictures of the two of us through the years:

We still enjoy sharing a good snack.

That was the beginning of many fun driving experiences together.

A snack, again. I wonder what that look is all about.

We looked tres chic with our twinner mullets!

We happened to arrive home from my high school dance and her college dance at the same time. I guess that explains our expressions.

We've shared a lot of good times together and I look forward to many more!!!

The world's a little brighter when Suzanne's around. She's creative, fun, inspiring, kind, talented, supportive, wise (the list goes on), but you better watch out---she's crafty in more ways than one!

Happy Birthday to you again, Suzanne! We love you!

Child Slavery?

Some of you may remember this post where McKay's daddy helped him wash the car.


McKay also needed some help washing the dishes. He's a little too short to reach the sink on his own, so naturally, Nathan helped him out and held him up to the sink to do his chore. Doesn't McKay look like he's having the time of his life? ;)

Button! Button! Must push a button!

Not unlike most toddlers, McKay has a curious fascination with buttons. McKay routinely walks throughout the house pointing at things, grabbing whatever he can get his baby hands on and trying to push any button in sight (I know, that's normal.) If I'm free and paying attention I'll generally say the name of the thing he is pointing at. Recently, he started pointing at the smoke detector in each room. I think that in one day he stopped and pointed up at the smoke detector at least fifty times. When Nathan got home from work on that particular day, I told him of McKay's attraction. Nathan said, "I think he wants to push the button." So Nathan stepped up on the couch and held McKay up so he could reach the smoke detector. With his little pointer-finger ready, McKay went straight for the button and pushed. Luckily, the button has to be held for several seconds before it goes off so we were spared the alarm. He still points at the smoke detector quite often and we will indulge him a little and hold him up so he can push the button once in a while. We've asked him "Where's the smoke detector?" so much that he now inspects the ceiling of any home or building and will point out the smoke detector (yes, even at church). We are so proud! ;)

McKay also likes to touch the digital thermostat because of the pretty glowing green light that comes on. One night before bed I let McKay touch the thermostat for a few seconds. On my way to bed later that night I checked the thermostat (as I usually do) to make sure it was set at the right temperature. I awoke at 2:00 am, thought it was a little chilly, pulled the covers a little tighter, fell back asleep and then woke up at 4:00 am to McKay's cries. I couldn't believe how cold our house was with the A/C still on. As I passed by the thermostat on my way to get McKay, I saw that the current temp of the house was 60 degrees, but the target temp was set at 45. What?!?!?! How did that happen? In the few seconds McKay touched the screen, he must have programmed the temp to go to 45 degrees at midnight for every night of the week.

I thought it would be fun to include a picture of how McKay looks when he really, really wants something (mainly something with buttons...like a camera).

(He also makes that face and gesture when he wants food.)

The look paid off. I gave him the camera and he learned that by pressing one particular button a light would come on. He managed to take this picture of himself: