timmy's tenth birthday party

 Here are a few characters on the living room couch.

And this gorgeous little guy was across the room.

 Down in the lego/barbie disaster room.

Oh, and the fabulous car--Joe's brother is in the military. He has income and a cute niece (yes, p.j.) he rarely sees, except in pictures.  He had this car sent to her.  (He also sends her pretty dresses from far away, and other gifts as close as the Gap.)

 Heidi and John went to Heidi's house a mile away and fetched the car back here for the grandkids to enjoy during the party.

 Heidi's dog is the black one, and Kirsten's the brown one. They go NUTS when they're together.

And by the way, look at that back steps, freshly painted by Maria.

 t.c. was finally able to drive the car much later.  It was SO HARD to watch all the babies going nuts, driving around.

 Time for gifts:

And at the end of the evening, cake:

And he blew out every candle in one breath, and that was that.

T?  Thanks for being our kid. The whole family is super much better because of you.

love forever, all of us.

mr. ten

First we started out the birthday with a haircut.  Lookin' good, Buddy.

Then some nephews came for lunch. 

This one is so cute and bald, sometimes I call him Mr. Luminous.  It suits him.  He definitely lights up a room.

 Her, she's just funny.

 Unlike the hot summer evening when Tim was actually born, it was cool today.

 That's the wild nephew, b.g., kicking him over.

 We did this with a brownie Maria baked.  It worked.

 Then later in the evening, cupcakes. ( The actual party is tomorrow night.  The roasts are in the slow cooker right now, and the cake is baked and frosted.)

Awww, and we went shopping for birthday presents today, but Julia made this for him herself and wrapped it.  

 And she made him this card with an alien and a detailed, involved story.

And while we were grocery shopping, t.c. called Jay on his cell phone to report that TIM was a turd when he'd called to sing him happy birthday.

Tim, a turd?  Impossible, you say?

Not so much.

We called home and told him to call t.c. back this instant and apologize and act like a normal person.

Good Lor-ED.

Ten years ago today?   Yes it was--one of the best, happiest days of my entire life.

All surprises, all perfection.

 at green lake the week before he was born

Tim was born by surprise in the bathtub, not underwater, but came flying out over the water, long arms and legs, moro reflex, hands like tiny starfish.     All the baby blankets and stuff were in our room, so Jay grabbed the first blanket he could find to tuck around him--Kari's poodle blanky from the kids' bed.

And then I carried him down the hall, and flopped down in our bed and Jay covered us up with a silky Barbie sleeping bag.

Ridiculous.  Impromptu.  Fine.

Ten years of you, Timmy.  Ten years!

 Here he is, a week old. I love this picture, how tiny and alert he is, and how he fits in my hands.  He looks little here, not like the luscious ten pound newborn he was.  He looks little bitty.

Here he is four weeks later, looks like a half-grown kid.

Tim?  Thank you for coming to this family and being ours.  The whole family is lucky having you in it.

Something about you being here makes everything just right.

love forever, Mom and Dad and everybody.

photos from the phones

 Oh, so we have updated the phones and phone plan from years ago, and it was painful, but it's done now.

And tonight we attempted, three weeks later, to track down where the photos are. The phone photos.

 The resolution on some is a bit terrible.  That's Tim and me on a path at my inlaws about four years ago.  We've never seen this picture before.

 Here are a couple of Target shoppers from last fall?

 Now how old must this picture be? Grandpa took it while he was amusing kids while James was at band.  t.c. looks about two years old?  Four years ago?

 This was today in the sandbox.

Probably this one was taken at least a year ago.  Maybe more.

That's an old picture. Here's one from today:

Old. 



 This one? This is late this afternoon.  I tackled the cupboard where the plastic containers are for leftovers.  Look at this.  We snickered that the containers have been fooling around in our cupboards--they're obviously reproducing. 

Wow.

I sent home a pile with Heidi, ones that were obviously hers, probably dating back to the fire in 2010.  But others were bagged up for the rest of the kids to look through.   I sent Maria next door to slip a few ice cream pails onto the neighbor's deck.

They like ice cream pails.

 Here's today, shortly before they took a bath.

 Another old terrible photo, but the smiles are unmistakeable.

a

Okay. A fine Tuesday has come to an end, and now I must celebrate the ending of the evening with the typing of the invoices.

I hope you all find funny old photos in the nooks and crannies of your cell phones, and I hope  you smile, smile, smile too.  love, Val