A smile costs nothing, but gives much.
Seven. I can't believe it! It seems like just yesterday I was holding tiny little wrinkly Andrew in my arms for the first time. 
But he's growing up & that's wonderful, too. He ran out of my morning hug into the kitchen to see, "Is there something fun on the kitchen table?" I love how he has latched on to that tradition. He was so excited just to see that I had decorated for his birthday. He gave me a huge, "Thank you so much, Mommy. I love you," just for that.
We had celebratory waffles & he opened a couple of presents. He's recently become fascinated with football, so a "real" one was his main request. Rebecca picked out these "army clothes" for him as well & they were a big hit. 
Darren generously took off the day from work to be a bigger part of the celebration. Andrew still had to go to school, but I was able to join him for lunch & recess since Darren was home with the girls. I brought along some cobbler with a candle for dessert. We couldn't light it, but it was still fun. All the kids in the lunchroom sang him Happy Birthday! 
Recess was hilarious! I love seeing him interact with his little buddies. Then after school, Darren met him at the door & walked him home. He said there was barely an empty breath in the conversation the whole way! 
I think he liked my adaptation of his football birthday cake request. Sure tasted good!
Since Andrew was requesting multiple kids from the same family to join us for dinner, we just decided to invite them all! It was really a beautiful evening.
After dinner the kids got in lots of football, sidewalk tatooing, playing with his new Architecto game (from Auntie Cara), & general run-around-craziness. :)
We had the cake & the candles, but our lighter was out! We didn't even have a match in the house. After denying Nikki's suggestion of lighting a stick from the gas grill (for sanity reasons...I guess I'm not really an Outdoor Woman after all!), here's Laura pretending to be the flames that Andrew had to blow out. Very cute & seriously funny.
It was simple & perfect. Andrew had a great birthday. Thanks for joining the fun!
