Micah's 7th Symphony

Don't keep trying to scroll up. Paul took the photo of us at Micah's school when we brought cupcakes for his class. You can see where Paul's focus was: on the empty cupcake plate, not his Mom's face or Samuel's eyes. The day was sad for Micah, though, because it was his best friend Carlos' last day before moving to another school.

One of the best things about throwing birthday parties as the boys get older is that they help so much now!

Micah's 7th Birthday party had a musical theme. It worked really well!

I've decided that I actually like kids-only birthday parties better than the family friendly kind, because we were able to focus on entertaining the kids! Yes, that includes some goofiness that is hard to do in front of adults.

Warning: before playing these videos, you may want to turn down your volume. It was a LOUD party!
The highlight of the party was Micah's idea -- he asked his guests to perform a song. It was amazingly adorable!

Is it obvious that Micah made up his song?

Samuel DID get a chance to have the stage to himself, but don't miss seeing Sam's fancy footwork during Paul's encore! 

You'll notice that I am avoiding posting any potentially embarrassing footage of Micah's sweet, good-natured friends on stage; just his brothers.

The music note pinata didn't hold up long, but the kids didn't care.

Micah's birthday was during his spring break again, so we took a rainy day trip to Washington, D.C. for the second year in a row.  How many family photos will we have in which Anthony is about to be devoured by a T. Rex? The dinosaurs were Paul's favorite part of the day and he has become quite a paleontologist, asking me to read every dinosaur book to him.

Can I just tell you how much I love my "Sweet P?" Soooooo much. He hit some bumps in the road in February as far as obedience and frustration, but he has really come through it with a loving spirit. I praise God!

How does Samuel measure up? So far, he has big feet and we are eager to see how tall he will be next month when he turns two (supposedly half of his full-grown height).

Is it any wonder that we spent the day inside at the Natural History and American History Museums rather than strolling around the cherry blossoms and monuments?

This small, seemingly unexciting (at least I would think from a kids' perspective) exhibit of musical instruments was a highlight for musical Micah.

Of course the all-around fan-favorite exhibit was the invention zone!

It wouldn't have been a celebration of Micah's birthday without dinner in Chinatown. Samuel wanted you to see his "sleeping face." The wait-staff fell in love with him, especially watching him continue to want more spicy mushrooms and green beans while drinking massive amounts of water and rice.

It was a great day of being together!!!

Grandma Bev let Micah help decorate his cake. Can you find the 7 and M hidden on top? In the future, do you think I'll ever need to use this photo to show our sons how land-line cordless phones used to look?

Grandma gave Micah a fun Lego game and played with him,

but Micah was just as excited to get to help plant tiny seedlings.

Paul got to have his version of farm-fun too! His smile got so very big when he was riding with Granddaddy.

First thing that morning (April Fools Day) Samuel was stomping Cheerios into the carpet when he fell over and cut his head open on the base of the glider. Dr. Hutton was able to glue it, which was so much more pleasant than when his big brothers had to have stitches in their foreheads. Now, he only has to chip a front tooth and then he will be done with the Tongen boys' rites of passage. Then again, God gave him an EXTRA lateral incisor (yes, an extra tooth) just in case!!