Seven-up

Yup. We are up to seven. SEVEN! How can these boys be seven? That's just crazy talk. I mean, they still have all of their baby teeth. I've done the math several times because it just doesn't seem right, but I come up with seven every time. I guess it's time to just accept that another year has gone by despite my pleas with them to stop growing.
Since we were headed to Denver for Thanksgiving, the poor kids spent their actual birthday in the car. I did take treats to their classrooms and they got a book from their school but then we loaded them up in the van for a very long drive.
I think this actually worked to their advantage because then we felt the need to give them some travel-friendly gifts on their birthday and some additional presents the following day when we had cake and sang to them. So, in the van they got the LEGO Movie to watch and some giant activity books. They also got the thrilling experience of hitting a giant patch of black ice in the middle of nowhere Wyoming and spinning off the road into a ditch. Marc did a great job, making sure the van went between two posts instead of hitting them. When he walked up to the road to talk to some good samaritans who stopped to help, he said the road was so slick he could barely stand on it without falling over. Anyway, we called roadside assistance who were having an extremely difficult time finding our location on a map. Welcome to Wyoming. Three separate vehicles stopped to help, all full of North Dakotans on their way home for Thanksgiving. I've said it before but I LOVE NORTH DAKOTANS. Nicest people on earth. Between the three vehicles they managed to pull us out of the ditch before roadside assistance could even get there. We felt very very blessed.
We did make it to Denver safely, and the next day we celebrated their birthday for real. Uncle Marcus made these amazing Star Wars cakes.

In case you can't read it, the Yoda cake says, "A Happy Birthday you must have." Marcus totally free-handed those. Amazing.
Here are Gabriel and Elijah getting ready to blow out their candles. They've got that competitive gleam in their eyes. They wanted to see who could blow out all the candles first.

They got many Star Wars presents including mugs, some awesome chapter books, Lego watches and some markers. I also made them a set of pool-noodle lightsabers. Best time and money investment ever. These kept the boys entertained the entire trip and they continue to be useful at home. I made ten because, you know, there are five boys and they each have two hands so clearly ten is the bare minimum. I don't think they fully appreciate how awesome the handles are or that each one is completely unique but I was pretty proud of myself.

As seven-year-olds Gabriel and Elijah are still loud and rambunctious, but they are also helpful and usually trustworthy. They really helped out with the puppies at Marcus and Rebecca's house. They both love to read and tear through books, although they like to read different things. Gabriel has read the entire Magic Treehouse series and loves fiction. Elijah prefers books about nature, or graphic novels. They both love anything by Roald Dahl. Both take gymnastics and art lessons and both excel in school. We love these boys so much and are so proud to say we are the parents of these amazing people. Happy Birthday Gabe and Elijah!