Finally!. . . 6 Years Old

Molly officially turned 6 today. We didn't do much, however, as we have been celebrating her birthday since Father's Day when her uncle Jesse and aunt Deirdre could be there. On that day, we celebrated her birthday, as well as Jesse's (on the 16th) and recognized my great Dad, Molly's and Keenan's dad, and my brother Paul. We went to another fantastic park in McMinnville (forgot the name of it), ate KFC which was good, but don't want that to become a Father's Day tradition as we already eat it on Mother's Day; One time a year is enough!

I made the traditional chocolate, whip-cream cake which was quickly snarfed down and then Molly, Jesse and the dad's opened presents. My sister, Deirdre, took lots of pictures which are WAY better than mine, but should be as she is a professional photographer. If you want to see her photos you can go here. Click on "Family" and see all the pictures she took while visiting us in Oregon.

Anyhow, it was nice having much of my immediate family in town. We are a competitive family and it wasn't long before we were playing a rousing game of 4-square in the park. Yes--a childhood game from elementary school. We also enjoy balloon volleyball (Hey, any way that we can recapture our youth!)

But I digress. This is supposed to be about Molly. Princess Molly who also got her wish of having a sleep over/slumber party with a Hannah Montana theme for her birthday. This is what we did this past weekend. We invited 5 girls, glad only 3 were able to come as that was plenty! There was pizza and games at Pietros, another cake (pink this time), another present-opening, and then. . . . bedtime. We figured 9:00 would be a good time to brush teeth, read books and wind down. We set up the tent and everyone got situated. Molly's friend Vivian asked only 1 time to go home which was great! Leaving a flashlight in Vivian's hand, we retreated upstairs. It wasn't long, however, before 4 girls crept upstairs to tell us that they heard a spooky noise or later on that they saw a spider. Molly a couple of times would say, "They're keeping me awake!" That's right, Molly, blame your friends for still being awake by almost 11:00! Anyhow, they did finally all fall asleep--just not where they started at. Molly ended up in our bed, Dawsyn in Molly's bed and McKenna and Vivian on the floor in Molly's room. I guess sleeping in a tent in the living room wasn't such a novelty after all. Haha.

So here are a few photos from the twice-celebrated birthday of Molly Mattias. It may seem a little over-kill to you as it was to us by sunday morning when we were all exhausted. We thus decided that even though today was Molly's actual birthday, it was going to be a very low-key day with trips to the park and library, eating Happy Meals at McDonald's for dinner and walking up to Baskin' Robbins for dessert. Happy 6th birthday, Molly. We can't believe you're already that old.

Playing at the park in McMinnville

Getting some help blowing out your candles from Keenan and cousin Cash.

Blowing out the candles again as we forgot to include uncle Jesse the first time. Oops!

The cake looking a little sad as it had to travel in a cooler and wasn't very balanced inside.

Of course, it still tasted good:)

Present time!

"My favorite! Hannah Montana! What is it?. . . .Oh, a scooter!"

"Thanks Aunt Deirdre! I love pink and I love jewelry!"

Molly testing out her new ride.

Helping dad open his Father's Day present.

Four happy girls (and Keenan in the background) waiting to eat pizza at Pietro's

Tickets, tickets, tickets. McKenna, Molly and Vivian.

Molly with friend Vivian.

The girls went and got their pajamas on immediately after they got back from Pietro's. (Would we be so lucky?!)

Another cake. It's a good thing we love cake.

Blowww!

"Hey Keenan! You don't get to blow!" Molly needlessly getting angry at Keenan who did NOT even attempt to help her blow out her candles.

Fortunately, the anger quickly subsided.

Getting lots of help with the present-opening.

Cool present!

Twins!!!!

Molly and McKenna

Who's that sneaking in the picture and trying to steal some of your limelight? Yep, you're mom! :)

Dads "spooky" stories must have really worked. (Molly, Vivian, and Mckenna in the tent.)

Love you Molly. We're so glad you are our girl.

Family Walks

With me being mormon and Kevin being catholic, each of our views on how we spend our Sunday afternoons (after church) are a little bit different. Trying to compromise we often will go on family walks. So a few weeks ago we took a walk downtown to see the floats from the Rose Parade and then over to Forest Park. We like Forest Park because it literally is a giant forest (over 5,000 acres)--within the city. The kid-friendly trail follows along a creek with tall trees and lush greenery, salmon-berries too if one gets a little hungry :). And an old "castle" a mile in makes a great destination spot as well as motivator for the kids. Below are a few pictures from our Sunday family day.

Walking over the Hawthorne Bridge. I took this picture as we had to wait for the drawbridge to go up and a boat to pass underneath.

The Beast was really cool, but Molly was sad that she didn't get to see Beauty.

The details were amazing on all the floats. I had never seen them so up close before. Apparently they have to be decorated with all organic/natural materials. Besides being beautifully decorated with beautiful flowers and plants, there were feathers, fruit, vegetables, corn stalks, seeds and bark. But the main coverage material?. . . . . . rice! They must have used hundreds of pounds of rice to decorate these floats. Truly spectacular.

Forest Park

Keenan standing on the top floor of the "castle"

Molly obviously is enjoying herself.

Up next: visits from my brother Jesse and sister Deirdre

Keenan's New Room

I wish I had taken pictures of Keenan's room before we finally decorated it last week, but I think you can imagine how it looked before we painted the one wall and added the curtains, wall hangings and new bedding: BORING! Now it's got a little color, some fun sea patterns and a few whimsical art objects picked-up from a shop in Depoe Bay. I'd like to add a large picture above Keenan's bed, but haven't found the right one yet to fit the theme. Here are a few photos.

On the right you can see one of those aquarium sea lamps which no longer moves, but still glows and Keenan insists on having turned on every night.

Keenan happily playing in his new room which in the past could be more of a punishment than a pleasure.

This photos a little dark, but I was trying to get a shot of the full length of his room.

The bedding/window panels I found on-line. Thankfully, I'm very pleased with them.

. . .And Keenan was pleased too. Now what to do next?!

The Tooth Fairy Cometh. . . Twice!

If I had been on top of things I would have posted these pictures the day (or the day after:)) Molly's first tooth fell out--last Friday. Instead this is now old news for she has since had (today) another tooth fall out. This time it is her left front tooth and I have yet to get a picture record of it. Oh well. . . . it wasn't quite as exciting as when the first one fell out. She's had 4 loose teeth for several months now and as soon as the other two fall out, she will have a large gaping hole when she smiles a big toothy (or should I say toothless) grin.

There were a few tears when the first one fell out because there was some blood and I had to give it a bit of a tug as it hung awkwardly in her mouth. But after all that there was smiles and. . . excitement for the tooth fairy to come and bring a dollar! The photo shoot was done in front of our newly painted yellow wall (which by the way, changes shade with each picture and looks A LOT better than some of the pictures portray) with Molly wearing the seemingly ever-present princess tiara.

Molly holding the tiny tooth in her hand

Preparing her tooth fairy pillow for the night

Happy 3rd Birthday Long John Sliver!:)

It's been a while since I have posted and need to catch up! I'll start with my nephew Henry Cash's 3rd birthday party a few Saturdays ago on the 6th. Ellen already posted some great pictures, but I wanted to add some photos as well. The chosen park (Camp Rivendale) in Beaverton was a perfect spot for a picnic (the food was delicious ((thanks Paul and Ellen!)), play area and treasure hunt created and orchestrated by my clever brother Paul. One of the earlier clues led the party to a treasure of pirate garb which we donned and photographed below:)

"Captain Carrot Top" and "Long John Sliver"

Aaaaarg!. . . .Truly SCARY pirates

"Matey Molly"

Pondering a clue while Keenan (Capt. Carrot Top) stomps on a bug

Part of the Mattias pirate family resting in-between clues

. . . and finally--opening the treasure chest! Molly claims she was the one to have found it hidden in the brush, but she had lots of help from her mateys. She was really into the hunt and thought it the best part of the party. It looks like we'll be hiring Paul to be our birthday entertainment planner in the future:)

After the treasure hunt there were presents to be opened and cupcakes to be eaten.

Happy 3rd birthday Cash! Thanks for sharing your day with us.

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