Catchup Post: Janu-brations

We are finally coming up for air here at the Dawson house. The first few months of the year have been chock full of special events and travels and, well, teething...lots of sleepless teething.

Marshall had his first-ever friend birthday party at the beginning of January. We organized a tour of our local fire department for a few of his buddies. There is a cute park right next to the fire station so we were able to set up the perfect 3 year old picnic consisting of chicken nuggets, buddy-fruits, and juice boxes. Marshall enjoyed his party but not until he recovered from a minor meltdown when the fire fighter demonstrated his gas mask. It basically scared the pants off of him...not to mention the video they watched which kept reminding the kids how "not to be scared" if they see a fireman in their fire fighting get-up. Everyone seemed to have a great time though and each kiddo got a chance to sit behind the wheel of the fire truck. Birthday party success in my book! I'd recommend it to anyone out there looking for a fun, easy party.

Next up was my mom's 60th birthday! With the help of my grandparents and my brother and sister-in-law, we hosted a special family party at our house. I even broke out the crystal and fine china, people! We decorated with old photos of mom growing up and created a timeline of her life. Our favorite was "1968 - Linda gets the family car stolen from the Mad Hatter dance club". My grandma wrote a narrative of her life...I tried to read it...got choked up...passed the duty to my brother. I'm such a wimp. It was such a special night for our family and the perfect way to celebrate my mom.

The next week we celebrated Barry and Arlene's 40th anniversary with a fancy dinner out. We made reservations with Jennifer, Curt and the boys at one of Barry and Arlene's favorite restaurants. I warned Marshall over and over again that there was not going to be a playground at this fancy restaurant. That kids don't usually get to eat at this restaurant. That this was a VERY special occasion. Thank heavens both kids did great and we were able to enjoy a delicious dinner and toast Barry and Arlene's 40 years of wedded bliss!

Amidst all the celebrating, we did a few fun things as well.  A few parties for some little friends, visits with family, and one afternoon of shootin'.    Being the gun fanatic that he is, Michael was excited when Lou agreed to shoot sporting clays with him on afternoon.  He's currently getting a gun restored that was our grandfather's.  Should be a great family heirloom when it is finished.

We just returned from a week at the beach where our little girl turned 6 months old. I'm hoping to get another post up soon.  Thanks for reading!