Toby is TEN!

Oops- I never actually hit publish on this one...

Toby's birthday wish was to go to Noah's Ark, so Mike took them on his birthday (free, as we were given tickets when Mike took them to Noah's Ark last year for T's bday, and it was very hot with super crowded lines).

Gift from his godparents

Mike made this awesome set-up for us to watch Iron Giant. Toby really just wanted to build the new robot build set from his godparents, but he indulged his family and at least sat out there with us.

On Sunday we celebrated more with Mike's family- with some deeeeelicious cake, courtesy for Costco.

Happy TENTH! birthday to our deep thinker, thrill-seeker, creative builder, voracious reader, animal lover, karate enthusiast... You are a blessing to us, Toby! 💛

Toby's karate tournament

Toby competed in his first karate tournament last weekend. It took me back to the days when Jack was in karate, competing in these events. Here is a video of his form-- https://www.youtube.com/shorts/tQZ8OmvBjBkHe placed 2nd out of five boys, which is awesome, especially for his first tournament ever. I'm pretty sure the boy who got first won based on his volume. He could belt it out :-D

He placed third out of four in sparring- really not bad considering he'd only just started sparring a couple of weeks prior.

Good job, Toby!

Toby turns 9

Some family gifts

A coding game I picked up for $2.30 at St. Vincent de Paul's for him

Opening a few gifts from his thoughtful godparents <3

Laughs courtesy of this library book of poetry (This poem is called The Island Where Everyone's Toby :-D)

Making excellent progress on his new Big Ben building kit

A wicked cold virus has had its way with our family the past couple of weeks, and we didn't get to do all of the things we'd originally planned for this one's birthday. Mike was going to take the big kids to Noah's Ark waterpark last Sunday, but sickness foiled those plans (we're hoping to reschedule soon), and we had high hopes of bringing a large cake to our homejschool group's kick-off picnic yesterday so he could celebrate with friends, but sickness forced us to stay home from that as well. We made the most of our day at home with some extra games and fun activities/treats with those of us who were feeling well enough to participate. We did manage to pick up some Culver's for dinner and afterwards enjoyed some custard. I think he was perfectly pleased with just being able to play some extra Smash Brothers with Joel and stay up a little late on a school night.

Happy birthday to our thoughtful, meticulous, artistic, reader enthusiast, nature-loving boy! You are such a gift, Toby!

Happy eighth birthday, Toby!

Toby's birthday celebrations were a bit spread out, and he was a-okay with that. We first celebrated at Mimi & PopPop's last month. He requested to go to Crawdaddy Cove, an very cool indoor pool/waterpark at a Holioday Inn up in Madison, with family on Sunday. On his actual birthday, Mike was up in Sauk City with Abigail for her first swim meet, so I took the others to a nearby park, where the Holy Family Homeschoolers kick-off picnic was being held. We brought some cake to share and some balloons (we blew a bunch up ourselves using a helium tank I got at Walmart- a fun activity that I didn't even document) and everyone sang happy birthday to him- a special event that seemed like a party just for him <3 And then a couple of his gifts arrivd a day late, so the celebration continued, much to his glee...

What a sweet boy we have been gifted with in Toby. He is such a good brother- his interactions with Penny are just the cutest. I love his zeal for learning- his enthusiasm for animals and nature, in partcular. I predict he's going to be a science guy. I cherish our time reading together- just the two of us. He'll get so into the stories and ask for coloring pages of them. He's a great artist in his own right, though. Since recieving his Frist Communion in the Spring, I can sense a new spiritual life in him. His godparents gifted him a Mass book in a leather cover, which he brings with him to Mass every Sunday. It is touching to see him so into the readings and the liturgy. May you always carry Jesus in your heart, Toby, and grow everyday in your faith. Happy birthday, sweet boy!

Toby's first Holy Communion

We celebrated yet another blessed sacrament in our family on Sunday as Toby recieved his first Holy Communion. It was so special that his godparents could be there to witness it and celebrate with us as well. We had a joint baptism/first Communion/birthday (more on that last one in the next post) celebration following the first Communion Mass.

“If we but paused for a moment to consider attentively what takes place in this Sacrament of the Eucharist, I am sure that the thought of Christ’s love for us would transform the coldness of our hearts into a fire of love and gratitude.” St. Angela of Foligno

May God guide you and protect you as you continue to grow in your faith, Toby!