Drew had his 8th birthday friends party today at All Start Sports Complex.

All the kids played a round of miniature golf before it was time for pizza and cake.

Mary made the most awesome baseball cake. It's a lot bigger than appears and easily served everyone in attendance, not mention it was delicious.

Drew blowing out his candles. It took a few breaths since the cake wasn't as close as it could have been which was compounded by friend-induced laughter.

Eating pizza in the party room at the sports complex.

Drew opening one of his gifts surrounded by friends.

You can't go wrong with anything Star Wars. All the kids were all very well behaved and everyone had a great time. Thanks to all of Drew's friends who helped make his birthday special.

Today we celebrated Drew's 8th birthday with lots of family. Aunt Donelda came to town just for the occasion and Drew's Aunt Catherine and Uncle David joined us as well as Ma and Pa Youngman.

Mama made the traditional Danz Family birthday number cake. Drew picked chocolate cake with chocolate icing and Mama, as always, did an amazing job. Way to go Cake-Boss-Mama!

Drew proudly showing off his 8th birthday cake with eight candles ready to be lit.

Drew opening his birthday cards with brothers Will and Landon looking on.

Our oldest boy young man opening a gift.

Will was quite the photographer during the gift opening. I can honestly say that he took some really good pictures including some from angles and distances I never would have thought of.

Aunt Donelda with her nephews; Will, Landon and birthday boy Drew.

Finally, the whole family in one shot...if the boys get any bigger we're gonna have to start stacking people.

Today Will celebrated his fifth birthday for the third time with his very first friends birthday party. We all met at the theater and saw Kung Fu Panda 2 and then went to Cherry Berry for frozen yogurt and birthday cake which was actually a birthday cookie.

Cherry Berry had a little room for special occasions all set up for us...with a little help from Ma and Pa.

Will enjoying his Cherry Berry frozen yogurt. Actually, I think he liked the gummy worms topping the most!

Will really enjoyed spending time with his friends from school.

There were lots of laughs and smiles today.

Will blowing out his R2D2 birthday cookie that Mama made completely from scratch.

Landon enjoyed being at Will's party, playing with Pa and eating frozen yogurt as long as it was just plain and didn't have any sprinkles or whip cream any where near it.

Landon (2), Will (5) and Drew (7).

After celebrating his actual birthday earlier this week with immediate family, we celebrated Will's 5th birthday this evening with some extended family. Ma, Pa, Aunt Catherine, Uncle David joined as well as Aunt Michelle and cousins Gillian and Gabe who were in town from Kansas City. Mary made the traditional Danz family birthday cake in the shape of the number of the birthday being celebrated. Will had picked out vanilla with vanilla icing and then helped Mama decorate the top with sprinkles.

Will blowing out the candles on his birthday cake.

Will really isn't a huge fan of cake, so Mama made some birthday cookies including one recognizing cousin Gillian whose birthday is on the same day of the year.

After dinner, cake and cookies, it was time to open presents!

Aunt Michelle and cousin Gabe.

Will was very excited to get a Boba Fett helmet and EE-3 carbine rifle. Thanks to everyone who helped make Will's birthday extra special.

We brought back Aunt Donelda's presents with us from Chicago for Will's 5th birthday. Even though we aren't going to actually celebrate his birthday with family until later this week, a boy should be able to open some presents on his actual birthday. So, Mama whipped together an impromptu birthday cake and we did a mini-birthday celebration for Will.

Ahh, to be young again, when putting candles on your birthday cake was still fun.

Will blowing out the five candles on his birthday cake.

Will's brothers, Drew and Landon, were excited about celebrating Will's birthday...and sharing some cake! Landon knew, "Birthday, Will."

Opening Aunt Donelda's presents with a little assistance from the younger brother.

Thanking Aunt Donelda on the telephone.

Today we celebrated Landon's 2nd birthday (which was actually Wednesday). Aunt Donelda drove in from Illinois just for the occasion and Ma, Pa and Uncle David joined us too.

Mary made the Danz family traditional number birthday cake in the shape of a "2." She gets better and better with each one!

Our little guy is growing up fast!

Landon waited very patiently for his cake and ice cream.

As it turns out, Landon wasn't a fan of the hard work Mama put into his cake. It was ice cream only for this birthday boy.

Landon knew just what to do when it came time to open his gifts.

Will, Landon and Drew checking out a gift.

Landon playing with this Mickey Mouse Rescue Truck.

Three brothers hamming it up together.

Aunt Donelda and her three nephews.

Daddy, Aunt Donelda, Drew, Mama, Landon, Uncle David, Will, Pa and Ma. Thank you everyone for helping to celebrate Landon's second birthday.

Although over a week late, we got to celebrate Aunt Donelda's 50th birthday today in person since she was in town for Drew's birthday.

Everyone had been wishing Donelda well and saying great things about her...so, what was a loving little brother to do but get her a graveyard 50th birthday cake memorializing the death of her youth complete with a one-foot-in-the-grave reminder (which is actually one foot out of the grave?!?!).

Her friends put together an incredible montage of pictures of Donelda through the years. Fantastic job guys! (Click on it for larger size.)

We got Donelda a rare framed picture of the Chicago Cubs Rick Monday saving the American Flag along with a few other odds and ends. Happy 50th birthday Donelda!

Drew celebrated his birthday twice this weekend. Once on Saturday with Aunt Donelda who came in from Chicago just for his birthday along with Uncle David, Ma, Pa, Will, Landon, Mommy and Daddy, and again today, his real birthday, with just the five of us.

Mama made another one of her awesome number cakes carrying on the tradition started by Grandma Danz. Until you try to make one yourself, you have no idea how much work goes into it. Funny, too, how the tradition got passed down but none of the little tips and secrets to making the cakes got passed on.

Drew proudly showing his number seven cake.

Drew opening and reading his cards.

Star Wars Lego...one of the all time great combinations!

This is going to be fun to play with later.

Another great combination...Xbox and Lego!

Landon was also very interested in checking out the gifts.

Daddy, Will, Landon, Drew and Mama.

Daddy, Mama, Aunt Donelda, Will, Uncle David, Landon, Pa, Drew and Ma. Thanks to everyone for helping to make Drew's birthday really special.

Will was fortunate this year as he got to celebrate his birthday twice, once on Saturday with all of us, Ma, Pa, Uncle David, Aunt Catherine and Aunt Donelda and again today with just the five of us and Aunt Donelda. Will picked out chocolate cake with chocolate icing and sprinkles for his traditional number cake which Mary did an awesome job of making!

Completely out of character, when it came time to serve the cake and ice cream, Will declared that he didn't like cake...not even as a frosting delivery device! So, Will happily celebrated his birthday with just some chocolate mint ice cream.

Will proudly displaying his number four cake.

Landon was very interested in all the gift opening and Will was kind enough to let him work on his package opening skills.

Not a bad haul as Will excitedly displays his new Star Wars Clone Wars Clone Trooper Blaster. Thank you to everyone who called, sent cards and gifts, and helped to make Will's birthday weekend really special for him.

Landon celebrated his first birthday today. Aunt Donelda came down from Chicago for the weekend before and we wound up too busy during the week to celebrate on Tuesday so Landon got to celebrate again the weekend after his birthday too!

Landon all ready to get the party started.

Landon was very intent on getting his hands on some cake.

Actually taken the weekend afterward, Landon is very excited about getting his first taste of junk food, a birthday cupcake.

Landon was very interested in opening his cards, even more so than some gifts.

Landon's gift haul from his relatives. He'll be well clothed and occupied for some time. Family pictures after the jump.

Will, Landon and Drew with Aunt Donelda.

Will, Drew and Landon with Ma and Pa.

Our family.

Mary made the most awesome homemade creme brulee for dessert tonight! Instead of creating a fire hazard, she kindly just put four candles on mine.

I couldn't have asked for a better birthday; my family, a favorite dessert, some great presents and Aunt Donelda shipped in some Chicago pizzas from Lou Malnati's! Thanks everyone!

We celebrated Drew's 6th birthday today along with the help of family; Ma, Pa, Aunt Catherine, Uncle David and Aunt Donelda who came in from Chicago.

Mary, again, made another wonderful number cake carrying on the family tradition. Drew chose a vanilla cake with vanilla icing.

Drew cracking wise with his inflatable six.

They grow up so fast.

Drew blowing out his candles.

Opening up gifts with a little help from Will.

Very excited to get some new cool clothes.

Pa and Landon take a short break to rest their eyes.

Aunt Donelda and her three "Thing" nephews.

Will is just about to blow out the candles on his birthday cake Mama made for his 3rd birthday.

Will wanted white cake with white icing, so that is what Mama made for him. Accompanying the birthday cake is Daddy and Grandpa Danz's favorite, chocolate mint ice cream.

Will sharing his excitement with Drew about a movie he received as a gift.

Thanks to everyone, Will had a wonderful birthday with lots of family, not to mention making out like a bandit in the gift department!

No time to post anything of substance. Mary is still sick and celebrating a miserable 40th. I just wanted to show my love by reminding all of our friends that Mary was now, "in her 40s."

Drew celebrated his fifth birthday today.

Drew had no problem blowing out his five candles.

Momma made another great cake, this year chocolate icing on chocolate cake in the shape of a "5."

Will was amazingly well behaved considering everything was all about Drew today. Drew was really sweet and let Will help him open some of his gifts.

Anything and everythign Star Wars is always a big hit...pants not so much.

The best was saved for last when Drew opened up a spring loaded, light up lightsaber with real lightsaber sounds!

Thanks to everyone near and far who helped make Drew's birthday special. (In all the excitement and commotion we, again, failed to get a group picture, so thanks to Ma, Pa, Uncle David and Aunt Donelda who flew in from Chicago to be with Drew today.)

In addition to her consulting work, homeowners' board, getting ready for visitors, doing all the work ahead of Will's birthday and raising two awesome boys, Mama somehow found the time to continue the Danz tradition and make a terrific cake in the shape of the birthday year being celebrated.

First, we all (Mama, Daddy, Drew, Will, Ma, Pa, Uncle David, Aunt Catherine, Aunt Donelda and Miss Sue) feasted on Mama's world famous chicken enchiladas. And, then, it was time for cake! Unfortunately, Will didn't quite know what to make of the candles being lit.

Fortunately for Will, he has an awesome big brother. I told Drew to blow out one of Will's candles to get things started. But, Drew not wanting to take the fun away from Will just showed Will how to blow the candles without actually blowing one out. And, that was all it took to cheer Will up and save the day. Will then succeeded in blowing his two candles out all on his own.

With the candle episode behind him, Will dug into his cake. Woo-hoo!

Mama even got a thank-you-kiss for all her hard work.

Will did a terrific job of opening all his gifts.

Daddy, Aunt Donelda, Aunt Catherine, Drew, Uncle David, Will, Pa, Ma, Mama and Miss Sue (the camerawoman) all shared Will's special day.

Miss Sue reading to Will and Drew before bedtime. Sue was an incredible help the whole weekend and we were all glad she was able to come down with Aunt Donelda to see the farm and help celebrate Will's second birthday.

It's someone's last birthday today and this is me not making a big deal about it...I'll save that for next year!

Ma, Pa, Aunt Catherine and Uncle David came over tonight to help celebrate Drew's fourth birthday.

After a homemade dinner prepared by Mary, Drew got to blow out the candles on his "4" cake.

There was plenty of cake and ice cream for everyone, including little Will.

After dessert, it was time to read cards and open presents! We were all so exhausted from work and parties and preparation that we completely forgot to take a group photo...AAARRRGH! We'll have to get a group shot next time we are all over at Ma and Pa's. Thank you to everyone who sent in gifts and helped to make Drew's birthday extra special.

Today Drew turned four!

After dinner, we had a small celebration at home, just the four of us, with a little cake Drew picked out by himself at the grocery store.

After cake and ice cream, we opened presents and Drew even got to chat with Aunt Donelda while he opened one of his presents.

While everyone was eating cake, Drew said that his brother Will was one and that he was four. I asked Drew how much 4 + 1 was and he responded with great authority that it was 5. I then followed up by asking what 2 + 2 + 0 was and Drew responded with a smile 4. Next, Drew counted backwards from 10, counted to 10 by 2s "that's easy," spelled "stop," spelled "Drew," spelled his bothers name, recited our phone number and Daddy's cell number and then proclaimed, "now I want to open presents." Video to be added later.

Tonight we belatedly celebrated Pa's 62nd birthday.

Drew and Will helped their Pa blow out his candles. Interestingly, the cake had a series of fingerprints in the icing almost as if some small fingered person kept tasting the sugary topping. But even under intense interrogation, no one cracked, it will forever remain a mystery who did it!

Everyone came over this evening for dinner and to celebrate Will's first birthday: Ma, Pa, Aunt Catherine and Uncle David.

After dinner, Will had his first ever taste of cake! We started out letting Will use his hands, but he had no interest in the cake, or so we thought. Then we gave him a spoon and he went at like a champion. Turns out he liked the cake just fine, he just didn't like using his hands.

First taste of cake was followed by first taste of ice cream. He'd never had anything frozen before so, at first, he was a little unsure. But, after a while, he realized ice cream is a good thing!

After dinner, the unwrapping began. Will wasn't too interested in unwrapping. He might have been a little tired from all the goings-on. Fortunately, Drew was able to assist with opening packages.

Happy family with 3 1/2 and 1 year olds. Thank you everyone for making Will's first birthday extra special.

Will celebrated his first birthday today! We just had a small party at home with the four of us. With Drew's help, Will opened a few presents and some cards.

The Playskool Busy Ball Popper game was a big hit with both the birthday boy and his big brother.

Will got to talk to Ma and Aunt Donelda who wished him Happy Birthday. Will was very excited to finally be one year old.

Finally, we finished off the evening with some good old fashioned wrestling.

Drew got to celebrate his birthday again yesterday with Ma, Pa, Aunt Catherine and Uncle David. Mary whipped up another cake starring Lightening McQueen and Mater from the movie Cars.

Like before, party hats were mandatory. Unlike before, Will was awake to see the festivities.

For Drew's third birthday, the house was all decorated and we had everyone's favorite homemade chicken enchiladas for dinner. Dessert was, of course, ice cream and birthday cake. Drew said he made a wish, although, no one knows what it is...possibly not even Drew.

Mommy, Drew and Daddy posing with dessert. Drew loved the ice cream and the icing. But, cake isn't really his favorite thing...for him it's really just an icing delivery device.

After dinner and dessert, Drew was so excited about opening presents he was ready to burst. He opened everything by himself and checked out every toy, puzzle, book and clothes before moving on to the next. One of Drew's favorite gifts was a $4.50 bargain-bin remote control Buzz-Lightyear car.

Today, Will turned one month old. Drew wanted to know if we were going to have cake. And by "cake" he means a frosting delivery device. Instead, we had strawberry shortcake with whip cream. Will had to settle for milk. If you look closely at the photo in the upper right, you can see Will wearing his birthday Nikes.

There were 57 candles on the cake as we celebrated the birthdays of mom and "eh" (Aunt Catherine). Someone was feeling a little left out, so at the last moment we added Drew's 2 1/2 birthday to the celebration. Grandma, ever ready with a solution, whipped out Mickey and Minnie Mouse and some trains and a triple celebration it became!

The birthday girls. Drew posing with mom and helping Aunt Catherine unwrap.

Drew modeling some silicone over mitts that were given to mom. Finally, it was time to dig into the cake.

Mary and Drew were busy this past week making a surprise birthday cake for yesterday's festivities.

Drew watched carefully over the mixing of the ingredients and taste tested the results.

Mary reduced our standard sheet size numbers so that two would fit on one sheet.

Since it was a surprise, I wasn't around for the icing, but I'm told that Drew was quite the helper.

With fire extinguisher nearby and with the assistance of a grill lighter set on maximum, the candles were lit. The big candle on the zero is a tombstone with the inscription, "Here Lies My Youth."

Never have two years gone by faster. Mom had set up for the birthday in the living room during Drew's nap. When the first guest, Uncle David, arrived, Drew ran to the door with his usual excitement only to do a double-take and stop in his tracks to exclaim, "Ho-ly-Cooow!" Shortly thereafter, "Ma," "Pa" and "Aaa" (Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Catherine) arrived for dinner.

Dinner was followed by a birthday cake in the shape of the number two, a tradition started by Grandma Danz sometime in the 60s. A copy of the original template had been FedEx'd from Chicago for Mary to use...no pressure or anything. Drew blew one candle out on the first try and then after a dozen more attempts extinguished the second. Cake was followed by unwrapping of the gifts. Drew was fascinated with everything he received and wanted to open and test out each gift before moving on to the next.

Drew thanks and sends his love to all his relatives for helping to make his birthday extra special.

'Nuff said...

With the help of his grandparents, aunts, uncle, mom and dad, Drew celebrated his first birthday last week. He got to eat cake and ice cream for the first time which was followed by the opening of his presents.