Poppy turns 62

Happy birthday to my dad - (better known as Poppy these days to his 20 grandchildren). Poppy turned 62 on Tuesday. In this picture from this past Sunday, my dad holds his youngest grandchild, Dawnae's baby Joseph on his blessing day.

Tuesday evening we had a low-key family get-together to celebrate with those of us in town. Janae's oldest daughters, Lexi & Lilli were here to wish Poppy a happy birthday too. Poppy is well-loved and quite a celebrity to his fan base of grandchildren. His name has been among the first words uttered from the mouths of many of his grandbabies. I am so thankful for my dad & thankful that my children have a grandfather who is kind, fun, and loving. My children are blessed in a way that I never was because they know both of their grandfathers & both are endearing and entertaining to be around. For me - my mother's father died before I was ever born and my dad's dad was not particularly fond of kids. He was pretty grumpy & sat in his chair & watched TV for most of my childhood. I am glad my children's lives are richly enhanced by their relationship with their grandparents.

My dad opens his "Poppy Cakes" themed birthday gift from Janae's family surrounded by interested grandchidren. Poppy is famous for the pancakes he makes at our family gatherings at the cabin - so famous that they are not pancakes, but poppycakes.
My dad is at a point in his life (& has been there for a while) where he needs absolutely nothing so most of us end up giving him food on gift-giving occasions. This birthday he got a case of "Mexican Coke" - sweetened with sugar not corn syrup, cinnamon bears, and the poppycakes theme gift - which was definitely the most creative - good job Janae!

Lexi and Madi spent all afternoon creating an assortment of beautiful cupcakes in honor of Poppy's birthday - a disastrous kitchen, 2 cake mixes, lots of chocolate chips, 5 boxes of powdered sugar, and a pound of butter later - here's the final result -

Katie & Lilli show off the creative cards they made for Poppy. Both used their "poppy given" nicknames as themes for their cards - "lil the pill" and "katie bug"

Madi & Lexi made sure the cupcakes were covered with 62 candles.

Poppy blew out all the candles! His lungs are still recovering :)

. . .and just because - Ben got a new outfit on Poppy's birthday, courtesy of Mammy (my mom) & the Target's clearance rack. I love that Ben matches the toy four wheeler. He looked like such a "tough guy" (as granddaddy Ken calls him). I also have no idea why he is soaking wet. In fact, I didn't even notice that he was wet until I looked at this picture today.