Birthday Week

I haven't blogged this week because, 1-I don't want all those pictures of Owen to get buried (I've looked at them over and over and over again) and 2- It's all about our crazy birthday week and I haven't been too sure about reliving it, ha. Here's a post, all three rolled into one.

We kept the birthday parties simple, just the way I like a good birthday party. Especially when we have so many close together. I made a Golden Snitch cake for Nathan (our neighbor thought it was Thor's helmet, haha), little stacked personal cakes for Owen, brownie sundaes for Kat's family party and cupcakes for her friend party. Cake of every kind ended up in the garbage and no one even cared about it. Oh, three birthdays in a week is exhausting.

 I didn't take very many photos of Nathan on his birthday. Since it fell on a Tuesday (election day) and he turned 11 it was his first time going to Boy Scouts. He was so excited, no way was he missing it. We hurried through dinner, presents and cake so he could get there on time in his new uniform. Dane had to shop for Nathan and spent the most time searching out which gum to buy. Nate loves dessert gum and it was hard for Dane to choose a flavor.

Nathan asked me to take him to lunch on his birthday. I told him I'd take him out to lunch if he asked me every year, even when he was a teenager. He said, 'I'm not so sure about that'. I'll take what I can get. We had a good time together, but wow he is growing up fast. I love to see his excitement about scouts (he went to his first merit badge clinic Saturday). He is a good boy and I'm grateful for all he does for me. Happy Birthday Nate!

 I made these little personal cakes for Owen's birthday. The vision came from Pinterest and trust me, mine look nothing like the darling picture posted. But Owen didn't care and neither did we.

 We ate dinner and opened presents next. He is in love with this little doggie car I found on clearance. I'm not so sure how much I love it. The jingle is a catchy one and it gets stuck in my head. 'Kitty and Birdie are ready.....to go'. He pushes it as far as he can and crawls after it to push it more.

 He loves Dum Dum suckers. I thought it was cute to use one as a 'candle'. He had the hardest time deciding what to go for next. Frosting? Sucker? He would take a quick swipe of the frosting, a quick suck of the sucker and then repeat. Twenty five times or so.

 Once he ate the top layer of frosting off he was pretty much done. We had to pry the sucker out of his hands and throw him in the bath.

 This little car was Reed's. We dusted it off and gave it to Owen (aren't we tricky re-gifters). This was the next morning and he was wearing a new birthday outfit. Happy Birthday big one year old boy.

Nate started a tradition and so a week later, Kat wanted to go to lunch on her birthday. Just so happened that she had early release for conferences on her birthday so she didn't get to miss any school. We had fun together too. She loves to chatter and we never lacked for conversation.

 Kat turned12! She missed YW's by one day (her birthday was Wed, they meet on Tues) so we had a more relaxed night than we did for Nathan. She was so happy to have a new sketch pad. Reading and drawing rank pretty high on her list once the homework is finished.

 It was Kat's year to have a friend party. I love that they don't get a party like this very often, it was something she was really looking forward to. Owen sat and watched them through 2-3 songs on the game Just Dance 4. It was adorable.

 I feel so blessed to live here so Kat can have such a great group of friends (two friends were in a play and came a little late, thus the makeup). My friend's husband built this karaoke stage for them to dance and sing on, isn't it great? We covered it in black sheets, some Christmas lights and a few balloons. The girls had a great time with those microphones.

 She was giddy over having a house full of girls (and Owen). You can't really tell here but that cupcake has 12 animal print candles ready for her to blow out. Right up her ally.

So grateful these cute girls will be her friends in YW's once they turn 12. Today at church, I went in to YW's and introduced her to the other girls. It's still a little surreal for me to know she's 12 and no longer in Primary. It was cute to see her sitting with her new friends. During the announcements they asked for volunteers to help at the ward Christmas dinner and her hand shot right up. I don't doubt that her hand will be in the air every time they ask for volunteers. She will help with anything. Really. Her leaders came over after church to talk to her about the Personal Progress program. They also gave her a cute white bag with her name on it for when she attends the temple. She asked me if YW's was every single week and when I told her yes, it was clear that Tuesday is her new favorite day of the week. What a fun age to be. Happy Birthday Kat!