A wedding

This is Brandon at my wedding. I think he was seven. I also think he owes me big time because I chose this picture of his youth (even though I look horrible) rather than the one of him in his skivvies and chaps.

This is Brandon at his own wedding. He's taller now.  

If I ever offer to be your wedding photographer say no. It won't hurt my feelings because I will probably only be offering to be nice.

 

 

 We are excited that Brittni has joined our family. I hope she's been around us long enough to know what she's getting into....

The Six Year Old

Kids grow up. Zack had the nerve to do that today. Another year! How rude. I would be fine if he stayed 5 for a little longer. It's a fun age. He's a fun kid. I think that won't change even if he gets older. It's just kind of a bummer to see him get taller and smarter and sassier. I love him so much I could just eat him up. He has to remind me that he would taste gross, but I can't get enough kisses and hugs from him. Poor kid. At least he's still willing to cuddle me and watch Phineas and Ferb. Although sometimes I prefer to watch it alone. He laughs at the jokes and after about every other sentence he has to see if I "get it."  Then he'll explain why it was funny just to make sure I got it. 

This birthday was pretty low key. Matt & I had big plans to have the house all decorated. All we managed was this fun hallway. 

We have to get up extra early to open presents before Matt leaves for work. Zack is my best sleeper and was not ready for the morning. He is wearing a custom birthday hat he made about two weeks ago.

Zack wanted to make his own birthday sign. I should have had him start it when he made his hat. He got side tracked with other projects and didn't do it on time. Five year-olds are so unreliable.   They do however, tend to destroy things. As fate would have it, he pulled down our curtains yesterday which gave me this opportunity. I did the name & balloons. He added the rest using the window markers he got for his birthday.

Drawing is Zack's favorite thing to do. His proudest moment in kindergarten was winning a coloring contest in September. His teacher tells me that he still reminds her about it. This is the art wall in his room. He and Ben are supposed share it, but all except for two of the drawings are Zack's.  He is getting more diverse in the things he draws and he's starting to add little details. On his dresser is the hat he decorated for Dr. Seuss' birthday. I love the flames & skulls.

He's been into fancy cakes for the last two years. I wanted to do something different and surprise him. He did not take the news well. He really wanted to decorate his cake and told me so about a million times. I didn't give in and in the end he loved the cake.

It's a good thing because that could have been a birthday ruin-er. He did say that  I should have made it a box of markers not crayons. Picky picky. He will be doing his own cake next year. 

Happy Birthday Cub Scouts

Prior to being a mom, I had zero experience with scouting. I grew up with sisters so the world of blue and gold was foreign territory.  Now that I have two scouts and served a brief stint as a bear den leader, I'm practically an expert. Not really. Blue & Gold this year was a celebration of 100 years of Scouting.  They had a cake decorating contest. This is our entry: the skateboard cake. 

The competition was really stiff. Honestly, we didn't have a chance. We won the fastest cake award. Or in other words, we didn't really win. Thanks for softening the blow though. The taco, camp site & fire cakes won. Zack was disappointed because Ben was given recognition for making the cake even though Zack contributed the stars on the wheels & the number 8.

Ben earned a whole bunch of belt loops. 

This was Noah's last night in cub scouts and was awarded his Arrow of Light. Our scoutmaster makes these neat awards for each boy. He better be the scoutmaster for about 5 more years so Ben & Zack can get one too. 

The tradition is for the boys to cross "the bridge" to 11 year old scouts. Good times. Sometimes they make the parents be part of the bridge. I think I can thank the other advancing scout's mom for being pregnant so we didn't have to.That was smart thinking.

I am glad we have super leaders who help my boys advance and make it fun for them. Eventually I hope all three boys become Eagle scouts. We are off to a good start.

Best Futsal Game EVER

I have sat through enough Futsal games to know what I am talking about. Tonight was the final game for the 3rd (Arsenal AP) & 4th (Saratoga Rage) place teams. We competed in a more difficult bracket for this season and it's been a good challenge for the team. I was so riveted to the game that I didn't take any pictures. But here is the rundown.

They scored the first goal. Our next shot hit the left post pin-balled over to the right post and bounced out. GOAL? I swear it had to have crossed the line at some point, but no call. Bizarre. The next shot was a clear goal and we tied it up. Then they scored two more goals and we went into the half down 1-3.  But within the first 4 minutes of the second half we tied it up 3-3. They scored another goal and then we did. It was intense. Our boys played as good as I've ever seen them play. At the end of regulation it was a 4-4 tie . Do you know what that means? Penalty kicks and a big jump in my blood pressure.  

Our goalie won the rock/paper/scissors off (apparently no one had a coin), so we took the first kick..and missed. Nate blocked their first attempt. Noah was up and kicked it high and hard right into the goal.  What a relief!  They missed their next shot and I thought it was over-we won.  I was wrong. All 5 players on each team get to shoot. We miss, they make one, we score, they make one, we miss, they make one. Game over. We lose 3-2.  It was still a really fun game to watch and I couldn't be more proud.

Eleven years? Really?

Time passes too quickly. If I think about it too long I realize that I am getting old. I must be if my oldest child just turned 11. ELEVEN!! That means 12 is not too far away. It's shocking, but also kind of fun. I really enjoy Noah. He's a great kid. He has a good sense of humor (meaning he gets my jokes) and a tender heart. He tries really hard to do the right thing and he will sometimes clean his room without throwing a fit. He's even fun to talk to.  I love him lots. 

We do birthday signs. I don't know why we just do. This year, Zack wanted to make Noah's. It's way better than anything I've ever done, so he will be making all future birthday signs--including his own.

This is absolutely the reaction we were going for.

 

One of about 100 first birthday cake pictures. 

He was clearly inexperienced in the whole posing thing.  Not any more.

 Every year I try to do something different for this cake averse birthday boy. This year, I went with a mini cake.  I have to admit that after 11 years of birthday cakes, I am burnt out. I used to care a lot. Now, I am just glad I have something to stick candles in.


From what I've been told, things go down hill at about age 12. I hope not. At least I've got another year to enjoy him.