Birthday Boy

After a late night of surprise birthday partying we were all a little tired for Zack's birthday morning. Don't let the fact that Zack slept in his clothes fool you, this is the next day.

Zack doesn't usually want a lot of toys for his birthday. This year there were all kinds of toys he wanted. One specific request was a Hot Wheels race track. He was describing the track that he wanted and it got so spectacular that I finally had to clarify if the track actually existed or if it was something he just thought would be cool. We went to the computer and sure enough, Hot Wheels makes a track the has a loop, a skeleton head, sponge brains, and a water feature. He was super excited to get it. After school when he was building it he told me that it really fun but not very "kid friendly."

Instead of sending treats to school for Zack we put together some goody bags for his class. On the walk to the bus, he reminded me that I needed to bring cupcakes too. Supposedly, EVERYONE brings cupcakes and goody bags to class. I didn't recall seeing that on his list and used that as an excuse not to bring them.

We went to the restaurant of Zack's choice for dinner and then saw Mars Needs Moms.

We had a fun night out that we had to extend because when we got home we realized that our gas range had been turned on (for hours!) and our entire house was a ticking time bomb of gas. That was a little scary but we all woke up alive the next day.

Surprise!

Zack has birthday expectations. He expected to have a friend birthday party. He did not specify this wish exactly and it was only implied on his massive birthday list. I dropped the ball. Actually, I was just hoping to avoid  figuring out how to throw a friend party here.  I thought that having the cousins over would eliminate the need for a more elaborate party. And then I realized that the cousins were heading out of town on his birthday.  I threw out the idea of a pre-birthday party and he cried. By then it was too late to try to organize a friend party. I was feeling very guilty. Luckily, I was able to throw together a pre-birthday surprise party with the cousins and our neighbors. While Matt took him to pick up pizza, we did some quick decorating and waited....

We had a bunch of arrival false alarms and were a little caught off guard when he walked in the door:

He had this big grin for the rest of the night.

Zack and his "almost brother" Henry. That's how Henry describes their relationship, this information is especially important when deciding who gets to use the second Nerf sword they gave him for a present.

The party in full swing. I tried to make the case that Matt should stay home and decorate because of his better crepe paper skills, but he still can't raise on arm above his head. Stupid shoulder injury.

This is my redesign on a High School Musical pinata. Zack inexplicably decided he wanted space themed party decorations. And only a star pinata would do.  Star pinatas are hard to find. 

Madeline, Celeste (our cute neighbors/bus stop friends) with Zack.

Zack also wanted a star cake. He told me this two days before his birthday. They make star shaped cake pans but I couldn't find one anywhere. Instead he got this, sloppy (his description) star cake. He did get a sparkler candle which I think outweighs the poor cake execution.

To do...

Zack's birthday is in 5 days. Good thing he wrote me this list: 

I better get busy!

12 Facts About the 12-Year Old

My intention was to post this closer to Noah's actual birthday. Better late than never and so, in no specific order, I present 12 little bits of information about Noah.

1. Noah likes to look good. We seldom leave the house until his hair is styled. He recently discovered the luxurious world of the professional haircut. He is a fan. He also likes to accessorize and goes through various phases of accessories. At one point he was loving necklaces so much we started calling him Mr. T. 

 

This fall he got into silly bands. For him, more is awesome. The silly band phase was short and now he is all about the Power Balance bands.

2. Noah likes music and swears he can't do homework without it. He gets obsessed with a few certain songs and then he plays them over and over and over and over. I finally had to ban Fireflies by Owl City. We've tried to steer him toward music we prefer, but right now he's all about whatever it is they play on the Top 40. (Did I just date myself with that reference). Stuff like: Nelly, Riahnna, Usher, some Beiber, Katy Perry.... a few of the songs he likes I recognize from Zumba so we have that in common. He'll switch my radio station or unplug my iPod when we drive. He gets in trouble for it, but he tries every time. 

3. Noah is a gamer with a soft spot for Pokemon. He's been into Pokemon since he was four. 

 We've made some progress and we don't watch/record the tv show anymore. But right now he's obsessed with a couple of DS Pokemon games. 

4. Noah is responsible (when he wants to be). True story: a few nights ago before going to bed Noah asked Matt what time he wanted him to wake him up. He gets himself up, gets dressed & makes his own breakfast every morning. I never worry about him waking up on time. He isn't completely neglected, I do roll out of bed at 7:10 so I can make his lunch. By then he's usually dressed and watching the morning news. Seriously. 

5. Noah LOVES cheeseburgers. He's a bit of an aficionado and swears the burgers at Emmett & Ethels in Lehi are the best. That is up for debate. He generally likes just cheese and ketchup but then he will add a few fries and, if possible, fry sauce. He loves the fry sauce. 

6. Noah likes to debate (or argue when he's speaking to me) and wants to be an attorney. He recently added The People's Court & America's Court to our DVR list.   

7. Noah is an entrepreneur. He wants to set up stands all the time. I am not very supportive of his stand enterprises so he has discovered other ways to make a little cash. Recently he found a company that sells Power-Balance bands for cheap. He bought a bunch of popular colors and sizes for a few dollars each, took them to school and sold them for $10. 

8. Noah loves sports. Part of his morning ritual is the check the Jazz score from the night before. He likes to follow standings and stats. For a long time he wanted to be a pro soccer player.   

9. Noah loves fast cars. He was pushing for Matt to buy a Camero for his next car. Luckily we see exotic cars on a regular basis. His phone is filled with pictures of Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Bentleys & the Audi A8 that is parked at our church most Sundays

10. Noah likes to act. I think it might be his back up career plan if the whole lawyer thing doesn't work out. So far, his repertoire only consists of injuries (he tried to fake me out with ketchup today) and a few moments of decent comedic timing. 

11. Noah is a tech-geek. He could run our home computer when he was two. He likes to modify things and that gets him into trouble sometimes. Both our Wii and his iPod have been "jail broken." He is constantly watching videos on You Tube about the latest technology. He picked an android based cell phone over an iPhone after some fairly extensive research and he knows all kinds of tricks and apps and "easy ways" to do things. 

12. Noah is a good big brother (when he isn't teasing). He was very concerned about not being able to walk with Ben & Zack to school this year. He has to give them both a hug and kiss before bed each night. I am happy that he is setting a good example for them.

Noah is 12!

This is Noah on the morning he turned twelve. All month he has been struggling to figure out what gifts he wanted. What a nice worry.

Lucky for Noah he shares a birthday with his cousin Henry. Henry had a birthday party at Chuckie Cheese and Noah got to tag along. Lucky! He even got a birthday email from Chuckie Cheese (don't ask) and got extra tokens. 

After, we had some ice cream cake. ..

and a cousin sleep over.

No school on Monday=The Sky Zone.

But the greatest part of being twelve is being ordained to the Priesthood.

The Bread Run

We are bread snobs. We've lived in Vegas for seven months and have been unable to find (and the search has been extensive!) bread that we like. Because the boys all take lunches this year--the school lunches here "look gross"--we must have good bread.  And so periodically we travel approximately 128.4 miles, across three states to buy bread in St. George. I also throw in some good salsa because I am picky about that too.

Ok, judge away. It's white bread. And not only is it white bread, it's like candy it is so yummy. If I leave a loaf out the kids will eat it all up in an afternoon.  I've tried the whole wheat version and they just don't eat it. And I have a thing about my boys actually eating the lunch I pack so it's a compromise. I am not a totally bad mom, there is a little nutrition in their sandwiches: Zack eats organic peanut-only peanut butter with low sugar jam. Ben & Noah eat lean ham.

Like I said, the kids love this bread and there is only so much room in the freezer so I have to ration it. They are allowed to toast the ends for a snack, but otherwise there is no bread consumption outside of lunches. I figure these six loaves will last 4-5 weeks, depending on the number of times I let Noah spend $3(!) for pizza at school. By the way, I can't find decent whole wheat bread here either, hence the two other loaves of bread.

Before Mike & Di moved, it wasn't so complicated.  We could have them bring bread when they were visiting or I would grab some when we visited them. But those days are over which meant that Monday was the first ever trip we've made just to get bread.

Since the kids were out of school, we did some fun things:

and ate burgers that we also can't get in Vegas.

It ended up being a long day. Someday I will need to purchase a big freezer so I can make fewer trips and store more bread because I don't see us settling for inferior bread any time soon.  But it's also nice to have an excuse to go to St. George.

Over-Achieving on Valentine's Day

Normally my Valentine's Day shopping involves looking for the boxes with the most Valentine's. The boys all had 30+ kids in their classes.  No way were we making Valentines.

This year, Zack's class has a very manageable 18 students in his class. We decided to get crafty. Crafts can be challenging with Zack. I am all about going to Family Fun to find a clever idea. Zack likes to do his own creating. Sometimes his ideas can get a little strange and elaborate. We were trying to think of rhymes or puns and he was stuck on using lollipops. He didn't see anything wrong with saying someone "sucked" as long as it said Happy Valentine's Day after.  I let it go for a day then showed him the magical world of Family Fun online. I hoped he'd like the word play and the design of the fish Valentine. He did and happily cut out 36 of the 54 hearts we needed before abandoning the project. He was diligent with the rest of the process and we ended up with these Valentine's:

(Best Fishes this Valentine's Day).

Ben was content to give out Laffy Taffy Valentine's but his class was having a Valentine's container contest. A few years ago Noah and I made a locker (as seen on Family Fun) and he didn't win.  We thought a robot might be cool and searched through our recycling for parts. 

The giant cheese ball container saved the day and along with some toilet paper rolls, Sobe lids, cardboard, tin foil and lots of packing tape we had a robot. I was pretty sure we had a solid contender this time.

I opted to drive him to school to protect the creation.  His school has a very organized drop off system. I pull up to the curb and a volunteer opens the door for kids. The mom who opened the door said, "Wow, someone is an over-achiever." Ha ha. I gave her some polite laughter. She wasn't finished, "Mom must be pretty creative"and then she shut the door. Hmm. Did I just get dissed? I'm not sure, but for the record this was all Ben's design. I did some tin foil attaching and I cut that hole, but that was just because I was avoiding a trip to the ER.

After school I had a few little surprises for the kids. (I'd like my kids to remember me for more than just my impressive nagging skills).  Ben is holding his first prize award for the robot. He was sad when I met him at the bus stop. It was the most sad good news I've ever heard. But neither he or Zack were feeling well. He was also disappointed in his prize. He had it in his head that the reward for first place would be a $150 cash prize. If so I would have taken my hole cutting 50% share. Anyway, we made some Valentine's Day pizza and had a nice night together.

Until Zack continued his getting sick on a holiday trend and threw up all over his bed.