Lucky Number 13

It is a little mind blowing that I am the mother of a teenager. Where did the time go? This was a friend party year and for the past month I have been trying to get Noah to decide what he wanted to do. I threw out options and had amazing ideas, but I couldn't get him to commit. He LOVES the Hunger Games so when I saw my friend Rilie's awesome birthday party ideas I thought we could use some of them and take the boys to play Lazer Tag. But then he broke his arm and the Klondike was the night before so we ended up with an impromptu birthday-eve sleepover with Ethan and Sean.  He wanted to eat pizza and go to an arcade and almost ended up at Chuckie Cheese but then remembered Grazianos. My kids love that place. 

I warned him the night before to be up before 9:00 to open presents or he would have to wait until Matt & I came home from the gym. Noah, who used to be an early riser, has become a major sleep-in-er especially if he is up all night the night before. I was thinking maybe they'd be up by 8:30. They were up before 7:00. 

 We didn't have anything planned for his actual birthday, so Matt & I took him out on the town. It was his choice for lunch but he was indecisive and tired and didn't get enough sleep so Matt picked what we both thought would be a safe choice for him. He liked it ok, but it's no Emmett and Ethel's. He later said he would have rather gone to Fuddruckers. Teenagers!?!!

On Sunday we invited all our Vegas family to come celebrate his birthday. Thank you  Pinterest for the perfect cake idea.  

Because I enjoy a little subway art in my life, I decided to make one in Noah's honor. Here are some, but not all, of the things that relate to Noah at age 13. 

Now Everyone Has Had One...

A few weeks ago, Noah was talking about how he has never broken a bone or been to the ER. You know what that means...time to break something. 

While we were in San Luis Obsipo, Noah took a crash on a scooter. He had a nasty cut on his elbow and some scratches on his hip and shoulder. The darn kid wasn't wearing a helmet so I was glad that it wasn't worse. I cleaned up his wounds and we decided to wait to see about the pain he was feeling in his arm. By the time we got back home, it was still bothering him, so to be on the safe side we went to check it out. Sure enough, broken. 

Fortunately, it isn't a bad break and he will only be in a cast for four weeks. Also fortunate was that he had a good excuse to miss the Klondike camp out. 

Birthday and Babies

Of course we would attend to Charlie's Michael Jackson birthday party. Leanne transformed the barn into a hip hop dance club so these kids could bust a move. 

Prior to the party, some of the kids set up a VIP lounge upstairs. Zack was designated as the bouncer, a job he took very seriously. He didn't let a single kid who wasn't on the list into the lounge. Question: how do 7 and 8 year-olds know about VIP lounges?  The VIP concept was quickly stopped once the adults heard about it and Zack felt really bad about his role. He was so sad he didn't want to go to the party. 

Matt finally convinced him to go and he quickly found happiness and his awesome dance moves. 

Moon walk:

more moon walk:

These great dance teachers taught the kids routines to Thriller and Beat It. They all took turns performing with Charlie on the stage. 

After the party there was plenty of time for couch bonfires

and hanging out with cousins: 

These three were nearly inseparable, except for this moment when these two were drinking non-caffeine cola in the back of Papa's car. Henry was probably in the bathroom. 

We had so much fun that some of us couldn't be bothered to change out of pjs. (This picture was taken around 2:00 in the afternoon). 

I had the luxury of spending plenty of time holding the twins. I mean seriously, how cute is Levi?  

And Caleb? Our other reason for visiting was for their baby blessings. We are so happy to have two more little cousins to love. They are unbelievably sweet.

Our Punny Valentine's

Some holidays I have it together. But due to my Blue & Gold responsibilities, this Valentine's Day,  I did not.  I ended up at a gas station the night before purchasing some candy so that I could leave these little surprises around for the boys. 

I included a little surprise note in each lunch. 

For Zack: 

Noah:

Ben, was the hardest because, well, he's Ben and is limited on what he will eat. He ended up scoring because I rarely buy soda and never put it in a lunch. 

Ben got off the bus and told me that for "some reason" he didn't remember to pass out his Valentines. I have yet to find out the reason, he says he just forgot. How bizarre! How do you just forget to pass them out when everyone else is? Don't you feel bad when you are looking at your box full of Valentine's knowing that you didn't pass any out? I just don't understand.  Oh well, at least now Matt has candy to give out to the Webelos. 

We finished our day of love celebrating by taking advantage of kids eat free at Islands. Dinner for everyone for less than $30. I love that. 

Student of the Month

Noah came home one day with potentially bad news: he was called into the office. I was shocked at that news and a little freaked out because Noah is  generally a good kid, aside from the teasing and lack of chore do-ing. I couldn't  imagine what he could have done that would get him called to the office. What does it say about me that I assumed it was because he did something wrong? Thankfully, it wasn't. 

We enjoyed a nice lunch with Noah and the rest of the kids who were selected by each 7th grade teacher. We are proud of Noah for being one of a small group chosen to be Student of the Month. 

The Baker

On Friday night Noah was searching the kitchen for yeast and bread flour. He said he was in the mood for fresh, warm bread and wanted to make it himself. Interesting. I convinced him to wait until the morning thinking that he'd lose interest. He didn't. He woke up Saturday morning with bread on his mind.

I couldn't figure out where his sudden need to bake bread was coming from until it hit me--Peeta. Of course! Noah is completely obsessed with the Hunger Games series. One of the fan-sites he goes to has a countdown to the movie and one of the recommended things to do before the movie is to bake bread. 


I asked him if he wanted a recipe, but in true Noah style, he didn't need one. He found a YouTube video that showed how to do it. He threw on an apron, took over my Kitchen Aid and got to baking. 

 

Kneading the dough. 

I honestly didn't think it would turn out. Isn't bread supposed to be difficult? Doesn't it take lots of practice? Apparently not. This is Noah's baked bread. Impressive braiding technique, huh. It even tasted good. 

Way to go, Noah. You did Peeta proud. 

First hike of 2012

January 2 turned out to be a beautiful day for a hike in the Red Rocks. 

Ben and Aidan climbed up this big rock. Isn't the sky pretty? 

Henry & Zack did it too. 

I can't think of a better start to 2012.