christian's 13th birthday!!!

my baby boy is now a teenager.

crazy.

for his birthday party we wanted to do something special.

we talked about renting a limo, scavenger hunting at the mall, party at the skatepark, or go-karts. but the limo people were either too expensive or didn't call back, i was pretty sure the security guards at the mall would not appreciate 6 boys running around taking pictures, and the skatepark and go-kart places require your first born to ensure that you don't sue them. well not really, but the skatepark does require a parent to sign a waiver, in front of them. and if the parent isn't there then they have to have the waiver notarized. and the go-kart places require a 3-day saftey class. soooo, all of those ideas were out.

in the end we agreed on a slumber party and movie.

(at this point i would include a picture from the party, but alas, there are none to be had. i'm not sure how, because i took a lot. and the pictures that i took before and after the party are intact. but none from the party?!)

he had originally invited 3 other boys. then a few days before the party he asked to invite 2 more. no big deal, i made up 2 more goodie bags and we were good. then on the day of the party another boy rode his bike over. just heard about the party and came on over. that was one of those parenting moments that you don't expect. the boy is nice enough, but he often gets in trouble at school (just like my bubba). also, i had already bought the tickets for the movie and wasn't sure if they would be sold out. and i didn't have any extra goodie bags. it was a dilemma indeed. i decided that we could scrounge up what we needed and what we put out in the price of letting another boy stay for the festivities would be worth the price of not sending a boy (with a questionable home life) home upset.

here is one picture that managed to come out unscathed. it was cute, all the boys doting on frankie in her high chair, but by the time the picture took, they had all scattered.

so about 15 minutes after everyone had arrived, they all decided to run upstairs from the basement. all at the same time. little mister uninvited pushed another boy (playfully) and we heard a loud crash.
this was the result.

can you see that 2 foot long crack in the drywall?

 

after the drywall fiasco we sat the boys down and they had a little talking to. and then things ran a lot more smoothly. just another mom lesson, notch in ma belt, if you will. ;)

after pizza and presents i loaded my truck with 8 boys (it's only an 8 passenger! :0) and we went to see i am number 4. i had made the aforementioned goodie bags, so in the car i told the boys that i had bought all the movie tickets and i had stocked goody bags (i had gotten a bunch of free snickers bars so they each got a full size one, bag of chips, swedish fish ((christians fav!)), m and m's ((($1 for the big bags))), jelly beans ((((2 free bags)))), and twizzlers) and a can of soda, and that i would buy a large popcorn and split it up for them and that if they wanted anything else they were on their own. no one bought anything else.:) when we got to the theater i got my large popcorn, split it up into 7 bags (christian hates move theater popcorn, wierdo!), got my refill immediately and enjoyed the movie. :)

when we got home i kinda jokingly said "okay, i'm turning on the alarm so don't try to sneak out!" i in fact wanted them to know that i was turning on the alarm and not to try to sneak out! i stayed up for a long time just keeping an eye on them, i was upstairs and they were down. i had told them no soda in the basement so they would come up every few minutes to get a drink and chris would say, "mom, what time are you going to bed?" at that point, i knew i needed to "fall asleep on the couch." so i did, at 2 am! things were still in full swing by that point, but by 4 when i went down to check they were all asleep.

the next morning i made my signature name initial pancakes (giant pancake letter C for christian and so on), bacon, sausage, and eggs. i felt like i couldn't cook fast enough to keep them all fed. i finally just had to tell myself that if i kept giving them food, they would probably keep eating and it was time to stop. that was after a dozen eggs, full package and a half of bacon, sausage, and 3 batches of pancakes. i don't think they went hungry, do you?

after most of the boys had gone home, christian wanted to put together the weight bench we got him. so with the help of 2 friends and matt, they put it together.

and finally! pictures!

after everyone went home it was time for christian (and lexi's) fav japanese steakhouse. where you spend enough for a weeks worth of groceries for one meal. oh well, we only go there for special occasions.

addie, alexis, and frankie gave christian their present at lunch.

((we went to lunch because christian had a late basketball game and lexi had to babysit that night))

they got him a fun alarm clock that says different phrases in funny, different voices and then shakes around so you have to catch it.

(and it better be good because they each paid $6 for it!; (($18)))

addie enjoyed her flower.

 

then she laid down on matt's lap and went to sleep.

check out frankie's faces. she didn't cry, but she was totally freaked out by the fire.

her "what the crap?" face.

we love the volcano.

and i love them.

then they brought the boy out his birthday sundae and we all sang to him. he loved it!

so as soon as his last friend left from the slumber party, we left for lunch. and then from lunch we went straight to his basketball game. we got home at 5:30 and didn't have anything else planned for the night, but since he had stayed up till 3 or 4 am the night before, i figured that was okay. 

later when i asked him if he had a good birthday he said he did, even though we didn't really do anything. 

?

happy birthday, my sweet boy.

i love you so much.

even though you can be a brat. :)