Alex's 7th Birthday: October 17, 2013

Alex is seven years old. What a goofball.

Well...it's only a month late. So, now that I've addressed that, let's not waste any time.

Alex turned 7 years old on October 17th. Alex's age lines up directly with how long we've lived in our house and how old (plus one year) three of our five cats are. What he wanted to do for his birthday was  have a slumber party. I was completely on board for this prior to my dad's passing. As my emotional capacity was dwindling quite severely, I ended up opting out of the slumber party and convincing him on slightly different plans. He got to invite quite a few friends from school to enjoy cake, popsicles, punch, a silly string extravaganza and a pinata. He seemed okay with it until I told him he could have his best bud, Kyler, spend the night after the party was over. It sweetened the deal just enough that I didn't harbor too much guilt for being the uncool mom who broke her word. It was Alex's first birthday without my dad....aka Grandpa. It was rough for everyone. Especially mom and the kids.

 We started off with the silly string craziness. I had a mummy halloween decoration that I attached to this chair...

He was less than recognizable after it was over. It was the fan favorite target. Remummified!

Alex got tons of presents. Thanks everyone!

Cupcake and popsicle time!

Can't leave Evie out with her cupcake. She enjoyed it thoroughly.

Alex with his shark pinata. Which, by the way, is still in pieces in my backyard. Wow, I'm lazy.

Abby. This makes me laugh. Good shot, picture taker (Mandy?).

And how did Evie spend her time? With her new best friend, Uncle Jake. I still don't get it. I swear he wears some kind of baby catnip or something. She even fought to get out of my arms to go to him. Way to go bro. You just sealed the deal as future babysitter. ;-)

The silly string was a huge hit! The kids loved it. Here's the thing about silly string: Its short-lived...very short-lived. But it was fun, nonetheless. I originally set out to have a silly string fight with each other. After reading that it can be torture to remove from hair and how it can only be removed with peanutbutter, I had to nix that idea. (We are peanut-free here.) I ended up setting up targets all over the backyard (thank you awesome weather!) and had them spray those in a mad, crazy frenzy. It was a hit and I do believe they enjoyed themselves. Then, we had our first pinata experience. I lost the top of my broom and ended up with a bruise on my knuckles (thank you Abby). But otherwise, they enjoyed that too. It was filled with shark stuff...naturally.

I went full on lazy this time and didn't even decorate a cake for the kid. Rockin' my lazy-mom shoes these days. It was cupcakes and popsicles for the win this go around. He came away with a ton of shark stuff to add to his ever-growing shark collection. This kid is crazy for sharks! He has over 30 shark books now. And still wants more! Crazy kid.

Best buds, Alex and Kyler. I love it! They are so fun together. They both love sharks.

My homemade shark decoration. It was Alex's idea. It's still sitting in my laundry room.

The sleepover was a blast for the two kids. Alex and Kyler are just a hoot to watch play. I'm glad he has such a great buddy. Makes me smile. They watched tv, played football and had a great time while eating everything but the dining room table.

As far as where the kiddo is in life, well...I'm really proud of Alex. He's seven and so smart and creative. I'm really blessed to have such a responsible kid. He's had some wacky cards dealt him in his young life, but has handled them all with a sense of maturity that you wouldn't normally see in kids his age. It's great to see how much he matures and grows in the span of a year. He's almost 60 pounds and just over a foot or so shorter than I am. He's in a "special" class at school with one other kid because he's a bit ahead of the other kids in his grade. They needed to get him somewhere to keep his mind expanding and pushing him to limits beyond what they are learning day to day. He's also doing AR and enjoying that. I don't know where he gets his brains from, but we are proud of him. I cant wait to see how far he comes in another year. What a ride it's been! Happy birthday Alex!