Our Very Best: Another Year Older

Every year at this time I am in utter shock that my children have turned another year older! There is nothing like your children aging to make you feel very old. But because I can't stop or reverse time it happened, Aiden turned 9! He was very indecisive about what he wanted to do for his birthday as he wasn't sure if he would rather have a big present, a big party or a big trip! He finally consented to a small family party and then a trip to Disneyland sometime later this year. I was all for that idea as the last thing I wanted to do was plan a big party for a bunch of boys in the midst of starting school! So I sent out a quick email inviting Aiden's grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins over for pizza and swimming. No invitations, no fancy food, no theme or decorations...Ya right! Thanks to a little something called Pinterest, what was supposed to be a small casual gathering became a themed/planned party! I found a gazillion great ideas including but not limited to Lego themed party ideas, candy bars, banners, wreaths... I just had to make a few fun things! So of course the party became a little more time consuming and costly then I had planned! If either of my children cares about getting a lot of attention and all the hoopla, it's Aiden! He was just as excited about the balloon wreath and Lego cake as he was about the presents! I don't know if its because he appreciates crafty things or because he was flattered by all the time spent on him! Either way, it was worth all my time and energy!

We had such a great turn out and it's always nice to have a reason to get our families together. I am always surprised by the shear size of it but that's what happens when practically everyone lives in the same city! As much as I had dreaded the thought of planning and preparing for a party initially, I was so happy that we did it as I remembered that last year Aiden's birthday was in South Africa with just our tiny family. This time around he deserved to have as many people as we did help him celebrate! We kept the food simple and just ordered pizza, which was great because no one had to spend any time in the kitchen. The kids all swam and some of the braver adults, and then we all came in and watched Aiden open up way too many presents. He received some pretty great gifts and I would say he is VERY spoiled! He definitely got everything he wanted between transformers, gift cards, cash, video games a DS and a new bike! WOW! After opening up all those gifts we brought out the cake! I have never had any luck with birthday cakes. I don't know why I can not successfully bake and frost a cake but even with my several failed attempts I refuse to give up. I so desperately wanted to make a cool Lego cake and according to the blog post I found, it should have been very simple. But even with all my planning and practice, the cake left something to be desired! Fortunately, it tasted good!

One of the other great ideas I have seen through blog stalking is to interview your kids on their birthdays. I so wish I had done this all along because it would be so fun to see how much they change! As I think back over Aiden's 9 years I can picture him watching every episode of the Wiggles and Stanley then on to Spongebob and Phineas and Ferb. My favorite was his overwhelming obsession of all things DINOSAUR! Here are his newest faves and things of interest at the ripe old age of 9:

Favorite TV Show: Good Luck Charlie
Favorite Movie: Transformers-all 3

Favorite Musician:          Bruno Mars
Favorite Toy:    Transformer action figures
Favorite Thing to Do:     Play video games
Best Pals:                        Enoch, Kevin & Mattie
Favorite Food:                Hamburgers
Favorite Book:    Diary of a Wimpy Kid
What do you want
to be when you grow
up?:                               Marine (what? this one was new to me)
Favorite Color:               Blue
Favorite place to
visit/live?:                       Utah-Because of the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point