Bryant turns 13!

The night before Jonas' birthday Levi asked if he could decorate Jonas' room and Bryant was so excited to join him.  They made a poster saying "Happy Birthday Young Leprechaun."  So it was only natural that Levi wanted to do the same for Bryant.  But since they share a room it was a little more difficult.  Jonas is usually the first one asleep and Bryant is always the last, so Jo missed out on the fun.  But Levi stayed up in our room creating this poster and blowing up balloons.  But by the time he finished, Bryant was still awake, so he asked Ethan and I to do the decorating after he finally went to sleep.

That night we took the kids to Bryant's restaurant of choice, IHOP.  I don't know what it is about that place, but my kids think its the best.  Since he's officially a teenager now he was excited to order off the adult menu.

Once we got home we opened a couple presents, he liked the addition to his hat collection.

The birthday party on Friday, March 25 was the thing he was most excited about.  He invited all the kids in his Sunday School class and a few of his friends from his scout troop.  The invitation told them to dress as a Doctor Who character for a costume contest.  We promised food and fun.  And I think we delivered.  If you're a fan of the show, you'll appreciate our food and some of the costumes...

Veggie Dalek.

Fruit Dalek.

Adipose.

Sonic Screwdrivers.

Fish and Custard.

We also had (a feeble) attempt at Time Vortex cookies and, of course, Bow Tie salad.

The first thing we did was create our own sonic screwdriver pens with sculpey clay.

The costume contest.  I'll do my best to remember who they are all supposed to be...

Adam (I think.  He asked Bryant if there was anyone who just went around in a hoodie and jeans and Bryant explored his vast knowledge on the subject and came up with this guy.)

The Empty Child.

Rory.

Girl Doctor.

From the first episode, some sort of Mannequin.

Dalek.

The Master.

 The Empty Child.

 The Master.

 The 11th Doctor in the episode where he plays football.

I told the kids they could not vote for themselves or for Bryant and the Dalek won!  They played Weeping Angel tag and made up a new game called Empty Child tag.  And they watched one of Bryant's favorite episodes while they ate.

We finished the party with an ice cream T.A.R.D.I.S. cake.  I didn't have any time to decorate it, so it was very, very basic.  But the general idea was there.  The kids went home with their sonic screwdriver pens and a handmade Fez.

He was a happy teenager.  It was such a delight to have all his friends over.  Love this kid, so much.

The {Blessed} Last Day of Basketball

March18 was Bolton's final basketball game.  He loved playing so much!  Ethan was his coach and it was a stressful position for him, but he had fun, too.  Before the game we had cheesecake for Jonas' birthday, then after the game Ethan and I headed to our Stake Sock Hop.  Every March they host a dance for the adults and it is one of my favorite events!  These girls made it even more fun.  But I sure do love dancing the night away with my hubby!

March 19 was the last game for Levi and Jonas, too.  As much fun as it was, we were all so thrilled to be done with basketball!  Bryant made quite a scene during the game getting himself stuck in this little shaft.  His feet were dangling 10 feet above the ground under the bleachers.

He is a little bit of a drama queen, but he told me he thought he might die in there.  I just love that Ethan is laughing at him through it all.

We had our issues with the way the season went for these boys, but I think (hope) they'll look back on it with good memories.

After the game they had a team party at the bowling alley.  It was so much fun watching all those boys play together.  They were hilarious and a really good bunch of boys.  Jonas and Levi learned some good things and we really liked their assistant coach.

Ethan decided to throw together a party for his team as well on March 19.  So after the bowling alley, we headed to the park.  It was a breezy day, but everyone had a bunch of fun.  He gave each of the kids a candy bar with a trophy sticker, way better than any old plastic trophy.

We had a busy and fun day!  Basketball season was busy...crazy busy, but it was fun!

Jonas Turns 11!

Oh how I love this kid.  He is growing into such an amazing young man.  We hit the jack pot for his birthday this year and got to spend the evening with the cast of Studio C!  They did a big area fireside at Temple Hill in Oakland.  The kids were all very excited to go.  

We got to hear inspiring words from Mallory, Natalie, Jason, Stacy, Matt, and one of the producers/creators Jared Shores.

After the meeting the cast met the fans in the auditorium and it was mayhem!!!  We got to meet Jared Shores.  Levi had him sign his fedora.  When Jonas told him it was his birthday he seemed genuinely and pleasantly surprised that he would choose to spend his special birthday with Studio C.

The kids were a little disappointed they didn't get to meet more of them cast, but the few they did talk to were super nice!  Unfortunately, Abe played with my phone through the meeting so the battery died and we don't have many photos.

 Since we spent the whole evening (until way past bedtime) in Oakland on the big day, we saved his delicious cheesecake for the next night.

My kids haven't really ever had a birthday party with their friends that they remember.  We've always given them a choice between doing that and doing something else and they've always chosen something else. :)  This year Bryant asked if he could have  a friend party and when I said yes (more on that to come), Jonas was so disappointed that he didn't have one.  So we invited some friends over for him on March 26.  We had a Pokemon themed party and it turned out great!

The cupcakes were topped with individual Pokemon (I ordered a pack of 144 of them from amazon.  They made the party so much easier!).

We played Paddle Pool with a ping pong ball made to look like a Pokeball.

The boys traded Pokemon cards.

We ate Poke{cake}balls.  They were so good!

Jonas planned the party himself and he really wanted to play a board game.  He really loves games (he fits in well with my family).  I was wracking my brain trying to think of something we could do that would be Pokemon related... when this came to me I was so excited to try it!

If you are familiar with Pokemon at all, you know there are different kinds of cards, we used Stadiums, Energy, and Pokemon and set up a game like Clue.  Using our board I made each room a stadium, we chose Pokemon cards that we had figures for as the people and we treated the Energies as the weapons.  The game was played just like Clue.  I made some game cards and the boys had a great time!

Jonas had so much fun, he only wished that more of his friends could have come.  He only invited 5 friends but only 2 were able to join us.  I was so excited to do this special event for my boy!  Love him so much!