How to eat a donut

Our kids have 2 methods of eating a donut. Both are effective.

More birthday pics

Here are a few more pictures from Abram's birthday.
First: presents
Waiting for cake
Oh, yeah. I made that cake by myself. Happy singers.
Zack loves donuts.

Happy Birthday, Abram!

It's official. My baby is 14. I never could have imagined that my little 8 pound baby would grow so fast. Everyone told me it would happen. And somehow between all the busy craziness of every day, Abram is no longer a little boy or a scrawny kid. He's grown about 12 inches this year and bulked up to 125 pounds! I still have 2 inches on him, but with his size 11 feet, I know he is not done growing taller.

Yesterday one of his teachers brought cake and ice cream and surprised Abram with it during lunch. I was very excited when I asked Abram what kind of birthday cake he wanted and he told me "The usual Krispy Kreme cake." No, there is not a cake at Krispy Kreme. It's just that about 5 years ago when KK opened up here, I had a brainstorm one birthday that a bunch of donuts piled up on a fancy cake stand would look really cool. Stick some candles in the top donut, and you're done. They'll even give you "party hats" at KK if you ask for them. So the lame-mom donut cake was born, and 90% of the birthdays around here happen with a Krispy Kreme cake.

I told Abram he could invite a few friends over today for lunch and basketball. I asked what he wanted to eat, and he said, "Costco pizza." So I took Abram and 3 of his friends with me to Costco. They walked around the store and ate samples while I did my shopping, and then when I got in line I gave Abram a $20 for them to go get pizza, churros and drinks. They were very happy boys. They ate up, and we went home and they played basketball like good 14-year-old boys.

Abram

My baby is turning 14! Tomorrow is the big day (and Happy Birthday to Meg, too). So hard to believe how much time has gone by since I had the miserable day in the hospital 14 years ago. I have a CD by Linda Rhondstat of rock songs sung as lullabies that I have always loved. One song on there, "Be My Baby" originally sung by the Ronettes, is one that I have always sung to babies in our family is this:

"The night we met I knew I needed you so

And if I had the chance I'd never let you go

So won't you say you love me

I'll make you so proud of me

We'll make 'em turn their heads

Every place we go

So won't you please

Be my little baby

Say you'll be my darling
Be my baby now.

I'll make you happy, baby

Just wait and see

For every kiss you give me

I'll give you three

Oh, since the day I saw you

I have been waiting for you

You know I will adore you

Till eternity."

I'm going to have to come up with a new name to call him. Baby Abey isn't going to fly any more. He's going to his first Stake dance on Saturday! The times they are a-changin'.

Happy Birthday, Joel!

Last week was Joel's 9th birthday. He is such a great kid. He works hard at school, practices the piano like CRAZY, and is always trying his best to make people happy. He has a sharp wit, and a real gift for humor. I love this boy. Pretty much everyone loves this boy.

I asked Joel what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday. He said, "Hmmmm. I think some kind of bird would be nice. Maybe an american goldfinch. No, no. I think a mallard. A male mallard." So I had to figure out how to make a cake that would sort of look like a male mallard. There are 2 couples of mallards who come to our backyard morning and night for dinner, and the male mallard is Joel's favorite bird. I was worried that Joel would think the cake looked a little--well--like a Kindergartener made it. But when he came home from school and saw my creation he said, "Mom, I really like how you did the details!" Sweet

Joel got binoculars for his birthday. Not just cheap toy ones. Real birding binoculars. He has been out on the patio each morning at 6:00 with his jacket, bird book and binoculars to see what new birds he can add to his list. This weekend was a good one. We had the great blue heron, osprey and bald eagle all fly by to say "Hi" to Joel.

Mod Mum Baby Slings

Mark's 2 adorable cousins started Mod Mum. See their product at www.modmum.com . They sell the most adorable, and practical, baby slings. I cannot believe that I raised 6 babies without one of these slings. Just think of what I could have done if I had one! I bought one when Zack was about one year old, and it has been so great. The picture of me at the top of the blog is with Zack asleep in a sling. I love being able to use both of my hands AND hold my boy at the same time. It is great when Zack falls asleep in the car, because I can just put him in the sling and carry him around Costco without having to wake him up to put him in the shopping cart, or having to try to carry a sleeping baby in one arm and shop with the other.

As you see I have biceps to spare.....

Zack is a powerhouse. He's built like a tank. Most people ask if he is 3 when I have him with me. I tell them he is 1 1/2 , and nobody can believe it. He is huge. Really, on the growth chart he is the size of an average 3-year-old.

We had this Tupperware shape sorter toy when I was a kid, and when Abram was a baby we bought one like all good parents should. I remember as a kid being at the mercy of my mom or another adult to open the dang toy and shake all the shapes out for me after I had put them in. Abram (and all of our other kids) had the same problem. It was just very hard for a small kid to have enough strength to pull the halves of the ball apart far enough to let the shapes out.

Enter Zack. This is his favorite toy right now. He is very quick at finding all the right places for the shapes. But what he is even faster at is pulling the ball apart and shaking out the pieces. He uses his brute strength to effortlessly pull and shake, and he's ready to go again.

His other favorite toy is this treasure we found at IKEA last month. He calls it "Buddies." He runs the loop in our house as fast as he can while pushing this toy, watching the little people (buddies) pop up and down. I couldn't believe it was only $7. Where have I been? I guess most other families of young children already had this toy, because most people make it to IKEA more than once every 2 years. We just hadn't bought any new "baby" toys in quite a few years. Just a little noise as the wooden people pop up and down. No electronics. No lights. No obnoxious robot voice saying "Let's play and sing together." Just happy giggles from my boy. I love this toy.