Blaze's 6th Birthday! !

I love his facial expressions, his tender heart, his peacemaking skills amongst his siblings, his generosity, how he still sneaks into bed with me (or Jackson, Paul, or Alanna!) and gives me snuggles, his enthusiasm for reading and learning, his vocabulary, watching him pull open the heavy kindergarten door and quickly run in before it closes on him, and just about everything Blaze says and does. Although...I could do with less talk about butts and nuts!

Blaze wanted to use ALL of the bucket of blocks to made a tower. It was really fun because he is such a good playmate and is very cooperative!

He chose to get lunch from Chick-fil-A! He had to remove his shirt so it didn't get ruined with ketchup stains!

These pictures are out of order. I have surprised the other kids one year or another by making a balloon barricade on their door so they are flooded with birthday balloons. I like for it to be a surprise, but Blaze begged me and begged me to make sure I did the balloons this year...even though it wouldn't be a surprise. We still got an entertaining reaction out of him!

Blaze looked on Pinterest (with my help) and chose a white chocolate raspberry cheesecake (copycat from the Cheesecake Factory). I have to say, although I wasn't too excited and don't always love cheesecake, this cake was AMAZING! I need another excuse to make it!

All he really wanted as a Kindle Fire like his siblings have. And that's what he finally got! I can't believe he's only 6 and hooked on electronics! Jackson didn't have access to that stuff until he was at least 8 or 9!

 Paul made a festive "Happy Birthday Banner" that now hangs in Blaze's room

And...I love that very unmanageable cowlick that just will not be tamed!

Blaze's 6th Birthday! !

I love his facial expressions, his tender heart, his peacemaking skills amongst his siblings, his generosity, how he still sneaks into bed with me (or Jackson, Paul, or Alanna!) and gives me snuggles, his enthusiasm for reading and learning, his vocabulary, watching him pull open the heavy kindergarten door and quickly run in before it closes on him, and just about everything Blaze says and does. Although...I could do with less talk about butts and nuts!

Blaze wanted to use ALL of the bucket of blocks to made a tower. It was really fun because he is such a good playmate and is very cooperative!

He chose to get lunch from Chick-fil-A! He had to remove his shirt so it didn't get ruined with ketchup stains!

These pictures are out of order. I have surprised the other kids one year or another by making a balloon barricade on their door so they are flooded with birthday balloons. I like for it to be a surprise, but Blaze begged me and begged me to make sure I did the balloons this year...even though it wouldn't be a surprise. We still got an entertaining reaction out of him!

Blaze looked on Pinterest (with my help) and chose a white chocolate raspberry cheesecake (copycat from the Cheesecake Factory). I have to say, although I wasn't too excited and don't always love cheesecake, this cake was AMAZING! I need another excuse to make it!

All he really wanted as a Kindle Fire like his siblings have. And that's what he finally got! I can't believe he's only 6 and hooked on electronics! Jackson didn't have access to that stuff until he was at least 8 or 9!

 Paul made a festive "Happy Birthday Banner" that now hangs in Blaze's room

And...I love that very unmanageable cowlick that just will not be tamed!

Jackson and Jr. High..

Jackson's math teacher is pretty awesome in the way that she relates to the kids. I couldn't resist taking this picture in her classroom at back to school night. Her walls are plastered in Star Wars posters, but of course, Chewie is my favorite! I was pretty apprehensive about how 8th grade honors math was going to go, but he loves the class and has been proactive about retaking quizzes to bump up his grade!

I was told before school started that bringing home lunch is totally dorky, so I decided to let Jackson start getting school lunch in the hopes that he'd make some good food choices. After three weeks of listening to his meal choices of hamburgers, pizza, juice, frozen slushies, and orange dreamsicle milk (whatever that is!), I told him we were going to scale back to school lunch only a couple times a week.The first day he brought his lunch, one of the kids he eats with said "I thought you got school lunch all the time. That sucks!" Luckily it didn't seem to bother Jackson though! Apparently it was so uncool to attend back to school night, but Paul came with me instead! He is now looking forward to attending Jr. High and making good use of the gym, large lockers, and lunch room! I finally broke down and ordered Jackson a cell phone too...because he's just at that age where he needs more Independence. But I can't let go entirely...I still need to track him :)

My Teddy Bear!

This little boy! What would I do without his cuteness to brighten each and every day! He gives me random hugs and kisses that warm my heart, and funny random comments and funny faces that keep me laughing and entertained! He really wants this gigantic bear from Costco that only costs $139 and might take up 1/3 of his bedroom!