Becky's Banana Birthday Surprise!

 Becky HATES bananas! It's crazy, but she doesn't like to see, taste, or smell them! So we had lots of fun planning to torture her on her birthday this year! We went over to stand on her porch and dance in banana suits at 6:30 am! We were all laughing so hard in the video that we are louder than the minion banana song! At the end, we actually ate real bananas in front of Becky, and her reaction was priceless! She was completely disgusted, of course! I love having these crazy friends who share the same sense of humor! We always have so much fun together! 

Be not ashamed...

 

After YEARS of only buying natural peanut butter, I recently have been stocking the pantry with "sugar" peanut butter (ie, Skippy or Jif). It has been disappearing at an alarming rate, and I just couldn't understand how. That is until I caught Jackson one day trying to hide a huge spoonful of peanut butter behind his back! I asked him what he was doing, and he sheepishly said " I'm eating protein on a stick!". And then here is Blaze eating one of my healthy bran muffins "frosted" in peanut butter! 

Blaze's 11th Birthday!

I tell Blaze just about every other day that it makes me sad to see him growing up so fast! I would love to go back in time and just even have a few hours where he was my little nest baby again! He slept in our bed, right between us for the first three years of his life. Then he would get out of his bed, come all the way downstairs, and snuggle up in bed with us. Finally, James banned him from our bed, so then Blaze started going down to the basement to get in bed with Jackson! But he would still run into my room every morning and give me a hug and kiss. Eventually that stopped as well, and now most mornings I yell up to his closed door to see if he is getting ready for school, and he just says "yeah". Luckily, so far, he is still as sweet as he was at five years old, and I'm crossing my fingers that he stays that way! 

We followed birthday traditions and checked Blaze our of school to go to Penny Ann's Cafe. He got his usual raspberry jelly donut stuffed french toast, which is just divine! Since he is only 11, they gave him the kiddie placemat with some crayons so he could do a word search and maze. 

Instead of his usual peppermint cheesecake, he wanted a peppermint oreo cheesecake trifle this year. So we came up with a new delicious creation that was happily gobbled up by the whole family. Blaze's big gifts this year were a music stand and guitar stool to help him practice better! 

One night this week, Lyla and Blaze went through the Halloween box and were trying on the crazy wigs.

 

Sadie's Invitation for Jacko!

Late one Monday night, we heard a knock on the door and found this clever invitation for the Sadie's dance! The letters of the girl's name were on some of the balloons for Jackson to unscramble. It turned out to be Dannon, a girl in Jackson's English class, and he will be going with a fun group of friends. 

He answered Dannon with a toilet seat, a plunger, and lots of candy with a sign that said " I'm down to go to the Sadie's dance with you!". Hopefully, she thought it was as funny as Jackson and his friends did!
 

Jackson's broken wrist...

It's Jackson's turn for a broken bone! He went to play pick up soccer with James, scored a goal, was a little off balance after kicking it in, and got knocked over by an adult player. Luckily, they were able to get into the ER quickly to get it set, and he will not need surgery. We are keeping Dr. Brady in business though!

 

Jackson's HOCO 2022...

Jackson decided to ask his coworker and friend, Courtney, to HOCO. He came up with a clever way to ask her, and as usual, demonstrated his creative artwork! She said "yes" by leaving a poster that said " I'd be a ding dong not to go to HOCO with you", and a few boxes of Hostess Ding Dongs! They planned to go in a group of five couples, and Jackson took charge of creating polls for date events so everyone's opinion was heard. 

We kept reminding him to order a corsage for Courtney, but he kept insisting that people didn't do that for HOCO. The morning of the dance, he went to Harmon's to try to get a corsage, realizing that in fact, his entire group would be sporting corsages. Too late! So I hurried and watched some online tutorials and made a corsage with the limited selection of flowers they had left at Harmons. I won't be doing that again any time soon!

The group did axe throwing before running home to change for pictures, dinner, and the dance. I was asked to take pictures last minute and only had my phone camera on me. I wish I would have had my nicer camera for pictures through. 

These are Jackson's other co workers from Iceburg, Emma and Nick. I realized that Emma used to be in our ward many many years ago, and that I know her mom. She and Jackson would have been in the same nursery and Sunbeam classes! 

Jackson reported to have had a fabulous time eating at Texas Roadhouse, dancing at the school, and a little after party at Ethan's house. I'm glad he had more fun than he did at Prom last year, and hopefully he is now more excited to date some more!

 

School spirit!

The theme for the HOCO game was "white out", and this was Jackson and Paul's demonstration of school spirit! It rained during the game and the make up got a little runny though. At the previous game, Paul and his friend, Ethan, painted their faces and chest and ran the flag on the field with permission from the principal. 

 

Desert boards...

I've been looking at charcuterie boards on Pinterest for the past year and trying them out on my own. For Angela and Kristi's birthday, I thought it would be fun and unique to make them each a dessert board. It was so much fun making everything and trying to arrange it in a visually appealing way! 

 

Messing around...

Paul ordered this shirt and added the gold "Pol" at the bottom. He claims to received several compliments every time he wears it. 

Blaze isn't too old to play on the playground during Paul's soccer games!

Brooker's ice cream is a favorite!