Nate's Birthday

So, I went to Dad's tonight and they staged a blogging intervention.

"Why can't you be more like your sisters, Jami and Missi? You lazy, no-good-fer-nothin-non-bloggin daughter!"
"But...uh...sleep...kids...I...uh..."
"Come on, Kirst. The DOG blogs more often than you."
"But...but...you don't HAVE a DOG!"
"That's RIGHT! Now you think about that..."

Or something like that. :-P Either way, I walked my head in shame to the computer, uploaded the bazillion images I had sitting on my camera and am now sitting here bringing you some pics and quips.

A little over 3 months ago, Nate turned 9. We had cake. It was joyous. No, really. Because I have this thing with birthdays. My family never really made a huge deal out of birthdays growing up. When I say "huge deal", I mean petting zoos, mass of friends, loads of presents, open bar, jumping castle...you know? It was usually a family get-together with cake and ice cream, a few presents, but never anything that made you shout at your next birthday "Thirty-six?! But last year - last year I had thirty-seven!" (Thanks for not making us spoiled brats!)

So, I always offer the kids an option. "We can go throw a big party and have friends over, or you can have this $50 to spend and have a small family party/dinner." They ALWAYS take the family party and the money. (THANK GOODNESS.)

So here's our small family gathering. We had two more, one with each set of grandparents. He walked away with a small fortune and blew it all on Legos and books. :-)



In my hopes that one day I'll find out one of my kids isn't a Muggle, I bestowed the greatness of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince on him. He's mastered potions. Next is goat sacrifices.


And here's our "one to grow on"! This was super cool like 5 months ago, now it is but a memory that I will share with you. 5 months ago, Alex was awesome and put all those puzzles together himself. It was awesome. 5 months ago.


Up next...Alex meets Curious George and other fun adventures from The Festival of Books!