The Parties!

Brad's after school party was wild to say the least! With 7 invited friends, Brad and Zach, plus my nephew and niece that I was babysitting, Dustin and I were hopping busy the entire time! Luckily, we had decided to keep it short, anticipating the chaos.

Adding to the chaos was rain! The boys had a great time playing outside until supper was ready, but there was no way I wanted all 11 kids in the house to eat, (sorry, just not my idea of a good time) so very last minute (like 2 minutes before the mini pizza's were out of the oven!) we moved everything into the shop. It actually worked really well in there, the boys had no problem using snowmobiles and shop stools for chairs, and I couldn't care less if drinks and food hit the floor with all the silliness.

The cupcake cones I made for the kids party.

The little bro - loving hanging out with Brad's friends.

My cutie nephew.

My cutie neice.

Saturday, Brad's actual birthday, we had a wiener roast with family and some friends. I think we changed our minds about ten times throughout the day on whether or not to move it inside. It was a drizzly morning, so we decided to plan for indoors - and then it stopped raining and dried up enough that Brad's disappointment with not having the fire made us change it back to outside. Only problem were the mosquitoes and the still threatening looking cloud cover which had us go back and forth all day with deciding. In the end, we were outside, and we didn't get rained out until after supper, and with bug spay the mosquitoes were tolerable.
I think it was a great evening! I forgot to charge my camera's batteries, so I didn't get a picture of Brad blowing out his candles - it died when I was videoing, so I still have that at least.

The cake for the family party. Nope, didn't make it; bought it. I thought it was cute with the icecream cones around it...

Can't wait for our hedges to grow BIG and FULL for some privacy! Love being on a corner lot, hate not having the privacy yet!

Zach and my other cutie neice.

Presents! What a haul this kid got!! LEGO GALORE! Thank you so much to everyone for the great gifts - he's been hidden away in his room since the party ended either putting together Lego, or playing Lego Batman, or debating on what Lego to buy with his money from Grandparents and Great Grandparents! He is one loved and blessed boy!

Happy Birthday Bradley!!

Brad is 9 years old tomorrow!
We're starting the celebrations today already though, having his friends over for a party after school.
I thought I'd add these photos while I have half a second, goodness knows that's all I have today!!

I can't believe how much he's grown up already ... I know, I know, I blubbered in the last post, but really!! He's NINE!

I know every Mom is pretty bias of their sons, but I've been told by moms of girls in Brad's class that they all think he's "cute" (though luckily he still measures them in degrees of repulsiveness).
I have to say I agree that he's a total cutie, and I know he's gonna be one handsome man when he's fully grown! He gets that from his Dad:)

Where did my baby go?

Ah, such is life I guess. Brad will be celebrating his 9th birthday next week, and as I was preparing things I can do ahead of time for it today, I was thinking back on how great these past 9 years with him have been.
If someone told me that only a year or two had passed, I think I'd believe that a lot sooner than NINE! Good grief, he's halfway to adulthood!

Gone is the baby crawled to the door when he heard Daddy's truck come home, calling "Da-doo!", and gone is the toddler who couldn't say his baby brother's name 'Zachy', so he said "Yacky".
Brad doesn't sing to himself in the bathtub, "Don't drink the water..." anymore, or run and hide from the bear in the 'Yodelling Veterinarian of the Alps' song on his Veggie Tales video.
He not gaga over Bob the Builder, or Rescue Hero's anymore, he'd much prefer Lego Star Wars or playing his DS.
He told me he'd teach me how to use Power Point if I wanted, and loves when I shake my head in awe at him that he can ride the dirt bike (with shifting!) totally by himself, and do flips on the trampoline.
He bikes to the store to buy candy and goes for sleep-overs to friends houses, and he totally has a sarcastic sense of humour. He doesn't sleep in matching pyjama's anymore, but opts for just the pants often. He's making his own food, and taking care of a pet ...

Gone is my baby, but in his place is a really cool kid that I'm so loving to get to know.

Here's a few pictures of my baby ... I'll post some of my 9 year old soon.