Officially a teenager

As you can see Brock was very excited to be 13. (June 4) My boys prefer mud pie to birthday cake.
Blowing out the candles. I remember when I turned 13...where does the time go?
Brock and Russell have decided to try playing tennis. Brock got a new tennis racket.
Brock was not happy that he had to wait until we got home from work to celebrate and open presents.

He is so excited that he can hardly contain his emotions. Oh well. Happy Birthday Brock. He is the one who is most like me...lucky him.

Surprise

I decided to give Brendan a surprise party. He was talking about having a surprise party since Lance gave me one for my 40th. I wasn't going to do it, but decided when he asked in his prayers if he could have one that I would try and put a small one together.
Two cakes in two days and I couldn't be happier. Brendan and I have the same love for the lard frosting.
His friends were very good to jump and out yell "SURPRISE." It is hard to try and invite people when you don't really know the parents of the kids that he "hangs out" with at school.
My BFF Stephy made theses cool rocks with little treasures inside. We hid them around the yard and then the kids got to break them open. This was a lot of fun. She also made balloon animals and crowns for the kids. It was a success. She was/is a life saver.
Of course I posted the pictures backwards, so this is when he first walked into the room. The ceiling was all decorated and so I think that may have given it away.

Brendan is Seven

It is hard to believe that it has been 7 years since he was born. It really just seems like a couple of years ago. Brendan is so cute and fun.....and SEVEN
He also did a report about his "mom" that he gave on his birthday. I was able to take the morning off and go in and hear him read his report. This is the lovely picture that he drew of me.
He gets a lot of money for his birthday because most of the family is not very close.
Opening his gifts. He got a basketball and a soccer ball, a scooter and a game.
Oh, we don't want to forget about the Walmart gift card that he had asked for.

Hoppy Easter

Here is our happy teenager...Russell who wanted to stay in bed because Easter just isn't that exciting to him anymore.
I think Brendan was so excited. He loves hiding and finding the Easter eggs. He would hide them in the house and outside. It is fun to see how excited kids can get.
Brock is just showing the shirt the Easter bunny brought him. That darn bunny also brought a WII game that the boys already had. I guess the bunny is not as informed as Santa.
Brock was good enough to color eggs with us. Russell was too busy to do this activity. Brock also enjoys eating the eggs.
We have to make sure that we don't spill or have too much fun while coloring the eggs. Brendan likes writing on the egg with a candle.
Brendan and I had to go to the store ( I won't say the name because I hate that I shop there at all) and he got to sit on the Easter Bunny's lap. He thought it was pretty exciting.

Track

The end of a great run.
On your mark.....get set....GO
Russell decided this year to run track. I was able to go to one track meet. It took me right back to the days I used to run track. Well, you can't really say that I ran track but I was on the track team...and I ran the hurdles. At this meet Russell ran the 400 and a relay. I think it is great that he is in shape and enjoys running. I don't think I ever liked running.

I can't believe what a difference a year makes. Brendan seems to keep growing and learning and making new friends. Brendan won the Scholar of the Month award for his first grade class and he was so excited. I enjoy the fact that Brendan still loves me and isn't embarrassed to have his mom at school. He has also grown a lot in height this year. I just can't believe how fast kids grow up. I think he is growing up even faster than his brothers did because there is such an age gap between them.
This is Brendan and his Principal. It is a great school.

Thanks to my sister

Not much to say here but a big Thanks to my sister. I often think about how lucky I am to have such a great sister. This is a picture of the flowers that she sent to me after my surgery. They were beautiful and made my week. I would have enjoyed Lesa just hanging out with me since that was all I could do, but it is hard to hang out when you live in Saudi Arabia... she sent flowers instead. I often try and tell my boys that they need to be nice to each other and to STOP fighting, but they rarely listen. I give them the example of my sister who always seemed to be nice to me. When we were teenagers she always let me tag along and didn't seem irritated by me at all. She has always looked out for me and I hope she realizes what a great example she is to me.