Behind the Scenes: Happy Birthday Teenager!

Monday, October 27, 2008

Happy Birthday Teenager!

I wanted to do this posting on Friday- Nathan's birthday, but have been experiencing "technical difficulties" with the computer and scanner and digital camera. Sometimes I wonder if technology is worth it. I can't get the scanner to connect to the computer now and I just don't have the patience to play around with it. I had some pictures from when Nathan was younger to scan in so maybe I'll add them later when I get the stupid thing fixed. Anyhoo.....

Happy 13th Birthday Nathan! I can't believe Nate is a teenager already. Course, by the way his voice is changing I knew it was coming. :-) He had 5 of his friends over for a sleepover to celebrate. We combined with his friend, Garrett, since they are only one day apart. Works out nicely.

The boys played a few games that I found on the Internet. First was trying to put spaghetti noodles into a bottle wearing a glove. The boys were not playing fair though and just started shoving bunches of noodles into the bottles- and ended up getting into a noodle fight. Nothing like a few sticky noodles in the grass.

Christian and Nathan (Notice Christian doing one by one- and Nathan's blob!)

Blake and Josh

Next game I hard boiled some eggs and put them in a bowl. I added one egg that wasn't hard boiled. The boys each had to take an egg- first one that they touched- and smash it against their head. Parker just knew he would be the one to get the raw egg- and guess what! He was! He was a good sport.

Go Parker!

Final game the boys bobbed for apples. Once they got one they had to immediately bob for marshmallows in a bowl of flour. It was fun to watch their reactions- especially Christian. He was getting so grossed out by the spit in the apple water. He would rather die then dunk his face in there. Then after he found his marshmallow he actually started puking. LOL (Sorry Alyson! Never meant to make your son throw up!)

Garrett loved doing this so much that he went twice!

Nathan

Josh was very hyper during this game. He was so funny!

Blake

Nathan was trying to force Christian's head in the water.

Yeah Christian! You did it!

Sorry it made you throw up Christian! :-)

The boys ate pizza and had yummy oreo cake that Meagan (Garrett's mom) made. Then they were off to play night games. Having 6 teenage boys over night wasn't bad at all. Nathan has wonderful friends. Thanks for being such awesome friends to Nathan guys!

Birthday boys- Nathan and Garrett

Now I guess I'll say some things to Nathan....

Dear Nathan,

I can't belive you are 13 years old! Where has the time gone? I remember when you were first born. Your conehead freaked me out! I didn't know that your head would eventually return to normal size since I was new to the whole baby stuff. LOL You brought such joy to my life- and still do. You were my comfort in my times of loneliness. You have helped me to become the strong person that I am today. I named you "Nathan" because it meant "Gift from God" and sounded like a strong name. It truly fits you.

You have helped me to overcome one of the greatest trials of my life- giving up Ethan for adoption. I was so blessed to have you to comfort me and to bring happiness in such a time of sorrow for me. Thank you for always understanding my decision and for not holding any ill feelings towards me for it. You are an awesome big brother to Ethan, Logan and Claire. They look up to you and your example. Always remember that being the oldest comes with a lot of responsibility but it is worth it. You will be the one to look out for and protect your younger siblings. They will turn to you in their times of need. Try to have patience with Logan and Claire and know that they love you so much.

Since you are 13 now I thought I would list 13 words that describe you:

talkative, intelligent, mature, leader, athletic, funny, tender, comfort, cook, adventurous, friend, responsible, smile

Always know how much I love you and feel blessed to have you in my life. I hope you will always feel you can communicate openly with me about anything. I enjoy our friendship and look forward to your teenage years! Aahh! I am getting old...

Love, Mom

5 comments:

Allyson said...: I love those pictures and everything you wrote! What a fun party...except for the throw up. I have a blog now; October 27, 2008 at 5:11 PM
Jen-ben said...: Oh my gosh....he's so big!! scary...you have a TEENAGER!!! At least you know he's a great great kid!; October 27, 2008 at 6:35 PM
Brian and Kim said...: Wow Jackie, what a great party. I love your letter to Nathan. It is beautiful and he is a beautiful person!!; October 27, 2008 at 7:56 PM
Emily said...: What a fun party! He is such a great kid, and you are NOT old, although you are just 6 years away from having a missionary! Happy Birthday, Nathan!; October 28, 2008 at 3:22 PM
Laura said...: Happy Birthday, Nathan! You put on a great party Jackie. Looks like a fun time was had by all...including Mom!?! :); October 28, 2008 at 3:26 PM

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3/10: Nathan has worked hard in school this year and has received straight A's all year. He worked hard to get back into honors classes next year also. I am so proud of him.

I was putting Logan in his bed late at night because he fell asleep in our bed. Nathan was sound asleep in his bed. He talks in his sleep quite a bit. This was the conversation he had with me while his eyes were closed.
"Mom!"
"What Nathan?"
"What's there to do?"
"What do you mean?"
"I'm bored!"
"Well, why don't you read?"
"Cuz that's BORING!"
"Why don't you just go to sleep?"
"mumble mumble mumble" (couldn't understand)

My crimany- even when they're sound asleep they still ask me what there is to do because they're bored! Does it never end? LOL

3/10: Logan was visiting some cousins and they weren't treating him very well. He hadn't been feeling well besides. When we picked him up he began to tell us all the "naughty" things that were said and done by them. He continued to say that these cousins liked to play violent computer games and that they watch R rated movies. (which I don't think is true...) At the end he sighed and said "Those kids need to get their life straight."

11/09: Our computer has had a virus and Nathan (our computer whiz) hasn't taken the time to fix it. Logan wanted to play a computer game on Spence's laptop. Spence told him no. Logan shouts at the top of his lungs "Then tell Nathan to fix the DAMN computer!" Needless to say, he went straight to his room for time out. I don't know where he learns those words!

2/09: I was playing a Memory Game with Logan and Claire. They teamed up against me. I HATE that game. They were of course, winning. Logan says with so much excitement "Mom! We're kicking your ass off!" I said "What?" Naturally, he repeated it for me. I don't know where he has learned that word because I swear- I have never used it.

-We were at the drive up at Wendy's and Spence gave his debit card to the cashier. Logan asked "Is there never ending money on dad's card?" Boy, I sure wish there was!

-Claire decided to suck her thumb in the car the other day. I told her that she is too old to do that and that there are so many germs on her hands that go in her mouth. Logan's response: "At least it keeps her from talking mom."

-We were coming home from Sunday dinner at the in-laws and were playing around with the GPS navigator we got for Christmas. The lady was telling us instructions on where to turn to get home. When we were almost home Logan (in sarcastic voice) says "Uh, we know how to get home. We don't need any stupid instructions!"

-Last night Logan was laying in bed. I was putting Claire to bed. It was all quiet, then Logan says "Mom!" I said "What Logan?" He then replies "I can hear my brain banging in my head!" I didn't even know how to respond to that one.

3/10: I got out some Sun Chips for Claire for lunch the other day. She was excited about the flavor of them and said "Oh I love this kind! This kind is made with weed!" (They are the plain kind that have wheat...)
1/10: Claire got the movie "Hannah Montana" for Christmas. She loves that movie and I cannot count how many times she has seen it. She turns it up and dances during the songs. She was going downstairs to watch it and said she couldn't take Simon (our new dog) down with her cuz she was going to be "rockin and rollin." I guess it was going to get a bit too wild and crazy in the basement for the new puppy... :-)

5/11/09: Claire brought home a "Sight Word Fishing Game" from preschool. You write different sight words on the back of the cards and fish for them with a magnent. I helped her to read the words. We came to the one that said "you." I told her the word and told her it was like "I love you." She then replied "Or like yooo gross!"

2/26/09: Claire went to the dentist today for the first time. She was nervous so watched while Logan had his teeth cleaned. She saw the "blue napkin" laying on him and asked what it was for. I told her it was to wipe stuff on. She said "Like your boogers." Hmmm- let's hope you can keep your finger out of your nose while the dentist is here. :-)

-I put Claire to bed and came down and sat on the couch to read. After about five minutes Claire got out of bed and came down. She pulled out the Friend magazine to sit by me and read. I kept telling her she needed to get back into bed. She refused. She ignored all of my threats and I didn't have energy to deal with it. She said "Mom, I'll do everything you tell me to do...tomorrow!" Ugh!

-We were in the car the other night and it was a bright full moon. I said to the kids "Look at the full moon!" Claire looked then asked "What does the moon eat? Cheese?" I laughed and said the moon doesn't eat anything. It's not alive. Then she goes "Well then how come it's so fat?"

-Claire came running up to talk to me and said "Mom! I need to tell you something. I need to talk to you FOREVER!"

-Claire has been a little stinker lately and really testing my patience. She has an "attitude." I was laying in bed with her last night and asked her if she was going to please start minding mommy and daddy. She just looked at me and shook her head and said "Noooo."

-When Grandpa Dee passed away we explained to the kids that when Jesus comes again he will be back "alive" and his spirit will enter into his body again. Spence later found a picture of his dog, Shasta, that died a long time ago. He was talking to Claire about the dog. She brought the picture up to me and said "Mom! Here is Shasta! He is dead, but when Jesus comes again he will come back alive. Jesus will bring her to us in his car!" Hmm, I wonder what kind of car Jesus drives. Definitely a Mercedes...

9/1/10- Samuel rolled over from his belly to his back today! He is smiling so much now and discovering his voice and hands more. He definitely loves to be held and especially likes to sit outside. He brings so much joy to our home!
9/12/11- Samuel is climbing everything now. He loves to climb up on the cupboard and kitchen table. He loves his bottle and blankie. His favorite things to play with are any kitchen utensil (spatulas, wooden spoons, etc), and the mop and broom. He dances when he hears music and has the BEST smile ever.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Happy Birthday Teenager!

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