Happy 7th Birthday!

I cannot believe he is seven, amazing in so many ways.  He is such a sweet, kind, good kid.  He amazes me with his ability to get me to calm down when I am the one having a meltdown!  He is doing well is school, as far as I can tell with his homework.  He is a good friend and seems to attract good kids already.  He is a bit of a follower but I try to help him speak up for himself if someone is doing him wrong.  It is hard as an adult, so I know how hard it is for him.  He does not like to be the center of attention, even if it is positive.  I am so proud to be his mommy!  

But when he walked out when he woke up I a totally forgot it was his birthday!  I was just talking to him and Gloria said Happy Birthday to him and I went birthday ballistic on him: hugging, singing, kissing, and showering him with his gifts. 

He got a new Nerf gun he had asked for. 

And several Star Wars jammies, that he did not ask for but needs.  

All dressed up and ready for school.  Little did he know when I dropped him off at COF, I would see him much sooner than 4:45 that day. 

I had arranged to be a secret reader on his birthday and have lunch with him afterward.  I sent in clues to Mrs Anderson:  I love all the seasons but my favorite is Fall, my lucky number is 16, and today is a very special day for my family.  She said he guessed it was me, because all those sounded like his mommy.  He was wearing his birthday hat and was excited to see me.  I brought the Biscuit's Birthday book to read to the class and had the kids say the "Woof Woof" by Biscuit. Which is all he says anyway.  I waited in the lobby for lunch time and he was surprised to see me.  

And he was even more surprised to see he was carrying two lunches in is lunch bag. We had a good lunch, he ate his cake first and managed some of his food.  But we had a good time and I got to hug a lot of his friends at the end of lunch on their way out to recess.  

Gloria picked him up and he wanted to go to The Coliseum which is really an adult arcade and bowling alley.  But they have a nice restaurant where we ate and then Baylor showed me the games he likes to play.  Like Air Hockey and some kill the giant bugs shooting game.   

I had to leave to go take care of Eddy and when I left they were playing more air hockey.  They did not stay too much longer after that.  It was a fun day for me seeing him at school and afterward at one of his favorite places to play.  I love my little guy, he makes my world a better place!!  

Dinner in Tokyo, or at Least Tokyo Diner

One more day until his real birthday and we had our second birthday celebration.  Since I did not invite any family, or my friends and their children to Monkey Joe's, I had to at least have my parents over.  And I invited the Hazel's as well.  Meme and Pap would not have enjoyed our choice of eatery (Meme would, not Pap) 

I told Baylor it was a surprise where we were going and who was going to meet us there.  In typical Thatcher fashion, he guessed where we were going and who was meeting us there. Of course I don't have a good poker face so he said he knew he was right when I would smile.  

We love Tokyo Diner and loved sharing it with our family.  The kids sat in the middle, my parents on one end and Heather and I on the other.  We had another couple join us at the table as well.  The kids did great and had a good time together.  

They bought Baylor a Star Wars shirt and RC Jurassic truck.  He loved them both. 

Baylor was most excited about the onion volcano, which is always impressive!  It did not fail to disappoint anyone.

The kids all used the cheater chopsticks and Baylor was keen to show his cousins how to use them to eat rice.  

I had mentioned when we arrived that is was Baylor's birthday and the brought the kids a pineapple with whipped cream. It must have been a good one because the three of them ate it all!  

Love these kids!!  And that they get along so well and love to be together.  

Heather had to run to Ollie's and was going to join us for cake and coffee later.  Mom and Dad bought him a tee shirt, a Stormtropper winter hat, and the Jurassic World DVD. 

 Needless to say, he was totally stoked to get the DVD.  

I let the kids pick the frosting for their personal chocolate cakes and they blew out candles.  It was another good day celebrating my little guy,  

Monkey Joe's Party

It is that magical time of year again when we do all we can to celebrate the birth of my super, awesome, and amazing son.  And I get to make his birthday cake dreams come true.  This year he asked for a chocolate Jurassic cake.  He wanted one with the printed edible icing but I waited too long to look for one and none of the store bakeries had any Jurassic cakes.  And it was too late to order one online.  So we discussed it and decided for a more realistic cake top with his toy dinos and plastic trees.  We decorated the top of the cake together.  We made grass edging, a nest for the ovaraptor, lots of chocolate rocks and candy bones left over from Halloween decoration.  Because with dinosaurs, there must be bones. He enjoyed helping me to decorated it. 

This grass should make for some interesting tongues.  

The party was at Monkey Joe's and was pretty pricey so we went with the smallest group plan, 8 kids including the birthday child, and encouraged him to stick to the kids he was really close to at school and that we could invite without having to send invited to school.  The party was 2 to 4 so I would not have to buy their ridiculously expensive pizza.  I did spring for a bowl of chips and a bowl of pretzels.  We had two no's and one no RSVP who did not show.  Caden brought his brother and I had his mom sign him in as a guest so she would not have the pay extra for him.  When we arrived Kartikay was there waiting for us.  They were sweet to come for a bit as they were waiting for the party before heading to NJ to celebrate Diwali, Indian New Year, with their family.  The reason Baylor wanted his party here is so he can sit in the big blow up throne.  

The boys made short work of decorating the cake, jamming in the dinos and trees willy-nilly.  I think they did a fine job and they were both pleased with their work. 

And then it was back to the throne. 

I took photos of his with most of his friends in the throne, mostly to use as potential thank you card photos.  And as a good memory of the day. 

Baylor and Caden 

Landon and Curtis, they went to pre-K daycare together but were in different Kindergarten classes.  Now they are in the same First Grade and the three of them, including Baylor, are good friends. 

Monkey Joe himself came in to see the birthday boy. 

We let them play for an hour and then called them in for cake.  The only time I left the orange room was to round up the kids for cake.  

It was a rousing round of Happy Birthday after which he eventually blew out all seven candles.  

 The whole gang tried to fit on the throne and I think they did a good job.  

Then they wanted him to open his gifts. He got several nice things. 

Then they got to play for about another half hour.  It was a nice party and when the helper girl asked me if I wanted to take home the extra chips and pretzels and I of course said yes.