Happy #13 Nathan!

 I officially have a teenager.  Nathan has been acting the age for awhile now, in many ways.  He in anxious for getting contacts but I still think he is handsome with glasses.  He is a hard kid to get to smile for pictures (candid ones at least).  But I love the laughter and the goofiness.

 

 First he did bunny ears, then stood on his tiptoes so that we looked more than same height and finally crossed his eyes.  What a goofball.

 Nathan didn't want me to take him out of school for lunch but he was happy with my idea of bringing pizza and soda to the school to share.  The slices were pretty big and I wish that I had cut them smaller since as soon as the kids showed up they swarmed.  Nathan was able to work it such that if someone got pizza they didn't get soda and vice versa.  I loved being at the school and seeing Nathan in his element.  Seeing so many kids come over and say Hi and Happy Birthday.  I love it!  I even got to go in the office with some of his friends and say "Happy Birthday" over the loudspeaker. 

For dinner we had Nathan's favorite dish, "Yummy Yummy Smell Smell Yummy Yummy MMMM."  Translated it is a chicken rice casserole.  Then he had molten lava cakes for dessert.  Most of the kids thought they were too rich, but I thought they were perfect. 

Nathan is an amazing person.  He is hardworking, creative, and very loyal.  He is the secretary in his deacon's quorum, on the peer leadership team at school and studies computer programming after school.  He started orchestra this year with my old violin and surprisingly enjoys it.  He is a Star scout and close to attaining the Life rank.  I am so impressed with this young man and am so thankful that he is my son.

Ballroom Dancing

 For seven weeks Greg and I took dance classes from a couple in our ward.  They taught a big group of us every Friday night and it was the best adventure ever.  Greg and I have always talked about taking classes, but never researched it enough to actually do it.  When the Moe's offered their services we knew it was the right time and place.  We looked forward to every Friday night.  We went out with different friends almost every week before and/or after the class.  It was great to get to know new people and try new restaurants.  The final night was wonderful.  We had a potluck dinner and then watched two couples dance.  Then the dance floor was opened to us.  SO MUCH FUN! I am really going to miss our weekly dance lesson.  I am not going to lie, it wasn't always easy.  It is hard for me to have to not know how to do something and have Greg teach me/lead me.  But luckily he is a great partner and a fabulous leader.  We got quite a few compliments from our friends and that made me feel really good.  I wonder if I ever could have been a dancer?

Valentine's Day

 We had a few days of Valentine fun.  Callie had her class party on Thursday.  She was very excited to have hearts in her hair. 

 We made some yummy sugar cookies, and then had to have some cucumbers so I felt better eating them all.

 On Friday we had class parties.  Callie really wanted to have another heart in her hair but I only had time for one.

 I really don't mind being room mom.  I am all about delegating and so I wasn't in charge of anything.  We had 5 stations and I just walked around making sure everything went well.

 On Saturday night we had our traditional crazy Cupid's Cafe dinner.  The kids love it.  They love having dessert first, or just a napkin.  Notice our little mailboxes in the background?  I had to put a reminder on my phone so that I would remember to put valentine's in their mailboxes.  Especially the girls were anxious to get things everyday.  Dinner was delicious-flank steak, rolls, mashed potatoes, corn, and for dessert we had a white chocolate chip bundt cake with raspberry sauce.  YUMM!  I love our family tradition and hope that we will continue for many years to come.

Super Achiever

 Our final pack meeting was the Blue and Gold Banquet and Ryan earned his Super Achiever award for earning all 20 activity badges.  I am so proud of what he has accomplished.  I helped but I made sure that he knew that he was in charge of getting them all done.  At times I didn't think it would happen, but Ryan was amazing and was able to get them all done.  He and Nathan are 2 of the three boys I have ever heard of earning this award.

 Ryan's troop was in charge of a skit.  I love little boys and their shy funnyiness.  It is cute to watch and the skit was funny, even though you couldn't hear everything they said.

 Ryan and Jonah were inducted into the New Scouts (11 year old scouts).  Ryan even got to go to scouts that night with that troop.  Such a great kid!

 Hooray for Ryan!  He was very excited that he got this cake and was pretty possessive of it.

FIRE!

  I had a bit of a fire last week.  The biggest fire I ever saw right in front of my face.  I thought sure my cabinets were going to catch on fire.  They are blistered, as is the microwave.  When I noticed the smoke starting I had the kids run upstairs to open the windows.  When the flames went crazy high I yelled for everyone to run outside.  The house was REALLY smoky but luckily it was a warm night and we were able to have the house all the way open for an hour.  The good news is that after everything calmed down the oil was still hot enough for me to cook the rice noodles and our lettuce wraps were delicious!  Greg and I were able to clean the microwave for the most part, but since it has issues we will just let it be discolored and wait until it dies all the way before replacing it.