Happy Tenth Birthday, Spencer!

Today started first of three phases of Spencer's 10th birthday.  Today was the family party; tomorrow the dinner out (we didn't go tonight because it's Sunday); and then Saturday is the big friend party.

It's gonna be a lot of birthday this week.

Spencer can be a pretty laid back kid, and today was no different.  All he wanted for his birthday dinner was Campbell's tomato soup (he refused homemade), grilled cheese sandwiches, and Goldfish crackers.  In a sign of his double-digit maturity he didn't throw a fit when I told him I had forgotten the crackers. (Oops.)

We didn't have a cake this evening, either, since he's getting a big cake on Saturday. But we did have chocolate peppermint brownies with ice cream, complete with 10 candles and all the smoke that comes with blowing them out!

We also had plenty of presents.  Can you guess what's in this one?

Yeah, I'm totally one of those moms who gives Cub Scout stuff as birthday presents.

Josh got Spencer a pretty cool Minecraft poster.  He was pretty proud of it.

And then came the gift that I KNEW he would love.  I had been waffling back and forth about whether or not to buy it, but when I saw it on a great sale at Toys R Us (one of my least favorite stores ever) I knew I had to buy it: a Minecraft Diamond Sword!

And now, for one of the MOST AWESOME sibling pictures ever... one that totally shows that feeling of pure sibling-birthday-jealousy that we have all felt.

Just look at the face on poor Josh - he WANTS THAT SWORD!!! Seriously, I giggled and giggled over this picture during the evening, while Lance shook his head at me with bemused patience.

The thing is, I didn't even know he would really want one.  If I did, I would have bought one for him for Christmas.  But now they're full price again, so sorry, Josh.

Spencer lurrrves board games, so I thought it was time for him to get the godfather of all board games.  We even played a quick game (is there even such a thing) after opening presents.  Note to self: DO NOT play Monopoly with 2 and 4 year olds around. It's just not worth the frustration.

Grandpa ElRay and Grandma Susie sent him a gift card so he could buy some books; Spencer was muy, muy pleased.

And yet another awesome picture of Josh while Spencer opens his gift from Grandma Joy and Grandpa Viggo.

Does Josh's face remind you of anybody?

Spencer spent the better part of the evening harassing his siblings with this sword, running around and causing general mayhem.  Josh spent it chasing Spencer and begging to play with the sword.

The evening ended with tears, which is a sign of a good party.  (Actually, I think Spencer stabbed him with the sword when Cole tried to steal it.)  ((Also, all the kids are in pajamas because that's our usual Sunday afternoon uniform.  Cole refuses to wear a shirt to bed, so that's why he looks naked.))

Happy happy birthday, Spencer!  It's hard to believe that wintry day when you came into this world was a decade ago.  I'm so proud of you and so happy to be your mom.