Connor's Birthday

Connor turned 11-years-old back on October 28th.  Yes, I realize I'm now *over* a month behind with my posts.  I really do have great intentions of getting caught up--but now that we're in the midst of the holidays, that probably won't happen anytime soon.  Anyway, Connor wanted to have a sleepover with some of his closest friends for his birthday party.  Sounds good to me.  Connor is constantly having sleepovers here--probably at least one a month--so why not have a sleepover & call it a birthday party?  That's killing two birds with one stone, in my book!

 

We started off the night with pizza...and an impromptu dance party!  Mike had Pandora playing through the speakers & all the kids just started to rock out.  Including Miss Vivienne--who was shaking her booty like you wouldn't believe!  I posted a video of it on Facebook, but here's a still shot.  As I was taking pictures & video of her, she kept saying, "Mom!  Shake yo' bum!  Shake yo' bum, Mom!"  It was so stinkin' cute...

 

After dinner and dancing, it was time for presents...

His friends spoiled him...

Then it was on to cake...except that Connor isn't a huge cake fan.  How I gave birth to someone who is not a fan of cake is one of life's great mysteries!  He decided he wanted doughnuts instead--and not just regular doughnuts--Banbury Cross doughnuts.  Banbury Cross is a bakery in downtown Salt Lake City, if you're not familiar with it.  They really *do* have the best doughnuts in the world.  I'm drooling just thinking about them.  Here's Connor & his great group of friends--Josh, Zach, Hayden & Caden...

Blowing out the candles...

After that, they all got in their sleeping bags and watched "The Hobbit."  Then, surprisingly, they were all asleep by 11:00 or so.

I was considering myself a lucky mama!  Not only did I get off easy on a birthday party, but all the kids had gone to sleep without complaint when we asked them to.  Yep, this was the best birthday party ever...until about 5:30 am when Connor started throwing up.  {{Sigh}} Connor felt great after he threw up, so we hoped it was because of all the junk food he'd eaten the night before, and let his friends stay.  Well, around 7:00 am, he threw up again.  At this point, we were 98.8% sure it was stomach flu.  We quickly fed his friends breakfast & took them home.  Can I just tell you how fun it is to tell parents that their child was most likely exposed to the stomach flu while sleeping over at your house?  {{Again...sigh}}  All the parents were really great & understanding about it, but I still felt horrible.  Connor felt pretty crappy the rest of the day, & couldn't keep anything down until afternoon.  Luckily, none of his friends actually ended up coming down with the stomach flu (neither did anyone else in our family!) which was a great relief for me.

The following Sunday, we held Connor's family birthday party.  We started with dinner & then--you guessed it--presents...

Spoiled again...

Connor was so excited to get some Real Salt Lake gear (our pro soccer team in town)!  He's become a huge fan this past year after going to several games with Poppy...

And the spoiling continued...

Connor got an iPod Touch from Mike & me.  It was the only thing he wanted from us.  He loves listening to music on it while he mows the lawn or shovels snow, which makes chores like that a little easier.  It has drastically cut down on the whining.  It hasn't completely ended it, but it's helped a lot...

Then Nana & Poppy whipped out two surprise presents...

A Darth Vader helmet, made from the original mold used in the movie...

And a light saber that glows & makes sound when you move it or hit something with it...

Here's Poppy showing off what it can do...

And then Cohen had to show us his best Jedi poses...

Both are very cool!  They both look great in Connor's Star-Wars-themed bedroom.  The helmet sits on his dresser & the light saber will hang on his wall about his closet (whenever Mike & I get 2 seconds to actually hang it up).

Then it was time for cake, uh Banbury Cross doughnuts again...

Since Mike's birthday is just a few days behind Connor's, we included him & gave him doughnuts with candles as well.  There are 38 candles right there...

And he got *almost* all of them out...

So there's the rundown on the good, bad & ugly parts of Connor's 11th birthday!

I can't believe he is the big double 1s!  It doesn't seem like I've been a mama for that long!  It really is true when they say, "the days are long, but the years are short."  He'll receive the Aaronic Priesthood next year, be a teenager in two years & be driving & dating in five years!  FIVE years, people!!  I can't believe it.  I don't want to believe it!!

Connor is growing into a great young man!  He is hard working, driven & kind to those around him (well, except a certain little brother...and me when I tell him it's time to do homework).  He is also a perfectionist--which can be both a good & bad thing.  He is smart & witty, and always keeps us laughing.  Love him to pieces, and wouldn't change a thing about him!  Well, except the fact that he's 11!  We could turn that back a few years & I'd be just fine with it.  --Lindsay