There is a TEENAGER in the house!

Tyler turned 13 on July 8th. He did not want a lot of fanfare to celebrate. He opted for a mellower celebration with his cousins and friend. In true 13 year-old boy fashion, he enjoyed a Terminator marathon at our house. Scott brought home a projector and big screen from work and the group watched Terminator 1 -3. (They saw a whole lot of naked Arnold but still enjoyed all of the shooting and action.) After watching 3 movies, eating a ton, playing ping pong in between movies, they headed off to the movie theatre to watch the 4th Terminator and it did not disappoint.

Food is always important when celebrating and I let Tyler choose the food for the day.

Breakfast: chocolate donuts and chocolate milk
Intermission Snacks: Gummi Worms, M&M's and Goldfish crackers
Lunch: Papa John's pepperoni pizza with extra garlic sauce
More Intermission Snacks: popcorn
Dinner: In-N-Out Burgers, Fries and a Shake

What a feast!
Tyler was very happy to get a cell phone from us for his birthday. We certainly hesitated and really debated this decision but ultimately decided to go for it. Tyler was as surprised as anyone when we gave it to him.


Although, Tyler wasn't looking for a big "to-do" on his birthday, he had some friends (girls of course) from school, who surprised us all in the morning by decorating the front yard. They worked very hard to place 30 - 40 cut out balloons with Tylerisms or memories about Tyler written on them. They had streamers and even a box of chocolate chip cookies on the porch. Anyone driving down our street would have no doubt that there was something special going on at our house!