Birthday fun... VIDEO GAMES anyone?

     It's that time of year again. Our son will be 11 years old, and is definitely at that 'tween' stage of his life.  He made a major leap of his main interest a year and a half ago, going from Thomas the Train to Star Wars, is becoming more independent (he made Jiffy Pop popcorn completely on his own the other night) and is totally obsessed with electronic games.
     We invited 3 of his classroom friends (Jonny, Deakon & Carter) over for his birthday party on Saturday, one day before his birthday.  Michael suggested going to the pool for an hour or so before hand, or going sledding, but all the boys invited immediately turned down the pool activity.  At the time that we were planning his party, we didn't even have any snow, then it warmed up after we did get some.  We have snow once again, but I don't expect them to spend even a few minutes outdoors during the actual party, let alone going to the state park or the water tower hill to go sledding, as they are all big into gaming.  Perhaps in the late afternoon, or tomorrow morning, anyone who stays overnight might be more interested in going outdoors.  Carter wasn't able to stay overnight because of wrestling, but he stayed a few hours longer, only leaving when he had too lol.
     Wesley's main gift is still in transit, as I ordered it earlier this week.  I had hoped it would be delivered by tomorrow (FedEx delivers on Saturdays here, but UPS does not, unless it's a 'special delivery'), but it has only traveled from it's origin of Texas to Tennessee as of this afternoon.  Michael had told me that he didn't care if it was a couple of days late for his birthday, and not to ask if the seller was willing to change the delivery method in order for us to get it sooner.  I totally understand that outlook, as this item was a splurge, considering that I had already picked him up a few smaller and less expensive gifts.
    On a related note, as a birthday gift to myself, I ordered a canine DNA tester for Dakota this week as well.  It was listed as being on the FedEx truck for delivery today, but it turns out that they took it to the post office for delivery instead.  Oh well, another couple of days doesn't really matter, but it would have been nice to get it today as it was listed.
     UPDATES:  The party was a hit, with two of the boys asking to come back over for another sleepover this weekend, but I had told Wesley not so soon... I need a weekend off lol SO TRUE!
     Surprisingly, the boys DID go outside, wandering out while Dakota and I had gone for our walk.  As we got 2/3 of the way home, I could hear the boys yelling.  Soon I realized that it was so loud that they must have opened the slider for some fresh air....no, they were actually OUTSIDE!   Normally, when I let Dakota off her lead as we approach our property line, she merely trots ahead of me, usually getting a bite or two of some fresh, cold snow, before heading in with me for a big drink of water.  This time, she ran ahead and straight to the back yard to play with the boys,  assuming her self-assigned roll as the 'referee' which her fur coat resembles.  If people or other pets get loud, she assumes they are getting too rough and therefore steps in to break things up.

      Wesley & I bought this HDTV in the evening of Black Friday... LOVE it!  We also set up the old HD large screen that my brother Leon gave us when they moved home.

    

It just so happened that there were FOUR boys, and when Wesley ran upstairs before we sat down to have cake (cowboy brownies) and icecream, he came back with the FOUR Star Wars character masks he had collected so far.  Perfection....

   While looking for cake decorations, I saw these tiny mustaches, remembered what Roberta Davis's family (Jonny's mom) had done a previous summer, and added into account the boys' ages...hmmm!

  

 

I misspoke earlier... there were actually FIVE BOYS attending!  Michael had to show the boys his record high score!

Wesley received some great cards, cash gifts and a GameStop gift card, all of which are perfect for his current interests as well as the locally limited variety of gaming or Star Wars items.  Now he can combine his money to pick out something larger/more expensive which he has wanted for a while, or even order something online.

      The tv we replaced, Leon's pass-me-down.  I think the boys used 3 different game systems: Our Wii and PS2, plus one of the boys' game cube, seen on the floor in the above photo.

    We ordered 2 Hungry Howie's (Wesley's favorite) pizzas for lunch.  Dinner was a high-class kids' favorite: Mac and Cheese plus hot dogs.  Dad even gave Dakota a hotdog bun (some were stale).

        NOW I see why they have the wrestling game out!

     The boys were still pretty loud at midnight, but around 1 am they were talking quietly.  I laid in bed, worried that one of the boys would soon be walking into our room to tell me that they wanted to go home because they missed their family, which has happened in the past.  Nope... Michael said they were probably talking about GIRLS!

Gleason Christmas 2014 at Sarah's home

     My niece Sarah hosted the Gleason Christmas this year, in the old farm house home of herself, husband Paul, and his son Ryan.  Brandon is now living down state with his dad, but always comes to his mom's home for Christmas.  This year, her oldest son Alex moved back down to North Carolina, and now he is currently planning to move in with his girlfriend Amie.  Sarah was blessed with them driving here for several days over Christmas, returning to North Carolina after celebrating Christmas with the Gleasons.

This is the NON spicy meat...

This is the majority of her Christmas village, with a few pieces in the living room, and the rest in the school library.

    Wesley has been exchanging gifts with Brandon for the past few years, as they are the only non-adult children/grandchildren who regularly attend this gathering.  We followed Sarah's exchange gift guidelines of gifts being purchased from second-hand stores, yard sales, etc.

(Nearly) vintage STAR WARS puzzles from
Aunt Deb; these were Justin & Jordan's when they were little!

My FATHER'S hatchet...

     For the 2nd time this Christmas season, I broke down in tears in response to seeing Wesley's gift.  He had asked for a hatchet, after reading the book of that name at school.  A young boy became lost, with only a hatchet to help him to survive.  When Wesley opened his gift from Brandon, I realized that it may have been one of my father's, and when they said yes, I was already in tears.  It is very rusty, and needed to have the handle reinforced, but that doesn't matter....it belonged to my late father.  The fact that it is rusty only reinforces that fact, as he had several tools which were rusty, damaged, repaired and repaired again.   The attitude of those who grew up during or after the great depression:  that idea of repairing rather than replacing an item..... using, re-using, and using them up. 

Christmas 2013... documentation in progress.

    Normally I created a LOT of 12x12 layouts for Christmas, but this year I was inspired by some online videos involving Christmas mini albums, aka minis.
     I've been making minis for several years, but never one for Christmas.  All my Christmas pages have been going into a 12x12 leather album by CTMH.  That has been overflowing for some time, and with this new inspiration, I decided to start a mini.
  I did create a 12x12 layout before starting the mini, and although the two pages are created as one layout, and utilize the colors from our decorating scheme this year, the fact that the teal page on our left is more of a pastel version, and perhaps because I didn't create the entire layout as one unit, it does not feel cohesive to me.  I MUCH prefer the pages viewed separately.

I started with a 4x6 photo album.... it was already purple, one of my Christmas decor colors this year.  Each page has a photo window, therefore providing a built-in pocket for journaling and any other items I want to include.

     Oreo, our tuxedo kitty, and also our newest addition to our family, is TOTALLY living up to the typical get-into-mischief and crawl into every box or container feline personality traits.

This is actually the first inside page I created.... an early memorial tribute to our beloved Smoke, aka Smoky Kitty.  Just 2 days before Christmas, Wesley and I took her in for her thyroid blood work, and 2 hours later, came home in tears, after being told that she may only live for a few hours, or days.  She passed away on January 19th, the day after Wesley's 10th birthday, and the day before my 50th.......  She will NOT be forgotten!

Now for some of the humorous portions of this Christmas's memories........ Wesley dressed Dakota in his husky hat when he and dad went out to blow snow ROFL (Rolling On the Floor Laughing)!  Also, when Wesley opened the package containing his dirt bike's new batteries, he yelled "I got BUBBLEWRAP!"  Even though the photo is blurry, it's priceless!

Wesley's interests changed greatly in the past year.  He literally put aside Thomas the train, packing up all of his trains, stations and specialty pieces and putting them in the guest room as possible yard sale items.  This was greatly influenced by the fact that Star Wars was playing this summer, and we thought he might be interested in the movie series.  That was the beginning of a new obsession!

Quality time was spent with dad, learning how to assemble his first Star Wars models.

     Video games have also been a big interest of Wesley's, to a fault.... as with many kids,  we have to limit the amount of time he spends playing them.

Wesley has also gotten really busy making things via Origami, going through a LOT of the tape in my studio as well as the household supply.  Michael suggested buying him a huge roll of tape for Christmas.  Instead of one huge roll, I found a multi-pack.  The right hand box contains his dirt bike batteries and the infamous bubble wrap.

Wesley made me a tea light at school, as well as purchasing me a beautiful ornament and liquid potpourri diffuser, both in our Christmas colors.  Michael gave me 2 wolf-image sun catchers from a local shop. 

Need I say more?????

Wesley bought Michael a specialty screwdriver set from the school's Christmas shop.  Some of the moms purchased items locally and set up a store for the students to shop from.  GREAT idea!  Wesley also bought both Grandmas a gift there.

Wesley and I picked out a new surround sound system, which Michael had actually asked for this year (the volume knob on the other one has been warn out for over a year and is very touchy.  Michael is going to use the old one in his shop).  Wesley managed to strong-arm it in from the kitchen, and I set it up while Michael slept (he didn't feel good Christmas day).

On Christmas Eve, after Wesley had placed his note to Santa under the tree, Oreo curled up next to it!!!  Rusty and Squirrel wouldn't say so, but he looked like a sweet little gift under the tree..... After all the gifts had been open, I noticed these two lounging next to each other, with Wesley's Star Wars wall quotations nearby.  I couldn't help taking advantage of the situation!

         This is not quite the entire album, but I will post the final pages soon.  Scrap on!

Catching up from the summer & fall, and GROWING UP.

  After spending most of the summer working on my studio renovation, and not being able to access this blog, I have been trying to make a dent in downloading & editing photos, printing my favorites, and beginning to plan scrapbook projects.
  Among the following photos you will find everything from funny to adorable pet & family interactions, images of our yard & the areas we take our walks, to heart-wrenching realizations of losing fur-family members.

Guy time has been including a little more racing & car themed television, whether Nascar races, a race themed animated movie, or car themed tv shows such as Top Gear.

                          Wesley has been GROWING UP, both physically & emotionally.

Check out his pajamas below: about 6 inches too short, and also displaying his fascination of the past 7 or 8 years, trains, and particularly Thomas.  This fall he decided that he was ready to set aside his train collection, to make room for new interests.  I asked him to sort through ALL things Thomas & train themed, including vcr & dvd movies, large train track sections, books, etc.



Train-Transformer Thomas/Wesley

 

Something clicked this summer:  Star Wars!!!!!  He has been raiding my shipping boxes, paper towel rolls (for arms) and tape, creating his own Star Wars characters, robots, ships, etc.

Now on to some of the other family members, namely those with lots of fur!

 



An example of the bond between Dakota and Oreo, as well as the mischievous characteristics of Oreo's personality.  I was combing Dakota and Oreo decided that her tail qualified as a kitty toy!  Note the pile of Dakota wool above her in the photo, while ignoring my pile of notebooks and books that still need a new home in my studio.

Oreo finally discovered what the other cats were observing out the front window.... birds!  Smoke has also been admiring them from the chair that she has been relaxing on nearest to the kitchen window.  Smoke has a large abdominal tumor, probably cancerous, as well as fluid around both lungs.  We expected to lose her before Christmas, but she is still blessing us with her presence and 'meal monger' personality daily.  I pray that she does not suffer.

Beautiful "Squirrel", whom Michael named after her large bushy squirrel-like tail.  She loves to sit beneath the tree.  Last year, she actually climbed inside it approximately half way up the trunk and it was a challenge to get her out without knocking down the tree or disrupting the decorations.

 

     Above, Oreo decided that he needed to help me with wrapping the gifts after midnight Christmas morning.  He definitely has a lot of the typical kitty personality traits, from helping with everything related to Christmas, to watching/playing with the images on the tv and video games, to attacking your ankles as you walk up the stairs.
     A letter, which Oreo needed to guard for Santa.  Wesley received several Star Wars items for Christmas, including wall decals with the memorable "Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away..."  which I took advantage of to title the photo below. LOL.

Now I have 2 shadows following me around the house.  I have had to ban Oreo from my studio because he thinks that EVERYTHING in my studio is a toy.

 "Come on, Mom!  Let's play in the beautiful Christmas morning snow!"  Dakota's other gift....

I pray that we have a safe, happy year ahead of us in 2014, with our family continuing to evolve in our hobbies & interests, talents & skills.