Happy Birthday!

Nolan at age three. Big cheeks and big eyes! 

Nolan on his 14th birthday doing what he does best.....being dramatic.

Words escape me when I think about the young man my baby is turning into. It's always fun to try to find something to really surprise him. I don't always bake him a cake because he doesn't really like cake. When I asked if he wanted a cake he surprised me by saying yes. He had no requests beyond a cake so I had total freedom. I decided to make the cake from Portal. The boys have wanted to make this cake for a really long time but I knew Nolan would never have thought I'd make it for his birthday. I ended up putting ice cream between the chocolate cake layers, frosted it with whipped cream and added shredded chocolate to the outside. He loved it! He was quite surprised (as you can see by the photo). The whole family said it was the best cake ever.


Happy 14th Nolan. I love you beyond words.

Becoming a Young Man

I can hardly believe that handsome young man is my son. Seems like just yesterday I was dressing him in his baptismal gown. Everyone always tells you that time flies and I think most young mothers are sick of hearing it. Well, it is true. You blink and they are teenagers. Of course, everyday didn't pass by that quickly, just the years! Well, Nathan celebrated his Confirmation on March 12th with a beautiful Mass given by our newly installed Bishop McFadden. 

Here you can see Nathan and the bishop. I love the crozier (the shephard's crook-like thing). This is one bishop I am glad is leading our diocese. His homily was amazing. Nathan picked St. Martin dePorres as his Confirmation name. St. Martin dePorres was a humble man who did great good and loved all. Just like my Nathan.

Nathan enjoyed reading every word of every card. He reminded me of his DadDad in that respect. 

A few days prior to Confirmation, Nathan turned 15. I need to stop saying I can't believe he's that old, but I really can't believe it. We are so proud of the young man he has become. Above you can see the pillow case I made for his bed. When I asked him if he liked it he said,"I don't just like it, Mom, I LOVE it!" How sweet is that?

Here's the cake Nolan decorated for Nathan. I think that thing is called a one-up mushroom but don't quote me on it. Nolan spent quite a lot of time counting out the mini M&M's and organizing them on the cake. Of course we had to have pizza from our favorite pizza shop, Jr.'s. All in all it was a wonderful day for a wonderful teen. We love you Nathan and are so thrilled with who you are becoming!

In the sewing room

Nathan is obsessed with all things Mario. So for his birthday I cross stitched a little Mario and Luigi and will use them to make him a new pillowcase. I purchased the fabrics today and hope to get it sewn tomorrow or over the weekend. 

Teenager

 It's official. I'm now living in a house full of teenagers. Nolan turned 13 yesterday. It was fun to see how excited he was. Not at all teenager-boy-like. I'm glad about that.

Baking in the early morning.

He wanted to make dark chocolate chips for his friends in his writing class. He was up at 7:30 (unheard of for him without a wake up call) and in the kitchen baking. I'm beginning to think he's got a career as a chef or a baker. He's always dissecting the flavors of our food and giving critiques on the burgers and fries from local restaurants. 

Ruby Tuesdays and a few presents.

 I guess I haven't mentioned it on my blog, but Nolan is deep in rehearsals for a local theater production of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. He's an Oompa Loompa. Being involved in this production has been really wonderful for him. He loves the theater and has had a ball with his character. The show opens next week so we were unable to plan a party for his 13th due to rehearsal and show schedules. He handled the disappointment very well.

A book full of trivia, just Nolan's style.

He's ready to fry some ants.

So, for his big day, we treated him to his favorite hamburger at Ruby Tuesdays. He told me that he thinks they should bottle the ketsup, mayo and burger grease mixture that makes the hamburger so tasty. I'm not sure I agree with that one but it was an interesting thought.

The Wii classic controller, finally.

 Happy 13th baby boy. I'm so happy with the young man you are turning into.