Happy Birthday, Man-Cub

So, this has been the week my baby turned nine. But don't tell him I called him my baby. He lets me call him that only rarely as he gets older and bigger.

Okay, I know I'm biased and all, but is he not adorable, even if he is nine and too cool for it?  Mom asked if she could cut his bangs last night and, this time, I said, "No".  I've let her in the past as a sort of unspoken compromise since she never complains otherwise about his long-haired look.  But Man-Cub is getting older and growing opinions and asserting himself about them and I know he really likes, "The Hair".  So it stays.  Until he decides it goes.  I've always told both children I don't care what color, length or style the hair is as long as it looks groomed, i.e. that way on purpose and not because you are a derelict.  Similar things with clothing: as long as they don't look (or smell) dirty or like they're living under a bridge and as long as they retain their modesty, I'm fine with it.  But I seriously digress...

 

Man-Cub's birthday celebrations have kind of been spread out throughout the week.  His actual birthday was Wednesday, which was a school night as well as being church night.  So, he was exempt from chores and got to pick what he wanted for dinner (which was my homemade pizza--I'm so proud!) but had to wait until last night for his party.  Everyone came over, he got to open a few presents (I am glad to report it wasn't a gift-fest this year) and I made him a chocolate chip cookie cake.  I took a photo, but it looks really dumb.  My pride just can't take it.  Let's just say it looked very much like a homemade cake.  But Man-Cub loved it.  And it was absolutely delicious.  I highly recommend it (--->here).

When we asked Man-Cub what he wanted for his birthday he said he wanted to take his best friends to The Funplex.  That seems to be the popular thing to do among boys in his class.  The Viking and I talked it over, priced a few things and decided it wasn't an unreasonable request so that's what we did.  And because The Viking was away Friday night and the family party was already set for Saturday night, that left Sunday to be the third day of celebratory activities.

This afternoon, four very excited eight- or nine-year-old boys were dropped off at our house.  Man-Cub jumped right into the middle of them all and they proceeded to run around our yard jumping, whooping and pushing each other on the rope swing.  Then they played roof ball, a game which, according to what I was able to observe, consists solely of throwing a ball at the roof.  Apparently, this is the best game ever.  I don't get it, but then I'm female and have experienced puberty so that probably explains it.  It probably also explains why I don't share their delight in the word, "wiener".  90% of Man-Cub's behavior makes more sense to me now that I've seen him in the company of other boys.  Turns out, he's not really that much of a weirdo and what I learned in Kindergarten is absolutely correct: all boys are weird!

Weird or not (yes, they're weird, don't let anyone fool you), they had a great afternoon.  They played laser tag, rode in bumper cars, shot the tar out of each other with foam missiles, darts and bullets, rode in rocket simulators and took turns riding facing backwards in the third seat of our station wagon (which was, surprisingly, a big hit).  Man-Cub got to spend time with his best buds, who all seem like nice boys, and best of all, it's all over!  Now, I get to kick off my shoes, relax and enjoy my nice, quiet, neat and tidy house!

Oooh!  Which reminds me:

We've finally gotten the living room settled.  We've decided to give the foster furniture a permanent home with us and though it isn't necessarily the colors or pattern I would have chosen, it is very comfy and best of all, free.  We're making do with what we have and we're way more comfortable than I would have thought.

We've done what we've always wanted to and divided the room in half.  One area for lounging in front of the fire and one for relaxing in front of the tv.  I've noticed already that the area in front of the fire stays much more tidy than the other.  But that means I'm only cleaning up half of a room instead of the whole thing.  I'm just glad it's finally over, everything is back where it belongs (or in a new home) and we get almost a full month before the next big event, which is Easter.

Ahhhhh.  Time to relax.  Thing I'll go see if The Viking will light a fire.