Happy 9th Birthday, Paul!

Paul turned 9 today.  That is crazy!  Mostly because I remember this little guy...

He's a little bigger now...

And he loves to make faces.  :-) We had a pretty great day with this guy.  He started by making his birthday train, followed by some presents from his family.

We got a Paul a Lite Brite.  The new, improved version uses LEDs that never die with batteries.  It is WAY cooler.  Paul really liked it.

Paul's first creation - It's a monster face with the moon.  Fun!

We also got Paul this glow-in-the-dark Hex Bug maze.  Hex bugs are little battery powered wiggly things that can crawl through these tubes.  Paul really likes to watch them, talk to them, and narrate what they are doing.  That fact that it glows in the dark just makes it that much cooler.

Erik also found this rubix snake thing.  It folks out flat, but can also be used to make LOTS of different things.  Right up Paul's alley.

Paul spent the morning enjoying his new things (with a few hiccups because brother was a little envious).  I was able to bake the cupcakes and get the house a little cleaner, but not much, in preparation for the birthday party at 1pm.

We hosted a screening of "The Lego Movie" for Paul's birthday this year.  There were eight kids and six adults.  It was great.  We wisely chose to show the film to the boys for the first time last night.  Inevitably, the first time my guys view anything, they have LOTS of questions and comments.  About 15 minutes in to the film last night, Erik and I simultaneously realized that this was the boys' first experience with what we would consider to be a modern action film.  They kept exclaiming loudly, "WOW! Did you see that?!?"  They are in no way inured to action sequences.  They respond enthusiastically to the insanity that is a modern chase scene.  It was super fun to see it through their eyes.  And I'm glad that at nine and nearly eleven, my guys are impressed by these things, rather than being so accustomed to them as to find them blasé.  It also makes it SUPER fun to watch movies like this with them!

So, the guests came, we showed the movie and I took a picture or two.

Everyone enjoyed the movie.  And then we opened presents and ate cake.  And it was a party!

This sweet customer was a last minute addition to the guest list when Paul asked on Sunday as we left church, "Can Caroline come to my party?"  She's five, super fun, and adorable.  After a few quick texts, she was all in.  She did get up the most during the movie, but it was a delight having her here.  She was explaining to Paul in this picture that she accidentally wrote "Happy Birthday, Paul" upside down on his card.  Paul didn't seem to mind.  :-)

I didn't get a candle shot of Paul with his cupcake, but this is his face while we sang to him.  Pretty happy customer.

I haven't really spent much time thinking about my youngest being nine years old.  We love our Paul.  We are thankful for all the ways he is maturing and growing.  And we think he is so stinkin' fun.  I'm actively ignoring the fact that this birthday marks his halfway point to adulthood.  Some days are long, folks, but the years - they are crazy short.