Jake's Birthday!

Oh my gosh, I have a teenager! Where does the time go??? He is no longer that giggly, mischievous little 3 yr. old that had to be watched every second. (although he is the one that keeps me on my toes and running non-stop!) Jake has got such a funny, quirky personality and I love to just sit and talk to him. That's not to say that he is not developing what I call the "teenage moodiness"! I'm sure it will get worse.....before it gets better.

Since we've been in CT, birthday's are CRAZY!!! Jake and Ethan's fall right at the beginning of baseball season, end of the year projects and field trips and so we are usually throwing something together quick! This year was no exception. For the first time ever, Jake actually made a dinner request....and it was actually something I could do. He asked for kabobs on the grill and he wanted me to make an Oreo cheesecake for his cake!!! (see photo's below, that one did not turn out so well!) We were able to eat a quick dinner as a family, which does not happen very often in this busy house. He even ate my cheesecake, what a good sport!

These pictures definitely need some explaining.


I'm sure this comes as a shock....but my boys LOVE the Red Sox! "Aunt Jill Grandma" (I will explain the grandparent nicknames later....that takes an entire post!) called a couple of months ago and asked me if I thought the boys might like Red Sox Nutcrackers for their birthday's. She seemed so excited about it and I did not have the heart to tell her NO! They love her so much and Jake was a good sport to smile so I could have a picture to send to Grandma. I believe Ethan has tried to crack everthing imaginable (including his fingers) in this thing and he managed to break Cameron's......yes, Cam got one too! (sorry MOM, I could not resist, it was just too funny!)

This would be the Chocolate Oreo Cheesecake that my son asked me to make him. I have never made a cheesecake in my life, I really don't even like Cheesecake...or Chocolate! I looked online for the perfect recipe, bought all the ingredients and followed every single step. I have no idea what went wrong, but we all decided it was the ugliest cake we had ever seen!!! I always tell my kids that the word "QUIT" does not exist in our vocabulary and that it's not allowed in our family. So, I am not quitting.....but "RETIRING" from Cheesecake making!

Another thing that I should "RETIRE" from.....trying to get a picture of all 4 kids......smiling and not doing something obnoxious in front of the camera! (and getting Jarrod to smile would be an added bonus!)
Against my better judgement, we decided to get Jake a ripstick! If you don't know what they are, look them up online. They are scary! It's kind of like a skateboard, but it's all bendy and twisty. I was actually excited that he asked for something that was not a video game!