14

Tanis has been on this earth for 14 years now. That seems so crazy for me to think about. Those years really seemed to fly by and I can hardly believe that he could be out of the house in as little as four years. When and how did that happen?

For his actual birthday all he really wanted to do was go to Golden Corral. He talked about it for weeks before his birthday. So we made sure to do all that we could to make that happen for him. Jace had been feeling a little sick, so I worried how his temperament might be, but he was okay.

Because Eric was at work, I waited to give Tanis his gift until we were at the restaurant. He had a rough time waiting, but he made it.

Dinner went pretty good. The kids all ate a few things and then headed straight for the dessert bar. Because Jace wasn't feeling great, he puked all over the place which was a little embarrassing and I felt bad for my baby. 

I was still trying to finish my meal, but we could tell Jace needed to get home - so Eric took a few of the kids and headed home, while I finished my meal and then took the other kids home. Along the way home we stopped to get some batteries so that we had enough for 4 people to play Tanis' new game.

We spent the rest of the night battling it out and Tanis is really talented playing Mario Kart games. He beat everyone but his Dad.

Because his birthday is two days before Pioneer Day, we chose to have his party the day after Pioneer Day, the 25th. He chose a Harry Potter theme and we got the invites out a few days before his birthday.

I took a letterhead paper and cut it out after it printed off. Then I glued a skewer to the paper so I could roll it up like a scroll. It didn't occur to me until after I had glued the skewers on that I should've put them on the back.

We lucked out at the party store and found just a few Harry Potter things to make the decor just right.

For his cookies I cut out witch hats and used a Starburst cut into the lightning bolt shape. His cupcakes were supposed to be the different house colors.

And because it's just a bunch of teenage boys hanging around, they just played video games all night and were completely happy. They played Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare as well as Mario Kart 8. At the beginning of the party, Tanis and his friends watched a few episodes from Studio C.

Then we also did all the regular party stuff. Gifts and cake and ice cream. Jace really enjoyed his first taste of cupcake.