Anderson: 9 years old

This kid is 9 & I am so confused as to how he is not at least 14 yet. 

I love hanging up the pics on their birthdays-festivities that involve documentation are my favorite. I have zero actual pictures hanging on my walls, but I will always get the birthday pics up a week early. 

For his "party" he just wanted Jack & Noah to go to Main Event & spend the night, so that is exactly what we did and it was so much fun. 

Watching them on this virtual ride was hilarious. 

Laser Tag! Max refused to leave the Jurassic Park game to engage in these shenanigans, but the other 3 had fun!

I couldn't find Brandon at one point and, after searching, found him winning all of the tickets, surrounded by the kids. 

We were going to order pizza at home (because I am cheap,) but decided at the last minute that a party calls for pizza at the party place. 

Max was OWNING shuffleboard & so proud of himself. 

High-quality prizes for all!

I love that I can always default to Brandon to fix things, no matter what it is. Noah did not know how to use this and I sent him to Brandon, who immediately rocked it out. 

Cookie cake for the win, always.

Also, $1 store New Year Eve hats and leftover random party stuff from past parties for the win!

One of the coolest things that has happened to Anderson occurred right before he was 9. He wrote a letter to Congressman Burchett asking for a Presidential Nomination to West Point when he graduates from high school. In such a cool twist, a friend of mine knows him & set up a breakfast meeting!

So cool. 

Anderson said the best part was meeting a real Navy Seal. 

It seemed like we celebrated his birthday for at least 100 years. One of our favorite things was the scavenger hunt that ended with the junk box find. 

I always love when I get a real smile from this kid. 

Perk of your brother's birthday: you get junk, too. 

The scavenger hunt. 

Anderson is playing a winter league of flag football &, of course, LOVES it!

Noni kept his all on day on his birthday & made it way more fun that I would have if he was with me. 

On his actual birthday, we had pizza & cake with family and watched the National Championship game. 

His favorite gift was from Aunt Manda. 

We love this kid so much AND are so grateful that he is ours. His intensity, competitiveness, lack of desire to sleep and analytical approach toward everything are unparalleled and we cannot wait to see where life continues to take him. 

some links:

A & Jack at Main Event

A open chromebook

A 9th birthday

A scavenger hunt 9