Happy 11th

Eleven years old! My big boys. Eleven seems like such a big age for them and such a small age compared to my 58. At the library on Saturday (their actual birthday) they wanted to play on the computers in the children's section but two other boys were already on them. When the other boys "accepted more time" which you aren't allowed to do if someone else is waiting, my boys bravely spoke to the librarian, who told the other boys it was time to get off. Their mother complained, saying that Kid A and Kid B should go to the Teen Section instead. The librarian had to explain that 11 is not a teen age. But oh boy, the teen years are coming, as is puberty. They're officially "tweens" right now. And yet, in so many ways they still seem like my babies.

This has been an interesting birthday. I tried to plan ahead, did my present shopping last Monday, and Rocket Boy and I wrapped/bagged everything on Tuesday. The aunts' cards and gifts all arrived ahead of time and a present from a cousin arrived right on their birthday. The boys were happy with their gifts and so far I've only had to exchange one shirt. I was pretty frugal about gifts, no $150 Lego sets, but it was enough. One "gift" that was intended as a joke (a folding hamper for their room) turned out to be a big hit, as they took turns climbing in and out of it (see last photo). With their "help," I managed to make a lemon cake from a mix and it turned out OK -- not fabulous, but edible.  We ate out both Friday and Saturday nights, the kids' choice (Kid A chose Chili's for Friday and Kid B chose an old-fashioned chicken restaurant called the Wishbone for Saturday).

So what went wrong? Well, several things. First, the parties. Kid A decided weeks ago that he wanted to have a small party at "Get Air," a trampoline place. He wanted to invite a friend of his from his special school, so about 10 days ago I emailed the mom. Oh, too bad, Nate will be out of town that weekend. OK, so let's invite a friend from regular school instead. Rocket Boy texted the mom. Oh, too bad, Andre will be with his dad that weekend. We asked Kid A if he wanted to postpone his party by a week, but he said no, I want to have it on my birthday! Well, do you want to go by yourself, or with Kid B? No! With friends! Hmm.

We set aside that problem and moved on to Kid B, who knew who he wanted to invite but not where to go. Finally, a few days before his birthday, he decided on the Children's Museum in Denver. So Wednesday night, Rocket Boy emailed the moms of the three kids Kid B wanted to invite. The first one said Saturday's not good, the second one said Saturday's not good, and the third one didn't respond. We told Kid B to talk to his friends at lunch on Thursday, but two of them weren't there. So RB emailed the parents again on Thursday night and said what about Sunday. This time, no one responded, and all three kids were absent from school on Friday. Sigh.

Meanwhile, my back decided to go out. I was stressed out about everything, primarily my job and the nonexistent parties. I was also worried about bringing treats to school on Friday, even though this would be the 6th time we've done it and for several years now we've brought the same thing (cut-up melon, mixed berries, and whipped cream). It's just that the timing is tricky -- have to do a lot of prep between when the kids leave for school and when we show up with the treats. Anyway, probably due to all this stress, when I tried to put my right leg into my pants leg on Friday morning, my lower right back went Gnrrrrack! and I was convulsed with excruciating pain. I screamed for Rocket Boy, who somehow managed to get me to bed, where I swallowed a handful of pain pills and moaned while RB got the kids off to school. (The photo shows me in bed with one of the cats trying to convince me to get up and feed him. Sorry, Pie Bear.) So I missed treats at school, a day of work, and various other random stuff, including all the planned weekend cleaning. I did manage to go out to dinner both nights, and I made the cake and even went to the library on Saturday (RB drove and carried the books). But I'm a basket case. The various pills I've taken have done a number on my intestines, so now I'm nauseated, my guts are cramping, and I still have a very sore right lower back. And of course we had to have the stupid TIME CHANGE last night, meaning we'll all have to get up an hour early tomorrow, and I have a very busy week ahead, with evening activities on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights. Oh, and Wednesday we're supposed to get more snow. La la la.

Last night Rocket Boy finally managed to set up a "birthday party" for Kid A at Get Air with a third friend who was available, so that's where the two of them are now. Kid B stayed home with me and messed around with his new birthday ukulele. He's watching TV now and I'm thinking of going back to bed, where I would like to spend the next month.

We still have to figure out how to acquire some guests for Kid B's belated party next weekend. He's thought of three other people to invite but I don't know any of their moms' phone numbers or email addresses. But we're mostly done with the twins' birthday. I think the kids are reasonably happy with how it went -- and the hardest part of my year is over.