Koen's 9th Birthday!

Oh my goodness, I cannot believe we have a nine-year-old!!  Koen had quite a weekend celebrating his birthday.  I think this will be a memorable one.  It was for me.  It's just such a striking realization that your child is getting older when you hit these birthdays.  My Koen is 9!!!  I think it's time we had a quick review in pictures, don't you??
The original BIRTHday...

1st Birthday...

2nd Birthday...

Around Third Birthday (all the pictures from the actual birthday he had sunglasses on!)...

Fourth Birthday...

Fifth Birthday (ok, well two days before on Easter...this was just too cute not to share)...

Sixth Birthday...

Seventh Birthday...

Eighth Birthday...

Ok, so that was fun!!  Now on to the fun of his birthday this year.  We had his birthday party on Friday afternoon after school.  He had been asking for months about having a friend party this year (we often do family parties).  We were happy to concede and although I was a little nervous about entertaining about 8 big kids, it was a complete success!!  We decided about a week before the party that we were just going to risk all odds and plan on it being an outdoor party.  It's April in the North East, so you never know what you are going to get.  We had had weeks of warm Spring weather though, so I was really hoping we would get some more of that.  Turned out to be 40 and windy, but the kids didn't care and I was just happy there wasn't rain!!  Koen had helped me come up with the idea of having a nerf gun theme party.  Where really it's just an opportunity for them to run around at the park playing team on team nerf gun battle games.  Sounded easy enough, except that we don't own any nerf gun stuff!!  Thankfully all his friends do, so everyone brought some guns to share (and the friends all noted that Koen didn't have any of his own gear, so he got several guns as gifts).  I did some prep work and had fun making treat bags for the kids that included Ammo, protective eyewear (thanks to the Dollar Tree, just a $1 a piece!) and a few candy items for later. 

I had big plans of hanging up some crepe paper ball target things around the shelter we had at the park and also had high hopes of making the tables look cute with orange posterboard and the blue paper plates and napkins I got, but the wind had another plan and blew my plans literally right out the window.  Oh well.  I rigged up the sign at least!!

The kids dove into their bags for their ammo and eyewear.  It was so cute, they thought the "protective eyewear" was so cool and wore them the whole time and thought it was so special they got to take them home!  Score!

Rallying up on the hill for picking teams and explaining the rules for capture the flag.  Doug did a great job!

We knew we had to have some organization or things could get out of hand, Doug really set the tone laying down the ground rules and then played in the game as well.  The kids thought he was a pretty cool dad. =)

And they are off!!

After a few rounds of the game, we broke for hot cocoa and gifts (Koen had received some hints from friends that if he opened his gifts he might have some more guns to try out in the game).

He was pretty psyched!!  He also got some great other gifts.  His friends were so sweet and excited for him and really did a nice job getting things he would enjoy.  It was cute to watch them all socializing together.

Back at it!!  My job was to pick up the ammo and get it back to the kids.  I was happy for the job because it kept me warm!

After awhile we had another break for brownies and ice cream and to sing to Koen.  Then the kids went right back to playing with the nerf guns.  As the parents arrived it was quite a job to round up the kids and make them stop.  I guess the cold weather wasn't a bother to them having fun and enjoying the party!!!  It was a big success, phew!

After we cleaned up we headed back home.  Deborah, Miles mom (Miles was at Koen's party), had stayed at the house with Janse, Penn and Tav and her two girls so that Koen could have this party for himself and his peers (I was totally fine with it because these days it just takes one wrong look or word and he and Tav are at it and I wanted him to just be able to enjoy his friends and his day).  We celebrated again though and let the kids who had stayed at home and played have brownies and ice cream so they felt like they were part of the party too.  Thankfully they had so much fun with Miss Deborah and each other they didn't even care they didn't go to Koen's party.  After Deborah left, we got out our present for Koen.  A new bike!!  He was thrilled!  He has been too big for his bike for awhile and we knew that this would be needed this Spring.  We both really looked forward to giving it to him.  Such an exciting gift for a growing boy!

Jansen is trying to get in on the action.  The bike in this pic is too tall, but adjusted the seat and it's a much better fit.

Here's the happy birthday boy with his new bike testing it out outside before sundown.

That wasn't all for Koen's birthday though.  Even though Doug and I had to be away on Sunday, the Troxells filled in beautifully with a family party with their boys (who made an awesome sign for Koen) and they had brownies and ice cream (can you tell that's Koen's preferred birthday treat?).  Here's a video we got of the celebration...

And in the afternoon on Sunday, Koen had lunch out and an adventure with Miss Kylie, a babysitter and friend he's known and been cared for by for at least 6 years now.  She's made it a point to spend some time with Koen around his birthday most of those years and this year was no exception.  They had lunch at Mercurio's in Shadyside and then they visited The Bicycle Museum (I had no idea that even existed!).  It was a fun adventure (and a nice break for the Troxells who had Tav and Penn back at their place still).  Here are a few pics I got from Kylie...

Well, that's a pretty great birthday.  And this pretty great kid deserved it.  We were excited he had such a special party and some very special time with special friends.  We love you, Koen.  It's amazing to review those old pictures and see how you've grown, but it's even more amazing to see how with every year you are developing more and more into the person the Lord is crafting you to be.  We look forward to continuing this journey of life with you and are trusting God to bring His purposes for you to fruition with each passing year.