Ryley Turns 9!

We get to have a week long birthday celebration for our two December boys.  Sawyer's is on the 1st and Ryley's is on the 3rd.  Plus with all the family parties and friend parties it seems like birthdays last at least a full week around here.  I think the kids are OK with that.  :)

Since I was working at the Nativity Exhibit on the 2nd and 3rd poor Ryley didn't have much of a birthday on his actual birthday.  When I told him I would be at the church all day he was kind of bummed, but I told him Daddy would try and make it super special so that cheered him up a bit.  We usually do our little family party after dinner and I knew I would miss that so I asked him if we could do a birthday breakfast and go get donuts instead.  He was way excited about that!  I didn't have to be at the church until 10 a.m. so it worked out perfectly.

We loaded up his donuts with all his birthday candles and sang Happy Birthday to him.  Everyone enjoyed celebrating with donuts!

Well, most of us anyway.  We had to wake the baby up a little early to go get the donuts.  I guess he wasn't happy about it.  Or maybe he's just tired of having the camera stuck in his face all the time.  (Get used to it kid!)

After we finished eating we told him to cover his eyes and we'd bring out a surprise for him. 

He asked for Pokemon or a remote control car.  I found this big remote control car and knew he'd love it.  I think mama was right!

The next night (Sunday) we had our Smith family side birthday at Granny and Pops' house for both boys. 

They opened presents.

 

Sadie accessorized.

He blew out the candles.

He watched Daddy blow out his.

They showed me their gross frosting covered teeth.

Sadie made quite the mess.  She even had it up her nose and was having lots of fun breathing in and out while the cake and frosting moved in and out.  She thought it was pretty funny - and it was!

He made a little mess of his own.

 

The next Friday we had Ryley's friends over for another party.  It was a camouflage-themed party so Ryley had to wear all his camo that day even though it was really cold.  He had so much fun, but holy guacamole - seven nine-year-olds can make some SERIOUS noise!!!  Thankfully the party was only for 1 1/2 hours and I was able to send them outside for a good portion of it. 

He opened some more presents (lots of Pokemon, a little Beyblades, and even a few gift cards to Target).

We had homemade pizza (at Ryley's request) and cupcakes.  He got a little help blowing out his candle.  :)

The "hit" of the party (hardy, har, har - that's for you, Dad!) was definitely the tank pinata though.  Check out Daddy's face!  I don't know what he was doing in the picture but it was too awesome not to put on the blog!

He had a blast with all his friends! 

A top nine of Ryley at 9:

9.  He achieved his Wolf rank in Cub Scouts this year and got the Religious Knot.  His leaders said he was the first Cub Scout to get it in 7 years!  He loves Scouts and has also gotten quite a few belt loops and one pin.

8.  He started piano lessons this year and really likes it.  I thought there might be some complaining after the novelty wore off but he never whines about having to practice or anything.  (I'm sure that will change eventually but I'm enjoying it for now!)  I suspected he would do well with music since it's so intertwined with math.  He does love the mathematical aspects of it. 

7.  All the kids started a homeschool gymnastics class this year and he is loving that as well.  He's always been really coordinated and had good balance so I figured he would love this and he does!  He is eager to learn and willing to try just about anything.  He doesn't let his fear get in the way.  He can do flips and swing on the bars pretty well now.  I'm just glad he has someplace else to run around and do flips and things on rather than my couches!

6.  He is doing really well in school.  Math is definitely his favorite still but his reading has improved quite a bit and I often find him reading just for fun.  He is also a human calculator!  I will always have him on my team whenever we play dominoes or trains because he can add up my scores super fast.  He is very handy to have around!  :)

5.  He's a big help with the baby and loves to play with him and help out. 

4.  He is crazy good at video games and loves to play on his DS (usually a Pokemon game) or on the Wii.  He was able to buy Super Mario Bros. for the Wii with his birthday gift cards and money that he had saved up, and he loves to play that.  He also likes to play Just Dance but only really likes one song:  "Pump Up the Jam."  He has all the moves memorized and beats everyone at it every time (much to Maddie's dismay).  Josh played the song on the stereo downstairs one day and Ryley dropped what he was doing and started doing the Just Dance moves to it.  So funny!  What a goofy kid. 

3.  He has all of his Pokemon cards (300+) memorized - their names; what they evolve into; their HP (power, I think); their battle moves, etc.  It's freaky how much he knows.  I wish I could harness this memorizing power for something good! 

2.  People often tell me what a sweet kid he is after he has gone over to their house to play.  They tell me he is super helpful, especially with younger siblings in the house, and polite.  I was really shocked the first few times people said this to me because he's not usually the "sweet" one around here.  He's not a bad kid or anything but he is definitely the one picking at people and pushing buttons - the tormentor.  I'm glad to know that he can behave himself when I'm not around though.  He is usually VERY sweet when he's on his own with Josh or me.   I guess he's just trying to stand out in the crowd when everyone is together.  :)

1.  He has become a carnivore this year discovering a love of hamburgers, ribs, and all things meat.  Yay for one less picky eater in the house!!  He'll eat just about anything I put in front of him now and will usually only complain about corn.  So weird!

We love Ryley so much and feel so blessed to have him in our family.  I love seeing the young man he is growing into!