9

Henry is 9! I strongly suggested that he stay the same age, but he insisted on getting a year older and now he is a big nine-year-old.

For the past two years, Henry's birthday has fallen on a school day, which is the biggest bummer for this boy! We do our best to celebrate with birthday banners, special meals and presents, of course. Henry chose to open his gifts before school this year.

We bought him a snow globe in New Mexico to replace his Vermont one that broke.

And you can tell by his grin that he was thrilled to get this double-headed dragon to add to his collection! 

And then it was off to school (we sent in our favorite double chocolate chip cookies for a class birthday treat!). 

Henry chose Tokyohana for his special birthday dinner.

And then it was back home for Crave cupcakes!

Happy birthday, Henry!

Here are some things that make Henry special at age 9:

• He craves adventure and wants to make the most of his weekends. School is never his favorite place to be, and he wants his time off to be fun and special. He is always up for exploring!
• Henry is such a thoughtful kid. When I'm having a rough day, he'll bring me chocolate from his "specials" bag or wrap up a gift or create a scavenger hunt. He hates it when his loved ones are feeling down.
• Henry is a huge help -- I can always count on him to help set the table or feed the animals.
• Henry is reading like crazy this year! He especially loves fantasy (favorite series are Percy Jackson, Fablehaven, Simon Thorn, Adventurers Wanted, and Land of Stories). 
• Henry is so creative! He is always coming up with new games and ideas (the land of the Pookies is still going strong!).
• He still loves food and eating. Henry is almost always my farmers market sidekick and he loves to help out in the kitchen.
• He still has the best big belly laugh.
• Henry is a sensitive soul with a huge heart.
• And finally, new this year, sneak attack hugs!

Happy birthday to my sweet, smart, funny nine-year-old!

8

Henry turned 8 years old on Monday. It was the first day back to school after spring break, but we celebrated with homemade birthday bagels for breakfast and I sent him off to school with a tin of chocolate chip cookies to share with his class. And then after school, we stopped by Crave Cupcakes to pick out all the cupcakes and had a family dinner out. I love birthdays and we try to make them special for the boys!

Birthday bagels -- a new tradition!

We had dinner out at Vietopia. Henry really wanted to try the roasted duck, so he and Gene split the entree. Henry kept calling it rabbit, though! Check out his grin. He was SO happy!

 Back home, we had a birthday cake cupcake from Crave.

 

Happy happy birthday, Henry!

Here are some things I want to remember about Henry at age 8:

• He is incredibly creative and is constantly coming up with imaginary worlds, languages, and games to play with his brother. Some are really goofy!
• Henry loves to play with words and tell jokes.
• He loves food and is always willing to try new things.
• We call Henry Tigger because lately he bounces, bounces, bounces! His energy is limitless. And he still doesn't like to go to bed when it's bedtime (some things never change).
• Henry loves to read and right now he really enjoys graphic novels (the Amulet and Salem Hyde series are favorites). He is also working his way through the Warrior series as well as some Minecraft books.
• Henry loves to be outside, hiking, camping, biking, playing soccer or wiffle ball or just exploring.  
• Henry is my farmers market sidekick and all the farmers know him!
• He has the best big belly laugh and gives amazingly strong (Chewbacca) hugs. 
• Henry is incredibly sweet and helpful.
• Even though he's really smart, school is not his favorite place. He loves learning through books and experiences and can't wait for summer break.
• Henry has really good, sweet friends at school and in Scouts, but his best friend is Will. Those boys are two peas in a pod.  
• Henry is always up for an adventure.

Happy birthday to my amazingly smart, sweet and funny 8 year old!

History Makers' Living Museum: Henry the Navigator

For the past month or so, Henry has been working on the big first grade project: the History Makers' Living Museum! The kids pick a history maker, do research and take notes, write and memorize a report, draw a portrait, create a tripanel, and then do a presentation for the class and another for parents and grandparents. It is quite a big project for first grade, but Henry did a fantastic job.

He chose to research Henry the Navigator, the Portuguese prince who started the Age of Exploration. It was surprising how many people did not know about Henry the Navigator! Good thing Henry had a plethora of facts to share.

Henry as Henry the Navigator:

Henry's tripanel

All ready for the big day!

At the Living Museum, visitors pressed a red button on the history makers' hand to make him come to life. 

Henry was so happy that Gramma and Grampa were able to come this year.

We were so proud of Henry

 and all his hard work!

Lately: Getting Out and About

Last weekend started with a bang, literally, as Henry ran into a playground pole (again) at recess on Friday. I got a call from the school nurse just as I was heading out the door to meet a friend, and instead of visiting the MFAH with my friend, Henry and I visited the ER! Fortunately, the cut was just below his eyebrow and they were able to use Dermabond glue instead of stitches. This sweet boy and I were starving after all of that, so we popped into the Corner Bakery for lunch afterwards.

And then, because I wasn't taking Henry back to school, we decided not to waste our free afternoon together and headed to the zoo in the drizzling rain! It was perfect because the rain sent most folks home and we just stuck to mostly indoor exhibits (plus the meerkats and sea lions, who didn't seem to mind the rain!). 

Fruit bats.

Even though having to visit the ER is no fun at all, Henry and I turned what could have been a miserable day into a really fun afternoon.

By Friday evening, the rain had cleared up just in time for us to head to the science museum for a members' event.

We enjoyed Chinese food and visited the new exhibit, China's Lost Civilization: The Mystery of Sanxingdui. The exhibit was fascinating and afterwards we all made masks like those found at the archaeological site.

Despite a very rainy week, the boys and I have been getting out on our bikes as much as possible. We bike around the neighborhood and usually end up at one of the nearby parks. One of our favorites these days is the "Treehouse Park" because it's not crowded and the kids have plenty of space to run and play their games (which somehow involve me being a blue crab!?!).   

The boys enjoy biking so much that we even biked to Math and Science Night at school on Tuesday!

We're hoping the rain lets up a bit this weekend so we can squeeze in a few more biking adventures!

Henry's Ninja Birthday Party

We celebrated Henry's seventh birthday with a kickin' ninja party! I found this invitation on Etsy and it was exactly what Henry wanted.

It wouldn't be a party at our house without costumes! Here are my two favorite ninjas.

Ninja Henry!

Before his party guests arrived, Henry helped me set up the decor. It was fairly simple this year.

Door sign (from Etsy).

Birthday banner.

Ninja pinata.

Black lanterns over the food table.

We served ninja swords (pretzel rods), edamame, oranges, PB&J "sushi," and cupcakes.

Henry requested cupcakes with his favorite ganache icing. Mmmm!

Once the guests arrived, we got started on some activities. The first was to find your ninja name. Henry's was "Rikutoshifu" and Will's was "Meikitata." They all made name tags. 

The next activity was making origami ninja stars. Once they were made, they kids had to knock balls off paper tubes.    

Then it was on to ninja training.

Obstacle course.

The ninjas-in-training had to stealthily steal a cup from Nana. They were so good that she never caught them in the act!

We threw rubber ninja stars at this target.

 The final activity was defeating the red ninja (pinata).

After all their hard work, the ninjas celebrated the completion of their ninja training with lots of food and some sweet cupcakes!

What a fun ninja party for Henry!