jack is ELEVEN!

this kid is a special one.

and he is now eleven.

jack is all the goodness in the world wrapped up into one (growing) human being. he is already doing good things that make a difference in the world around him. and sometimes it hits me "i am so lucky to be a part of this person's life". 

jack is our hero.

we did things a little out of order for jack's special day. because grandma and grandpa had to leave early on his birthday morning, and because dad was going to be at work for most of the day, we let him open up his gifts the night before! that was a fun surprise for him!

he really enjoyed his cards from grandparents and aunts and uncles, thank you!

grandpa and grandma brower let jack order a couple of his current favorite toy: beyblades! he's having so much fun with them, battling with anyone and everyone who is willing to "let it rip!"

jack adores the show, Good Mythical Morning and was thrilled to get a GMM shirt and their pomade from grandma and grandpa browne (who also enjoy the show!)

in true jack fashion, he smelt everything before doing anything else. he's done that since he was a baby.

money money money!

we told the kids that because we are so close to being done with our loans, birthdays and christmas are going to be very simple (ie cheap) this year and they were totally on board. so when jack told me several weeks ago that he really wanted an iPod, i plan started to form! jack was totally surprised when his gift from us was an old iPhone of chris' that he can now have and use as an iPod...

what a great kid!

after presents we went on a nice walk down by the river. we had a pretty good wind storm roll through the night before, so we wanted to see some of the downed trees and branches along the way.

the next morning, on his actual birthday, he woke up to balloons filling his room along with donuts, muffins, and scrambled eggs for breakfast!

owen's first experience with powdered donuts... we wasn't convinced that they were better than a chocolate donut lol!

owen and i picked up some indian food for lunch and then checked jack out of school for an hour to enjoy lunch together. it was really nice.

after football practice (and a shower),

daddy brought home some pizza and wings and we had cake!

jack requested an earthquake cake. not the prettiest, but boy is it tasty! chocolate cake batter is poured on top of a layer of pecans and shredded coconut, then swirled with a cream cheese/butter/sugar mixture and topped with chocolate chips.

happy birthday to our happy jack!