Brenson is Nine Years Old!

We're stuck over here in a frozen tundra (this is day number six of below freezing temps . . . today the high is 18 degrees), so I thought it would be a good time to write about Brenson's ninth birthday. His last year in single digits!

Each year, we try to plan a fun activity on the kids' birthdays. Last week, we went to the zoo (twice!) for the twins' birthday, and this week we had several ideas for celebrating Bren's birthday. However, the weather ended up being kind of crazy (for our part of the country, anyway), and we weren't able to do any of the things we had planned due to ice, snow, and temps in the teens and low twenties. Normally I would view this as a great opportunity for a lesson in flexibility, but I felt really bad for Brenson. This is the THIRD year in a row that his birthday plans had to be postponed or canceled due to unforeseen circumstances.

Bren's birthday was on a Wednesday this year, and we knew pretty early on in the week that the weather would prohibit us from an outing. When I talked to him about it, he was completely fine with staying home and playing games instead. He said, "I'm just glad I don't have to do school!" Haha! So, we changed our plans to have a stay-at-home day instead braving the weather!

Playing games is something Bren loves to do, so we got started with the game playing the evening before his birthday. We played Scrabble and Clue, Jr!

That night, Bren went to sleep for the last time as an eight year old. Why do they have to grow up so fast 😭?!? For breakfast on his birthday morning, Bren requested my home-made french toast. Anything for the birthday boy!

Ever since visiting Disney World a few months ago (and really for a bit before that), Bren has been obsessed with The Mandalorian. I decided to decorate with Mandalorian decor, including these fun light saber lights that my sister let me borrow from a Darth Vader party she threw for Chloe several years ago.

And look at the great shirt Lisa made for Bren!

Happy birthday to my NINE year old!

Not long after breakfast, Bren wanted to open his gifts. We often do birthday gifts first thing after breakfast, so I told him to go for it!

He had specifically asked for a new fishing pole to use in our neighborhood pond!

When he first held up these pants, I thought there was NO WAY they would fit him. I was wrong!

His "big" gift this year was the supplies for a Nerf Gun wall in his bedroom. Pictures of the finished product are included at the end of this post. 

I'd had this soccer ball sitting around for quite some time. I decided to finally just gift it to him, haha!

After opening gifts, we played a game of LIFE. Then, Bren decided he wanted to watch a movie with his sisters, and they watched Lady and the Tramp 2. Bren has always loved Tramp!

For his big birthday dinner, Bren had requested chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, cream gravy, salad, corn, and rolls. Initially, I didn't think I'd be able to fix this meal for him on his actual birthday since it was a Wednesday, but when our plans changed I decided to go ahead and make it for lunch. Chris had taken the day off work to spend with us, so he was {thankfully} able to help me with lunch while the kids watched the movie. Bren was a happy boy with his lunch! Also, Bren loves sweet tea which Chris and I both find nasty. When we have tea at home (which is often), he always asks to sweeten it, but we rarely let him. Since it was his birthday, Chris took the time to sweeten Bren's tea for him before we sat down to eat. THEN, Bren promptly poured salad dressing in his sweet tea instead of on his salad, and Chris's efforts were wasted! Lol.

We had invited my parents to join us for lunch, but they weren't able to make it due to the icy road conditions and winter precip that was continuing to fall. That was sad, but we had a great meal anyway!

Even though the HIGH temp for the day was only 23 degrees, after lunch Bren begged to go outside and play. He only had one sister on board with going out with him, so they bundled up and played outside for well over an hour!

Brooke and Brenson

Everything had a coat of ice on it, and we had snow flurries most of the day. Despite the chilling temps, it was beautiful!

The birthday boy in the winter wonderland :-)

My Bristol tree was frozen!

Since everything was covered in ice, it made for some fun sledding. I'm pretty sure we went ice sledding on Bren's birthday in 2018.

Our neighbor girl, Madison, joined Bren and Brooke for the outdoor fun.

It was so icy out that Bren went to push Brooke on the sled and fell down. No traction at all!

It took Bren and Brooke a bit to warm up after they came inside. Their cheeks were SO red! The dessert Bren requested for his birthday was ice cream sandwiches, and I thought he might not feel like eating them after being outside for so long. I was wrong!

Crazy boy!

Happy birthday to you!

Make a wish!

Then, it was time to play  more games. Bren is all about LIFE right now, so we played that again. I won :-). 

Normally on Wednesday evening, we would go to Bible study. However, since the roads were ice covered and more precip kept falling from the sky, Bible study was canceled for the evening. We watched a live stream of a Bible class instead, then put a few finishing touches on Bren's new Nerf Gun wall. It turned out so great!

It wasn't difficult to do . . . it's just painted peg board trimmed out, but it's SO fun! And Bren LOVES it!

Even though I was sad that things didn't turn out like we had planned for Bren's birthday, he didn't seem to mind one bit. It was his special day, and he had a great day despite being stuck at home! Happy ninth birthday to my favorite boy!