I think I'm a great Mom. Friday was Blake's 11th birthday and as usual, I put together a really nice birthday party for him. Everyone keeps telling me how crazy I am to have a sleepover party for 7 kids, but actually, we had a great time. The boys were a bit loud and crazy - probably from too much sugar and laser tag, but after I had a talk with them, they calmed down pretty well and they were good for the rest of the time.

I got some great pictures, but since I don't have permission from the boys' parents, I probably shouldn't post them. Here is the birthday boy with his new guitar.



His brother gave him a very cool guitar strap for it. I'll have to get a picture of that too. Blake likes Egyptian stuff and it's got King Tut on it and skulls. What more could a boy want? We also got him the game of Risk that he had been asking for - both the PC version and the Transformer version. And the rest of the Fablehaven books. Plus a bunch of other stuff including that cool shirt he is wearing. Does Mom know how to pick 'em or what? I've always been able to pick out great clothes for my boys and they nearly always love them.

After laser tag, we went up to the park and let the boys run around until it got dark. Then they played flashlight tag and ghosts in the graveyard. That got them nice and worn out so I could get them to sit still and watch a movie before bed.

This is what Blake looked like the next morning - apparently some of the boys decided to "decorate" him while he was sleeping. I thought it was hilarious!



Then we fed them some pancakes and sent them on their merry way. Or tried to send them on their merry way. An hour after it was all over, I still had two little stragglers left. It just amazes me when people don't think to pick their kids up after someone has watched them all night for you.

I finally called one of the Mom's and after asking me three times for my address (she lives about 3 blocks away - but she is Chinese so maybe there was a language problem), she said she'd be by in half an hour or so to pick him up. This was an hour and a half after the pick-up time already, so at that point, I just said I'd bring him home myself - sheesh! And this was the kid that was an hour and a half late being dropped off and we made 3 trips to his house looking for them. The Mom said she saw my husband's truck go by, but she wasn't sure who it was. I guess it takes all kinds...

That's why Blake isn't allowed to go to that kid's house to play. His parents seem like real airheads and I don't think they watch him very carefully. The last time Blake was over there, the kids were playing with BB guns and the kid shot him in the back with it. Crapola! The other kid couldn't get in touch with his Mom or grandparents, so we ended up running him home also.

I was getting a little worried at one point that I might have to run one of them to the ER. Two of the kids were doing double backflips off the benches at the laser place. It made me a little nervous, but mostly I was pretty impressed because I know these kids aren't gymnasts or anything. They're just naturally coordinated. Wish I'd brought my video camera.

But other than that, it was really a pretty fun evening and all the kids got along great. Birthday party #41 is marked mission accomplished! (I'm adding up all the birthday parties from all three boys).