Wes is 14 soon.

Last night we celebrated Wesley's upcoming 14th birthday with his friends. Wes invited about 5 people (2 girls included but they couldn't make it.) The boys had a good time eating pizza, chips, soda, building a fire, and playing hide & seek in the dark until 9:30 pm. I love these simple parties. Wes had a really good time and he was happy. We also got him a desk with his own office supplies. Might seem like a boring present but actually he was really appreciative and happy about it. He had been complaining about doing homework at the kitchen table where Brock & Lynzy bug him and not having his "own" things to complete his work.

Wes with Greg, Joey & John (and Brock)


Wes is really good about letting me experiment with his birthday cakes. This year he requested an ice cream cake and I had this recipe for an ice cream sandwich cake. This was the result. It actually doesn't have any cake in it all but the boys really liked it. Inside is 3 layers of ice cream with whipped cream on top and ice cream sandwiches on the outside. Super easy.


Brock thinks that he is the same age as Wesley. It was hard to tell him that he couldn't play basketball with them or go hide in the dark. But the older boys were fairly tolerant and allowed him to find the hiding boys with the seekers. One of the big things that we stress with our kids is that we are family and being kind to each other is the norm not the exception. And we expect others to do the same. Thankfully, Wesley has chosen some nice friends that get that concept. Wesley's younger siblings are just part of the deal when you come to our house. Of course, Brock didn't sleep in the treehouse with the boys...there are limits :)