The Boy turns thirteen

Can I just say "holy crap!"

Atticus turned thirteen this month.  Admittedly, this post is a little late but it's because I've been recovering from the shock of it all.  It seems like just yesterday he was three telling me he was going to "wear me out".  And he wasn't just whistling Dixie.  He did wear me out.

 

Look at me!  I'm exhausted.  This was after staying up all night watching some Disney video that he couldn't get enough of and then making brownies during the day.

When he was four, his sister, Harper, came along.  Here's a rare photo of the two of them with BOTH of their maternal grandparents.

Later that year, he and Harper came out to Dallas to visit.  Here we are just goofing around.  Time goes by so fast!

This year, we went out to Phoenix to hang out with the kids and celebrate Atticus' thirteenth birthday.  He's become quite an amazing young man.

First and foremost, he is a teenager so we had to practically drag him out of bed.  But once he got up, he decided to make pancakes. 

Yum!  I haven't had pancakes in years but it was delicious.  Later that day, John and Atticus went to the movies.  They went to see "Steve Jobs".  I tried to talk Atticus into going to see the new muppet movie but he was seriously not interested.

Meanwhile, Harper and I went to Target.  I think that is her all time favorite store.  Harper got $20 from her grandma and it was burning a hole in her pocket.  So, we went to Target...and spent an hour..AN HOUR!... in the toy section.  We looked at every single toy in every single aisle.  She finally decided on something but oh no!  It was more than the twenty dollars she had.  It was worth the extra ten bucks for me to get the heck out of there!

That night was Halloween and the kids were going trick or treating.  My sister's neighborhood is new but there are still a lot of families there and there were lots of kids.

Harper was Rey from Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

I was given some kind of scarf to wear and told quite emphatically that I would be taking Harper Trick-or-treating.  Well, alrighty then.

Atticus was Scorpion, the Mortal Kombat Ninja.  John was "Uncle John".

Kevin was taking Atticus Trick-or-treating so he dressed up as a Ninja.

All of a sudden, there was a mad rush to choke the ninja.  First it was Rick.

Then it was Ashley.

The people in my sister's neighborhood really went all out decorating...

This one was particularly cool.

I couldn't believe how elaborate some of the decorations were!  It's a lot different in my neighborhood.  We don't even have any kids coming by.

Tres and John sat at home handing out candy while enjoying an adult beverage or three.  Harper and I came up the driveway and my sister said, "Aren't you cute.  My daughter has the same costume."  Harper rolled her eyes and said, "Mom!"  We totally faked her out.  It was very funny.  My sister had actually put candy in Harper's bag.  Oh yeah, the tiara.  What happened was...Nevermind. 

The kids got quite a haul.  I was told that all peanut M&Ms would be coming to me because they didn't like them.  I tried to explain that if you cut the candy in half, sucked the chocolate off the peanut and tossed it away, it was really good.  Harper considered that for about two seconds and then handed me the bag of M&Ms.

The next day was the boy's birthday.  He opened his cards, all of which contained cash, except the one from Harper.  I asked if she was going to give him the $20 she got from Grandma and she gave me the snake eye.  She did, however, insist that we get him a card from her, which she picked out herself.

She's actually hugging him!  Maybe just because it's his birthday...

Atticus and Uncle John.

The three of us.  Atticus is already taller than us...but then I think everyone is taller than us...except Harper...for now.

Birthday brunch with the fam at Lon's at The Hermosa. 

I was lucky enough to sit between both Harper and Atticus.  Harper and I spent an inordinate amount of time scouring the web going through all of the MWorld stores that she just had to have.

It was a beautiful day.  The weather was awesome and the scenery was amazing.

We all got the short rib hash...well, except my sister.  She got Juevos rancheros and then Atticus got some kind of pancakes.  Harper just got bacon...loads and loads of bacon.  The hash was pretty good.

 

The waitress brought out a birthday treat for Atticus.

Happy Birthday, Boy!  We love you very much.