Owen's Birthday Celebration at Home

Owen couldn't wait to get home and put Rumblebuffin in her new cage.  Within an hour, she was re-named Hammy. 

By the time the Grandmas came over to join us for dinner, she was re-named Sugar.

Owen was beside himself to show Grandma Suzanney his new hamster and how the cage opens and closes and how the wheel turns.

The wheel seems to be Sugar's best friend.  We hear it turning every night when we check on Owen before going to bed.  :)

Dylan is a big Daddy's boy.

Owen wanted brownies for his birthday dessert, so that is what I made.  He really wanted to help light the candles.

He still really wanted to light the candles, but we thought that probably wasn't very good idea.  Even though the boy is now eight.  years.  old.

Can you tell he was loving having us all sing Happy Birthday to him while he focused on when he could blow out the candles and for what he was wishing since bringing home a new hamster?

This boy just loves his Daddy!

This girl didn't get to share in birthday brownies because she didn't do such a great job eating her dinner, but....she didn't seem too disappointed.  Chloe had a blast laying out all of her silly bandz to show her Grandma Suzanney.

So much more fun now that Owen can read his own birthday cards.  :)

Chloe had fun taking pictures with Grandma Suzanney's camera.  :)

Owen gave Daddy a big hug after opening up his extra present of a Pokemon book.

Owen absolutely LOVED this Hammy shirt!

He thought the exercise ball for the hamster was pretty cool, too.

Owen Picks Out a Hamster!

We picked the kids up early from after school so we could take Owen to the pet store to pick out a hamster.  Owen was super excited and Chloe was thrilled to come along.  The boy could NOT wait to get inside and look at all the hamsters.

He was allowed to walk inside the 'animal hut' to hold the available hamsters before making a decision.

After holding this first one, he said quickly she was the one he wanted.  I asked Owen if he would like to hold another and see if he liked the other hamster better.

Owen went along with holding another hamster, but stuck with his original decision to bring home the first hamster he held.  He called her Rumblebuffin, which is the name he had decided on over the past week.  Rumblebuffin is the name of one of the giants in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe that we had just finished reading together.

After we bought her, we snapped a few pictures.  Nothing like having your little sister intruding on your moment.  ;)

We had some darting and dodging to get solo pics.

Owen finally agreed to take pics together, but at that point Chloe was still a little irked at his earlier evasiveness.  I love the folded arms and the facial expressions.

And now we have full cooperation with real smiles.  Sigh.  I love it when they are kind to each other and can be friends.

 But it doesn't always last for very long.

Sometimes they just have to be separated to be happy.

Owen's Birthday Lunch

Todd and I drove up to school at 10:30am so we could sit with Owen during his lunch.  We brought cupcakes for Owen and his whole class.  He got to pick out his cupcake first and then was thrilled to pass them out to his classmates.

Yum!  What boy doesn't like cupcakes?

Owen really liked the ring that topped his cupcake.

I think he was showing us how big he is now that he's eight years old. 

The Boy Turns Eight!

Owen was up fast with his alarm on this morning.  He was excited to find out what kind of hamster cage he was getting for his birthday.  This day has been anticipated for months.  Much discussion and planning has gone into what kind of cage he wanted and where it should go in his room.  He has read books and magazines on caring for hamsters.  This boy was READY for his birthday so he could become a proud, new hamster owner!

The cage was big and hard to wrap, so we made Owen cover his eyes.

Todd went back to our bedroom and then brought the cage back while Owen's eyes were buried in his pillow.

This is one happy boy.  He got the cage he wanted and had been asking for, even though I had told him every time that I thought the cage was too big and too expensive and the PetSmart employee had told us it was a real pain to take apart for cleaning.

He had to sit and just stare to take it all in.

And then he got curious and had to touch all the different parts.  Owen thought it was pretty cool that the top part lifts out and can be a little carrying compartment.  He talked about how we could bring the hamster to the vet's office or on vacation in this little compartment.  

He was grinning ear to ear as he read and listened to his singing birthday cards.

This, my friends, is what EIGHT looks like.  :)  Even though we told him he wouldn't technically be eight years old until after bedtime tonight.

Owen couldn't stop looking at the cage and imagining what his hamster would be like to go in the cage.  I know it was hard to walk out of his bedroom to get ready to go to school.

Last Night of Being Seven Years Old

We were all supposed to go to the pool after school this evening, but Chloe had been misbehaving at school.  So she stayed home with Todd.  I thought it would be a nice evening out alone with Owensk, but it didn't really work out the way either one of us wanted.  It wasn't the warmest day.

It was a little windy.

We didn't know any of the other kids at the pool.

And the water was chilly.  :(

He came and sat by my feet for awhile.

Then a Grandma called and made him smile.

And then he picked his toes while he listened.

He tried the water again...

But it was still cold...

So he got out of the water.

And then we drove around the back roads and looked at cows and horses and goats and sheep.  We talked about going into some stores, but he walked out of the house not wearing shoes.  We tried calling his favorite babysitter, Miss Jessie, to see if we could stop by to say hi and get a few hugs...but she didn't answer her phone.  

It was a disappointing end to year number seven.  None of our plans worked out for the evening like we had wanted.  I think by the time we got home, Owen was ready to go to bed.  He was excited for the morning to come because he knew he was getting a hamster for turning eight years old. :)