celebrating Paulie!

On Friday we celebrated Paulie's 14th trip around the sun. (How is that possible?!) He retains much of his sunny disposition, despite his foray deeper into teenagerhood, and we are thankful for another year to spend with him and watch him grow into a fabulous young person. He often has the hardest time making decisions about what he wants for his birthday meal, or even his birthday presents. I sometimes just end up making those decisions myself. Since he had friends joining us for his birthday dinner (Friday birthdays can be handy for that.), I opted to make a variety of pizzas to help us celebrate.

We keep our birthday celebrations relatively low-key. A birthday ring with seasonal decorations and a couple special ornaments, celebratory food, and a few presents.

And of course, a special dessert. Paulie couldn't decide on which special dessert he wanted this year. I opted to make him some homemade vanilla ice cream and homemade oreos to accompany. His oreo was a triple decker!

After the singing, candle blowing, and dessert eating, he moved on to his gifts. He always has the best expressions when opening presents. This expression looks like he won a million dollars; actually, it's the latest book in a series he enjoys.

He was suitably thrilled about his Totoro pillow, although I couldn't quite tell if he was a mite embarrassed to be receiving it in front of friends. ;)

His big gift this year was a new 7-speed bike. He refused to ride his old 20-inch kids bike this summer claiming he was too big for it. He had an inaugural run around local lake trail yesterday, with Finn and Philip in tow. He was still smiling 7 miles later. The bike must be a winner!

Happiest of birthdays, Paulie! We can't wait to see what 14 brings.