Andrew's Ninth Birthday

Yesterday was Andrew's ninth birthday.  I'm not sure how the time flies by so fast.  I know I don't feel (or act) old enough to be the mom of a nine year old!  This year, we came up with the best birthday gift EVER for Andrew.  In fact, we've been holding it over his head since August.  Back then, Tony forwarded me an email he received about father/son training camp with the Indianapolis Colts.  It just happened to be taking place two days before Andrew's birthday.  We told Andrew that we had something really cool planned, but refused to tell him what it was.  Tuesday after school, Tony loaded Andrew in the car and took off to Indy.  You can see by the look on his face in this picture that he's still not 100% sure about what's going on.

Tony videoed Andrew's response on his phone when he finally figured out what his present was.  He was so excited!  The price included a catered dinner, Colts shirts and duffel bags for both guys, and 2.5 hours of drills on the field with current and former Colts players and coaching staff.  I can't identify the drills or the players below, but you can see what an amazing time Andrew had.

 It was so awesome to see such a great kid enjoy a wonderful surprise!

On Andrew's birthday, Thursday, the teachers at school all had to attend a conference in Indianapolis.  My mom and I co-presented one of the sessions and had an awesome time.  Unfortunately, our trip meant that I wasn't around for Andrew's big day.  He made out okay, anyway.  Papa brought him donuts for breakfast, Tony's family took him out to dinner, and Mom and I brought home the traditional mega cupcake.  We're still  planning to do cake and presents another day.  Isn't he handsome?

On another note, fall break officially started today for me.  A whole week off, and we've got lots of plans to fill it up!  We spent the day doing nothing, and the evening working on a gingerbread house.  There's a long history to this kit - we purchased it to make last Christmas eve-eve, but thanks to Uncle Matt's return from Afghanistan, it got put off... a lot.  We discussed doing it at Easter time, but didn't get to it.  So, instead we made a Halloween house!

It turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself!  Stayed tuned for pictures of Hoosier Hysteria, Great Wolf Lodge, and the beginning of tournament football.