Tommy Turns Twelve!

Today our 5th born turned 12.  Thomas William was born near Denver after a very eventful pregnancy, and he has been eventful ever since. Tommy is one of those kids who is born 'older'.  He many times prefers to be with adults over children.  He is probably the most energetic, eager, and forward thinking person I know.  He is forever willing to help anyone who needs anything.  He is polite and thoughtful.  He loves God and His word.  He is a teacher and over the years, anyone and anything have been his audience or classroom.  One day, years ago, we found him preaching hell-fire and brimstone to the backyard squirrels from his handmade podium.  He is destined for something great.
He woke up at 6:30 yesterday morning to make his own birthday dessert.  Alton Brown's recipe for chocolate chiffon cupcakes.  Mmmmm...Too bad the recipe didn't seem to work as well in our kitchen as it did in Food Network's test kitchen, and Tommy was quite disappointed.  But this kid doesn't stay down for long.  He popped back up and decided on chocolate mocha milkshakes instead.  I don't suppose it would be easy to ruin a chocolate mocha milkshake, eh?

 A little Pin the Tail on the Donkey before dinner.  Just for fun.

 How far can this tooter go down into the cup?

Our handsome son, growing into a man.

We had a little dinner celebration with just us last night.  Sirloin burgers, curly fries, and Caesar salad.  He opened gifts (another Klutz book!) and we had a Wii tournament.  He had to take a raincheck on having another family over.  I didn't really think we should have company stepping over moving boxes and paint cans, and -um- seeing our house right now.

 Today I took Hannah and younger (7 children!) up to Littleton.  Tommy loves to cook, so we went first to Penzey's Spices.  It's a wonderful little place, and you can smell each combination of spices they sell.  We all came out sneezing and sniffing, but it was fun!

 Checking out the baking spices!

 After Penzey's, we headed across the street to Lola's Sugar Rush.  A really cute little sweet shop with a lot of nostalgia, though a bit pricey.  Tommy and Nat had just finished reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and they thought is was pretty neat that the movie was playing in this shop.

Tommy spent the rest of the afternoon working at home with his new gifts.  And now he is next door with his dad helping the neighbors move.  What a kid.