The Ferrell Boys and Me . . .: Happy Birthday Zach!

Yesterday was Zach's birthday. He turned 9 years old! I can't believe it! Nine sounds so old . . . One more year and he'll be in the double digits . . .

We had a big birthday party for him last year. Thirteen boys came over after school and spent the night. You can read about it HERE . I wasn't up to that kind of party this year so I told Zach he could invite one friend over to spend the night on his birthday. His birthday actually fell on a school night . . .actually the first day of school.

Luckily, his friend, Matthew, doesn't live far from here, and his parents agreed to let him spend the night. on. a. school. night. :)

Zach was so excited about his birthday. Dave and I took some ice cream to his school for his class' morning break.

His class was really happy that we brought the ice cream even though it was super cold that day. :) The cafeteria had several classes in it during the morning break and all the children sang Happy Birthday to Zach.

And Coach Beall surprised Zach during the morning break. . . Is that a paddle he's carrying . . .

Nine birthday licks later . . . Zach was still smiles with his best friend, Matthew:

He got 8 birthday licks from Coach Beall last year. You can read about it HERE.

Zach and Matthew were so excited about spending the night together! Immediately when the boys got home, I made them do their homework. Just because it's your birthday, you don't get a "pass" on doing your homework.

Once the boys settled down, they got the homework finished pretty quickly. . . It just took them a while to settle down!

After they were finished with their homework, we let Zach open his presents.

Matthew and Zach "suited up" for the laser tag war!

Because it was too cold to play outside, my house became a battleground.

After playing for a little while, Zach opened his present from Nana and Pawpaw.

She got him a Fushigi . . . a magic gravity ball. Please ignore the pile of clothes on the couch . . . I really debated using this picture . . . but I'm trying to keep it real. :D

The good news is that picture has motivated me to clear that pile up! Sometimes you have to take a picture of something to really notice what it looks like. Here is Zach practicing the magic gravity ball illusion.

We still have a ways to go before we get that illusion perfect. :) Luckily it came with a dvd showing how to do several illusions with the ball.

The boys played the Wii. Aunt Michelle gave them Let's Dance 2 for Christmas, and they hadn't played it yet. . . so we opened it and began dancing!

Even Dave joined in on the fun.

And of course, I baked Zach a birthday cake . . . just the way he likes it.

With NO icing! I know it's not as pretty as the decorated cakes I've made, but my sweet boy doesn't like icing!

Even Matthew enjoyed the cake without icing!

But of course, when you have a 3 year old in the house and a birthday cake . . . the 3 year old thinks it's His Birthday! And he cries when you let Zach blow out the candle!