Happy 15th Birthday, Alex!

I'm a week late in posting this, but Alex's 15th birthday was last Wednesday. Since it's Thursday today, I thought I might as well post an old scrapbook layout of mine from when Alex was a mere three years old for "Throwback Thursday". Alex has always been a little cutie, and I've always loved these photos of him enjoying  chocolate ice cream. I used to use the photo of him with his mouth wide open for a pediatric airway lecture for work because his mouth was SO wide.

Speaking of wide mouths, Alex has always been a good eater. I discovered Sonic shakes when I was pregnant with him, and he loves Sonic shakes now. Specifically, he loves Sonic chocolate banana shakes. I took this photo of Alex with three of his good friends last Saturday, June 21st, after going to Sonic to get half-price shakes, which they offer daily after 8pm. I was so happy that he and his friends consented to having their photo taken together, just because I asked! I also love how they posed for me.

Because Patrick and I wanted to take a little trip for our anniversary which involved leaving on Alex's actual birthday, we asked Alex if it was okay to postpone his celebration until Saturday. Alex hasn't wanted a lot of fuss for his birthday for a few years, and this was just another example.

Patrick grilled steaks on Saturday, and Alex decided to invited these particular boys because he has known them the longest. He has a string of friends that spend the night over our house regularly. That means that we spend a lot of money feeding these teenage boys, and since they sleep in the game room, there are always lots of extra pillows and blankets there all the time. We like it, though, because we get to spend time with Alex and his friends and more importantly, we get to KNOW his friends. They like it because they like walking around our neighborhood, going to the pool, exploring the "woods", and using the hills to ride our wiggle racers.

Patrick bought five pounds of steak, and they finished most of it. There were other things to eat--curly fries, garlic bread, corn, and salad. We were also well stocked on extra cookies, other snacks, and sodas. In fact, Alex went with Patrick to the store to get all of these snacks. Alex gets a big smile on his face when he gets a chance to go to the store--sort of like that big smile in the scrapbook layout above. I love that smile! Happy Birthday, Alex!