Priceless

Creating invitations for Alex’s birthday party… $20
Over-tipping the catering guy by mistake… $160
Watching 16 year olds get excited when the Mascot comes to visit…

Absolutely Priceless

This Saturday we had Alex’s 16th birthday party at a hockey game. We reserved a suite and Alex invited about 25 of his closest friends – some from his old school (about 45 minutes away) and some from his new. If you can believe it, only 2 kids couldn’t make it. I think that goes to show what great friends he has!

The past week, it has been interesting trying to coordinate drop-off and pick-up of these kids at the arena. I was so worried it would be a mess, but thankfully it went great! In lieu of gifts, we asked everyone to bring a donation for Kids In Need. The Kids In Need mission is to provide learning supplies for students whose academic success is threatened by poverty. Alex was spoiled rotten over Christmas and for his birthday, so it was time to give back!

In the suite we had pizza, chicken wings, popcorn, chips and salsa, ice cream cake and lots of other goodies. When we got the bill, I thought I was going to pass out. I glanced at the bottom line, added what I thought should be a tip, handed it to Keith to sign and then walked away. About 15 minutes later a light bulb came on in my head (a very, very BRIGHT light bulb) and I realized we tipped on the wrong amount. By that point, it was too late and our “suite captain” was $160 richer! In the grand scheme of things, I just let it go. Why fret over something you can’t change and besides we made that guys night! :-)

Anyhow, back to the game. Most of these kids had never seen a hockey game. I typed up “Hockey 101” rules so they could follow the game. In true Gladiator fashion, they got to see a great fight and lots of hard hitting action. I’ve never seen a group of boys sit still for so long! Between periods, they went and wandered the arena and one boy even got a girl’s phone number. :-) Boys will be boys!

Maximus, the Gladiator’s mascot, came to visit us as you can see above. These kids FREAKED OUT. Seriously. I can’t tell you how many of them wanted their picture taken with him. I couldn’t stop laughing. I even got them all together for the group picture without a SINGLE complaint! When my sister sends me the pictures, I’ll post a few more.

After the game (the Glads lost), we took 8 of the boys home with us to spend the night. 8 teenagers in a 2000 sq ft house with 2 adults (us), 3 dogs and 4 cats. Believe it or not, we had plenty of room! They had game systems set-up on every TV and just jammed away to Rock Band and Guitar Hero. And no, I didn’t get to sing. :-( They were told to go to bed by 5 (yes, 5am – they wanted to stay up all night, that was a compromise!)

Do you know what 8 16 year olds eat for breakfast? 30 eggs, 2 pounds of bacon (I could have made 3), a loaf of bread, a gallon of orange juice and a ½ gallon of milk. I kid you not. I just keep cracking eggs! I laughed at Keith when he bought two dozen but apparently he knew what he was doing!

It was the best birthday party we’ve ever had. These kids were so polite with their yes m’am and yes sirs. They were so grateful every time you fed them and they had the best time at the game. Most of them are planning on going to another hockey game once they all have their driver’s license. Hopefully, I've created monsters because I love hockey! :-)

I took a 3 hour nap on Sunday and even managed to get most of the laundry done! It was a good weekend, albeit a fast one! For those of you with little boys, in addition to saving for college, be sure to start a grocery savings account for when they are teenagers! Boys can eat – I saw it with my own eyes!!!

It’s amazing how much you can love a child even though you didn’t give birth to him. I am so blessed to have Alex in my life and I can’t wait for our little Russian Peanut to know what a wonderful big brother he has!