11 Year Old Boy Makes Huge Bubbles

We celebrated another birthday this week.  James turned 11.  I told him not to but he did.

It was hard to know what to give an 11 year old.  This T-shirt from thinkgeek.com was an instant favorite.  The symbol is formed by 4,493 digits of pi, I often catching him reviewing it closely.

Also from thinkgeek.com, he opened a magnetic puzzle of the periodic table.  William and Peter are a bit jealous and James complains it distracts him from doing his math.

But the favorite gift was something random I picked up at the thrift store.  It was the Unbelievable Bubble Book and look at William's expression below - it was unbelievable!  This entertained them for hours with shouts of Ooooh and Awwww's so loud Paul had to come down from his office to check out the fun.  The challenge of this was resisting the urge to pop them. 

Can you guess what's below?

Another favorite gift in action - night football with a glow in the dark football.  The kids like how the pictures turned out all ghost like and magical - kind of Harry Potterish.  Here's James charging it.

Last but not least.........a puzzle from Oma and Opa - they know just what he likes.  As a treat James got to stay up to 11 pm to finish the puzzle.  I helped him and it was fun just the two of us.  As much as it pains me to see my babies grow up, it is a joy to see them develop into their unique selves.

  

James asked me at 11 pm before he went to bed........."Mom, what do you think we were doing 11 years ago right now?", I answered  "Well, we were just down the street at the U of M hospital and I was probably trying to figure out how to help you stop crying........the same thing I did for the next six months".   It is hard to believe how time has flown and how much this boy has grown in stature, spirit and brilliance (and cute geekiness) throughout the passing years.  What a joy it is to have an 11 year old boy!