Happy 12th Birthday, Daniel!

A dozen years old, Daniel is! Wow. We had so much celebrating our awesome kid!

It was fun lining up some great presents for him and I had a blast working with the number 12 as a theme for some fun treats, too. Daniel's birthday fell on a school day, but he had a great day and at least was able to celebrate at home very easily all day long. We started off with a dozen donuts. Lunch was food ordered and brought home, too. Dinner was Daniel's requested Beef Noodle Bowl dish that we make- it's so good and he loves this meal. Dessert was a brownie ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. Ben hung streamers in his doorway as we do annually, though now we have to get more creative because of our super jumping cats. And that was all just to start with!

 I also left clues and treasures around the house for Daniel's scavenger hunt, the first clue being on his music stand, with a note about the fun beginning after band (which was his last period that day). And get this- the clues were written on a 12 piece puzzle and placed in envelopes, so he had to put the puzzle together and then figure out the clues- this turned out to be the best idea ever, as it prolonged the hunt. As soon as band class was over, we heard him pound down the stairs, "Band's over now!!!" and then he proceeded to rip open the envelope and put together the first clue. I LOVED doing the clues on the puzzle- it just made it that much more fun. (Annabel, of course, now wants her clues on a puzzle, too, for her birthday!) Daniel ran off as he solved each clue, found the fun treat and the next clue and so on. There were just three things to find, so the first clue was on the top 6 pieces of the puzzle, the next clue was the bottom 6 pieces, and the last clue was on the back (which when he flipped the puzzle over, it fell apart and he had to do it again...made me laugh and chuckle with glee how fun this all was!!). After Daniel found all the fun things, we started in on presents!

Daniel got some Lego sets, the latest GoPro (an update for him- this one has a screen now so you can see what you're taking pictures of, but it's still the durable action camera he loves from his first one- and we actually use them both interchangeably, too), and some books from us. Annabel sewed him a Mickey head which turned out super cute and also got him a super soft squishy cuddly Mickey (it's like her cuddly Stitch, part of the Cudleez collection- I'm so jealous of these squishy things, I love them myself!) which Daniel loves. Annabel spotted it at the store recently and really wanted to get it for him for his birthday and she was right- it was perfect! She's so sweet. And just one more thing Daniel got for his birthday...a bag of "12" themed things- volume 12 of a Garfield book, a 12 pack of the Tic Tacs he likes, a series 12 mystery Lego mini-figure pack, a 12 inch Lego ruler, another 12 piece puzzle with a birthday message written, and a 12 month calendar (Catzilla- it's hilarious!!). I had maybe a little too much fun with this 12 thing, but gah, it turned out so cute and so super fun!! I think Daniel loved it, too. :)

 

My clues are all ready for his birthday!

Here's the 12 piece puzzle birthday message that was in the "bag of 12s."

And the fun begins!! Starting with clue number one!

Onto clue 2!

And now for clue 3!

It was in the clouds! (Easy clue, but I loved putting something in our new space!)

Annabel's darling hand-sewn Mickey head!

Oh the cuddles this Mickey gets!! Daniel loves this cuddly Mickey! It was the perfect addition to his Mickey collection.

Mom and Dad's presents next!

Time for the bag of Birthday "Twelves"- so fun!

 

 A few more presents left!

The new GoPro!! Daniel is thrilled. He really loves to take pictures and videos, so this was fun.

Annabel made Daniel a darling puzzle with Mickeys all over it. Super cute!

Yummy dessert from Dairy Queen!!

Daniel is looking so much older these days...takes my breath away, this great kid we have!

Happy 12th Birthday, Daniel!! Such a fun day celebrating! We love you SO very much and we are so proud of the great kid you are. You bring so much fun and light to our family. We fit perfectly together. Thank you for being YOU, in every way. My heart is full. Love you, buddy.