Quick update on Mercer's birthday + a couple of random things.

Today was the end of Mercer's celebration week.    (but - we actually have an experience gift he'll get to go to in a couple of weeks, so his birthday is not technically over~)

On Tuesday, Mercer turned 8.  Todd took him lunch and brought cupcakes for his classmates.  Later that evening, we took him out for pizza - his choice - and he opened some gifts.  (here he is with a "tinker" crate he received from Grandma in NJ.)  

Tuesday night was very rainy, however, and it was a school night so we couldn't do too much.    We *really* celebrated today - several days later.  







Mercer had a small group of friends come over today for pizza and "racing" cake.  The real party was at a nearby entertainment venue, however, we wanted Isabella to be able to celebrate a little bit too.  She had a good time hanging with the boys.  She was laughing, eating pizza, cracking toot jokes along with them.  

After cake and ice cream was consumed,the boys went to Andretti Karting.  

Mercer - now that he's 8 - can officially drive mini go-karts at this place. Since it's sort of pricey, the # of friends was limited to a handful, but he and the boys played some arcade games while they waited on their race.  

They all raced together.   It was hard to tell who won because they basically kept running laps 'til time was up.  But - Mercer said he came in 3rd and said he had a great time.   

(Here's a shot after the party was over.  The "racing" cake - once cut into it - exposed the checkerboard pattern of white and chocolate cake!)  

Mercer can also ride in the back seat of the car WITHOUT his booster seat.  He proudly walked that into the house on his last day of being 7.  

Tonight, Mercer participated in the Presentation of Colors ceremony at Cub Scouts.  Between karting, eating cake, and being allowed to carry the flag.... it was a pretty good day for him!

As promised, here are the pieces of artwork I made in my encaustic workshop last weekend.  In one of the pieces, I focused on embedding things in the wax and trying to create layers.  For the other piece, I worked on building up the wax to create a lot of texture.  I've never tried this medium before, but I liked it.  Maybe I'll get to continue to work in this medium in the near future?     

Hopefully things will level off enough to have free-time to create.  Hopefully.