Eight pinches to a teaspoon

Today is the eighth birthday of one Landen Daniel Allbritton. He is one-half an inch shorter than his older brother, whom he also outweighs by seventeen pounds. He does not care for onions. In fact, he has to be forced to eat anything he's never had before. His favorite cereal is Reese's puffs. He's witty and quick and his mouth gets him in a whole lot of trouble. He spends the night almost entirely on his back. He talks in his sleep. He lives for his Xbox and his mean, punk-ass parents limit how much he can play per day. He will sit and watch anything on TV. He loves to cook. He hates to have his nails trimmed. When he smiles, he looks just like his mom.

It would not be sentimental not to think about and talk about his mom today. She lived for parties celebrating every milestone of these boys, and Landen's seventh birthday was her last. Corey and I have made the decision not to have the boys' birthday parties at our house for a while. House parties belonged to her and you really want to hold on to the joy of these birthdays and not celebrate under the cloud of who is missing it. Pam and Ronnie came in from Beaumont and Erin's best friend (and Jake's godmother) Carly never misses a birthday party. I know how hard it was for them to see Landen celebrate a birthday without their daughter and friend, but both the boys were so very happy  that Ronnie and Pam and Carly were there.

Chef Landen, Nanny Carly and Jake

Paw-Paw, Jake, Chef Landen and Maw-maw

Landen has transitioned quickly in acceptance, so we remembered his mom for a minute this morning, but blessedly those memories did not put a damper on his excitement over his birthday. Jake did not mention it, but that does not mean it wasn't on his mind. If you believe she saw us, I think she enjoyed watching Landen measure flour like a pro and perfectly knead his pizza dough to share with his friends.

We had Landen's party at Young Chef's Academy in Baton Rouge. We opted to spend more (much more) on a party than on presents, so some of his friends from school and the children of some of my friends that they play with came. The ladies who do the birthday parties are very cute and funny. The birthday boy gets to make the dough and then distribute it amongst his friends, who then roll it out and put sauce, cheese and pepperoni on it.

We had two extra seats because some parents who said they were bringing their kids decided not to, or whatever, so I made Dad and Maw-maw jump in and make pizza with the birthday boy. Then I had to try not to cry. Then I hid my face behind the camera and took a picture!

Jake Allbritton, for all the ornery he has in him, possessed the biggest most open heart, and can be truly joyful for the good things that happen to someone else. He's happy for you when you win a game. He's happy for you when you make a great grade and get ungrounded. He's like Christmas morning on your birthday, when you get all the attention and presents. Although he did publicly declare himself to be the smartest kid in his class.

At the end of the party, no one had messed up my house and I did not have to clean anything up. Corey took the boys to the movies and my mom took my sister and me shopping.

This is the only picture I'm in, and I so appreciate 1) Landen's "atta-boy" on his party and 2) Jake's scrunchy face.

We took about 100 pictures of the party, but here are fifty or so of them, in a slideshow. We aim to make you feel like you were there.

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