Happy 10th Birthday Jared!

T E N. 

When I think of the number 10 is does not mean that much to me but when I think of Jared being 10 the number takes on a lot more significance.  That means I have been parenting for 10 years.  It then means he is solidly in his tween years. (Prompting me to read scary informative tween articles and think of how to best connect with Jared.) He has only more year of elementary school.  He is getting older and life is going to become much more serious very soon. 

In the meantime I hope to help him have as much innocent fun as he can.  To go outside and play in the woods and to snuggle in bed with his much beloved blanket of the past ten years and read to his hearts content. To ask me to play catch with him and for me to say "yes" realizing this is my best chance to really get Jared to talk to me and to connect with him.  Even if I don't want to play frisbee, catch a football or baseball to say "yes." And to keep praying that he will choose good friends and have confidence in himself. That he will make the best, often not as fun choices. 

On Saturday, after soccer, we took him to the zip-line and ropes course Mark and I visited over the Summer.  We had him pick a friend to invite and were correct in assuming Jared would love everything about it.  Sadly the friend he invited did not and was terrified the whole time. We felt awful.  Jared was happy as can be, joking about how high they were and telling Marcus to imagine the platform falling or the zip-line snapping.  I looked back at Marcus at one point (I was first with Lydia behind me so I could help her when she got to the next platform) and the look on his face made me feel horrible.  Mark caught up to them on one platform and quickly realized how Marcus was doing and firmly and subtlety told Jared to knock it off! That was a bummer.  Perfect activity for Jared, wrong friend to invite. Lydia did not love it but she did like it and have fun. So that did not quite go as we envisioned it but at least we know Jared well. We finished the course and Marcus and I sat down on a bench and he was much happier.  The three of them (Jared, Mark and Lydia) did another course together and loved it so I think it was a win?

On our way back to Charlottesville we stopped for ice cream.  Between the parking lot and order window are some red barriers.  Jared successfully jumped over one the first time and successfully face planted the second time.  That did not go as he planned.  This is real life though.  You plan, you try and then you see what the results are.  His cut is nicely visible in his birthday pictures.

This was the second time on this course.  She did not look this way the first time through.  She was so scared and I was so proud of her for overcoming her fears.  I don't know how many times I told her "remember, you can not fall!"  Here she is demonstrating that it was true, she could not fall with her no hands skills. Some courses were mostly zip-lines others had zip-lines and these obstacles.  On our last course we got stuck behind people who had to be rescued.  It took forever!  It was taking so long we ended up turning around and not finishing the course.  Luckily no one else was starting the course so we could get off. 

We got home around 6:45 and Mark looked at Jared and said, "wanna go kayaking?"  Jared was really surprised and excited to go and to get to go at night was especially awesome.  They paddled around in the mostly dark for 30 minutes or so and said it was really cool so now I need to go and try it.  Mark said it was really cool to watch the moon rise on the lake.  Fall is the best time to go out.

Sunday night I made crepes for his birthday breakfast.  I was not willing to get up that early Monday morning but wanted to make his request.  It worked great.  I also baked and frosted his cake while Mark made a template for the continents that were to be placed on the cake.  That took a long time.  Then Mark rolled out the fondant and made a fantastic world map cake.  He did an awesome job. I'm so grateful for Mark.  Not only for his help but for the example he is setting for Jared and Lydia.  I made some little flags to mark where Jared has traveled.  I think it fit his requested theme of a travel/map cake.  We blew up balloons and wrote messages on them.  Mark looked up Happy Birthday and the number 10 in multiple languages and I referenced our favorite Hamilton lyrics.  Jared and Lydia love it as much as I do.  It's funny to think about last year and how the balloon messages were all Harry Potter themed.  Streamers were hung and eventually we made it to bed. 

He also requested ice cream cups for his class birthday treat and I sadly forgot to buy them Saturday night when I went out to get his balloons.  That was a sad realization.  So at 6:00 am I was on my way to Harris Teeter for ice cream cups.  They did not have ice cream cups but did have Italian Ice so I grabbed those.  In the end he liked them better and they fit better with a travel theme.  I do on occasion think some of the things I do are a bit more then needs to be done for occasions but at the same time I love making birthday requests come true.  Celebrating my kids birthdays are kind of a big deal to me and its fun.

I met him for lunch with Chick-Fil-A which he was excited about.  I had yet to go to lunch this school year and am glad it worked out. I left work at 11 instead of 12 and enjoyed eating with him, Lydia, Tyler and Marcus.  If possible I would like to join them for lunch more.  They have the dream schedule where their lunches overlap so I can easily eat with them both one after another.

After school Marcus and Tyler came home with us while Lydia rode the bus to our house with her friend Kitty.  The boys played Legos downstairs, explored the woods with lightsabers, and played catch with Jared's new Quaffle, which Tyler got him.  We ate cake and sang happy birthday and opened presents. The presents he got this year were spot on.  Marcus got him a automatic Nerf gun which he loves and 200 bullets... Tyler got him a quaffle and an orca Lego set.  We got him a classic creator Lego set and a Star Wars drone he spotted at Costco one day.  When I went to Costco to get it they were out but I ended up finding the same drone, only the Special Collection edition online and it did not disappoint.  As I read reviews online I noticed that a lot of people were talking about the box and the opening of the drone.  Turns out that when you open the fancy box the drone lit up and Star Wars music began playing.  Since I knew this I positioned myself according and got a pretty good look at Jared's reaction.  It was fun. 

For some reason Jared now thinks plain white shirts are super cool and was so excited he had some in his clothes drawers. 

He did not expect the effects at all. Look at Lydia's cute reactions. 

 I love how she is watching him. 

We ended the celebrations with Jared's annual birthday interview.

1. What is your favorite color? Blue

2. What is your favorite toy? Legos

3. What is your favorite fruit? Strawberries 

4. What is your favorite movie? Harry Potter 

5. What do you do well? Read

6. What do you like to do with Daddy? Play Frisbee

7. What makes you happy? My toys and my parents

8. What is your favorite scripture story? Ammon

9. What is your favorite song? Aaron Burr, Sir

10. What is your favorite animal? Orca

11. What is your favorite book? Harry Potter

12. Who is your best friend? Tyler and Marcus 

13. Where is your favorite place to go? To visit family.  Especially Marmee to see Jamie her dog.

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play catch with the frisbee or a football

15. What is your favorite drink? Root Beer Floats

16. What is your favorite holiday? My Birthday 

17. What do you like to do with Mommy? Play a board game she actually likes

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Crepes

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Meat Rolls and Ham, Potato, Broccoli Soup 

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A Basketball Player