ten

Elliott turned 10 yesterday.

TEN.

I really cannot believe that we have a child in the double digits now.

Where did the time go?

The usual suspects - breakfast pancakes.

He wanted his to look like Mickey Mouse this time.

I forgot to get the whipped cream in a can, so he was a bit disappointed about that,

but was happy with the M&Ms, chocolate chips and marshmallow.

I'm sure the boys' teachers were excited about the sugar highs :)

Brian had to be at work early, so he buttered Elliott's nose, ate a pancake and headed to Wally World.

That left Ethan and I to actually sing "Happy Birthday".

One of us sang the traditional version.

One of us sang a funny version.

One of us almost got punched by the birthday boy.

I'll let you figure out which of us filled those roles.

We prayed, thanking God for another year of life and for Elliott's role in our family.

He was so thankful for us making pancakes and celebrating his birthday.

He gave hugs and said thank you I don't know how many times.

Love these times when they are beyond sweet.

I took Taco Bell to him at lunch time.

His request.

He gave me another huge hug when he saw me and thanked me for coming.

I could tell he was a little sad about something when we sat down.

I don't think he was having the best school day.

And he said he was hoping that Brian was going to get to be there, too.

But he perked up and was more cheerful halfway through lunch.

At one point he looked me in the eye and said to me in such a sincere grateful tone,

"Thanks for coming here and bringing me this lunch, Mom.  That was really

nice that you did that."

and gave me another hug.

Seriously. melt. my. heart.

Showing such gratitude.

And maturity.

I stayed while he passed out birthday snacks in his room.

He enjoyed getting to share something special with the friends in his class.

It was fun to watch him be generous as well as be excited to celebrate his birthday in a special way.

He didn't want to go out to eat for dinner (they always get to choose a special meal or a special place to go).  He wanted to eat at home and do smores around the fire pit with the kids on our street.

So that's what we did.

We even sang "Happy Birthday" and embarrassed him :)

His original request was to grill cheeseburgers for dinner.

It was too late after the smores, so we ended up having leftover hotdogs instead (thank you Nyla).

Ethan offered to pray.

Usually these before-dinner prayers consist of "thanks for the good day, for the food, let us have a good night and day tomorrow".

Apparently they are in a hurry to eat or something.

But this time it went something like this:

Dear God,

Thank you for a good day.

Thank you for Elliott and his birthday.

That he gets to be 10.

Thank you for his "funniness".....

Amen.

He said some other things after "funniness" but I can't remember them.

I was so struck that he would really be that grateful for his brother that I didn't process anything else.

I love these boys so much!!

Happy Birthday Elliott!!!

We love you always and are so proud of the man you are becoming (even though it hurts to say "man")