Caleb's 7th Birthday

Yesterday we celebrated Caleb's 7th birthday and this year was his first birthday "party". We invited some of Caleb's friends over (6 boys to be exact) for a cake, ice cream and fun. That brought our boy count to 10 which brought our noise level to "over the charts". This morning our neighbor commented on the noise that came from our apartment! We were also glad that Grandpa and Grandma Tricia were able to be here to help celebrate Caleb's big day. Caleb has been very excited about celebrating this birthday. Caleb woke up yesterday, threw his hands in the air and yelled "I'm seven!". Apparently Nana told him that when he turned 7 he officially moved out of being a little kid. He tried to convince me that he was old enough to walk to the store alone today - I'm not ready for that yet. I'm also not ready for him to learn to ride the skateboard that Grandma and Grandpa gave him - even though he has spent most of the day walking around the house in his protective gear. Birthdays are always bittersweet for me. I'm excited because they are excited and I have a good reason to give extra love and attention to one child (every other day we have to be "fair") but I am also a little sad because I know that they are one year closer to being all grown up. To many of you Caleb will look a lot bigger than the last time you saw him and even though I have been with him he looks a lot bigger to me too.

Mother's Day

I have a tradition with every holiday and Mother's Day means that I take a picture with the boys. Trying to get four boys to sit still, look in the same direction, and smile can be a challenge. I think we did alright this year. As far as my Mother's Day memory this year - I think that I have two. First, as I was getting ready for church Sunday morning Caleb says "you don't look like a mom today". If you're a mom with young kids I hope that you are able to guess the "why". Apparently I do not look like a mom if my hair is not in a ponytail. I am grateful for a very observant son! Later I was trying to explain to Josiah that not all grown up men are Daddy's. I told him that grown up people are called adults. Daddy is an adult and so am I. Josiah shakes his head and says "No, you're not an adult you're just a mommy." I can live with that.