We now have a teen and a pre-teen! I’m not entirely sure how that happened… It’s like I blinked and “little” childhood was over. I have enjoyed my boys as they’ve grown through each developmental stage. I might feel unprepared for teen boys, but I’m believing that good days are still ahead. The teen years just might be the best yet! Here’s hoping, anyway!
We do birthdays a little differently in our household. Instead of gifts, we do experiences. We take the day off of school and work. As much as we are able, we let the boys decide what activity to celebrate with. Owen selected Top Golf and Tillamook for his 13th birthday. Graham selected shopping in Portland for his 11th. He had birthday money burning a hole in his pocket! I came up with so. many. activities. that we could have done as a family, but Graham just wanted to shop. I eventually had to give up making suggestions. He wasn’t going to be swayed.
Our day started with breakfast at Pig ‘N Pancake in Portland. Our family loves Pig ‘N Pancake! Jeremy and the boys have eaten at all the coastal locations, so visiting Portland was the last one for them to try. (I ate there once in college). Graham’s meal of choice: the 10 sand dollar pancakes! Yum! After breakfast, we went to Guardian Games in downtown Portland. We all enjoyed looking over their massive selection of board games and Graham purchased Pokémon cards. Then it was off to Target to buy a new video game, Minecraft Dungeons II. Graham grabbed a new Minecraft LEGO set at the LEGO store. We had pizza at the food court and dessert at the Cheesecake Factory. Our final stop was browsing Barnes & Noble and visiting a new-to-us LEGO store at Bridgeport Village (yes, we visited two LEGO stores in one day). We took off for home early in the day so Graham could build his new LEGO set and play his new game. He very much enjoyed his special day!
Other highlights of the month include wrapping up pickleball, celebrating Papa’s birthday with a special breakfast, celebrating a friend’s birthday with a special dinner, a video game session with friends, and another family birthday celebration for our October birthday boys. It’s been a month to party and play! This last weekend, Jeremy and I hosted a one-night parenting conference at our church. It was an evening filled with good content and encouragement. Tonight, Jeremy and I will dive a little deeper by teaching a parenting class at our church. These milestone birthdays layered on top of a spotlight on parenting has made for a very contemplative month. I have so much to be thankful for and so many intentional parenting years still ahead. The Lord has been faithful to our family. He will remain so as we move into uncharted territory – the teen years!!!
