Birthday Party On Wheels

My oldest turned 14 today!  My baby…. an intelligent, mature 8th grader that is no longer a boy but a young man that shot right past me in height, wears a size 13 shoe, loves to cook and bake, big history buff and is easily annoyed by his younger brothers.  This kid amazes me every day and I’m so excited to watch him continue to grow and follow the path God has laid for him.

I had the pleasure of having carpool duty to foreign language on Joey’s birthday.  How lucky is that?!?  It’s held before the normal school day, at the high school so every morning all school year long, he and many other dedicated kids wake up early to start classes an hour early.

I began by decorating the party location, my car.  

 

I chose NOT to add birthday balloons this time as my last attempt made it look like sperm going 70 mph.  Kept it simple with happy birthday wishes.  Joey’s “I can’t believe you did this” comments came with smile and laughter, his beautiful dimples showing big time.  That right there was worth it.  His dimples.  His smile.  Makes my heart happy.   On the way out the driveway he asked if we could make a quick stop at the car wash.  Hahaha!  Nope.  

 

We began picking up our unsuspecting “guests” at 7 am.  Once all the guests were present, we all donned party hats and sang happy birthday to him.  We even hopped out for a quick group photo at Lake of the Woods.  Look at all those happy faces!  You can tell by Joey’s expression how much he really appreciated this party.  And the hat…. that is the same hat every person in our house wears EVERY birthday.  It’s obvious he loves that the tradition still continues.   As we got back in the car, Tim, Joey’s only male companion in the car says, “I kinda feel sorry for Joey.”   Oh I hope I get the pleasure of being on carpool duty on Tim’s birthday too.  Ha!

We continued celebrating by sharing pumpkin muffins, cranberry muffins and brownies for duration of the car ride.  As I dropped them off at the high school for zero hour a bus full of high schoolers were arriving.  I threatened to open up the moon roof, pop out and shout over and over, “It’s Joey’s birthday!  Tell him Happy Birthday!  Joey turns 14 today!”  I’ve never seen Joey get out of the car and into school so fast.  He left all his carpool buddies in the dust.   For the record, I did not shout anything.  I played it cool.  The high schoolers obviously knew it was Joey’s birthday since they are old enough to read what was on the back of my vehicle.

 

On the boys’ birthday, they get to pretty much call the shots.  So while, I typically sing in the car he got to tell me singing was not allowed today.  So I stopped singing.   I tried dancing.  That got nixed quickly too.  Birthday boy gets what birthday boy wants.  Darn it!   He didn’t know about the van party so he couldn’t tell me no. Ha!

I dropped off cookies for him to share with his language arts class today.  One of the benefits of getting to know the teachers, even as they get older and parent involvement is not needed, is you continue to make connections with the teachers and keep the line of communication open.  And you learn which teachers don’t mind treats dropped off for a special occasion or ‘just because’.  And to my surprise and utter delight, I even got pictures from his teacher of the birthday celebration!  Doesn’t he look completely elated to wear the birthday hat while the class serenaded him?!

 

What else did the birthday boy want to do?  Ko Fusion was the birthday dinner request.  Birthday boy got sushi, flaming Phoenix, and creme brûlée and loved every bite!    

 

And he had to play the Xbox with his new noise canceling headphones.

I’m sure the request for those headphones had nothing to do with his siblings that he skips side by side holding hands with 24/7 .  OK that’s a lie.  Lately he is easily annoyed just by their presence some days.  Sibling love.   And as the schedule worked out we celebrated as a family last night cause his brothers are with their dad today.  So if I had to venture to guess he thinks that’s a pretty sweet bonus for his special day.  I loved the one on one time with my boy. Moments like this, I do not take for granted.  Every smile and hug I received today made my heart very happy…  as happy as that birthday hat made Joey!  He won’t admit it but even though he may have been slightly embarrassed by my actions, he also knows he has a mom that goes out of her way to do things special (and occasionally silly) to remind him that he is awesome, worth celebrating every single day, and very much loved.   And THAT, is why I know the hat made him happy.