Stewart turned 12 yesterday.  There wasn’t much fanfare.  There was no extravagant outing.  It wasn’t proclaimed, “The best birthday ever.”  But he was okay with that. 

On the whole, birthdays were lower keyed this summer.  It wasn’t an intentional effort to bring things down a notch, but just how it turned out. 

We did the traditional “wake-up”-the birthday-kid. 

And he asked for his gifts before breakfast.  Sure.  Why not.
He was really looking forward to the Adventures in Odyssey CD he was hoping for.  He spent all day listening to it.

I’d made some yummy pastries for breakfast and they all wanted thirds.  I said they had to eat a piece of fruit before they could have more pastry!  So they did. 

Around 4PM we met Nan, Nene, Ba & Poppy at the park.  Sadly, the bees were menacing and we stayed only a short time, eating as we walked around…

He opened a few gifts there, as well. 

And rode the swings with …. Poppy???

We ditched the bees and headed home for cake.  Lemon cake per his request.

The little boy who made us parents 12 years ago is growing up.  He loves Odyssey, Narnia, and still dabbles in lots of little boy activities.  He is a good reader, but a media hound – a desire he will undoubtedly work hard to keep in balance as he matures and is left to discipline himself.  He’s a good egg with a lot of Bible knowledge who is easy to talk to.  I’m eager to see what the next few years hold for him.  He’s sharp and has a good sense of humor, but he’s not really ready to be kind to his siblings.  He doesn’t complain too much about school or chores and does a lot of his work independently these days.  I miss the one-on-one time… but I love that he is trustworthy.

He’s been great kid to practice parenting skills on… and is a person whom I genuinely enjoy talking with.