We took this photo about 30 seconds before he officially turned 13. As soon as the clock turned 8:05 p.m., he wailed and hollered and danced a jig. He morphed into a teenager before my very eyes.
For his birthday, we gave him a new bike – with gears and everything. He feels very mature about it.
We also gave him a LEGO set and $13. He’s steadily saving money to buy an iPod Touch. Secretly, I hope he never makes it to $200, but if I had to guess, he’ll be waltzing into the Apple Store by Christmas.
Birthday celebrations carried into this weekend when we had a handful of boys stay over Friday night. We fed them pizza and cupcakes and sent them outside in the dark to run off the sugar. So thankful for the basketball goal.
Then Chuck gave them all glow sticks. Genius!
They ran into the front yard to play some made-up game while Chuck and I sat on the front porch to make sure no one broke his neck.
Chuck tapped out around midnight, and I followed him an hour later. We cut off electronics and made them put heads on pillows, but I don’t know when they fell asleep because they were Master Whisperers. With a soccer game the next morning, we couldn’t let them pull an all-nighter.
Each boy woke up happy and eager to cheer on Jeremy and his team. After french toast and orange juice, we hauled our tired selves to the soccer field. Jeremy’s team won 9-0, with our 13 year old scoring two goals and assisting on a third.
By the smile that never left his face, I know Jeremy had a wonderful welcome to the teen years. He is blessed to have a solid group of good friends who care about him. Thanks to everyone who sent well-wishes and gifts his way!