Your Tenth Birthday

Last night you crawled between us and snapped your 

last photograph as a nine year old.

Within about 6 hours you turned TEN! 

You, of course, had the day off of school, 

and Daddy had taken the day off of work to enjoy the celebration with you.

We started with Festival donuts for breakfast, EARLY, per your request. 

We went to see the movie of your choice, Hotel Transylvania 2. 

We had the theater to ourselves at 9:30am.

And of course, you got to have the drink of your dreams (9am).

After the movies we went to your favorite restaurant, Moe's.

Then home again home again, for what else would you ask for… 

an afternoon of gaming!!!

It was a great day, and we can't believe you are 10! 

You're excited to be out of the single digits. 

You told me a couple of times this week how you will 

never be out of the double digits unless you reach 100 years old. 

You also told me that you feel like ten sounds SO much older.

Ice Skating

I think we may have found another homeschool group activity,

and possibly your winter sport to begin after football season. 

A few years ago you expressed an interest in taking ice lessons.

This year you have enjoyed rollerblading, 

so I decided we would join in on the free-skating opportunity 

offered by our local homeschool group. 

You loved it. We both actually had a great time.

During the once a week scheduled hour and a half, 

you have the option of free-skating with friends or taking lessons.

For now, we will skate together with the other kids. 

But when football is up, you might choose to take lessons for awhile,

and I'll sit in the warm room and watch you - 

maybe get to know some of the other moms. 

Whatever we decide, this will surely always give us a great 

reason to catch some yummy ice cream on our way back home. 

Mama Time

Tonight, I forgot about Ezekiel's football practice.

It was a pleasant surprise when Greg showed up early for him

and left me home alone for some unexpected time to myself.

I decided to enjoy the outdoors while we still can.

I took my camera, Bible Study, and journaling outdoors, 

along with an icy drink and my Apple...

We hung out, read, took in the wildlife, and the few new

fall flowers blooming on the deck garden. 

It was sweet and beautiful. 

Just like my girl. 

WLS & Your Annual Photos

Today, we took the morning off of school and went to the WLS. 

It's been awhile.

My hope was to sneak in your yearly photos 

without you feeling like THAT is what we were after. 

You went along with it.

Halfway through our walk and session, you asked if you could have the camera.

I was glad to hand it over, in hopes that your desire for photography would be reignited.

What I didn't expect, was that you were planning on photographing me!

And what I really didn't expect, was for the photos to be so nice.

I figured I would check the lighting and composition on them, 

to get a feel for what your work looks like these days, 

then delete the over 50 photos you snapped that morning 

on the little bridge at the WLS. 

But when I started to go through them, and I saw myself

in a way that I might have never allowed someone to take my picture - 

I was glad to be able to keep them ALL!

Even the silly ones.

You did a great job making your Mama feel comfortable enough

to show her true colors in front of your camera, son.

Then it was back to you...

We took this photo in the same spot we've taken it a couple of times

over the years.

And you did get to feed the ducks and see all the birds and animals 

as you'd hoped to.

I love the freedom that homeschool provides us to 

make room for a memorable morning like this.

Homeschoolin' w/ Daddy

This year, your Dad has joined forces with us to make your 

school experience a little more awesome, and a lot more family.

For one, he's added "FaceTime Facts w/ Daddy".

Everyday, we keep my cell phone near for the ringing

of his FaceTime call at random.

You find a cozy spot to listen, as your Dad reads you 

some fun facts he's researched online pertaining to your interests or studies. 

We LOVE FaceTime Facts w/ Daddy. 

Along with his behind the scenes prayers, input and help

choosing what programs and curriculum we will use, 

he has added and is instructing your all time favorite class…

You are learning the coding language Java,

using one of your favorite video games, MineCraft. 

The two of you enjoy this course together. 

You never want to quit once you get started, 

and are pushing two to three hours in this "Technology" class each week.

Quality time with Daddy - win. 

Learning to create your own video games & code in a your first language of programing - win. 

Giving Mom some free time while Daddy does the teaching for awhile - win, win! 

I'm 100% sure there are no complaints from ANYONE in this front. 

Pets R Us

We've added two to the crew since our previous year of homeschool.

So now, you love having your pets with you during school time all the more! 

Chutchi snuggles you when you're watching your Art 

or Institute for Excellence Writing lessons… 

And Foo loves to be under the table while you're 

tapping away with your pencil overhead...

Your kitty is almost ALWAYS in the mix

keeping an eye out for any trouble that may arise. 

It's good to have quiet, always friendly, low maintenance classmates. :)