Well. My apologies for not writing a blog post last week. I’ve got two words…spring break. Yes. Last week the boys had a week off from school and we celebrated hard. We started out their spring break by celebrating Nate’s 13th birthday on Friday, March 9th. Actually, we celebrated on birthday eve (Thursday night, the 8th) because Nate had valid reasons why he should be able to open a few presents the night BEFORE his birthday. The biggest one being “I can wear my new birthday clothes to school”. I’m with you, buddy. That’s important to look your best and FEEL your best on your birthday, so we let the festivities begin on what we now call Birthday Eve. (Similar to Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve, you get the idea.)

Then, on Nate’s ACTUAL birthday, we took him out for a birthday dinner to Texas Roadhouse because every teenage boy wants a big, juicy steak for his birthday, right?

And can I just say WHAT?!?! We have a teenager?! How can this be? Just yesterday, I was learning what being a mom was all about and we were bringing home this little 5 lb. 15 oz. baby boy home from the hospital. Geesh, time has got to slow down. Anyways…

The birthday celebrating continued on into the weekend with family and friends. And in typical birthday form, we had homemade birthday cake with THE BEST EVER FROSTING. Yes. I make the boys’ birthday cakes. See blog post from a few years ago below…👇🏼

Recipe: Best Cake EVER…How to become a cake snob (Part 1)

Recipe: Best Frosting EVER…How to become a cake snob (Part 2)

I don’t claim to make dazzling birthday cakes, but they are delicious. This year, when I asked Nate what he wanted, he told me “just Happy Birthday and maybe the number 13 with some balloons”. And my mama heart sighed as I realized the days of decorating four-wheeler cakes, race car cakes, dinosaur cakes, and Spiderman cakes were being replaced with “teenager cakes” (basically his age and some balloons). #sigh  But as I shared in the previous post, I am really enjoying this teenage thing as I watch his personality bud into a little adult, complete with humor, joy, and laughter.

And so, this week’s Favorites are not items you can buy, but some favorites I’ve experienced over the past week or two.

Let’s go ahead and jump into today’s Fun Friday Favorites…

1. Celebrating Nate turning 13 years old –

 

2. Our spring break trip to the South –

Now, back to why I didn’t write a blog post last week. We had spring break and we were busy and this blogger had to put writing on hold for a week. Because we were gone. We went south for spring break. Oh, you all. I just love the south. I used to dream of living in the south, so that I could justify saying “y’all” with a twangy southern accent. So, while Hubby continued to work on some big projects at work, the boys and I took off for the south. As in…southern Iowa. Yes. We are just that fancy. Hey, do I even begin bragging about being Miss Southern Iowa Fair Queen??? (I kid you not. #thatsme) Well, this southern girl took her two darling sons back home to southern Iowa for a few days and we partied hard with my parents like any spring breaker would do. I’ve got pictures to prove it-

We went fishing.

 

Played some intense games of cards.

 

Strategized in the game of Clue and played maybe four rounds or so (until I won).

 

 

3. Teaching our boys to be brave –

This next story is a good one, so moms and dads…this one’s for you. Teachable moments are great, especially when God provided some timely experiences in my life that made me “practice what I preach”. On my Facebook page, I posted a video about a high school girl encouraging her classmates to be kind while they were on the 17 minute walk out at their school. (Check it out on my Facebook page @ Angela Banae) And this brought up some great conversations with our boys. Without going into too much detail, some things have occurred lately and I had to strongly encourage our boys to stand up when someone is saying mean things (to him or to others). But it’s hard. Because we don’t always want to rock the boat or draw attention to ourselves and tell the kid to “Knock it off and stop saying mean things!” But as a good mama would do, I encouraged them and cheered them on and reminded them that God does not give us a spirit of fear, but we are to be brave.

While things had transpired at school with the boys that day, I happened to have a hair appointment and was getting my hair colored because DARK ROOTS, my friends. (Oh gee, this story is becoming longer than I anticipated. Sorry.) Well. During the hair coloring process, when my gal was done washing out the color, and she was blow drying my hair…she strongly suggested we go back to the washbowl because my hair was ORANGE. Not blonde, but orange. And she suggested we put a toner on it. Because it was slightly ORANGE. YES. ORANGE. Not all of my hair, but a NICE PORTION of it was orange. So, she put a toner on it, blew it dry, and ummmm….it still looked a little orange. But I thought maybe it wasn’t really that orange, perhaps it was their lighting. All was fine (or so I thought) until that evening when Hubby and the boys came home and said, “WOW. You’ve got ORANGE hair.”

Now, jump back to the boys and the parent moment of me telling them to be brave. I told them, “I get it. Being brave is hard. I don’t want to go back to the salon and tell them my hair is awful, but I need to do the right thing and be brave. I need to let them know I’m not pleased with my orange hair.” After a little more talking, I gave goodnight kisses, we said prayers, and I tucked them in bed.

The next day, I reminded the boys to “Be BRAVE! And stand up and tell the person to STOP! And be kind!” and off they went to school. And this mama began to pray that God would help them to be brave and be kind. I left home, went to run my errands, and later that morning, when I was running at the gym, I got that feeling. You know. That feeling when you KNOW you need to “practice what you preach”. So, after looking about fifteen more times in the mirror at my orange hair to see if it was really orange (yes, it was still orange), I left the gym. But instead of going home, I went back to the salon. Kindly, I shared my concern with the head receptionist and she was so sweet and agreed, “Yes, your hair is really orange.” Then, she proceeded to seek council from a stylist who has been doing color for years and guess what? That stylist had just finished a lady’s appointment and she just happened to have a block of time to work on fixing my hair color. Right at that moment. (Folks, this is not a coincidence. This was God showing up and proving His point…that when we are kind, and we “practice what we preach”…He helps with the rest of it.) And hour or so later, I walked out of the salon, THRILLED that I was BRAVE and KIND and did the right thing. (And praising God that HALLELUJAH, MY HAIR WAS BACK TO BEING BLONDE!)

It was such a good lesson for me to remember to practice what I preach. Be kind, be brave, and do what’s right. We can say that until we’re blue in the face, but when the rubber meets the road, will we do it? I’m so glad God nudged me to model what this looks like for our boys. And He showed me that, yes. Sometimes, we parents forget how hard it is to be brave and do the right thing, but if we keep telling them, and SHOWING them, and praying for God to help them…then, they’ll get it. Our kids will be brave. They will be kind. Learning to practice what I preach…this was a great mom reminder for me. Definitely one of my favorites this week.

 

4. Grandma Helen’s 96th Birthday –

On Sunday, we celebrated Grandma Helen’s birthday. On Wednesday, she turned 96 years old and she is such a favorite of mine. Grandma is such an amazing woman who loves Jesus, is so kind and brave, and this special lady has taught me so much…I’m so thankful for Grandma Helen.

 

That wraps up this week’s Fun Friday Favorites. I hope I’ve inspired you to take the teachable moments that come your way and model to your kids, your friends, and your family HOW to do the right thing. And enjoy the moments you are given! We have so many things to be thankful for!

Have a great weekend! xo ~

Angela Banae