Between our “celebrate Nate’s birthday all weekend long”, the time change, two birthday parties, four hours of WIDE AWAKE AND NOT SLEEPING last night, being a little emotional and sentimental because “our kids are growing up so fast”…I am a wee bit tired.

Friday night, we took the boys to Scheel’s to pick up Nate’s birthday present…a new bike!  We had been shopping throughout the week for the perfect bike and Nate had decided on one we saw at Scheel’s.  It’s a black and silver Trek mountain bike with great shocks and suspension, of course.  Because everyone knows you need that for jumping.

Saturday, Nate’s basketball team wrapped up their season (undefeated!!) with a win.  Then, the birthday weekend extravaganza continued with having five of his friends come to our house.  Nate’s idea of a great birthday party?  Take them to the 240 farm and play outdoors, check out his fort, look for deer sheds, go sledding if there is enough snow.  Then, we’d bring them back to our house for pizza, cake & ice cream, a movie, and sleepover.

We had every intention of sledding until it turned HOT (okay, only 41 degrees) on Friday and by Saturday, the snow had REALLY melted.  But not to fear.  With Nate, his brother Maxim, and his five buddies…hanging out at the farm was still a hit.  They went exploring, hiked in the mud, went with Daddy and Grandpa for rides in both of the Rangers, checked out Nate’s fort, got in some more mud, looked for deer sheds, played, and got in some more mud.  It was every boy’s dream.  Mud, outdoors, with good buddies…a great and muddy time!

After bagging up the muddy boots and coats and gloves, we came back to our house for supper and the rest of the evening activities.

What do you feed seven hungry boys?  Pizza, chips, fruit, and veggies!

After supper, we had a muddy four-wheelin’ birthday cake and ice cream.

And then he passed out his party favors to everyone…

After supper, presents, and cake & ice cream, the boys played hoops, Xbox, got out Nerf guns and other toys, and then…it was time for the movie “Big Hero 6”.  All the while, this mama was washing three loads of muddy pants, coats, and gloves from the fun and muddy time at the farm.  (At one point, I wondered if maybe Sky Zone or Air FX Trampoline park would have been easier…But nah.  They LOVED the muddy farm.)

With the time change falling on Saturday night and church the next morning, I knew that morning would be here before we knew it.  So, after a few reminders of “GET TO SLEEP” (hahaha), somewhere around 1:45, the last of the three boys fell asleep.

Sunday, kids got picked up and we got the others home, then made it to church (only 17 minutes late).  Then, it was round 2.  Family birthday party time!

Hubby’s parents, my mom and Papa Joe, and my Grandma Helen all come over for lunch.  The menu?  Similar to the night before.  Pizza (this time from Papa Murphy’s), fruit, veggies, and chips.  Then, we had birthday cake and ice cream to celebrate our big guy turning 10!  (Nate had requested that I make the birthday cakes because he thinks, “They are the BEST EVER, MOM”.  If you recall, last year I wrote two blog posts and gave the recipes Best cake recipe EVER and BEST Frosting recipe EVER!.)  So, while they may not be the fanciest decorated cakes…they are absolutely AMAZINGLY GOOD! 🙂

By Sunday night, we were tuckered out.  Or at least this mama was.  Knowing that Monday is his actual birthday…we tucked in our nine year old for one last time (I still can’t believe he’s TEN YEARS OLD today).  And I made a mental note of what I needed to accomplish on Monday:  get birthday cookies from the bakery and take them to his classroom, pick up lunch at Jimmy John’s and go eat lunch with our ten year old, get one more gift at Dick’s Sporting Goods for our birthday boy, make one of his favorite suppers (not pizza, since we ate enough pizza all weekend long)…spaghetti.

Well.  All was nice and the house was quiet and we were all sleeping and THEN.  At 12:54 a.m. I woke up.  It’s so weird because exactly TEN YEARS AGO, I woke up around this 12:15 a.m. with HARD contractions and went into labor with Nate.  I thanked God for giving me this special boy and for this sweet reminder of how our lives changed ten years ago for the better and then tried to go back to bed.  And I tried.  And I tried.  NO LUCK.

I finally got up and went and did my Bible devotions in the middle of the night.  Went back to bed.  Couldn’t sleep.  At 3:00 (two hours later and STILL awake), Hubby heard me tossing so, I went back out to the living room and thought, “Maybe I need a warm cup of tea to make me sleepy.”  Nope.  That didn’t work.  (Sidenote:  I don’t know if my emotions were keeping me awake.  Or the prednisone that I’m still taking because I have this awful upper respiratory crud.  OR WHAT.  BUT IT WAS ANNOYING.  I. Just. Wanted. To. Sleep.)

Exactly ten years later and at 4:11 a.m., I thanked God for giving us one of the best gifts ever…our firstborn son, Nate Andrew.  Nate came into the world one month early, weighing in at 5 lbs. 15 oz. and 19 inches long.

And so today, my heart is BIG and MUSHY and FULL of LOVE for the family God has blessed me with.  Getting to be a mom is one of the greatest joys in my life.  And I can’t believe Nate is ten years old.  Time is flying.

Nate, you make us proud.  We love you so much and thank God that He has given us YOU! So, here are just a few pics since I’ve been going down memory lane today.

And so, we’ll continue the birthday celebrating through tonight with one of his favorite suppers and a few more gifts.  And of course, lots of hugs and snuggles…because this mama’s heart is full of love.