Will's 10th Birthday!

It happened again. You turned another year older. Overnight. I mean, literally that is what happens, but if feels like just yesterday you turned 9 and 5 and 2 and were born! And now you're 10 YEARS OLD!!!!!!!!!! TEN, Will! You have left the single digit numbers and will only celebrate double digit birthdays from here on out. A decade. How have I been a mom for a decade and how did you grow so fast??!!?!!

Last night as a 9-year-old

I love you, my little man. So much more than I could ever express or you could ever know. Though we have certainly had our ups and downs this year, through it all you've really started to mature and I'm so proud of the boy you are. It does feel like you become more of a gamer with each passing day and now you're really into watching these You Tube videos about playing games (ugh) but that super creative, imaginative Will I've always known and loved peaks through still. And honestly, you are pretty creative in your games as well. I just love watching you express your creativity in other ways. ;) You can really stir the pot with your siblings, you enjoy being an instigator, but very often you come up with fun, creative games for everyone to play. I'm so proud to call you my son, Will, and beyond grateful God chose me to be your mom. You challenge me and push me to be a better mom and better person each day. I love you, happy birthday!!

This year you asked for cake balls so this marks like the 3rd year I haven't made you an actual cake. At least I got to bake you something, though. Last year it was an ice cream cake and I think the year before that just ice cream. You also requested to have friends over to play video games and nerf guns. So we invited your cousins and friends over for a video game tournament and Nerf gun war! You ended up playing laser tag more than Nerf guns, but it was still fun. I've never let you have this many kids sleep over before, but I thought with your 10th, we should go big or go home!

After lots of pizza (we went through 5 large pizzas!), video games and running around, it was time to get to bed. It was after 10 when we set you all up in the playroom and everyone voted to watch Tron. Several of the boys were awake even after the movie was over. Luke, Taryn & Olivia didn't spend the night and one of your friends came to the party but couldn't sleepover. Everyone else, however, stayed. So we had about a dozen kids here, including ours. This was a lot and I knew it would be, but we knew going into it, this would be a one time thing.

Your dad and I were really proud of how well you managed your company. You did your best to integrate your cousins and friends, include everybody and all around be a good host. You had a great time! Happy 10th birthday, Will!!! I love you so much.