Josiah turns double digits.

I now have a child that is in the double digits. He proudly proclaimed that he was a "Pre-teen" now. I asked him why he called himself that and he said because it was what his new Sunday School class was called. Ha ha The term "Pre-teen" scares me. 

I asked Josiah what he wanted to do for his Birthday and he never could make up his mind. So I suggested maybe having a sleepover and inviting his friends from school. His actual Birthday was on a Sunday so we planned a camp out sleepover for Friday night. I was tickled to death with how many friends were allowed to come. I had a van full after school Friday and one of them had to sit in the floor. Good thing we didn't have too far to go and Titus volunteered to sit in the floor. Everyone else was safely buckled. (I think, but not positive. Ha ha). And if you are reading this post then yes of course, your child was safely buckled in. Ha ha

We pulled in the driveway and boys went every which way. 

Out came the camo and guns. 

Out came the bikes and scooters. 

Out came the basketball. 

Out came the bow and arrows. 

WHAT?!?!?!?

 

They played that for awhile, but there wasn't any structure and lots of bad aim. It made their Daddy proclaim find something else to do. I mean one was shooting while another was running to find the lost arrow and I just couldn't bear to watch. 

They practically stayed in the woods all evening and the next morning. They had a blast playing army and hunting. 

Of course, I made them stop for a group picture. 

Which they took very seriously. 

Soon the fire started and they roasted hot dogs and marshmellows. 

This was out camp out essentials. I lost count how many gallons of lemonade we went through.  I think it was close to 9 gallons. Playing outside makes boys thirsty. 

Lots of basketball playing went on as well. 

They played their little hearts out and finally it was time for bed. We misjudged the turnout for the sleepover and only had one tent set out. The boys didn't seem to mind. They all crawled in after I made them 2 huge bowls of popcorn to take with them. (Yes, I had to sweep the tent the next morning. Why didn't I think ahead to a popcorn fight happening?)

Maynard and I slept inside in our bed, but we opened the windows and could see and hear them. 

Amelia didn't understand why she couldn't sleep with the boys. I was quite impressed at how well these boys treated her. She never cried once because they always included her. Of course they tricked her into thinking she was playing a lot, but she didn't know the difference. Ha ha. Bedtime was a different story though. I suggested her  sleeping in the smaller tent in the living room and surprisingly she was happy with that. I even gave her her own popcorn. 

Goodnight, boys!!

Yeah right!!!

At 3:45 a.m. I heard the door opening and shutting. I heard little feet running through the house. I also heard giggling. Yes, boys do giggle. 

I got up to investigate. 

It appeared that it was prank time because the boys had their hands full of Barbie Dolls. Apparently some of the boys had fallen asleep and they were putting Barbie Dolls in their arms. Now, what was a Mom to do???  Surely this wasn't nice and appropriate behavior. However, I couldn't help, but laugh because I had been involved in many sleepover pranks in my childhood. Josiah looked at me worried he was in trouble. (Yes, he was one of the pranksters.) I just laughed and went back to bed. I even thought about letting them use my phone to get some good pictures, but decided that probably wasn't a good thing. Lol

I'm not sure what time they finally fell asleep, but I didn't hear anymore out of them until 7 that morning. I heard one of them say, "We did it!  We slept in our tent all night."  It made me smile because not only is sleeping in a tent all night an accomplishment, but sleeping in a tent without a grownup for the first time is an even bigger accomplishment. These boys felt so big and grownup. No longer were they the little guys being told no or not being included. They WERE the big boys and it felt great!!

It was breakfast time!!

I took my griddle outside and started on pancakes, eggs, and sausage links. These boys gathered around me anxiously awaiting their breakfast. 

The boys devoured their breakfast and kept telling me how yummy it was. Then they took off to the woods again. 

Not sure about everyone else, but my kids ended up with chigger bites. Titus is allergic to the outdoors in general so he had it the worse. 

This little princess had no problem keeping up with all these boys. 

Throughout the day the boys kept playing as eventually one would leave right after the other. When the last kid was picked up, I found Josiah like this probably not even 10 minutes later. 

I made him wake up though to get in the shower. He was filthy. 

I am so pleased he had such a good turn out. It's important to me that my kids have friends. Having childhood friends was a big part of my childhood and I want the same for them. I realize that 10 is still kind of young for a sleepover, but I am thankful to all the parents who allowed their child to come over. It meant the world to a 10 year old boy. 

Of course, Sunday was Josiah's actual birthday so he insisted on having pancakes with a birthday candle. These kids don't like for me to mess with traditions. 

He also got to open his gift from us which was a better tablet than what he had. 

After church we took him to our favorite Mexican restaurant. 

Then we stopped to get a cake at Krogers for the rest of us. I never make my kids share their Birthday treat they get at restaurants. I don't care how upset they get. It's not their special day, but I try to get them something to enjoy like a cake later. 

I was impressed Josiah asked for a red velvet cake that was on clearance. Whoo hoo.  It was delicious. 

Happy 10th Birthday, Josiah!  You are one loved little boy!!

We hope your Birthday was special.