double digits

Oh boy what a birthday!  Double digits!  I cannot hardly believe we have had this wonderful human being in our lives for 10 years.  That's how long it took me to pay off my college debt!  He was born the year I had my 10yr reunion from High School.  He had a good real birthday day - went to school, took Oreo's so all the kids in his class could enjoy (allergies) and even shared with his teacher, a past teacher and the school nurse!  He wanted pizza for supper so we ordered Pizza Hut and then had soccer practice.  He got to open his presents from us - a new Yeti cup and a pocket knife.  I can't hardly believe we bought him that, but so far he's been very responsible with it.  We had a wonderful birthday party with the rest of the family on Saturday - everyone came to celebrate him and enjoy spaghetti, salad and pineapple upside down cake!

10 things I love about you Noah:

1. You are so patient with me - all my yelling and demanding "put this here/ or why did you do that?" you take it in stride and are so so patient with me.
2. You always love to try new recipes for healthy dinners with me - cooking chili with quinoa and egg & veggie frittata.
3. You are getting so much better playing and including and enjoying your brothers - both of them - they are both so different from you personality wise and have different levels of experience, but you continue to amaze me with your patience and kindness towards them.
4. You worry about everyone - from the kids in class who can't have milk to the kids that have been affected by Hurricane Harvey and now Irma.  You are willing to do whatever it takes to make the other person feel included (having Oreos) to buying composition notebooks to donate to Houston kids.
5. You are still a wonderful sleeper and always allow me to enforce naps on you if I feel like they might be warranted.  I love that you love sleep!
6. You are trying to hard to grow into a responsible young man.  Trying to think about what you say and how you act before you do it - practice makes you better right?
7. You take such good care of me and my diabetes - you always can tell if I am low and can even check my blood sugar for me if I need help - the blood doesn't bother you and you know what all the numbers mean.
8.  You are becoming quite the soccer player - I can see the growth in your running steps that you are trying to hard to keep with the other kids and play hard and really think about where the ball is going to go and what is best for the game.
9. You love your quiet time.  You are already realizing that sometimes being by yourself and quiet - mindlessly watching TV or reading a book in your room is good for you to make sure you are relaxed.
10. You are quite the artist - you really love to let your creative juices flow and create new patterns and draw things you see.