Donovan is TEN!

I can't believe this boy is TEN! Wow. That went fast! 

Like his sister, we celebrated our boy a day early so that we could enjoy a weekend day together. On Saturday night, Donovan knowingly retired to bed a bit early so that we could decorate the downstairs for him. He may have sneaked a few peeks... but he was a good sport and pretended to be very surprised as he came downstairs on Sunday morning. 

The morning kicked off with his #10 pancakes that you can barely detect under all of his whipped cream. Decorated with a crown on top to celebrate his first crown year in Dutch tradition. 

They were a hit!

Donovan began opening gifts in the morning. He was excited to receive a pull up bar, some succulent holders, lots of shirts and socks from Grammie, and a big surprise... A Go Pro that he had reallllllly wanted.

One of the best surprises of the day was a visit from his cousins who were in town paying a visit to Oma Oma. It worked out so perfectly that they could swing by and enjoy some cupcakes with the birthday boy. 

His Sunday dinner request was Arancini which I gladly made for my boy.... followed by more presents from Oma and Grampie and more cupcakes too!

He had such a fun day!

His actual birthday was a treat too! While his Dad and I had school and meetings, he played with his friends outside ALL day long! His bestie, Ella surprised him with a milkshake, a bunch of candy, and a Dude Perfect shirt which totally made his day! 

His dinner request that night was lemon chicken and homemade fettuccini alfredo. What I'll remember most about his tenth birthday was how silly and typical ten year old boy he was... but also how sincerely thankful he was for each and every little part of his celebration.  He felt so loved and that is something that I will cherish most of all. Happy Birthday to our favorite boy! 

 

Donovan Turned 9

One month later, here we go. 

We can kick off the birthday festivities here, at school on Friday where our hard working boy earned student of the month. His grandparents and Uncle Dave came to surprise him! He has been working really hard at school and I am so proud of him. 

On Saturday, I was full of mom guilt because it was such a busy day and we really had nothing ready for his actual birthday. I did make him his obligatory #9 birthday pancake because, traditions. But the rest of the day was a hustle and bustle of baseball. Dustin had a game, Donovan had practice and we all went to church in the evening. 

He knew that Sunday was going to be our official day to celebrate but I still felt kind of sad that I didn't have more planned. 

His Dad gave him a big kid hair cut with a style of his choice. 

And Uncle Dave worked with him to build a Chicago skyline set that he had opened from Grammie. Gram also hid miscellaneous little gifts for him around the house (with the help of the girls). He was super excited to see all of the cool sporty clothes she picked out for him. She has a knack for shopping for boys... I wonder where she gets it from? :) 

Saturday night after church, I laid in bed with Donovan and read. I couldn't get over how sweet and happy he was... even with such a simple day. 

Sunday morning we were up and at it. It was conveniently Super Bowl party and Donovan was here for it. 

He requested some vanilla cupcakes with these colorful sprinkles on them and some root beer floats. His food request was ribs, so we popped those into the slow cooker along with lots and lots of other football watching treats. 

My heart feels so incredibly happy to be the mom of this handsome 9 year old. 

And then the game began. 

And all of our family came over to watch. 

At half time we opted to open some gifts. Donovan was thrilled with his bike ramp!

He got some sports gear.

And some baseball DVDs. 

And money. 

One of the sweetest gifts he got were some baseball books from my Dad. Some were new...

And this one that actually belonged TO my Dad when he was Donovan's age. 

A few more baseball gifts from Daddy.

And much needed new shoes from Mom. 

Before it got too dark we went outside to send off our birthday wishes for Donovan. 

And away they flew. 

After all of the snacking we barely had room to eat his birthday ribs and fixings. But there is always room for root beer floats and cupcakes. 

And that was a wrap on Number 9. 

When Dustin and I were still on our Christmas break, one of our to-dos was to come up with a plan for Donovan's birthday party. I figured he'd want to do something special with his best friends this year. But the weeks sort of flew by as soon as we got back to work and we never did get anything in the books.

The thing I want to remember the most about Donovan's 9th birthday is how truly happy he was all weekend long. His actual birthday came and went without even a piece of cake or a candle and that boy was all smiles. And even on his real birthday, with a simple dinner and homemade desserts, and just amongst his family... he was so full of joy. 

When I tucked him in on Sunday night, he said to me, "Mom, thanks for making my birthday so special!" Cue the heart melting. I know life won't always be so simple and there will come a time where he'll expect more and want to celebrate it with friends more than his family. So I am treasuring this very special day in my heart and feeling exceptionally grateful for the wonderful young man that we get to call our own. 

Happy Birthday Donovan James. You truly are a treasure to us. 

xoxo

Unexpectedly Perfect

This is kind of an odd post to round out 2019 with. But I don't want to forget today. 

Sometime I will get around to posting pictures of Christmas Eve and Christmas morning and all of the messy, toy induced fun that followed us into the new year. But I start today's post here. 

 Last night, Dustin and I went out for a much anticipated date night. I had been looking forward to it like crazy, craving some time away with my guy. He bought us concert tickets to see Donavon Frankenreiter at the Belly Up! We left the house early, with plenty of time for dinner before the concert. We ate at a restaurant in Encinitas I had wanted to try for years and it was amazing. 

 Here we are in all of our date night bliss. I was desperately craving coffee to keep my old, tired self awake for the start of the concert. Also, it was SO cold... at least southern California cold. 

The concert was great. Super mellow music with an eclectic group of fans that made for perfect people watching. 

At the concert Dus ordered us a pair of IPAs and later in the night a refill. And this is where my story takes an unexpected turn. 

I can apparently not handle having a couple of beers like I used to. The night was perfect and we headed home and crawled into our cozy bed where I quickly drifted off to sleep. Only to wake up a few hours later feeling SO sick! I spent the next few hours from about 3:00 on dry heaving and swearing I will never drink another IPA as long as I live. Holy cow. As I laid awake tossing and turning in the early morning hours, I thought surely I had come down with the flu or maybe food poisoning.  But alas, my other half that split everything I ate yesterday with me was jussssst fine all through the night and for the rest of the day. 

I was not. I finally fell asleep as my kids were waking up for the day around 7 and proceeded to sleep until 10:30. Praise the Lord for Dustin and Grammie that manned the ship for my very lively crew. 

But the silver lining of my day came here. Gram took Taylor and Emmerson out for a day of running errands. They hit up Hobby Lobby and the library and followed it up with lunch. And this boy right here, crawled into bed with me. Knowing I was "under the weather" he asked if he could make me his specialty, cinnamon sugar toast. And he did... I could hear his every step in the kitchen below me. Pretty soon he brought up this little plate for us to share in bed. We laid back on the pillows and watched a Hallmark Christmas movie that made us both laugh and chat a bunch with commentary on all of the cheesy goodness. And when it was over, he said, "Today is kind of the best, right Mom?" And he was right, it was. I resisted every urge to get up and shower and start some laundry and pick up a million toys and.... to continue laying there and watching a complete second Hallmark movie... equally entertaining. Half way through the movie when I was feeling almost all the way better I muttered that I would give anything for a cup of coffee. And guess what? D jumped back up and said, "I can do it Mom! I know where everything is!" He ran down the stairs and then ran back up two or three times to clarify where the K-cups were hiding and if I liked cream, and how much cream exactly. And then a few minutes later, a hot cup of coffee and more cuddle time with my boy. 

Amid this lazy day in bed, my husband came in repeatedly to half check on me and half make fun of me. But his teasing smiles made me feel so loved. 

And that was it. That was why today felt so good. I am so loved by my family. And it wasn't because I was tending to their every need, or fixing them lunch. It was just because I was me. A tired, hung over mom, laying in her bed watching Hallmark Christmas movies. 

An unexpectedly perfect way to end the year. 

Me and My Boy

This almost 9 year old boy of ours is driven by sports. His favorite thing to talk about from his school day are the play by plays of the lunch and recess football games. When we get home from school, he promptly changes into a football uniform and plays with our neighbor in the front yard until it's completely dark outside. And then, before I know it, it's time for bed. 

Long gone are the days where he wants to spend all of his waking hours with his momma. 

So this picture is everything to me. Dustin snapped this the other night at bed time. It's our new routine. 

After tucking in the girls, I crawl into bed with Donovan and we read. He's reading his Warriors series and I am reading Anne of Green Gables. Sometimes we read to each other, but more often than not, we each read quietly to ourselves. When we both hear each other yawning, we agree to put our books aside and turn off the lights. Then, Donovan requests a back scratch before he dozes off. I happily oblige because I know these nights are fleeting. In these moments we talk about his little crush and all of his friends at school. We laugh about the silliest things and talk about things we need to work on to do better the next day. 

These moments are sacred to me and I never ever want to forget them. 

Rewind- Shopping for Back to School

Okay, I am already hitting the rewind button here. I just came across these cute pictures of the bigs with their grandmas doing their special back to school shopping dates. Our kids are so blessed by the outpouring of love they receive from their grandparents. It is truly amazing! 

Shopping, lunch, tasty milkshake desserts, and a million memories to savor.