10 Years of Sam

This post has two parts to it:

1.  The part where I talk about Sam's 10th Birthday and what a cool kid he is.

2.  The part where I talk about how I was traumatized by Sam's Birthday this year.  

Let's begin with Part 1.  

Sam turned 10 on Jan. 30.  He has come a long way from the 4lb. 6oz. miracle baby that he was!

 Rick was in Dallas for work on his actual bday so he left him with one of his favorite treats, Krabby Patties.  He also had a breakfast of chocolate donuts!

I took him a special lunch from Wendy's at school that day.  

I asked him if he wanted me to stay and eat with him.  He said, "No."  

 It made me a little sad that he is growing up on me.

The 10th Birthday is a milestone at our house.  There are some special things that each kid gets for that Birthday.  One of those is the first big sleepover.  

As we got ready for the big day, Sam wanted to go with a Lego Marvel theme.

The goody cups for the boys to take home.

 All decorations are courtesy of Abby

 Except the 2 signs on the front door that Sam made.

 Sam invited 10 boys and THEY. ALL. CAME!  (A small hint of my trauma)

 After pizza, crazy bread, and soda, Sam had planned a double elimination Lego Wii Tournament.  

They played "Lego Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Lego Star Wars"

We also had our whole family room floor filled with Legos out for them to build as they waited for their turn to play.

 Time for Cake

 Make a Wish

 Step away from the cake

He chose an ice cream cake with funfetti white cake and cookies and cream ice cream 

After he opened his gifts, we got everyone settled in for a "Despicable Me" marathon

 We put up the tent for the sleepover, but only 2 boys slept in it. There were a total of 9 boys overnight.

 They next morning, they had a breakfast of pancakes, hot chocolate, and orange juice

 Another special part of the 10th Birthday is receiving a 100 dollar bill!

He got this awesome cart from Papa and Grammy to hold his Legos.  The boy was needing some way of organizing those things!!

On Sunday, we had a family meal of Sam's choice:  Homemade Mac n' Cheese, Green Beans, Roasted Cauliflower, and Cheddar Bay Biscuits

 Sam is loving his lunch

 I am not sure how this happened, but after a party of 11 boys, this ended up at our house!!  We laughed about it.  If this is anyone's sister's headband, just let me know.  I will return it to you promptly.  

Sam,
You continue to be one of the coolest kids I know.  Your smile lights up every room you enter.  Your humor gets me every time.  The little engineer in you is so obvious as I constantly find your toys taken apart in your room with screws and bolts everywhere.  You would rather take it apart than play with it. 4th grade has been a big year for you at school.   There has been more responsibility and more work.  You are becoming one of the big kids in the family!  I have mixed emotions about that!

Why am I not surprised that out of 10 boys you invited, they ALL came to your sleepover despite the blizzard that was going on at the time!!  It is kind of hard for me to see my "sweet baby" get so big so fast.  Even at 10, your hugs are so nice.  Thank you for still being my boy!  Your love for basketball is growing stronger.  You love the game so much that losing doesn't matter as long as you get to play.

I know that God has something big in store for you!  The battles you fight are not without purpose.  God sees you and will give you the strength to finish strong.  Trust Him and His Truth in all areas of your life.  You are seen.  You are known.  You are loved!
You bring me so much joy!
Mom


Now for Part 2 of the Post (My Side of the Story)

On Friday, Jan. 31, the kids were out of school because of a snowstorm that was coming into town.  It turned out to be a doozy.  I began to be really concerned that Rick's flight from Dallas would be cancelled.  I was also concerned that no one would want to brave the weather and come to Sam's party.  It was crazy watching the snow fall.  By party time, we had 6-8 inches at our house.  The party guests began arriving, and I got a text from Rick saying he was on the plane about to take-off.  Phew!  I was so relieved.  I did not feel like I could do this party without him.  I just think 9-10 year old boys respond better to a man.  I knew having Rick would make it so much better.

I had farmed out all the other kids except Cody to make things a little less crazy.  I just wasn't sure our house could handle 16 children at once!!  Cody had just planned to stay in his room and avoid the craziness for the night.

Every single boy made it to the party!!  Sam was so excited.  Then, I got the text that brought terror to my heart.  Rick's flight was cancelled right before they took off!!  WHAT?  "No, you have to come home now."  At this point, the chaos had begun.  The noise level in our house was deafening.  They were literally swinging from the rafters in my basement when I went downstairs.  The decorations we had put up were torn down within minutes.  I called Cody down and requested back up from him for the night.  Now, you may be asking, "Why did you invite so many people?"  Honestly, I thought that only about half would be able to come.  I wanted him to have at least 5 friends at the party.  So, you see, I was naive.

Cody and I settled in for 18 hours of terror.  I really could not have done it without him.  Sometimes, they would listen to him better than me.   I won't go into all the details.  Let's just say, I was not the same person I was before.  War will do that to you!  I am pretty sure I am suffering from PTSD as a result of this party.  Cody and I ended up watching about 8 episodes of "The Middle" while we waited for them to collapse.

We finally got everyone settled down by about 1:30 AM.  I decided to sleep on the couch so I was close enough in case something happened.  I didn't want to be two levels away.  At 5:20 AM, they started waking up!  I think I may have gotten about 2 hours of sleep.

They were all supposed to leave by 10:00 so that means we still had over 4 hours before it was over.  The boys played Legos, video games, and watched "Wreck-It Ralph" while I cooked up breakfast.

It finally ended.  Rick's flight on Saturday was once again cancelled leaving another day without him.  We had to immediately go out in the snow to Sam's game.  For some reason, my four-wheel drive wouldn't work.  That made for an interesting and stressful drive in the snow.  I came home that afternoon and COLLAPSED!!  I was so tired.

I was really worried that Sam didn't have a good time at the party.  I felt like I really had to stay on the boys to keep them from going wild.  When it was over, I asked him if he had fun.  He said, "It was awesome!!"  I asked if he was bothered by me getting on them.  His response, "No, I am glad you did.  They were getting out of control!"

I learned some things from this experience:
1.  Do not invite so many kids over for a sleepover.  It was just too many kids.  Even though they were all good kids, some of them just did not mix well.  It was hard to make sure everyone felt included throughout the time.

2.  Structure EVERY MINUTE of sleepovers in the future.  This is usually the way I operate anyway.  I decided to be more relaxed this time and let them play.  NOT A GOOD IDEA AT ALL!!  Left to their own devices, boys of that age will not make the right choices in a group setting.

3.  DON'T EVER PLAN A SLEEPOVER IF THERE IS A CHANCE RICK WILL BE OUT OF TOWN!!!  I really needed him here.  He really wanted to be here.  It was not good that he was gone on so many levels.

So, there you have it.  It is probably best that I waited a couple of weeks to type this up.  I was pretty much a disaster for a week after the party.  Now, I can just move on and learn from my mistakes.  Check that lesson learned off my list!!