and he's 10...

Where did the time go?  When you say 10 years old, it is a big kid and it just doesn't seem real we have one of those. :)  Kade has been waiting a long time for this since all his buddies have birthdays before his.  He's been wanting to play football and soccer with his friends for his birthday but as the day came closer we knew we would have to do it in the water because of the heat.  Let me tell you, living here we're not used to heat waves at the end of August. :)  And even though I've been trying my best to not say anything negative about the weather because like everyone I know all too well what is coming (the never ending winter weather) this week the heat is just draining all the energy and motivation out of me.  I keep checking the forecast and I can't wait for it to go down to 70 in a few days.

So Kade had 6 friends over and they had a lot of fun for the most part.  Kade has been very much into sleepovers this summer so he had to have them stay overnight. :)  I thought we can deal with one bad night this one time but it's probably the last party with a sleepover.  Of course half of them didn't want to sleep and did all they could to keep the other half up.  For a while they played musical beds, downstairs, upstairs and finally after 1am they were quiet but not for too long because they were back to playing kick ball at 6:30am, in the house. :)  Kade is in the stage where he loves getting together with his friends and if there is one day for us to be home and relax together you can be sure he'll ask who can come over or whose house can he go to.  I'm expecting it will only get worse as he's getting closer to teenage years so I'm trying to enjoy the time we still have with him.  I see a lot of myself in him, he is an extrovert where he gets energized being around friends but he's not the loud outspoken person like you expect extroverts to be. 

And this past year it is becoming very clear to me we have a tween at home.  It is so different and so challenging at times.  Some days me and him just clash mostly because he's becoming so independent and thinks he knows best so we're trying to work on respect and obeying.  Sometime I miss the days when he was a toddler or a preschooler because he was so compliant and listened from a very young age, always at the first warning .  A complete opposite from his brother Kason who has kept us on our toes from the beginning. :)  But it is interesting how the closer to puberty they get that childlike innocence and obeying goes out the window and the outbursts and emotions can take them over.  I got a book for Kade for his birthday - "so you're about to be a teenager" by Dennis Rainey and I hope to read it with him.  I've heard a lot of good reviews on it and in the midst of all the stuff coming at the kids from the media, school, peers I hope Kade is able to see the path God has for him.   

Kade's cousin Emily had some kittens on their farm about 2 months ago and Kade has been asking and asking to keep one.  I told him he needs to ask dad and dad said no, we already have a cat.  At first he was bummed but then he accepted it and stopped asking for it while at the same time I told Ehren maybe we should let him take care of his own kitten because after our other one is dead Kade will probably be in college.  He agreed and we schemed a surprise where he opened his present of kitten food.  He didn't say anything for a while because he didn't want to assume he's getting it but when he saw the kitten he smiled from ear to ear. :)  All the kids have been loving the kitten today and I'm glad she's ok with being carried around and held a lot.




So it was a good birthday celebration.  I feel like it marks a new chapter in our life where Kade is not so little anymore and it will bring a lot of new challenges with it as well as joys of watching him mature and figuring out who he is and who he can be.