Two Handsful

It's been one decade since a newborn arrived in our household--inconceivable! Little Buddy agreed to not turn 10, but to just have a party and get gifts ;) He's very accommodating. But, I decided he could go ahead and make the leap into double digits. My birthday planning crew makes the process SO much easier than birthdays the past! Gabby got the decorations rolling, Caelan baked the cake, Brennen helped Gabby, the Caelan helped them . . . they blew up the balloons, hung the streamers, got creative with G$'s bear theme . . . yes!

The bear theme was a challenge. All I could find was Carebears. Graysen has never watched Carebears, but they are bears, right? Gabby worked for three days on coloring the bears in the coloring book I found at the Dollar Store. I also found Carebear stickers and two gummy bear folders. They were sold out of red streamers, but I got a bag of red balloons. The end result was very cute--Gabby even made Lifeguard bear a new t-shirt in honor of Graysen's special day :)




We started off the morning with our traditional song, followed by Graysen's choice of breakfast (blueberry/chocolate chip pancakes with bacon), which Caelan and Brennen prepared while Buck and I got ready for church. Graysen chose to sit with us during church, and Buck got to stay for the whole service (because he took the day off of work)! That usually only happens on Easter Sunday.

Next we came home and did NOT watch Cars 3, because apparently it is not available until November :( Instead, we watched the Planes movie he asked for and received as a birthday gift. Afterwards, we were ready for lunch--at the Panda Express, where he loves the orange chicken.

Returning home, the boys played Madden and watched some football, while I went out to care for the chickens and to get the cake ready. In the afternoon, we sang the Happy song again, enjoyed the angel food cake with strawberries and Cool Whip, and then opened gifts. G is an enthusiastic gift opener, which makes the process fun for everyone! Except the dog. Who seems to think he needs to help open every single gift and gets in the way of pictures :)




The new cowboy gear from Grandma J was a major hit--he even did a little celebration dance ;)



Dinner was wings and Brussel sprouts--all of this the activities, the meals, was Graysen's birthday planning! Buck approves of these kinds of plans :) He borrowed an air fryer from a coworker and made buffalo wings in it, while he grilled more wings on the Traeger. I put together some Annie's mac and cheese (I'm super skilled in the kitchen ;), fruit, and a cottage cheese salad. The wings were for sure the star of the show!





After dinner, Graysen wanted to listen to the Adventures in Odyssey cds that we'd taken on our trip, but somehow didn't finish listening to! That never happens--I think football was on and my timing was off on the way home :)

Anyway, after an hour of Odyssey, Graysen decided to read one of his new Jigsaw Jones books. I was excited to discover that they are re-launching the series, and instead of buying them used and falling apart for dumb amounts of money--we can buy them brand new for under $5. He is way past this reading level; he's reading the Jr. High/High school books that are assigned in school (well, some of them). But I have no problem with him enjoying the simple things, because my littlest isn't going to stay little for much longer. Whaaaaaa!! Happy birthday, buddy!

Oh, I almost forgot--a trio of neighborhood kids came by with birthday cards made especially for him. They chatted under the porch light for awhile, before I called them in. That was sweet, too!