Happy 10th Birthday L!!

Another child has turned double digits! How did that happen? How can it seem like yesterday that he was born and yet an entire decade has passed?? We were very excited to celebrate this milestone with L, and it was a delightfully warm Saturday, which means we could be outside and daddy was home. Win-win. :0)

We gave L one of his gifts early in the day,



so that he too could enjoy them right away! (this appears to be the year for roller blades!)


Usually I make our children's birthday dinners, but for turning double digits we let L pick a restaurant of his choice, and we went there to eat along with Grandma and Grandpa and two friends. It was a restaurant with a salad/soup/barbeque bar, and all the children but Little Man returned multiple times to the bar. We definitely got our money's worth!


Then we came home and played several games of "mafia". This is very fun, but you need at least 9-10 people to really play it well. More is better.


If you are not familiar with this game, first assignments are given by the passing out of playing cards. If you receive the king or queen card, you are a member of the mafia (we had 2 of these). If you receive the ace, you are the doctor, and if you receive the jack, you are the sheriff. Everyone else is a townsperson. Then the moderator (my hubby) says "town asleep" and everyone looks down and closes their eyes. When he says, "mafia awake" the two mafia people open their eyes and point to one person to "kill". Then the moderator says, "mafia asleep, doctor awake." Then the person playing the Dr opens his/her eyes and points to someone to "heal". It may or may not be the person who was just killed by the mafia, since the Dr does not know who that person is.

Next the moderator says, "Dr asleep, sheriff awake." Then the person playing the sheriff opens his/her eyes and points to someone to arrest. Again, this may or may not be the actual mafia person. Then the moderator says, "town awake". Everyone opens their eyes and the moderator makes up a hilarious story on the fly about how so and so (naming who got "killed") had a horrible accident, and though the Dr was called, they were not able to be saved (if the Dr pointed to the wrong person). An arrest was made, but there was not enough evidence to go to trial (if the sheriff pointed to the wrong person). Then the "dead" player is out of the game. If the Dr pointed to the right person, the dead person is miraculously healed and remains in the game. If the sheriff pointed to the actual mafia person, they go to jail and are out of the game.

So.

Did all that make sense?!

It's funny because it's supposed to be totally silent. If the person next to you hears your arm moving to point, they may figure out who you are. Or if Little Man announces his identity during the game, that may give it away too! And my husband made up really hilarious stories between each round that kept us in stitches. It was very fun!

Next, L opened his gifts. Here he is with his new webkinz stuffed animal from his siblings.



He has always had a flair for the dramatic, and this picture shows his impassioned "thank you!" to his grandparents for giving him the lego set he wanted.


We love you so much L! God gave us a tremendous blessing when he created you and gave you to our family. We pray you have a great year being ten, and that you will grow closer to the Lord this year and always walk in His truth.