Happy Birthday Isaac

Isaac turned 13 a couple days ago. Wow. I've got TWO teenagers now!

What a blessing it is to be Isaac's mother!

Here are 13 things I love about this wonderful young man:

1. Isaac is kind. His whole life, he's always loved sharing and helping and making people feel better when they are sad. When most toddler's favorite word is "mine," Isaac was insisting on giving a generous portion of anything he got to his big brother ashton and his baby sister Eliza.

2. Isaac is a worker. He embraces hard physical things like mowing the lawn or running cross country or helping build things.

3. Isaac has a beautiful smile. And he uses it frequently.

4. Isaac has a natural and genuine love for babies and little kids. He knows how to make them feel comfortable and special and their adoration for him is quite obvious.

5. Isaac has worked hard it get great grades. He's smart and he's figured out what it takes to get the grades he wants.

6. Isaac has my favorite brown eyes and I'm jealous of his long thick lashes.

7. Isaac is friendly and happy to be friends with everyone. I love hearing from teachers about how he's befriended kids with special needs and been kind to kids that others aren't so kind to. And I love seeing him go right up and talk to anyone new, looking them right in the eye and taking with them in such an easy way.

8. Isaac is fiercely loyal. Don't even think about doing or saying anything remotely unfair or mean to anyone in Isaac's presence.

9. Isaac is popular with the ladies. When I happen to see him in the lunchroom at school, he's sitting at a table surrounded by about 8 girls who quite obviously think he's pretty awesome. And when he's had parties at our house all these cute,  nice girls who show up. I love that he had great friendships with girls and doesn't get caught up on the silliness that so many kids his age are prone to.

10. Isaac is confident in who he is, what he believes, and what is right.

11. Isaac likes going for unique and cool stuff. Like learning to ride a unicycle and riding it in the 4 th of July parade. Or trying and enjoying octopus and sushi.

12. Isaac is loving. I love that he's still fine with hugging his mom in public. And he still calls out "bye, love you!" When I drop him off at school.

13. Isaac is happy. He knows how to find joy in everything he does.And his happiness is contagious. He's great at making other people happy.

I love you, my wonderful Ike!

Here's a glimpse at the birthday celebrations we enjoyed last Saturday:

Isaac got a new bike!

We did a lot of playing in the water, Isaac and I sat out on the raft and talked about life as the waves rocked us, and Isaac did some impressive wakeboarding (but somehow I don't seem to make it out to the boat with my camera...). Plus there was plenty of playing in the sand:

 We had Isaac's favorite - fish tacos - for dinner. Yum.

We finished the day with a big party. Here are all the kids who were here (Eliza organized all the cousins to help make the great banner):

And here's everyone including most adults who joined in the festivities (nice face, Isaac!):

We played a few rounds of Reverse Charades. Here's the boys' team:

And here's the girls' team (we won - just fyi).

Then we had cake - banana nutella cake - and everyone shared what they love most about Isaac. Everyone had such nice things to say and I felt so glad to be the mother of such a boy as Isaac and so happy that he's surrounded by so many people who know and love him so well.