15

Sometimes I think he is older than 15.  Maybe it's his sense of style and fashion, maybe his wit and humor or maybe it's because he towers over me, or maybe it's all of it. 

A birthday surprise - we all woke up to a couple of inches of snow.

This year we didn't really have specific plans for the day.  Honestly, we all were just hoping and praying that Hannah would be home from the hospital. (Yay!  She is!) 
About mid-morning I mentioned to Dan how it would be fun to head to our favorite coffee shop to hang out for a bit and play games together.  He whole-heartily agreed.  We grabbed Spot It and Snappy Dressers and all headed out in the rental car.

This shop serves specialty coffee and has such a great vibe.  Daniel chose a dirty chai.  (Chai latte with shots of espresso.)  Hannah chose a pour-over, I had an almond milk latte, and Ellie, Abbie, and Mary Anne enjoyed hot chocolate. 

Spot It is a fun game and Abbie is so good at it!  Plan to be creamed if you play against her.

Are you familiar with the game?  It's a simple card game where every card has something in common with another card.  The person that finds the commonality calls it out and collects the card.  The person with the most cards win.  Simple enough, but not so easy.   Snappy Dressers is just like it, but with animals dressed in hipster fashion.

Narrative is always packed because... great coffee and great vibe.  This was the only table available, yet it was perfect for our party of 6 with room to play. 

Everyone is our family prefers pie over birthday cake.  Dan requested pecan pie.  I made one whole pie and one just for him in a heart dish for his Valentine birthday.

Regular candles are hard to put into pecan pie.  Since I didn't have the right numbers (1-5) Matthew thought that since 7 + 6 + 2 = 15 that that was a perfect solution.  Dan's humor is so similar to Matt's that he totally thought it was great.

I really enjoy these teenage years.  Conversations are deeper and thoughtful.  Humor is silly, but not stupid (mostly - ha.) But what has impressed me most over this last year is his deepening spiritual walk.  Priorities have shifted and convictions have become his own.

I see maturity.  Then I have a thought and realize he is my youngest son who is 15!  He's the last of my boys and not little anymore.  (Duh, he hasn't been little in a while, but you know - it's a mom moment.)  Sometimes growing up is bitter-sweet with moms - at least this mom.

He's my outgoing, people loving, tender-hearted Valentine boy and that hasn't changed!

~ Carol