Nate is 14!

 We celebrated Nate's 14th birthday around here. He got his favorite cinnamon rolls for breakfast (early since it was a school day). I drove the boys to school since Nate leaves pretty early on the bus normally. I also picked them up from school. He requested spaghetti and meatballs for dinner and then we did presents and coconut cream pie. Eve picked out this book for him and also gave him great hugs:

He got an orbeez gun too:

He also got a mouthpiece and strap for his saxophone

Nate's facial expressions in pictures crack me up :)

After that we had fun playing Trombone Champ and he destroyed us at Boomerang Fu.

Nate had a good year. He played football again and finally got a catch in the final game of the year. After sitting so much, he decided he was done with football so he's not playing this year. He played baseball again and while the team struggled a bit, he played really well and got to play first base a lot. He still has fun playing during lunch at school with his friends too--football and soccer. He had a rough experience at school this past year in PE one day. Apparently there had been some trash talking during dodgeball in PE and then this kid came up to him in the locker room wanting to fight. Nate said he didn’t want to fight but he punched him in the face. He was pretty shaken up. Thankfully Joe was able to go pick him up. He’s had more school fight experience than me (none—except hiding from a girl in middle school who I was told might beat me up and never did). He took him out to lunch and ended up bringing him home for the rest of the day and he and I watched some funny TV shows to cheer him up. I was impressed with how he handled all of it. He's still doing really well in school and is a great student. He's getting better and better at the saxophone too and it's fun to hear him play. He can also pick up a recorder and play anything too (since apparently the fingering is the same). Plus he's not bad on the melodica either :). He still loves playing games outside and video games of all kinds. He loves cereal, yogurt, and his appetite is growing as he is growing. Outback is still his favorite place to eat and he loves steak. He really loved an art class he took this year and I loved seeing his creations. We love Nate. He is so kind, thoughtful, funny, smart, and adds so much to our family. We can't imagine life without him!