This boy had a birthday on Saturday - his 13th! I can scarcely believe he was born thirteen years ago. Britt didn't want a big party. He's a homebody, and lucky for him, his birthday fell over the weekend, so we were able to stay home. He was thrilled! He did have basketball in the afternoon, but the timing was perfect, the sun was out, and it was a great day from start to finish. Below, the traditional picture of the "present table." 
And the traditional picture in front of the present table before the traditional opening of the presents. We have a lot of birthday traditions.
I like how sweet Rosin is watching Britt from her bed in the background. So cute!
Before Christmas, Britt asked me several times if I wanted Bill O'Reilly's book "Killing the Rising Sun." I said, no, not right now. I figured I would wait until I found it in St. Vinny's or Goodwill or a yard sale. When my birthday came, I got the same question from him. I realized he really wants to read that book! The O'Reilly Factor is Britt's favorite show on Fox, which my kids get to see and listen to on a regular basis (I call it my taxi fee when we are in the car driving to and from their practices), and he has been very curious about this book. Britt loves history, and the reviews of the book are amazing. So we got him two of Mr. O'Reilly's books. For her part, Brailey has been wanting to read "Killing Jesus." Amazingly, on Britt's birthday, Brady and I had an hour to kill in between Britt's games, and so we went to St. Vinny's, and there it was - right on the counter in front of the door! It was meant to be. So we have three of the Killing books, now, and we are all excited to read them. "Killing Lincoln" is the other one we got for Britt.
Britt wanted this Bubba Watson driver cover so badly! It will look adorable on his driver. It is the cutest driver cover I've ever seen, that's for sure. And he had several NBA jerseys on his list. He was very happy with the ones he got. Two of them are Dallas Mavericks, and he is wearing one to school and taking the other for his friend Camdyn to wear. They play basketball every Tuesday and Thursday morning, two on two, so they will be repping the Mavs today. Team spirit in so many ways - I love it!
And of course his "big" present was a phone. His first! Brailey got one when she was much younger than Britt, but we didn't feel Britt was ready for one until now. We held a contract signing, which includes maintaining straight A's, and so he has some work to do before he can actually take the phone to school. We let him use it over the weekend, but it got turned off and put away Monday morning. Amazingly, getting his grades up has become much more of a priority. Battles are sure to come with this new responsibility, but hopefully we are ready for them.
The traditional "official" birthday pictures. We took these on our way to his basketball games.
Some lovely car selfies.
I made my "famous" cookies for both kids. I made the shamrocks for Britt's team for after their games as a birthday treat. The hearts I made for Brailey's JV dance team as an impromtu early Valentine treat. The hearts didn't quite have enough time to dry, but the girls loved them anyway. Bray had dance practice on Saturday at the same time as Britt's games. We were thankful the timing worked out well so we could stay home all morning. I will admit I was a bit disappointed Britt's team didn't sing Happy Birthday to him before they grabbed a treat, but that's the way the cookie crumbles, as they say! (Don't you love all my puns?!) 
Below is my buddy Jackson, one of Britt's good friends. This boy warms my heart! And the boy in the glasses below that picture is Tyler, another boy who warms my heart. His family moved here this fall from Utah, and he is super shy. A boy in glasses who is shy is a sure ticket to my heart. 
After we got home, it was time for late night birthday cake. Dairy Queen Oreo Blizzard, Britt's favorite kind!
Britt had to get a picture on his new phone. So cute!
This picture is funny, because the 13 is actually gold glitter, but it looks black. Who could know? In any case, my 13 year old was a happy boy.
The next day, we had more basketball. The boy next to Britt is Camdyn. These two have become really good friends. We have given Camdyn a few rides home, and on one trip, I asked what music he would like to listen to, and he said, "Whatever is fine with me. My family listens to Christian. We took a challenge on the radio to listen to it for a month, and we just never stopped. That was over a year ago." This was great for Britt to hear, as I have the Christian station saved on our favorites list. We've been trying to listen to it more. They are both tender souls and they play ball together every Tuesday and Thursday morning. It is a bummer they don't have the same lunch, but maybe next year. We are grateful Britt has found a basketball friend who is a kind spirit.
Brady's brother Boone came to the games. It is always fun to see Uncle Boone, and Britt was happy he came. Brady loves his little brother!
The kids got me this blanket for Christmas. I absolutely LOVE it! And so does everyone else. I rarely get to use my own blanket! Britt is especially fond of it. We had root beer floats after his games on Sunday to wrap up his birthday celebration. He wanted to go to A&W for floats on his birthday, but we don't have one in our area. So we surprised him with homemade root beer floats after his shower. He was cold, so he wrapped up in my special blanket. I couldn't resist sharing this picture. It was a great birthday weekend, and we are already halfway through February. Time sure does fly when you're having fun! 
