Tuesday, April 11, 2023

John's 18th Birthday!

 Life has been really busy for me over the last few weeks and it's only going to get busier in the weeks and months ahead, but I'm determined to stay on schedule with my blog! I like being up to date with it by blogging about the previous month each month; it helps me to feel more in control of the record-keeping aspect of my life. So without further ado, it's time to dust off the blog and get to it for posting my pictures and things about the marvelous month of March!

The first "marvelous" thing that happened in March was that John turned 18!


I didn't get a fancy custom-made themed cake like I used to do. The boys don't really care about that anymore (honestly I don't think they ever cared that much, though it was always a fun thing to do), and I need to save money. We had this nice little store-bought vanilla cake instead and it was perfect. It also happened to be in Hillers colors!


Making a wish. I hope it comes true, whatever it is!


Instead of a family party at the house, John wanted to go out to dinner at Ichigo Ichie, his favorite hibachi grill. He brought his two best friends from church, Ben and Conner. It was a lot of fun for everyone, and the food as always was delicious. I don't eat out very much anymore so it was a special treat for me, too. I'm the one who hatched him, after all! πŸ˜‰

Speaking of hatching--eggs for the fried rice!

Look at all that rice! The vegetable fried rice at hibachi grills is THE BEST!

Look at Sam πŸ˜†


The servers brought John a birthday treat (it's on the left side of the picture) and we all sang to him.



John has been looking forward to turning 18 for awhile. He's eager to be an adult (hopefully more of his behavior and decisions will catch up to that! 😏). He has no nostalgia or sentimentality about childhood and the past like I've always had. He's excited to graduate from high school and go off on his own to college. Even though he's so different from how I am, it really helps me deal with his growing up a lot better when he's relaxed and excited about it all. If he were anxious and sad about all of these life changes, I would be more like that too. Instead, I follow his lead as much as possible, and fortunately, his lead is a pretty good one.

Even though John and I definitely have our differences, I've always and will always love him so much. He'll always be my first baby. We've had some very special times and experiences together over the years, and I know there are more to come. I'm really going to miss him when he leaves for college in a few months. It will be so different without him here.

I'm going to miss scenes like this!