absent birthday boy

It’s Max’s birthday today.

And he’s not here. I think it’s not quite fair for a mother to have to have her son be gone on a scout camp-out on his birthday TWO YEARS IN A ROW. And for his fourteenth birthday? Come on.

I’m sure he’s all hunky-dory hanging with his friends roasting some marshmallows and telling ghost stories, but all day my heart has been aching for him to be here with us.

He, just like his Dad, does NOT like getting his picture taken. So I snapped from afar when I dropped him off at the church for the camp-out:(he’s not even in that picture but you get the idea…)

I couldn’t get a good shot without embarrassing him so I went to the car and put on my telephoto lens. I know I am nerdy. I was like the paparazzi on a secret mission.
Look how cute he is:
Sorry Max, but what’s a mom supposed to do when she’s saying goodbye to her thirteen-year-old boy forever? He’ll come back all maturely fourteen.

Even though it’s nearly midnight I can’t go to sleep without writing down my 14 favorite things about him:

1) He notices beauty around us and points it out to me.

2) He’s a hard worker. He sticks with jobs ’til they’re done (most of the time at least 🙂

3) He is THANKFUL. He usually says thank you an average of five or six times for any extra odds or ends he happens to get as the oldest of five children.

4) He is the teasing big brother I always wished for.

5) Although he’s a tease, the twinkle in his eye when his little sisters are around is about the sweetest thing ever. I wish I could capture that look full of love he gives when those girls show him some trick or tell him something he finds amusing.

6) He loves the things I cook for him. All of them, even the ones my girls turn their noses up at.

7) He thanks me profusely for all that cooking in #6. Oh I love him for that.

8) He rarely ever complains. If he does, it’s usually about how he wants to quit the piano. But he’s getting so good:

(He’ll be mad at me for posting that because he messed up, but I love that smile at the end so I couldn’t resist.)
9) He always empties the trash the first time I ask. That’s a really big deal in my book.

10) He’s low maintenance. He doesn’t ask for a lot, and he’s content to just go with the flow.

11) He makes good decisions and he’s smart as a whip.

12) He was the only one in our family to finish the entire Book of Mormon for our B of M challenge last Fall. (I missed the deadline by two days, darn it, but he stuck with it.)

13) He’s a good driver. Mostly on the beach at Bear Lake, but a couple times here in the desert too. (shhhhh.)

14) He talks to the television when watching the same way his Dad does. They have both given several sports figures a piece of their mind through that thing. I love watching them watch sports together.

And one to grown on: He is my boy. I couldn’t ask for a better one.

I love you with all my heart Maxerooni. Wherever you may be laying under those beautiful stars tonight, I hope you can feel my love reaching out for you.

Love, Mom