July Alexism's

After church today Alex and I were walking down the hall and I asked how his class was?

Fine.

Then he said, "Mom, I think we should  all fast for Kambree." 

I was a little taken back. Wondering what he knew that I didn't.

Uhm....why?

Because she is sick.

Oh. (Relief flooding my body.) She is sick but she has medicine and is getting better. (We thought she had strep last week but the culture came back negative however because her tonsils were so inflamed and puss filled, they gave her a Rx anyway.) 

Apparently he had a lesson on fasting and Kambree was the sickest person he could think of to fast for?

Sweet.

I don't allow Alex to talk about his birthday until July 1st. (His birthday is the 28th of the month) The reason? He will talk about it nonstop. He'll change his mind a hundred times. Tell me what kind of cake he wants starting in January and then changed that a few dozen times, plan his party over and over again and the list of presents never ends and has no monetary cap.  So earlier this month - once the "birthday ban" had been lifted, we had a talk about how birthday's are not just about telling people what you want them to buy you,  it's a celebration of your birth. A chance for the people that love you to rejoice in you being born and give gifts they WANT to give you. (This after a long list of presents and demands for his birthday.)  He nodded and I was pretty sure he wasn't getting it but at least I had tried. Then this was his gratitude entry for July 19th:
I am grateful that I get to celebrate my birth because they never did that in Ukraine.
Yea. Okay. So I forget that this is only the third birthday celebration he's ever had.
He had been going back and forth about having a party. Normally at 13 I quit throwing parties unless it's a special one. No, wait. My girls tend to have parties all the time but Austin just tapered out around 12 or 13 and the invitations from his friends did too. He just sort of grew out of them?  But I told Alex he could have a party because let's face it, he's missed a lot of birthdays and parties in his little life.  He was hem-hawing back and forth. Yesterday, I told him he had to decide as we needed to get out invitations if he wanted one. I had suggested going to a movie with four or five friends - sort of low key - I can't imagine trying to entertain 12 and 13 year old boys in my house or yard during the hot afternoon. He asked if he could just take his family?
"You just want to have a party with your family?"
"Yes. And Brach."
Well, that's easy enough. Okay. I pulled up the movies at our local discount theater and he picked Thor. So we'll hit the matinee on his birthday as a family plus one best friend/cousin.
I'm a little worried he'll be disappointed with his gifts as he's not getting a $165 air soft bb gun, I-pod touch or $350 long board. (All things on his list.)