As of Monday

I now have a teenager. Wow! #1 had his 13th Birthday on Monday. He is starting to make me feel a bit old.

He had a very cool birthday party on Friday night with his friends. They went to a laser tag place and played unlimited games.

His great grandmother drove up here to be here with him on his birthday. She got him some really nice things.

But, the BEST present of all came from Mom and Dad. We got him an iPod. He was so excited. He has wanted one forever! It was also the least expensive thing he wanted. I don't know when birthdays got so expensive, but geez!

We don't give our kids birthday parties every year. About 3 years ago, we decided that birthday parties are only going to happen on special years as they get older, 10, 13, 16, and 18. On the years they don't have big parties they can invite one friend out to dinner with us. The kids have never complained about this. After how much we spent on #1's party this year, I am really glad that we made this rule.