Eleven

Last night we were finally all assembled to sing to Mark.  In lieu of a cake I made him cupcakes to take to scouts...

Here are eleven things I love about Mark:

1) He appreciated and was touched by every single greeting he got on his birthday.  He loved the phone calls.  His brother and sister left him cards.  Some of his cousins mailed him cards, he got cards from his grandparents.  He said, "I am going to display my winnings," and he hung them on the fridge.

 
2) He loves chocolate. A lot.  A whole lot.

3) When he hears me say something is broken he quietly goes to see if he can figure out how to make it work.  Often he can.

4) Mark is flexible.  Often we have "car school" if we have a lot of errands or appointments.  He has done a lot of schoolwork in the orthodontist waiting room.  He amiably packs a clipboard and pencil.

5) He loves when "the kids" (as he and I call them) come home from school.  We gather around the conquering heroes to hear about their day and Mark's face reflects his joy.

6) He is tenderhearted.  He particularly hates it when I'm sick.  He smothers me with cooing and patting and hugging and kissing to try to make me better.

7) He is really good at accents and imitating.  And making me laugh.

8) Mark is tenacious and won't give up on an idea.  This makes me crazy sometimes but I can see that it will serve him well in life.

9) He doesn't mind being teased or laughing at himself.

10) Mark loves his friends loyally and completely.

They willingly paused their game to let me snap this picture.  I'm pretty fond of Mark's friends too.  Saturday when we were celebrating Mark's birthday at a restaurant Gavin was with us and I hoped people would think he was my son too.  He fits in.

11) Mark makes everything better.  When Braeden sees pictures of me before Mark was born he says I'm prettier since I had Mark.  I don't know if that's true but I know everything is better with him.

I can't imagine the bland flavor my life would be without my Mark.

Here's a morning after shot I just took 20 seconds ago.  He's contemplating building his new LEGO set.  In a rare turn of events, he got LEGOs for his birthday....as a bonus you can see a glimpse of my new TV stand and the stuff that will go on my new bookshelf that is currently in the garage, still in it's box.