Gabe's 1st Sleepover

On Saturday night, we had 3 other boys Gabe's age over for a sleep over and other fun birthday adventures. This is the first time I've hosted a sleepover for one of our boys... sure I went to many, and I've had youth kids over many times, but to actually have Gabe's friends over to spend the night, it was a first!

At one point, in the midst of keeping them all fed, Chad looked over at me and asked if I realized that this was going to be our life in a few years... it was like our own Bowman fraternity house :) They were all so good-- I mean they were boys-- wrestling and forts and lots of laughing and giggling over farts and such, but the only thing I can truly complain about is that one of them dumped the cereal milk over the clean dishes, thinking it was the dirty side. So really, can you escape anymore unharmed from a sleepover? I think not! I mean, whoever it was, was trying to clean up their own dishes!

So when they arrived, after their first lightsaber fight, we had pizza and cookie cake for Gabe. Then it was time to load up and head to cosmic rollerskating. Gabe loves skating and he's really good at it-- especially for his age, it's totally his "thing". So everyone skated for a bit at their own pace-- it cracked me up because a group of 4 girls all spending the night together would've done each lap right beside one another, but these boys didn't skate together once. Before long they were enjoying the video games and then by the end of the night, Gabe had Chad talked into a game of laser tag-- I think that was the highlight. Me and the little boys joined them for a bit, before heading home for bed. Both Max and Jack think they're as big as Gabe and have to be reminded often that they don't have the same privledges that he does... for Max, that's a hard pill to swallow. Reminds me of his mother... always wanting to be older than she was...

They came home and had snacks and movie time before being sent to bed around 10:15. They told Chad they'd tell stories for a bit, then they'd go to sleep. We had to make 2 more quick visits reminding them that it was bedtime and they were all out around 11ish... not bad! And no fussing required! Now they were also back up again by 7am, which totally caught us off guard because they slept in the basement where it was dark.

They gobbled breakfast, finished their movie, wrestled and played and had more lightsaber fights, and even all got showered and out the door for church by 11am. About 30 minutes before it was time to leave, I asked them to gather their stuff and pick up and it was spotless before we left. I was rather impressed!!

We're thankful for our 10 year old and sweet friends-- God has blessed us all so much!