Friday Favorites, Graham's birthday edition (3.11.22.)

 

Happy Friday, friends and HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GRAHAM! More about this in just a few, though. I'm linking up with Andrea today for this weekly blog post of all my favorite things. 

This week has been a huge birthday week and it's been my favorite week to date. We celebrated with the six of us Tuesday night, by eating out at Longhorn's. It was delicious, but the company was stellar, if I do say so myself.

I absolutely LOVE being their mom. I have written about them several times this week. so keep scrolling past this post if you want to read more about that. This was probably their favorite night as well, since they love steak so much. All of them got that, except for Noah and me, and we had their parmesan crusted chicken. I brought home leftovers and Todd ate them the next night.

Jonah and Noah turned 19 yesterday and I made one of their favorite meals, beer cheddar joe's. I also made a yellow box cake mix with homemade chocolate frosting. It was okay, but it's pretty sweet, so I won't be eating anymore than the piece I had with Graham as he ate some.

These pictures of Jonah and Noah perfectly describe how completely opposite they are. Jonah has always loved being active. He's never loved watching movies or playing video games. This picture of him on that shelf was during the great lockdown of 2020, when he had the brilliant idea to build that high up shelf in our garage. He stayed up all night watching YouTube videos on how to do it all, he made a list of everything they'd need and the next day he and Todd built the shelf. It is awesome and holds all our old camping gear and lots of other things. Noah, on the other hand has always preferred movies and video games to physical activity. He's loved cars for as long as I can remember, so it's no surprise that he has a fancy one himself. This picture is him with his best friend Jacob. They went to California together in 2019 in the trip of a lifetime. As I write this, they are still best friends and Jacob came home from school for their birthday. 

I could cry. Good friends are my favorite.

Noah wanted a car rug for part of his birthday present so that he could do this with it. He cut it up to make it car mats for his fancy car! I love how it turned out and it's his favorite. We had one for the boys when they were little, and it was their favorite thing to play with.

New hair is my favorite! I treated myself to fresh highlights yesterday. These days are always my favorite way to feel pampered and I'm glad my husband never minds. (It's not cheap!) 

This made me laugh and cringe a bit this week. Anyone else? These gas prices are for sure not my favorite, but what choice do we have? I am trying not to complain about it when things are so much worse for the people who've fled from their home country of Ukraine. I will say this, though—these gas prices will make me hesitate over how much I drive. 

I'm saving the best for last—this handsome gentleman is Graham, the one who made me a mom. Today he turns 23! That seems shocking to me, even as I wrote that sentence. I thought I'd share a little about him. 

Ever since he was a very young child, he has always preferred adults to kids his age. I'm glad it finally evened out as he's grown into adulthood, but know that lots of people really bug him. He's particular about friends, girls and just about everything else. It sounds like I'm considering this something negative, but I'm not. I love this about him and the fact that he's always been mature beyond his years. He's a leader, he's known to do the right thing and he loves being able to help people. I can't count how many wrecks he has witnessed and pulled over to assist as he's been on his way to a job. When he took the test in 2018 to be a first responder, he aced it and made the highest score in his class. All of that stuff comes very naturally to him.

Graham loves few things as much as he loves his truck. He has made it his own ever since he purchased it and I love that he has something fun to do with a vehicle he enjoys so much. I have only ridden with him once during the years it's been his and I had to climb into it with the assistance of a stepladder, I kid you not. I cannot lift my leg that high, even by standing on a curb. It's massive. Graham loves having a vehicle that draws attention and one thing he always says to his friends or to anyone who asks him is that he does this because he remembers loving trucks like that when he was little. He is always reminding his friends to act with integrity and to always be respectful of little eyes that may be watching. I'm so proud of him for that and he does keep people in line. 

He loves his dog(s). He's been so happy to finally have his own and it's precious how much she adores him. Most of you know I help him out by watching her in the daytime, so I love her too. She's been the sweetest, most fun addition to our home. Everyone who meets her instantly falls in love with this sweet baby. 

I am so proud of our Graham. He has always been a joy since the day he was born. He never rocked the boat at all as a toddler or young child, he was always super obedient and easy going. He is good at everything he does, much like his dad. We have always enjoyed him being around us and he never went through any annoying phase a lot of boys go through, even in middle school. I am so glad that he made me a mom. Hopefully we didn't mess him up too much! We've always referred to him as the guinea pig of our sons. He seems to have turned out alright so far and he really does have his head on right. I know that when I'm worried about a situation, we can trust him to take charge. He is not perfect by any means, but he is a loyal brother. When Jonah wrecked my car last summer, I'd never seen him run so fast down the stairs to get to him and he was the first one on the scene that night. He's dependable, trustworthy and faithful. I hope the Lord has someone special for him someday! I know he will be the best husband and dad, Lord willing. 

My greatest prayer for him and all the others that he would love the Lord with all of his heart, soul, strength and mind and that he would always love others as he loves himself. In case he's reading this (he's not, I'm sure)—I love you, Graham! Happy birthday to you, my son. 

Thanks for reading my blog! Love to all.