TEN

Evan has been so excited and anxious to turn ten that it seemed like second Christmas for him.  He counted down the days and hours, he could hardly sleep at night, he was constantly saying, "When is it going to be my birthday?!?!"  Then, finally it was July 9th.

Evan opted for one big expensive gift from us instead of a party with friends.  He has never enjoyed crowds or having lots of people watching him open gifts.  So, we set up a grand event for the big unveiling....

He is always begging for more rechargable batteries since the 12 he has are never enough.  So we go him three more packs with a tag attached.  "Hmmmmm..... what could these be for?"

We handed him a small box with the remote control to..... something.  It had another tag on it asking, "Hmmmm.... what could this be for?"

So he stuffed in batteries and turned the dial on the remote.  We had hidden his big gift in a box in the hallway, so when he used the remote, he heard it and ran to grab it out.

He has wanted a hobby-grade RC of his very own for so long, and now he got one!!

This is the new face of TEN.  Watch for it throughout this post.

So he turns it on and tries to rev it a bit, and nothing happens.  Again and again we try and still nothing.  It worked fine when we tested it.  It obviously worked when he heard it making noise in the box, but here on the floor, nothing.

So began Evan's tenth birthday.  :-(

Breakfast was a sad occasion.  We all ate and got ready for the day while Todd spent the next two hours troubleshooting and making phone calls....

It still wasn't working.  We needed a new plan to make the tears stop.  We gave Evan a wad of spending cash and I took him to a really nice toy store to buy whatever he wanted.  That worked well enough to get his mind off being sad and have something to do.  He found an airplane building kit, a mosaic to put together and a flip-book making kit.  Lots of stuff to do.

Also a ginormous robot arm.

One of the first smiles of the day!

We also had to take a brief moment to update Evan's overnight growth (obviously, you get taller that night).  He is 50 pounds and 51 inches.  He wears size 1 shoes, size 7-8 shirts, and size 8 slim pants. I can still pick him up, which he makes me do, and also can still carry him around, which he makes me do.



Bryce came over with the boys so we could have a little dessert time together.  Evan requested chocolate pudding for the morning and brownies for afternoon (this is our new idea instead of birthday breakfast which is too much work).

He told me he doesn't like to smile for pictures anymore.  Hmn.

Bryce got him a big monster truck just like the one he had when he was five (and long ago broken and gone).  He was overjoyed just holding it!  He said, "This brings back so many old memories...."

So the day wasn't a total waste, and that night he knew his truck was in capable hands -- our friend is an RC toy expert -- and so far it seemed the problem was with the remote, not the truck.  A bit of relief for our sweet guy as he fell asleep on his birthday.

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Here are a few pictures from the day before his birthday, opening mail.

"I don't like to smile for pictures Mom."

Packages from Gramma are always a great excuse to pull out the pocket knife.  This gift box was filled with goodies and Evan loved them all!

He was also blessed with a fun goodie box from Granny earlier that day, but I didn't have my camera.  A paint kit, wooden picture frame for displaying his art, a mosaic, some Garfield comics and assorted other art stuff. 

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So, yesterday Todd called Evan from work saying he had a fully functioning truck fixed and ready to run -- we could come get it now, or wait till after work.

Which one do you think he picked?

Luckily there is a huge field and a gravel lot to play in where Todd is working!

Shouting and shaking the whole time!  "This. Is. AWESOME!"

TEN!

He is happy now :-)