The BIG 10! (Again)

Solomon kicked off our February month by turning the big 10.  He’s our 3rd kid to venture into double digits and it was exciting and fun and a twinge sad.  Three of our babies are no longer in those sweet single digits.  Ahhhh!!!!

Solomon is usually very detailed about the things he likes and wants on his birthday.  The kid usually plans out elaborate desserts and class treats and a fun birthday celebration.  This year he was all about the surprises.  He made zero birthday present requests and really wasn’t sure what he wanted in the first place.  He’s pretty chill when it comes to things like that.  He did remember that for one of our niece’s 10th birthday’s we gave her 10 little presents so that ended up being his only request.

The morning of his birthday he walked down the steps all tired like and when he got to the bottom of the steps we fired off a confetti cannon.  I LOVED IT!  And so did everyone else. It was hilarious and fun and he didn’t see it coming.  We enjoyed sausage and biscuits and a pile of cinnamon rolls with 10 candles.  Hudson and Solomon are different ages only 4 months out of the year…they were happy to get back to being the same age again.

His 10 gifts were a huge hit.  It was fun brainstorming and finding all the different items we thought he’d like…a bag of Hi-Chews, a can of spicy Pringles, paper footballs, a Fortnite tee, Arcade & The Triple T Token book, a counting ball, new headphones, an Ethiopian notebook, a new wallet and Takis socks.  He really loved opening each of them and Amon said he wanted this present idea when he turns 32.  Haha.

I always eat lunch with the birthday kid at school and bring a special snack to share with classmates.  Solomon picked out fun Valentines candies this year and he and Harper took care of all the treat bags.  I LOVE BIG KIDS!!!

Ms. Julie sent him a fun bag full of all his favorite treats too.  Two bags of Takis and the kid was over the moon.  One of Solomon’s love languages is food and especially chips and sodas.  The kid LOVES chips!!!  His day was instantly made even better.  We snagged icees after school and for dinner we did Zaxby’s wings followed up by Dairy Queen for dessert.  His birthday love tank was for sure full and running right over.  Gah, we love this kid!!!

We asked Solomon over and over again what he’d like to do for a birthday celebration.  He could not land on anything and finally went with the surprise route again.  His only request was that it was fun.  Josh Kelley and I schemed and planned.  All the other Kelley children were sent off leaving just Hudson and Solomon and the surprise was on.  Some of their friends started to show up at our house and once everyone was there we sent them on a scavenger hunt Josh and I had planned out.  They went to different places in our house and outside our house and in our neighborhood.  The last clue sent them to laser quest and the little boy crowd went wild.

After laser tag we headed back home for pizza and cake and ice-cream.  I found these awesome Fortnite dancing silhouettes  on Etsy and surprised him with a fun Fortnite cake.  There were presents and nerf guns going off and another surprise confetti cannon that made me laugh until I cried and boys devouring all the pizza and soda and cake and ice-cream their hearts’ desired.

(Confetti number tutorial via Amanda Evanston )

After it was all said and done Solomon said he had so much fun and thanked us for a fun day with his sweet hugs and soft words.  We had pulled off quite the successful surprise for this amazing 10-year-old.  He and Hudson had the best time and it was crazy fun to hang with just them and celebrate Solomon’s sweet life.  I look at him in awe most days.  He has endured more loss and trauma than most of us will ever experience.  He is strong and resilient and kind.  He is quiet and reserved and works hard to express his feelings.  He is a helper and a giver of hugs for no reason at all other than because he loves. you.  He makes our days brighter and funnier and far better than we could have ever imagined.

Happy 10th birthday to our king Solomon.  You are a gift!

6 Comments

  1. Heather Herman says:

    I really miss Leo in these pics. Winter’s little face is the sweetest and I could literally kiss it off. Just being honest- I will never know the joy of the confetti cannon bc I don’t want to clean up the mess. Yes, I’m ashamed to admit that. I’m always in amazement of your skinny tower cakes. You’re so fancy. Always, always missing Everett. Love you guys! Happy Birthday Sol!!!

    • LOL, I was thinking the same thing about the Birthday cannon! But oh so fun I’m sure in the moment. Solomon is an adorable young man and I love how much you love all your kids so big. So heartwarming. What an awesome birthday. Keep being a flashlight for others.

  2. Happiest of happy birthdays Solomon…..what a day you had!!!! x

  3. Happy, Happy to Sol, who must be the sweetest and has the greatest smile! Such a fun celebration!

  4. Oh man! Takis socks! I’m gonna have to look those up! We have some Takis lovers in our house too!

  5. You just solved my How To Train Your Dragon birthday cake problem! Cake toppers on the way!

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