Weekend long date with Jake...

A couple weekends ago, Rick took Carter, Bella, and Malia to So. Cal to visit the grandparents. I couldn't go because I worked on Saturday and Monday. Jake couldn't go because he had a scout campout on Friday and Saturday. Saturday night, I got off early and Jake was done by 5:00, so the date began. We talked about our options and decided on a movie. Jake was excited to go to the movie, even though it was with me! I know these days are short lived, but it was nice to have him be excited to hang out with me. Sunday we went to church followed by a nice long nap in the quiet house. By the afternoon, I decided to introduce him to a classic...Ferris Bueler's Day off. I think I may regret that at some point, but we had a great time watching it. We made gluten free peanut butter chocolate chip cookie bars. I ate one and Jake chipped away at the rest of the pan. By the next morning, the whole thing was gone! I ended up having Monday off, but he had a commitment so we met up at lunchtime and went to Doghouse Grill, one of his favorites. By the time we got home, the troops were on their way back. I so enjoyed having the whole weekend with Jake. He is such a good kid. He's funny. He gets my sense of humor. He's game for anything. He would've been an awesome only child. I know as he gets older, my one on one time with him will be less and less as he will have other places he'd rather be. But I will cherish the time we spent that weekend just enjoying each other's company. He was genuinely happy to have me all to himself, and I felt the same. This past weekend, Jake (and Bella) competed in Destination Imagination, as they have done for the past couple years. Jake's team took first place in regionals and Bella's took second. It had been agreed upon beforehand that no team would go to state because it was being held in San Diego which presented its share of hardships both timewise and financially. However, I was asked a few days after the competition if we would allow Jake and his team to go if they raised the money to do so and figured out a way to get down there and back. Though I was sad that Bella wouldn't have the opportunity, we decided to allow him to do so. Not all the parents felt the same way. In the end, one set of parents would not allow their child to go. That child has been a good friend of Jake's since we moved here. When Jake learned of this situation, he and his friends had a talk at school. Jake and the other boy decided they dind't feel good about leaving their friend behind, so they opted not to go. When Jake shared this with me, I could not have been more proud. Though I allowed him to make his own decision, the fact that he valued his friendship with this one child more than a competition (which her very much wanted to attend) made me a proud parent. I've learned that there are times when as parents we have to step back and allow our children to make their own choices, and accept the consequences. The rest of the team is not particularly happy with Jake or the other two. However, all three boys who will not be attending the competition are still going to help with fundraising and teaching the new team members their parts in the skit. Hopefully, this will lessen the blow to the disapointed remaining team members and allow for their friendships to continue. They are a great bunch of kids. Jake's growing up...