Rockwell Turns 14!!!

 Rockwell is now 14 years old!!

He is very proud of his mustache and feels like he's basically a man now. :) He's sounded like a man for months now, and I think I'm just now getting used to that. I used to get startled every time I heard a man in our house when I knew that Paul wasn't home. Haha. 

Rockwell is a great brother to Tessa and Damon. I got home after the kids were already home from school one day and walked in to see Rockwell helping Damon with his homework. Earlier this week I was telling Paul that Damon needs to learn all the authors of the books he's read for Battle of the Books. Rockwell said, "I can make him a game to learn them all." He went to the computer and created a game to help Damon memorize the authors' names. Rockwell and Tessa have a great time hanging out together. They find each other hilarious and genuinely enjoy each other's company. Rock is definitely the cool older brother, and I love to see him so helpful and kind to his siblings.

Rockwell still eats a bag of popcorn every single day. He's doing great in school. His advanced math class is challenging him, and he's working hard to rise to the challenge. He loves his Spanish class and does really well learning that language. He often speaks in a mix of Spanglish sentences. :) And he still really enjoys playing the clarinet, and sounds great on it! Track has started this month and he's so excited to run with the team every day again. Rockwell still loves Young Mens and hanging out with friends in our ward. He is a balanced, wise, athletic, hard-working teenager. We're so proud of you Rockwell and love love love you!!

Rockwell requested crepes for his birthday breakfast, so Paul got up early to make him some.

And of course give him the birthday spray of whipped cream in his mouth. :)

He was happy that it was Pajama Day at school.

He was bugged that he had to go to school on his birthday, but when he got home he said it was an amazing day there, so I think he's glad we didn't let him stay home like he had asked. :) Vincent came over and spent the whole afternoon and night with us. We had steak tacos for dinner, which were so delicious!

Then he opened presents.

He couldn't think of anything he wanted this year, so he was happy to get cash. He likes to go out with his friends, so he's spending money more than he used to. He was excited to get some replenished. 

SweetTart Ropes are his favorite candy, so Tessa and Damon each got him some of those.

And he was really excited for the Hogwarts Legacy game for the Switch too.

I told Vincent to get in the picture with Rockwell and his cake and he said, "Yes, I'll stand here so I'm taller than you." Haha. Height and facial hair seems to be what teenage boys care about. :)

I loved seeing Rockwell have such a great day. We're sure glad he's in our family!!

He chose to spend the day with Wyatt for his party this year. He wanted to go to Lowe's for most the day and then play video games for a while too. Monday was President's Day, so they had the day off school. We picked Wyatt up at 10:00 and they jumped at Lowe's until about 3:30, with a break for some McDonald's when they got hungry. Then I dropped them off at Wyatt's house for a few hours so they could play one of the games that he has. When I picked him up that night, Al told him she hoped he had a great birthday. He said, "I think it was my best one yet."