Eleven

I meant to post yesterday but the day got busy and I simply ran out of time. We were celebrating a birthday you see and there were other things to do! Actually, there are always plenty of other things to do, especially when I am hosting a sleepover for eight 11 year old boys tomorrow evening, but then that's another story altogether.

My eldest son recently wrote in an English project "My Mum is an artist and making cards is her job. She always makes me cards for my birthday and I really like them - they are always good." I guess he was expecting a pretty special card from me yesterday then!

So, the 'special' 11th birthday card showed my football mad son in his new Arsenal shirt, holding a ball in one hand and a tennis racket, his other favourite sport, in the other. He is wearing his white bicycle helmet because he loves riding his bike too (and got a new one for his birthday - lucky him!). My eldest is a keen reader - not quite as mad about books as his younger brother - but he enjoys reading every evening in bed and definitely has his favourites. He devoured the Percy Jackson series and recently discovered The Roman Mysteries books written by Caroline Lawrence. Not bad given that English is really his second language!

I added a chess piece into the card design because my son is a keen player and has been going to an after-school class for more than five years. 'Rabbity', the now rather sad-looking stuffed rabbit who was an important part of his life until a couple of years ago, popped in to say hello. Rabbity's banner declares "I'm still here" because if anyone was to see the real Rabbity, they would know that things are not looking good for him! He's been well loved...

Happy Birthday to my sporty yet studious 11 year old. I can't believe you are getting so big, though some teenage 'attitude' does occasionally creep in there to remind me! Let's try keep it at bay for a while, okay?