Sixteen

My youngest son recently turned sixteen. It seems like only yesterday that his big brother was talking about driving lessons and his Tzav Rishon, or the "First Draft Notice," from the Israeli army, and now it's his younger brother's turn. He too can open his first bank account and will receive his "First Draft Notice" within a few months. He can also learn to drive. I've just about got used to his older brother driving. It can't really be his turn now, can it?

Driving lessons here in Israel are an expensive business! Students are required to take a minimum of 28 lessons with an instructor before they can take the Mivchan Shlita, the practical driving test. Therefore driving lessons were suggested as his birthday present and this year's birthday card simply had to reflect that. I have shown my son holding an Israeli L-plate in one hand. The plate shares the general design of Israeli information signs in its square form and blue background. On the blue background is a white triangle pointing upwards, with the black Hebrew letter "ל" in it, from the Hebrew למידה‎ - "Learning".
In his other hand he is holding his grey MUN folder. MUN, or Model United Nations, is an academic activity in which students can learn about diplomacy, international relations, and the United Nations. MUN involves and teaches participants speaking, debating, and writing skills, in addition to critical thinking, teamwork, and leadership abilities. My youngest son, though a bright kid, is not the most serious of students but he really enjoys the MUN conferences. He is even willing to dress the part and will put on a white shirt and tie for the occasion!

Though we are a rather football-obsessed family (Mister Handmade in Israel and my eldest son are Arsenal mad and I have become a rather keen follower of Hull City A.F.C.) my youngest son wasn't so bothered until recently. In the last couple of years his interest in football has grown. Unlike his peers, he has picked differently from the more usual Manchester United or FC Barcelona! His favourite teams are our local Ironi Modi'in F.C. and Hull City A. F. C., so I added the team crests to the card along with a traditional black and white football. Unfortunately his Xiaomi phone had to appear on the card as well. He uses it rather a lot!
On a more positive note, my son is still an avid reader (regular followers of my blog will know that I have added books to many of his birthday cards over the years), so I added his Kindle, his preferred choice for reading these days. The pencils represent the hours he spends drawing in his bedroom.

Finally, he has almost given up on asking us to get him a dog (I know, I know!) and has reverted to begging for a hamster, the pet we used to have when the boys were younger. You can see a tiny little hamster peeking out from under the Israeli L-plate. A big green number 16 marks his age.

Happy Birthday to my creative, smart yet stubborn and rather lazy sixteen year old! We all enjoyed the Agents Escape Room that we did together on your birthday (we escaped in the nick of time with some assistance) and the sushi afterwards was delicious!

* This post has been shared on All Seasons, {nifty thrifty sunday}, Happiness is Homemade, Creative Mondays, The Good. The Random. The Fun., Amaze Me Monday, You're the Star Blog Hop, Made By You Monday, The Keeping It Real Link Up and {wow me} wednesday.

Fifteen

I nearly didn't make this card. It was my youngest son's birthday. He turned 15. It seems that 15 year olds have some quite strong opinions (actually he's had those since he was about 2!) and this 15 year old currently doesn't think much about his mum's work. He's not impressed by it. He's going to do something amazing when he starts working and he's not going to sit and make handmade cards all day. Okay.

So I wondered whether to make a special card for his big day, but Mister Handmade in Israel suggested that I might regret not making one. So I did. Handmade birthday cards, documenting each of my family members' hobbies and interests over the years, are of course part of the birthday traditions in our family. I didn't want to skip a year. But I did write a little note inside the card telling my soon-to-be-a-millionaire son that I love making my papercut art and that I am proud of what I do, even if I a not going to make a million from doing it. I wished him a happy birthday and sent hope that he too will find a profession that he first and foremost loves, even though, yes, the bills do need to be paid as well.

It looks like he's pretty happy with his card anyway!

Youngest son loves dogs. His current favourites are Golden Retrievers, so that's what I put on his card. He has his Xiaomi phone in one hand. Behind him is his laptop computer with one of his favourite Instagram pages, The Daily Woof, open on the screen. I also added some sushi (his favourite!) to the card, his Kindle (in spite of it all, he is still an avid reader), and the badges of his two favourite football teams - Ironi Modi'in F.C. and Hull City A. F. C. A big amber coloured number 15, in the same colour as the Hull City club crest, marks his age.

* If you would like to see just some of his previous birthday cards, please click here, here, and here.

** This post has been shared on Seasons, Happiness is Homemade, Amaze Me Monday, Inspiration Monday, Busy Monday, Inspire Me Monday, Mix it up Monday, Creative Mondays, Motivate Me Monday, Monday Morning Blog Club, The Good. The Random. The Fun., Made By You Monday, Inspire Me Monday, Make It Pretty Monday, Inspire Me Monday and The Homemaking Party.