Seven

You want joy?

Joy is a birthday party.

Do you know a child who could have a birthday and not be giddy?

I don't.

Around here, we start planning our birthday parties 11 months in advance. We don't always keep the same plan. But we do plan...

...anticipate

...dwell in joy while we dwell in possibilities.

A few weeks ago, Connor climbed in the car after school and said with purpose, "Mom, I've decided what I want to do for my birthday."

"You have, buddy?" I asked, my blue eyes searching out his coffee-brown eyes in the rearview mirror. "What do you want to do?"

"I want to have a breakfast pajama party, and all my friends can come to our house in their pajamas and we can eat breakfast and play video games and it will be AWESOME."

It was the perfect idea. Connor loves breakfast. He would stay in his pajamas all day if I let him (and sometimes, on lazy summer days, I did). And a morning party would mean we would have the rest of the day to play and enjoy this so-beautiful-my-heart-aches autumn.

So it was that four boys inhabited my house Saturday morning, wearing pajamas and eating pancakes and exuding joy. (If you want a detailed post about how to plan a breakfast pajama birthday party, check back; I'll have the skinny soon.)

Connor is seven now. He is still a jabberwocky. ("Mom? Mom? Mom? Do you want to be the green guy or the red guy, Mom? You can't choose green though, because that's my guy.") He has huge brown eyes and he makes friends so fast, it makes my head spin. He is super smart (he's been reading so long, first grade is a breeze), and he loves to build Legos and play video games and pretend he's a super hero. He doesn't like chocolate but he loves fruit. He is a terrific swimmer. He has a temper and a strong-will (which he gets from his father) and we have had our share of battles this year, for sure. But he continues to bring us so much

joy.