Friday Favorites: Ethan Edition

 Today my oldest is eleven and I'm finding it hard to believe that my baby is growing up! In fact, he's seriously growing!  I'm pretty sure that he will be taller than me by the time he finishes 5th grade (so is everyone else!).  Ethan is a joy to be around (most of the time, anyway) and has so many great thoughts and ideas.  Apart from some tween angst, he is so much fun to just hang out with! Because it's his birthday, I decided to ask him what some things he's really loving these days.  


1.  Prince Warrior Series - Ethan started this series last year, but really dove in over the Spring and finished all 4 books over the summer.  These books are written by Priscilla Shirer and are adventure books that tell a story of adventure in the land of Ahoratos and fighting off the enemy in the unseen.  Throughout the story, she weaves the armor of God that is found in Ephesians 6. 

Ethan absolutely loved these books and couldn't put them down.  He is a huge Harry Potter and Percy Jackson fan and said that these were better than Harry Potter.  So, If you have a tween boy, I highly recommend these books!

2. Lego Architecture Sets - Ethan has always been a lego fan, but as he has gotten older, he has moved away from sets that are quick and easy, or even inspire pretend play.  Lego's are no longer his go-to toy to play with, unless he and his brother and building some crazy house or building cars to race down the hallway.  As he has gotten older, he has found that he still loves the satisfaction of creating something over time.  The architecture sets are more difficult and time consuming that they bring that satisfaction of creating something over time and still getting to play with Legos. . . just in a more grown up way.  

3. Kids Read Truth Study Books - Last fall, Ethan asked me to write him a Bible Study starting in Genesis and going through the whole Bible.  And while his desire to dig deep into God's Word makes my heart so happy, I couldn't help but think how much work that was.  Thankfully, my favorite Bible Study people (she reads truth), came out with some great resources for tweens and teens that allow them to open their Bibles daily, read scripture, and do a little journaling.  He's currently working on his second book and he's loving them!

4.  Games - Ethan lives and breathes sports, but he also loves a good, competitive game!  This past weekend at our annual family trip to the beach, he joined in on a few of the more difficult card games and caught on pretty quick.  Whether video games or a quick game of soccer in the backyard or some corn hole or clue, as long as he's playing a fun game with his people his cup is being filled.  His love language is definitely quality time, and playing games fits right in!  

5. Adventure and Experiences - Ethan has inherited our love of traveling and is always on the lookout for what we are going to do next.  Once he hit double digits, he got to pick between a friends party or an adventure.  He keeps picking adventures so I'm super happy. This year he picked an Earthquakes game and I think it's going to be a fun trip!  He soaks in our summer adventures even though we are all incredibly tired afterwards starts planning our next trip.  He loves adventure and good food.  I love that he's not all that into physical objects, but it sure makes it hard to shop for him!
 And that's Ethan's favorite things! Now, I am ready to celebrate his eleventh birthday with delicious food and quite possibly, ice cream.