Happy 13th, B!

 And just like that, we've got another teenager in the house. Brennan turned 13 on the 13th, making this his Golden Birthday. He did not want to do a party, so we just spent the day doing family stuff.

In the morning, he went and picked out a Baker's Dozen of donuts (13!) with Ryan. I mentioned we were hating all the cakes here, right? We sprinkled gold edible glitter on the pretty stack to make a donut "cake." He also wanted gold "13" balloons, and I got him this fun gold 13 cake topper too. 

For his activity, all the boys went to a monster truck show at the Alamo Dome. Beforehand, they went to dinner at Mod for pizza. 

He got athletic shorts with zipper pockets, so he doesn't lose his phone. He also got a wall hanger for all his swimming and running ribbons and medals. A day or two beforehand we got him a new Garmin watch, and he still needs new running shoes and running track spikes.

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Ok, now it's time for my annual Brennan update.

ALGEBRA

This boy tested out of 7th grade math in the first week of school, and he was able to skip ahead to Algebra as a 7th grader. This summer he wants to take Honors Geometry - like Collin did last summer - so that when he gets bussed to the high school next school year, he'll be in the Honors Algebra 2 class. He is one smart cookie, and he really doesn't even try. It is crazy to see. 

RUNNING

Brennan had a great cross country season this past fall, and he is planning on running track this spring. We don't really know any details yet though, so there isn't much to say. His long legs (he's 5'10", passed me this fall) are a huge asset, and he looks like a gazelle out there. It's so fun to see him work hard and get competitive. His fastest two-mile race was 12:59. He got some medals and ribbons - hence the new wall hanger.

DEACONS

Brennan was called as the new deacon's quorum president at the beginning of the year. He is a natural leader and really does excel at delegating and seeing and fulfilling needs. I love seeing him grow into himself. He is a creature of habit and likes things to be routine and predictable. I can't imagine where that came from!