#1 is 11 years old today. He wanted a sleepover with friends and to watch the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. He got the dvds for his birthday, along with some books and gift cards, and everyone came about 3 yesterday afternoon. They played outside for a long time, had pizza for dinner, played outside some more, and every now and then watched a bit of the movies. At 11:30 I told them to get inside and the doors would be locked. I guess that is when they started watching seriously, and I went in at 3:30 a.m. to check on them and they were still watching!!! The two youngest had fallen asleep earlier than the others, so they were up at 7:30. It's going to be a long day. #1 has really been showing us how he is growing lately. Yes, he is tall, but he has been maturing in other ways too. He is doing things without my asking, helping out around the house, asking what he can do to help, etc. It is a welcome change. Part of his sleepover caused a little concern because he wanted to ask some of his female friends. Some parents were concerned about that, so we had the boys and girls "sleep" in separate rooms. At first, #1 had said he would invite one girl, but she isn't allowed to go to sleepovers. Then he asked if I knew why "because she seems very mature and responsible. She helps a lot with her brothers and I think she's a good girl." The poor thing is still unaware that the girl friends are actually girls! He couldn't figure out why they had to sleep in separate rooms, and I pulled a "because I said so," so that I wouldn't have to enlighten him on the fact that all of his friends aren't guys.