Once upon a time, in the days of yore, Billy had a Knight Birthday party and it was awesome. As a child, I never really imagined what having children would be like but I did know that if I had sons I would throw a knight party. But my boys have been more interested in other things.

Until this year.

My heart seized up when Max announced he wanted the same party as last year. The same party! The one that I didn’t like the first time around! I nodded and and mm-hmmmed my way through his plans. Then I sprung it on him.

“What about a Knight Birthday?!?! Huh?? Huh??!! (There were big eyes and wide smiles for effect. I was SELLING it!)

Weeeelllllll. . .

“With SWORDS!!!”

SOLD!

We made trips to the library for all sorts of books on chivalry, armor, King Arthur and heraldry. He poured over crests and looked up Bishops coats of arms. Weeks ago he and Fr. Tyler finalized a design and then it was discussed and discussed and discussed. We delivered scrolls to our prospective guests and then prayed that the rain we had been praying for would stop for Saturday.

God is good. The weather held and come Saturday the house was filled with 9 boys and all their noise and excitement. What better time to bust out the acrylic paint than that? After an hour of sketching and chatting and painting and laughing, I finally kicked them outside to practice their archery. Then Jac came out to referee the sword fighting and ended up joining in. Turns out, swords are irresistible to males!

Also irresistible is chocolate cake and chocolate ice cream. It was the only thing that brought them back inside for singing and gifts. As I looked around the table I realized that this was our first all home school party. And then I wondered if this was how noisy the boys were, what would 9 girls be like? I was getting ahead of myself. . .

Jac not only made 9 wooden shields and fitted them on each boy, he also hand crafted wooden swords for each young man. Upon receiving their weapon, King Max had them kneel to be knighted and he gave them new names such as Sir Trevor the Just and John Paul the Brave. And then, under a brooding sky, the new Knights whooped and battled until their own kingdoms beckoned they return.

It could be said that for Max’s ninth birthday, we partied royally.

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