8 is Great!

To the boy who is always two steps ahead of me…you’re 8 now! You were born one month after 9-11. You came at a time when the world changed in an instant. You were hope in the midst of confusion. New life starkly born into a dying and fallen world. It was always fallen, but I never noticed it like I did in 2001. It was a difficult year on many fronts, but you brought hope and joy to our family. How eight years have come and gone so quickly, I can’t understand. It’s the cliched saying of a mother or father, but it’s cliche because it’s true…where does the time go?

You’re quick at everything you do, Gabe. God has given you a good mind. You are our budding linguist…our first to talk (at 15 months) and now able to do verbal gymnastics better than most kids I know. You are genuinely witty and, as Dad notices frequently, good at thinking outside the box. And speaking of boxes, you like to salvage any that you can for future projects. In fact, you like to salvage many things…like chicken bones. We all still marvel that you thought saving them under your bed for your imaginary dog was a good idea. Last week you wanted to tape a pancake to your bed because Luke made breakfast in the shape of everyone’s initials. You have a perpetual sweet spot for babies and are excited to have another brother whom you may get to room with.

You love 2nd grade and are reading up a storm. You look up to your big brothers as if no one else matters though you all can fight pretty well too. I marvel how you and Ty can play all day on any given theme: from cowboys to soldiers to horses to star wars. Amelia cried the first day you moved out of the Sunday School you were in together. She holds pretty tight to you too. You are our middle child in so many ways, but as I see our family grow, I see the middle is the glue that binds them all together. You are reflected strongly in each of your siblings and of course in our lives.

I pray in the coming year that you will feel the great extent you are loved. That you will grow in wisdom and stature with God and men. May you humbly learn to look to Him! Happy Birthday dear Gabe!

The birthday snack idea came from Gourmet Mom on the Go.  If you give it a try, make sure to follow her directions and use paste rather than liquid food coloring.  I didn’t and had a gloppy mess, so we reverted to white crayons which worked out just as well though not quite as authentic.

First

On the other side of a decade now.  What an amazing and terrifying week it’s been.  The Monday night before your birthday, you stayed up a little past your siblings helping me make your giant-sized cookies to take for school.  It was a nice time together.  I told you how blessed I was to be your mom and you hugged me and reciprocated the blessings.  These are the joys of motherhood…to watch you grow into a fine boy and beyond.  As the week progressed, I was quickly reminded how the role of parenting is a mixed bag of joys and trials.

You are facing the tween years and that within the fury of a godless generation.  All too soon talks will have to take place and already are in small ways.  You are recognizing your capacity to sin and praise God, with that, your need for forgiveness.  This is a work of God in your heart.

I see the path of parenting lying before us–a steep and rocky climb ahead for you and us.  You are breaking us in, firstborn son…just as you have with everything; paving my heart and understanding for what will be a well-worn path tread by those who walk behind you.  We will stumble and we will not always know which trail is best, but my prayer today is that our Lord will be our guide and that you continue to follow the guides God has given you.

May the coming year have His strong hand upon your life and heart.  May we continue to press toward the prize and find that God is the one who is faithful to bring us to the finish.

Happy birthday, firstborn son!  We love you!

Punky Brewster

Six…an age I vividly remember as a little girl. First grade was the year I had one of my favorite teachers, Miss Talis. We did fun things in her class like The Breakfast Club which consisted of each student recording what they ate for breakfast for two weeks and culminated in an early morning field trip to Frisches’ Big Boy where we got to order a healthy breakfast with our teacher. We relocated our classroom for a short time to the gym…I remember having missions week about China and learning about Hudson Taylor. We took our shoes off and ate on blankets to model the Chinese. It was the year I learn The Goups and one of my favorite songs to this day “This is my Father’s World”. My mom let me get bright red Nike tennis shoes that year with rainbow reflectors. I was very proud of those crazy shoes.

You are in first grade now…and I wonder what your memories will be.  I hope they will be the sort that make you look back and smile with fondness much like mine.  This year we have spent time together in fun ways.  I am praying for wisdom as I see rearing you will require different approaches than I’ve had to take with your brothers.  I pray we might someday have a relationship like I have with my own mom.  I have alot to learn!

Here is one very memorable tale that happened this year.  I’m pretty sure it made a mark on you as well.  We paid our respects to a dear family that lost their mother/grandmother this past spring.  Their 5 year old son has been smitten most of your kindergarten year.  I had not mentioned this to you as I don’t see it fruitful to muddle your mind with kindergarten crushes.  Yet some things rise to the top whether you pay them mind or not.

While we stood to greet them at the end, this little guy came over to you and said very purposefully, “I need to speak to you in private.  I’m going to whisper it in your ear”.  There was a pause as he whispered to you. You then leaned over to me and whispered in my ear that he had just asked you to marry him!  In a moment filled with sadness, this was incredible comic relief.  His seriousness was not to be mocked.  But the courage he showed and the purpose he displayed made you blush and my eyes pop…and then we couldn’t help but crack up!  His mother then sweetly took you to meet a few relatives to whom he had already talked to about you.  As we were leaving he yelled, “I’ll see you at my wedding!”

A marriage proposal at five!  It was incredibly sweet and funny.  His mom jokingly assured us he is a good reader and speller, he is a hard worker, and if he’s anything like his dad he’ll be a very good husband.

They say there’s something about weddings and funerals. I guess so.

Happy Birthday, “Punky Brewster”.  We love you!

On Becoming More Capable

I wish I wrote down all the things he says and does each day that make us laugh. His word choice and delivery is classic and there are usually lots of smiling faces when he’s talking. From infancy, we’ve called him Happy Jack and it still fits him to a “T”.

Jack is always the last one at the dinner table. Last week though he must have hit a growth spurt because he finished his beef stroganoff first in a very stealth manner and then proudly announced “I beat all of you! that was a good dinner mom!” I congratulated him and offered him salad to which he replied “Little brothers do NOT eat salad!” O, well alright then.

At the ballpark after about 4 people had commented about how big Jack had gotten, I was carrying him and he said to me in his 3 year old logic, “Mom you are getting so huge!” Apparently he thought the compliments he had received all night would also apply to me. Thanks Buddy!

Most of our children have learned to ride 2 wheel bikes rather early. I remember learning to ride when I was 5 or 6 years old. My husband has a theory though, that if you teach them on a 24 inch bike while they are still little, they will evade the fear of failing because they are all gusto at that age. Well Jack did indeed learn in just a couple days time. The problem with the method though, is that one thing a 3 year old lacks, is judgment.

The other night he was showing me his “stuff” when suddenly he tipped right off onto his face. He had what appeared to be a broken nose (dead on) and some very messed up lips with lots of blood and tears. O my, I don’t do well to see my children bleed. I pulled myself together and settled him. My neighbor who is an ER nurse looked at him and suggested there probably wasn’t much they would do since it looked like a good break anyway. Thankfully he healed very fast but now must wear a crash helmet at all times (which, I know, should have been the case from the start).

But the swagger in his step shows just how excited he is to have mastered this new feat. In the same week, he learned to swim in the very pool he would not set foot in the whole summer before. Big steps all the way around.

This year I aim to teach you preschool at home and more purposefully devote my days–while your siblings are at school–to you. I’m looking forward to it.

Four years ago when we met, I never could have imagined what having you could do to my heart.
Happy fourth year little brother!

Nine and Counting

For just about a year now you have been making your birthday list.  Waffling between one thing and another.  Always at the top of the list was a pet to call your own.  Luke had Skip, our beloved black and white dwarf rabbit.   Turtles just aren’t as cute and fun to play with as critters.  So we agreed to let you give it a go.  A guinea pig it was…or two rather.  One for Ty and one for the rest of the crew as everyone knows they are better in pairs.  It was so fun to watch the look on your face as you chose the one you wanted.  Proud and excited.We celebrated your day with family–a steak dinner with lots of fresh fruit ala Grandma; your kind of meal.  You took big cookies to school and as is always the case, you enjoyed your day.

Eight was a growing year for you…I feel like we’re growing too…learning what works best for you as you are clearly your own man.  You loved your teacher this year and sometimes I think you might rather have lived at her house.  You are a pretty easy-going kid with a great arm for baseball and a good amount of patience.  You have lots of friends and you know how to be silly.  You are a good brother to Jack and Britta and though you would not dare admit it, we know you love the other ones too.

I pray the coming year holds good things for your precious life.  That you will do your best at all you put your hand to, and that we will listen and instruct you with faithfulness and wisdom.  You are dear to us Ty!  Happy ninth year!

One-Room School House

Ty’s 3rd grade field trip this spring was to the nearby One-room school house. The students were instructed to dress as much in period as possible. Their lunch was to include things that kids during the period would have actually eaten. So no cool ranch Doritos, but rather turkey and biscuits, a long carrot and an apple were on the menu.Ty helped me with the details. I made a pair of suspenders for his church khakis, a lunch bag and he wore an old lackie cap which my grandparents bought me in 7th grade…always have had a thing for hats. Tennis shoes aside, I think he looked pretty 19th century and think he had a fun time doing so.