The Oldest is 11!!

Every year, I make a video and write a letter to each of my boys recapping their year.  Here is the oldest's for 2016.

To my amazing 11 year old,

No longer can you show your age by using your fingers, you are officially a pre-teen (gulp).  Nicholas Gabriel, you leave me in awe.  Every single day you make me smile.  Every. Single. Day.  You are growing so quickly my precious son.  Not only physically, but also in your character, personality and faith.  I pray you continue to grow, continue to thrive, continue to always have hope and feel loved, because my precious son, you most certainly are!

We’ve had another awesome year.  We have travelled, we have had adventures, and we have served.  I love how willing you are to help those who need it.  How you think of others, how aware you are of what goes on around you.  May you continue to notice the world around you, see where you can help and never be afraid to jump in and do it!  I pray you always take initiative.

Another year of soccer, baseball, scouts and cello are under your belt.  I’m so glad you still enjoy them.  You are so well rounded my beautiful boy and I am thankful.  I hope you continue to have a lot of different interests and always do your best.  I’ve always told you that it doesn’t matter to me if you are the best or worst player on the team or the best or worst cellist in strings, I just ask that you do your best with your best attitude.  Always be a good sport, lift those who need encouragement, help those who need it and always do it humbly.  Those lessons will always apply.

In your letter last year, I wrote the following and it still applies, so I wanted to remind you.  Please try to remember to give yourself a break and not dwell on your mistakes. There is no one harder on you, dear son, than you!  Learn from your mistakes and move on.  It’s good to be determined, to do your best; to want to make the ones you love proud, but dear child know this…there is NOTHING you can do to make me love you less.  My love for you is unconditional, it can not be earned by deeds or good grades or winning games.  You don’t need to put so much pressure on yourself.  Try to find balance.  It’s great to be motivated, but don’t forget the fun!  At the same time, all fun + no purpose or motivation = trouble.  Work on finding that balance.  Again I say to you, don’t dwell or beat yourself up, learn from your mistakes, move on and do your best not to repeat them.

Nicholas Gabriel, you are a blessing.  I can not thank God enough for choosing me to be your Mom.  You amaze me with your intelligence, sense of humor, your heart and your faith.  I pray God’s blessing continue to fall upon you and His favor and protection surround you.  I pray you are always aware of His presence and are never afraid to share your gifts with others or to share a kind and encouraging word. May you continue to do your best and to grow into the man you were created to be.  Thank you for being an amazing, funny, brave and caring person.  Thank you for being such a great big brother and loving son.  Thank you for being YOU!

Love you so!

Mom

You can find his video this year by clicking here.

His letter from last year is here.

A Letter to the Youngest on his 6th Birthday

Every year, on their birthday, I write a letter and create a video for each of my boys recapping their year.  This is the youngest's for 2016.

My Precious Caleb,

So here we are at another year.  Everyone told me it would go faster the second time and they were right.  How is it possible that you are already six?  You have grown into such an amazing little boy with so much love, kindness, personality and just a touch of mischief.  You fill my heart with so much love and happiness.

My dear, sweet, boy, as much as you have grown physically, you’ve grown even more mentally and spiritually.  Your sense of humor is enormous, your love, empathy and compassion are well beyond your years.  We pray that continues to grow for you.  We pray you use the gifts that God has given you to go out into the world and make a difference, to serve others as a way of serving Him and to love and honor God first.  We pray you continue to be a good friend and loving little brother.  We pray health and happiness over your life forever.

This past year has been a busy one filled with many firsts.  You finally got to play soccer and baseball for Radford Rec, just like your big brother.  You did fantastic, were a great sport and earned your first medals.  I can’t believe how fast you can run!  I was most proud of what a great sport you were.  You were always cheering for your teammates and even players on the other teams!  You never had a bad attitude and always did your best.  This is all we ask of you when it comes to sports, my energetic boy.  Do your best, be kind, be an encourager, be a good friend and teammate and HAVE FUN!

This year you finally got to go to Disney World!  We all agreed that it was the best vacation our family has ever taken together.  We were so lucky to not have had long lines and the weather was beautiful!  You are such a fun little boy to take on trips.  You travel well and have so much excitement and joy when doing new things, it is contagious.

We had another fun trip to Myrtle Beach my little beach bum.  You still love the water park and going down all the big water slides all by yourself.  This year, since you were bigger, you got to do even more and go on even bigger slides.  You still had no fear.  I love how brave you are.  We also got to go to a new dinosaur exhibit that took your new found love of dinosaurs to even greater heights.  I have never known a child so young to know so much about dinosaurs!  You know their scientific names, if they are herbivore, carnivore or omnivore, you even know which period of time they lived. It’s so interesting to listen to and learn from you.  You say you want to be a Palentologist when you grow up and my smart little boy, I have no doubt that you will accomplish whatever you want to do.

Remember how much fun we had on our Mommy/Caleb trip to DC?  You finally got to see a REAL T-Rex skeleton!  You were fascinated by all the fossils and thought the fossilized dinosaur poop was just about the funniest thing you had ever seen.  I love making memories with you. 

There were even more firsts this year, you lost your first tooth, you learned to ride your bike with no training wheels, you are growing up so very fast!  Then in August, another BIG first.  Your first day of Kindergarten!  You were ready and so excited to finally get to go to a big boy school like Nic.  You have done WONDERFULLY in school!  We are proud of how much you’ve learned and how far you’ve come!  You read your first full sentence all by yourself this year, way to go!  I pray a love of learning stays with you throughout your life.  No matter how old you are, there is always something new to learn!

I will end this year’s letter my sweetheart, by just telling you again how much you are loved and how proud we are of you.  I will remind you again that we will always be here for you with unconditional love.  I will remind you, like in last year’s letter, that there will be trials, but that God has equipped you with everything you need to get through them.   Keep growing in your faith, keep being exactly who God made you to be knowing that our Heavenly Father does not make mistakes and He made you! 

Happy Birthday my remarkable boy.  May this coming year be your best ever. We love you so much, we love you more!

P.S. You can find your annual video here.

You can find last year's letter here.