The youngest is 8!

My youngest baby,

I know you aren’t a baby anymore, but in my heart, you and your brother will always be my babies.  I am so proud of you.  You have certainly matured over the past year and are most definitely finding your way as a big boy.  You are funny, kind, empathetic, athletic, sweet, smart, charismatic and a friend to everyone you meet.  You have never meet a stranger.  I love how you are considerate of other’s feelings and can just strike up a conversation with anyone at any time.  You are a builder like Daddy.  You love to build things, to take things apart and to figure out how they go back together.   You think outside the box and there is not a lazy bone in your body.  I am so proud of your work ethic.  It amazes me that I can see it already.  You are the first to offer to help and the harder the work, the more you enjoy it.  I pray your amazing qualities continue to grow with you.

 

You have had a fantastic year!  You have done so many things for the first time.  From snorkeling in Florida, to your first train ride and visit to New York City.  You are such a great mix of city and country.  You talk often about wanting to go back to New York.  I have to admit, that trip was one of my most favorite trips ever, too!  As much as you loved the city, you also loved your first camping trip with Daddy and all the fun things you learned in scouts this year, from shooting a BB gun to shooting a bow and arrow to horseback riding.  You also had another great year in sports.  Your favorite sport is still baseball.  It’s so fun to help coach you and watch you grow as an athlete.  You always encourage your teammates and are a good sport.  That makes me more proud than if you were to hit a homerun every time at bat.  The same with soccer.  You truly give your all and look at the sport from a team perspective and not an individual one.  I’m proud of the goals you score, but I’m most proud of your attitude.  My wonderful son, I pray you continue to encourage others, have a good attitude and be a good team player.  You have many gifts and I pray you continue to be a good steward of those gifts.

I will end this year’s letter my precious boy, the same way I do each year.  By reminding you again how much you are loved and how proud we are of you.  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, we love you most, we love you more than most!

His annual birthday video is here:  Birthday video

The oldest is 12!

My Dearest Nicholas,

You are 12.  Happy Birthday to the first human to teach me the type of love that had previously been unfathomable.  From the first moment I saw you, I knew exactly why I was put on this planet.  You, my sweet young man, bring me joy every single day.

You continue to amaze me with your head and your heart.  You understand things beyond your years and show extraordinary compassion and empathy.  You aren’t afraid to march to the beat of your own drummer.  Despite peer pressure, you make the right choices, even if it means going it alone.  You are strong, much stronger than you even realize.  I pray you keep that strength and discernment.  They will serve you well.  I pray you never lose your compassionate heart and your faith.  Always look for the good, my precious son.  It is there, even if we have to look beyond the surface.

This year you have found what you enjoy the most and what works best for YOU.  You have decided not to play baseball and soccer, but instead continue with Boy Scouts, cello and Tae Kwon Do.  I am so proud of you, once again, for following your heart and not the crowd.  It would be easy to just continue doing what all of your friends are doing, but you are doing what is best for you.  That takes courage and character.  You have an abundance of both and I couldn’t be more proud.  You have excelled at these activities and even won your first regional tournament in Tae Kwon Do.  It brings me so much joy to see you working hard, thriving and having FUN!

Again this year we traveled, we served and we had adventures.  I have enjoyed seeing you jump in and take initiative during your opportunities to serve.  I pray you continue to notice the world around you and volunteer to help where you see a need.  While it is important to do what is best for you, it’s also important to look beyond yourself at the world around you.  Notice where there is a need and fill the need.  It is also important to make sure you find a good balance.  Don’t give so much that you lose yourself and don’t isolate so much that you miss opportunities to bless others and be blessed in return. I hope I can help guide you in this.

Nicholas Gabriel, you are a blessing just by being you.  From the moment I found out I was pregnant, I loved you and that love has continued to grow every single day since.  I cannot thank God enough for choosing me to be your Mom.  How did I get so lucky? 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 always take the opportunity 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 compassionate, caring, kind, brave, loving, silly, funny, unique and just plain FUN!  Thank you for being such a great big brother and loving son.  Thank you for being YOU!

Love you most!
Mom

You can see his video here.

The Oldest is 12!

My Dearest Nicholas,

You are 12.  Happy Birthday to the first human to teach me the type of love that had previously been unfathomable.  From the first moment I saw you, I knew exactly why I was put on this planet.  You, my sweet young man, bring me joy every single day.

You continue to amaze me with your head and your heart.  You understand things beyond your years and show extraordinary compassion and empathy.  You aren’t afraid to march to the beat of your own drummer.  Despite peer pressure, you make the right choices, even if it means going it alone.  You are strong, much stronger than you even realize.  I pray you keep that strength and discernment.  They will serve you well.  I pray you never lose your compassionate heart and your faith.  Always look for the good, my precious son.  It is there, even if we have to look beyond the surface.

This year you have found what you enjoy the most and what works best for YOU.  You have decided not to play baseball and soccer, but instead continue with Boy Scouts, cello and Tae Kwon Do.  I am so proud of you, once again, for following your heart and not the crowd.  It would be easy to just continue doing what all of your friends are doing, but you are doing what is best for you.  That takes courage and character.  You have an abundance of both and I couldn’t be more proud.  You have excelled at these activities and even won your first regional tournament in Tae Kwon Do.  It brings me so much joy to see you working hard, thriving and having FUN!

Again this year we traveled, we served and we had adventures.  I have enjoyed seeing you jump in and take initiative during your opportunities to serve.  I pray you continue to notice the world around you and volunteer to help where you see a need.  While it is important to do what is best for you, it’s also important to look beyond yourself at the world around you.  Notice where there is a need and fill the need.  It is also important to make sure you find a good balance.  Don’t give so much that you lose yourself and don’t isolate so much that you miss opportunities to bless others and be blessed in return. I hope I can help guide you in this.

Nicholas Gabriel, you are a blessing just by being you.  From the moment I found out I was pregnant, I loved you and that love has continued to grow every single day since.  I cannot thank God enough for choosing me to be your Mom.  How did I get so lucky? 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 always take the opportunity 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 compassionate, caring, kind, brave, loving, silly, funny, unique and just plain FUN!  Thank you for being such a great big brother and loving son.  Thank you for being YOU!

Love you most!
Mom

The Youngest is 7!

My Sweet Caleb,

What a year you have had!  From wonderful things like Disney World, to not so wonderful things like getting 5 staples in your head, you have done it all!  Your Daddy and I are so very proud of the delightful little boy you have become.  You have the kindest heart, the funniest sense of humor and, even at your young age, real work ethic!  There is not a lazy bone in your body my boy! We pray those amazing qualities of kindness, love, compassion, bravery, vigor and humor continue to grow for you.  We continue to pray that you use those God given gifts to go out and be a light in this world. We pray that you always turn to our Heavenly Father to help lead the way.

This past year has been exciting!  You really did a great job in soccer and were instrumental in your team having an undefeated season.  More importantly, you were a good sport and did not brag or boast.  You just did your best and supported your team and even encouraged those on other teams.  This was your last year in t-ball and you did great! Next year you start coach pitch, I can hardly believe it!  You have finally caught up to your big brother and can run just as fast as he does!  I can’t believe how fast you’ve grown!  Continue doing your best in all that you do son, this is all we ask of you.  Do your best, be kind, be encouraging, be a good friend and teammate and HAVE FUN!

We had another fun trip to Disney and this year, we had our special Mommy and Caleb trip, where it was just you and I for a few day before your brother joined us.  I love our special bonding trips and I hope that as you grow, the memories of them are as sweet for you as they are for me.  My little beach bum, we also went to Myrtle again and, just like your Mommy and big brother, you are a beach bum.  It’s only January and you are already asking when we can go back!  You finally mastered the boogie board this year and did a great job body surfing.  Every year you learn a new skill!

You finally became a cub scout this year!  I can hardly stand how cute you look in your uniform.  You have done a great job in scouts and have already earned several awards.  Your Daddy and I are so proud.

I will end this year’s letter my precious boy, the same way I do each year.  By reminding you again how much you are loved and how proud we are of you.  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, we love you most, we love you more than most!

You can find his video here

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.

Starting Another School Year

Wednesday will be the first day of school for my kids.  This year is a mix of emotions like none I've known before.  When I think that it will be the last time I'm sending a kindergartner off to school, I'm all like this:

But then, I start thinking about how this will be the first time in 10 1/2 years that I will be child-free for 6.5 hours a day, 5 days a week.  I also realize that when the oldest started Kindergarten, I had a 7 month old, so it's been over a decade since I've not had a child with me and been in a Sesame Street frame of mind a majority of the time, so I'm all like:

and like:

and like:

I know I will miss my babies, but the older they've become, the more fun we've had.  I'm excited for all their future holds, as well as for what my future holds.  For the first time in a decade, I will be able to work for more than a couple of hours at a time.  I will be able to complete a thought.  I will be able to watch the news.  I am so very thankful for my beautiful boys.  I wouldn't change a thing.  I am sad to be closing a chapter, but I'm happy to be starting a new one.

Change is hard ya'll, but it's also awesome.