Dear Ellie at 13

Dear Ellie,

Today you are thirteen.  Officially a teenager, although I feel you have been acting like one for a couple of years now.  You have grown so much over the past year.  You are nearly as tall as I am and you are even able to wear my shoes!  I have a feeling when I write your birthday letter next year, you will have surpassed me in height.

You are still in school.  I'm always impressed with how well you keep up with your assignments in addition to your busy theater schedule.  You will be starting swim team next week and you are assistant stage manager for the 6th grade play.  I love how fearless you have become this year about trying new things.

This is the year that you discovered a love of your room and of taking naps.  You will disappear for hours on end, but most nights you come downstairs once your brothers are in bed so you can visit with you dad and me.  I hope you never stop doing that.  I mean, we are always going to make you go to bed eventually, but that doesn't mean we don't want to talk to you for a bit first!

Ellie, you are funny, smart, independent, and just an overall awesome person.  I am so proud of you.  Happy birthday, sweet girl!

Love,
Mom



*I promise I wrote this on your actual birthday. I just forget to hit publish because I wanted to add more pictures.

Not so humble brag

This weekend, in the midst of celebrating Sam's birthday, Ellie and Jack were achieving great things.  Jack's baseball team hasn't won a single game all season.  Jack bat dead last in the line-up (I think because he missed the first game).  Anyway, they were playing an undefeated team and Jack hit the go ahead run!  Because of him, they ended up tying with the number 1 team.  He was even awarded the game ball.  I was so sad to have missed his big play because I was setting up for Sam's party.  Tom was there, though, to send me updates and pictures.

I dropped Ellie off at her theater tournament 7:30 am Saturday morning and picked her up at 8:30 pm.  This was her last tournament of the year and she finished strong by advancing in all of her events and even getting 2nd place in Readers Theater.  Theater/Debate is so out of my comfort zone so I am always very impressed with her willingness to put herself out there!

Celebrating Sam

Sam insisted that he didn't have to go to school on his birthday this year because he remembered me letting Jack and Ellie miss school on their birthdays.  I might have started a very bad precedent, but, honestly, I love playing hooky with my kids on their birthdays.  Sam kept me busy, though.  We started the day out with our traditional birthday cake breakfast.  Sam wanted to go to the movies, go get ice cream, and play games.  So, that's exactly what he did.

Then, on Saturday, we continued celebrating his birthday with friends and family.  We did a baseball theme party this year.  Sam and Jack both had baseball games that day and Ellie was at a tournament all day, so it was really busy.  It all worked out, though, and I think everyone had a good time...especially Sam.

Dear Sam on your 6th birthday

Dear Sam,

Today you are S I X!  I still like to remind you daily that you will always be my baby, but you are growing like a weed.  You are the tallest kid on your t-ball team.  I keep telling you to stop growing, but you don't listen.

You started kindergarten this year.  I was a little worried about how you would do, but you are a great student.  Your affinity for rules and structure serve you well at school.  I am impressed with how much you have learned.  You picked up reading like a pro and you are always asking me to give you words to spell.  You love books and love being read to.  You already have favorite authors whose names you know well and request.  People like Mo Willems, Jan Thomas, and David Shannon.  You like school well enough, but you really love “stay home days.” 

In the evenings, you love playing Smash on the Nintendo Switch with your Dad and siblings.  You are pretty good and often beat everybody.  You make sure to rub it in their faces when you do.

You want so much to do everything your brother and sister do.  You also are good about making sure you get everything they get.  You remembered that I stayed home with your brother on his birthday and you were insistent I do the same for you. So, I took today off from work and am looking forward to our day of fun!

A couple of weeks ago, you los

t your first tooth.  You wiggled it every day until finally it was so loose it turned sideways.  You asked your teacher if you could go to the bathroom and you yanked that tooth right out.  You were so excited.  Unfortunately, your tooth fairy forgot to come the first night, but she made up for it the next night.

8

Sam, you have definitely been my most challenging child. You are so smart, feisty, and stubborn.  You push buttons I didn’t even know I had.  I feel like I make mistakes all the time in parenting you, but I hope you know how very much I love you.  I am thankful every day that you are my baby.

Happy birthday, sweet boy.

Love,

Mom

A bunch of animals

Over Spring Break, I rounded up a group of friends to go to the Bayou Wildlife Zoo.  The place is crazy.  Just driving it, my vehicle was accosted by llamas, a zebra, and some ostriches.  Once I finally navigated through all of those animals and parked, we were all given bowls of feed, loaded up on a tram, and pulled through the park. It was so much fun.

They also offered free pony rides and a little petting zoo.  Even though it was an hours drive, it was definitely worth it.

I guess we didn't get enough of our animal fix because last weekend we went to the Zoo.  Our realtor group rented out the place after hours.  It was awesome being able to explore the zoo without the normal crowds or the heat of the day.