{9}

I just went upstairs

& kissed you for the last time

as an eight year old.

You can hardly wait for tomorrow,  

though technically

"you will still be eight until 3:21 p.m."

Just in case I forgot?

You, Daniel,

are such a funny one.

You are emotional and enthusiastic and love life.

There is not much that you don't like to do.

You'll give almost anything a try... once.

You have a heart of gold & wear it right out on your sleeve.

You are respectful & kind & just 

won an award at school that is a

testimony to your care & concern for others.

Way to go!!

Daddy & I are so very proud of you.

You drew a tough spot as the 'baby' in our family.

You spent the first couple of years

strapped in your car seat

 being hauled

to every event and activity the older two had.

You get the most sleep of all of us

& yet you still appear to be allergic to mornings.

Your recent love of your history textbook

delights me to no end.

I love that you so enjoy being in the kitchen with me.

I love that you love Wranglers & boots as much as your dad.

I love that you love Jesus.

 Happiest birthday to you, Big D!!

We all love the stuffins out of you!!

Homecoming & Such

This past week was Homecoming week at school.

  Our kids attend a Christian school - one school, three campuses.  

That means every campus

 had specially themed days for every day of the week, i.e.

 'school colors day', or 'retro day', or 'surf and ski day'... you get the picture. 

 A different level of craziness was added to our house

 as we searched out different costumes/outfits late at night, 

all in the name of school spirit.

Our week culminated with a winning Homecoming game on Friday night, 

of which I have no pictures because

 we inadvertently ended up sitting in the student section

 and were forced to watch the back sides of all the students

 because for some unknown reason,

 all of them stand for the majority of the  game. 

 I had a great view of some really blinged out jean pockets.

  Nice.

Saturday was the official Homecoming banquet 

where the kids got dressed up & headed out
 as couples or groups

 & had a nice dinner

 & then went to a fun center until the wee hours of the morning.

  

This is Mykenna & Luke. 

 They have been best friends since kindergarten

 and when Homecoming was announced,  Luke knew immediately who he would ask to be his date.

  The theme for the banquet was 'famous couples or groups' - they went as Ken and Barbie.

  They have a unique friendship,
one that we admire and approve of.
We love her
 & her sweet family

 &

 are happy that they like to spend time together as friends.

On another note, 

I went to the library the other day.

Seems like I have a little something for cookbooks.

I could sit and read through them for hours.

I think the thing I miss the most about

not being home all day, now that I am working full time,
is time in my kitchen.

Lord, I love to be in there puttering and

mixing and measuring and making dishes

that put smiles on their faces.

I have plans to put together a cookbook of my own one day.

One day...

I took the hound dog out for an early run this morning.

It was beautiful.

  

It was so very tranquil

&

just what I needed

 to clear my mind &

get myself ready for

 another

 busy

 week.

Blessings,

{K}

Belated Birthday Wishes and One Proud Mama

This is SO long overdue it is almost silly.

But it comes with the most sincere intentions 

and best wishes for your 14th birthday.

14.

You are an amazing 14 year old.

You very nearly stand  6' tall and are one of the kindest people I know.

You are ridiculously handsome,

{the above picture is testament to that!}

a terrific big brother,

a great runner,

an excellent student,

and you have more on the ball than most boys your age.

Indeed, dad and I are so blessed by you!

Now,

if you don't care to hear a proud mama go on and on, 

feel free to check out right here.

If you are up for it, then by all means,

continue on

{but you've been warned}

This past school year you graduated from 8th grade.

And, like most schools,

 there is an end-of-the-year awards ceremony.

This year you took home the top prize.

The most prestigious award.

And every bit of it was well deserved and hard earned.

This award highlighted:

academics

athletics

leadership

involvement

and

character.

It is voted on by all the school staff and administration and hands down,

 you were chosen as the 8th grade boy who stood out among his peers

on each of these criteria.

The award you were handed was called 'Most Christ Like'.

And in true Luke style,

you stepped up and received your award with humility,

embarrassed to have

 so much attention focused on you.

And I cried my eyes out. 

So proud of you,

so very proud of you.

High school starts in just a couple of short weeks

and you will be off on a new adventure.

A great adventure.

Continue on the path you are on. 

Stand tall and proud and rise above the crowd.

Serve as an example,

make good choices,

live out your convictions

and live filled with the holy spirit.

I love you, bud!

Happiest 14th birthday...

it's going to be a great year!

XO,

Mom

 

What I Know of Boys

I have two boys.

When I was pregnant, I thought for sure we would be a family of all girls.  Just the cowboy and his girls, wandering through life together.  You can imagine my surprise when Todd leaned over, with tears on his cheeks, and told an exhausted me that we were the proud parents of a boy.

Well, we put that little swaddled-in-blue bundle in our car seat and headed for home.  Two years later, a bundle of pink, and a few years after that, another blue bundle.

My boys are awesome.  They are completely unique - couldn't be more different.  But after having spent the better part of a decade watching the two of them together, I have learned a few things about boys in general.

1. Boys need adventure.  Boys need to be the hero, to save the day or the damsel in distress.  And if they can do it in camo or toting a gun of some kind, all the better.  Boys need to skin their knees and put holes in their jeans {every last pair!} and boys need to play outside every. single. day.

For long periods.

2.  Boys ruin stuff.  Oh, they won't intentionally knock the screen out of the window and dent it all to heck.  It will be a total accident that happened while they were spying on their sister and her friend. And Daniel they will claim it is just a part of their inquisitive nature. They are rough and tumble and often not overly careful.  Much like a puppy.  Or twelve.

3.  Boys love guns.  Like it or not, they are hard wired to be protectors {see the aforementioned need to be the hero}.  You can try to avoid it all you want but they will find a way to make a gun out of something - Legos, Tinker Toys, a found piece of wood, they will even chew their sandwich into the shape of  gun.

4.  Their fun is loud and often involves bodily noises.  Nothing sends them into fits of laughter faster than a ... well, I don't think I need to elaborate on that one.

5.  Verbal encouragement/affirmation is kin to food for boys.  It lifts their spirits, gives them confidence and energy, and makes their chests puff up.  They need to hear how brave, handsome, smart, and funny they are.  That includes the one you are married to!

6.  Boys need boundaries.  Their hearts need much instruction, their bodies need regular quiet {though they will fight you on it} Boundaries give way to less stress and chaos in the home.

7.  Boys need a man in their lives - and a strong one at that.  They need an example of masculinity, one that cannot come from a mom{sorry ladies}.

Our lives may not always be calm or pretty or clean or exactly what I thought it would be, but thank heaven we have a sister who is!  Oh, I KID!!  Well, I am serious about the clean and pretty part, but she is just as noisy and rambunctious as her brothers.  Our life is not as I expected it to be, but it's a life of full of beauty and I wouldn't change one beautiful, noisy, messy, joy-filled bit of it.