Happy Birthday, JP!

 Dear JP, 

Happy Birthday sweet boy! I can't believe my last baby is TEN! You are funny, kind, snuggly, full of energy, and ALL boy. I love seeing your personality shine through in everything you do. 

You love sports and video games. Your favorite sports to play are soccer and flag football but you also like golf, swimming, skiing, and basketball. Over Spring Break we went skiing in West Virginia and you most definitely out skied us all. You had NO fear and the more challenging the run the more you liked it. Speaking of no fear...this summer we ended up with a trip to urgent care after you injured yourself going down a path you and some other neighborhood boys had made through some trees, down a big hill. Thankfully you were just bruised, not broken! This soccer season you are having a great season and it has been really fun to watch you grow as a player and see you figure out the ins and outs of game as the season goes on. You are so fun to watch in any sport. You always give 100% and it makes you so happy to be running around! You also love wood carving and when we're at Uncle Clyde's you can mostly be found at the piano. 

You more or less enjoy school...haha! You have some really great friends at school which makes me so happy. I have loved watching these friendships you've had since you were 5 or 6 grow and strengthen over the years.  Your favorite subject is definitely math. You are a whiz and I often have to remind you to write down the steps you did in your head so that if you happen to make a mistake we can see where it happened!  You still struggle some with reading comprehension but you have worked really hard on your reading and I'm so proud of your improvement. You are really into the Percy Jackson books right now and it makes me so happy when you get excited about what has happened in a book. This year you got into Challenge and you were SO excited. You look forward to Thursday (the day you go to Challenge) every week and can't wait to come home and tell me what you did.  You have had some really great teachers over the years and we already love your fourth grade teacher and I know its going to be another wonderful year! 

When you grow up you want to be a blacksmith. I love your interest in it and as you get older I would love for you to be able to get some hands on experience. I don't know where this interest will lead but I love that the artistic side of you is drawn to such a unique trade! I feel like this ties right in with your interest in wood carving. I like seeing this calmer, artistic side of you come through and I think it makes you a really well balanced kid!

You have a great group of buddies in the neighborhood and I am so thankful for these uplifting boys and their families. I love nothing more than to look out in the yard and see a kickball, soccer, football, etc game going on! 

You still love to eat. You are hungry all.the.time. You also think the food at Gran's house is superior to the food at our house so you eat there on a pretty regular basis in between your meals at home!

You love your family. You are such a good brother to allll the sisters and I love seeing the different bond you have with each of them. You and Ruthie are 2 peas in a pod and are either growling at each other about something or attached at the hip, all up in the middle of some kind of mischief! Emerson is the one you tell about your problems and go to if you need help.  Ellie is the one you hang out with if you have a funny thing to say or want to have some quieter time.  And you most definitely love your Teddy Bear! Y'all have such a sweet bond and every day after school you come home and lay in his bed and snuggle with him. Y'all love to get out in the yard and play chase, fetch, or play in the sandbox. 

JP, I love getting to watch you grow up and change. You are such a blessing to our family. You bring a whole different dynamic to our dinner table conversations. You keep us laughing. I can't imagine our lives without you in them. Keep being you my friend and keep bringing joy to all those around you! I love you!

Love, 

Mom

Dear Ellie

 

Dear Ellie, 

Happy Golden Birthday (14 on the 14th) Ellie Belly! 

This year hasn't been your easiest year. You've struggled with migraines, school was much more challenging this year, and your theater situation was not ideal. In summary, a lot of things just didn't go the way you would have liked them to go. But on the flip side you found friends that you really connected with and you learned what it looks like to work really hard at something, even in a frustrating situation. You ended up in Art 1 this year and we really saw you grow as an artist.  Also, you grew almost 4 inches this year so there's that! 

We love you so much. You make us laugh with your dramatic imitations of people, you impress us with your random trivia knowledge, and we sure do love your random big hugs. You love to learn new and interesting information (and you're real opposed to learning anything you deem "boring"). You remember EVERYTHING (whereas I remember nothing). You still have your love of a good book. We've all learned to only ask you about the book you're reading if we have a solid 30 minutes to listen to a blow by blow recap of the book (did I mention you remember everything?). I love how fully immersed you get into a book series. This year you started a book club with some of your friends from school and loved it so much you would even get up early to go to book club before school and that's saying something because you REALLY love to sleep. You are my night owl and you love to sleep in. As I mentioned you really grew as an artist this year, and at home if you're not reading you can be found sprawled in the middle of your bedroom floor drawing. It is definitely an activity that you find very therapeutic and relaxing and I love that for you! You always impress me with your creativity and your skill, much of which has been self taught. You are an animal lover.  You especially love cats, even though you have a bit of an allergy. 2024 was so hard with the loss of Franklin and you, more than any of your other siblings, missed having a furry friend SO much.  One of my favorite moments of this past year was when we surprised you with Teddy. You cried and then just held him for a long time. You adore Teddy and I've loved seeing how much having Teddy around has helped you on hard days. The love of a pet is just something special. You are our adrenaline junky and will try anything. You love a zip line, ropes course, ski slope, etc. You're probably going to give me some grey hairs over the years but I do love your love of adventure and your willingness to try new things. You make me laugh because you will only ask a teacher a question in the most dire of situations but you are always willing to be the first one to walk into a new situation and figure it out. You told me that when you grow up you want to travel the world and I love that for you and hope that dream comes true! 

I am so excited to see what high school holds for you. I know you're pretty nervous because many of your middle school friends are going to a different high school but I know you will find some new friends in high school. You will have the opportunity to take some great electives (sports medicine, theater, and art will hopefully be on your schedule this year) and further explore a few things you're interested in. 

Ellie, I hope 14 is a wonderful year for you. I hope you are happy and I hope you find your people in high school. I hope you remember that you are amazing and that you are loved. I love you so much and am so thankful that God chose me to be your mom.

Love, 

Mom