Happy 6th Birthday!

Dear Micah,

Today is a special day! Not only is it your 6th birthday, but it is also Easter Sunday. Since the day you found out (months ago!) that your birthday is the same day as Easter, you have been excited. Anytime anyone asked you about your birthday you made sure to exclaim "it's on Easter!". We teased you about the breakfast at church being for your birthday and you said "No, it's to celebrate Jesus' resurrection". So much to celebrate today!


This past year you started Kindergarten. You go to school every day in the afternoons. You've gotten used to being home in the mornings, but for quite a while the mornings were very long for you as you waited to go to school! You absolutely, positively love going to school. You love your friends, you love your teacher, you love learning. It's so much fun to hear about your day when you come home from school--we hear all about how you play soccer and you love the days when you get to be with your 5th grade buddies. Your teacher, almost every time I talk to her, comments on how you are such a nice boy. She tells how you are thoughtful at school and how you have such a wonderful personality. Your dad and I laughed after following you around at Family Fun Night: everywhere we went we heard "Hi Micah" from adults and children. You have a magnetic personality that shines while you are at school!


You are learning to read this year! You love when you see your popcorn words in a book and lately you are reading short books to Norah. When you come across words you don't know, you concentrate and make the letter sounds. You do a great job remembering that Mrs. R taught you to "stretch out" your words. It is fun to see you getting better and better!


This past year you continued to be my little helper. When we go to the grocery store, you bag the groceries. When I do the laundry you like to help sort and put it in the washer or dryer. When I bake, you pull up a stool and help measure and mix. You will grab a vacuum or a cloth and help me clean. I am often amazed at your willing and giving personality! I love that you enjoy being with me so much that you will help me get my projects done!


You still love to be silly and make people laugh. You have hilarious expressions and an infectious giggle. If you do something and it makes Norah laugh (like this fall when you jumped in the pile of leaves), you repeat it over and over again just so she'll keep laughing. Even in your silliness I can see how you love to think of others.


You love Legos and playing games. Oftentimes we find you creating a world with your Playmobil and Lego guys. There are whole mornings or afternoons where you and Ethan will sit and play Legos together in your room! You'll happily sit and play card games: Pictureka and Sorry Revenge are some of your favorites right now. You're learning that it can be fun to win and hard to lose, but you generally have a good attitude either way. You also like to sit and do puzzles; you will sit and do one after another! When you are outside, you love to kick a soccer ball around. You begged us to let you do AYSO this year because you love playing soccer so much. You were disappointed that it didn't work out, but we're hoping to get you enrolled in the coming year!




Once again this year you are in Children's Worship at church. You love to bring your offering and are excited to bring home your treasure each week. You also love to sit and page through the children's Bible at home. You study the pictures when you don't know the words and you love to help us read the stories that insert pictures in place of words. I love it when you burst into praise songs: you started teaching Norah the motions to "Jesus Loves Me" and she often asks you to sing it in Spanish for her. You learned a song at school that I asked you to sing over and over again simply because I loved to hear you sing the chorus of "hip, hip, hip hippopotamus, hip, hip hooray God made all of us".


Micah, you are my special little boy and it is so much fun to watch you grow up. I am so glad I get to be your mom. Happy Birthday little buddy.

Love,

Mom

Happy 9th Birthday!

Dear Ethan,

How can it be that a year has passed and it's already time for me to sit down and write this letter to you? There are so many days where I wish that time moved much, much slower. Since that is not a reality, I need to remind myself to enjoy you at each and every age.


It's hard to know where to begin to describe your last year. It's easy to say that you've grown taller--I commented to your dad the other day I don't even need to lean over to hug you anymore. The great part about how much you've grown is that it is easy for you to get your arms around me and give me a big hug. I love that you still lean against me and let me hug you.


Over this past year you finished 2nd grade and moved on to 3rd. I apparently have a hard time remembering that because this fall I labeled all of your pictures for trading with "Ethan, 2nd grade". Thankfully your dad caught my mistake before you took them to school to pass them out. Next fall that will be your job! You still love, love, love going to school. You thrive on the routine of it, and relish the opportunity to learn new things. The other day you were sick in the middle of the school day. When I brought you home, you were upset about having to miss gym class. However, I think you were the most upset because you missed FRED (Free Reading Every Day) and the introduction to the space unit. You still love reading--this year you have loved reading the 39 Clues series and most months made it a mission to see how quickly you could get the time in for your reading chart.


This fall you started the Cadet program at church. You LOVE going to the meetings, though I wasn't sure you were going to make it through the year after the first few meetings. The end time for the program is past your bedtime, so for a while the few days after your meeting were not fun around here. Zero fun. To say that you were tired and crabby seems like a ridiculously huge understatement. We had to have a few talks about how doing activities like this were a privilege and how you need to learn how to not take your tired days out on your family. Especially your mother. We made it through that learning period, and now I can enjoy hearing about what you enjoy about the meetings (instead of worrying about the after effects!!). So far you've done glass etching, made a picture frame, learned how to make a popsicle stick "bomb" and a marshmallow shooter has joined the arsenal on the top shelf. You've learned to love hanging out with the guys--and I've learned to send you straight to the shower when you get home.
Your love of sports has not wavered since I wrote my last letter. We had a great time watching you finish out the school year with your AYSO soccer team. You decided not to play this past fall as you wanted to play baseball in the spring. I loved the joy on your face when I told you we had you registered for Little League. I can't wait to watch you play. You've become dad's sidekick as a sports fan--you love to talk sports and watch games with him--especially the Tigers. I was hoping they would win the World Series this year, mainly so I could watch your excitement. Since that didn't happen, I'm going to enjoy watching you through another season.


Where do I start in describing the big brother that you are? You and Micah are such good buddies--you can play for hours in your room with your Lego's or outdoors with whatever ball you guys decided to pull out of the shed. There are times when you act like siblings (fighting and hurt feelings and all that comes with growing up), but for the most part you really, truly enjoy each other as playmates. I also love watching you with Norah. The way you'll read to her or entertain her in her crib for a few minutes for me. You love to make her laugh, and there's not much that sounds more beautiful to me than my children laughing together.


I can't end my letter without noting how I've watched you develop Spiritually. You are learning to talk to God through prayer--I sat and listened to you lead prayer at a praise assembly at school recently, and my heart was so happy. You continue to learn Bible verses for school, and I hope that you are able to remember those verses as you grow. Your dad and I picked out a devotional book for you for your birthday this year. We are praying that it becomes an important part of your life and that it will help you learn even more about our awesome God and his kingdom.


My dear son, you are a joy to your dad and I. God has blessed us with a wonderful son and I am so thankful I get to watch you grow. I love you, buddy.

Mom