To My Almost-5-Year-Old

Owen, you have got to be the coolest almost five year old on the planet.

I love you and all of your almost-five-year-old quirks. You still love breakfast almost more than life itself. You are so specific about what you want and often ask for a certain breakfast the night before. When you have a bowl of cereal, you push each piece of cereal individually down into the milk before eating.

You've always been hesitant in new circumstances but I've seen you gather your courage many times this year - starting school for the first time, playing on your first soccer team. In each situation you were nervous but overcame your fears. You are somewhat cautious by nature but push yourself to try new things. You are growing in strength and courage.

You love all things sports. Tennis, football, baseball, soccer - Whatever is in season, you love to keep up with game scores and try out the different sports in the backyard. And you are pretty good at all of them!

You love baseball most of all. Given the choice, you would always be in the backyard playing baseball, and you are actually really good at hitting and fielding. You kept up with the Braves every day this season. Daddy gave you his old baseball cards and at night you set them up on your bed in their positions and play with them for hours. You are almost always involved in an imaginary baseball game in your mind. You walk around the house with the highest announcer voice I've ever heard - I'm talking complete falsetto - and I can't even count the number of times I've heard "It's a high fly ball to center field..." coming from your mouth throughout every day.

You do things that seem beyond your years, like spending hours playing the card game "Kings in the Corner" with your sisters, or getting lost in a book and reading until I make you put the book down. You give the best hugs, you are eager to please, and you have a grateful heart. You say "thank you" for things that I don't even think twice about - "Mom, thank you for making my favorite supper! Thank you for putting a straw in my drink! Thank you for putting sheets on my bed!"

The other day we were at the table practicing our memory verses. I was emphasizing (again) how everyone needed to participate and try to say the words together. In the middle of the next verse you raised your hand and asked for permission to swallow your spit.

Whatever you are doing, you're all in. In fact you get so frustrated with yourself when you can't do things to your own standards. This morning you were having a hard time remembering how to write a "5." When you began to get so frustrated that you were about to throw your pencil down, I suggested that maybe we should take a break from practicing 5's for now. You lost your mind at this suggestion and it took a good 20 minutes for us to get over that emotional breakdown. But in the end, you know what you did? Wrote a 5 the right way. This right here is the face I see all the time - the face of pure intensity.

And this is the face I see when you finally accomplish your goals.

You love to explain, question, and understand things, but you lose your train of thought half the time. I can't count the number of times I've had to tell you to go think about what you wanted to ask me and then come back when you remember. I think you're going to be an absent-minded professor when you grow up.

Owen, I love who you are. Your Creator did a pretty awesome job when He thought of you.

Happy birthday to the coolest almost-five-year-old I know!

To My Almost 10 Year Old

Oh Claire. You have been on this earth for a decade, and though it feels like just a breath, I also cannot remember life without you.

How could I describe you? Beautiful. Determined. Competitive. Iron-willed, yet more sensitive to people's shifting moods than perhaps even I am. Capable. Noble.

You stay up all hours of the night playing basketball, reading, or listening to Adventures in Odyssey, but still you pop out of bed in the morning like the energizer bunny. You are the first to sit down and start your school work because you love the thrill of being done. You are becoming more independent and driven in school.

In fact you are maturing in so many areas this fourth-grade year. Daddy and I have both noticed it - from the way you handle arguments to the way you take ownership of your work. You are 100% committed to whatever you choose to do. You are growing in grace and it is beyond a privilege for us to be able to witness.

You continue to excel in sports. You have a weekly workout plan that you and your Dad made up together, and just last week you deadlifted 95 pounds.You have played softball, soccer, basketball, and tennis this past year, and your coaches have all commented on how teachable you are. That is worth more than gold, Claire-bear.

Your favorite things include dance, drawing, Adventures in Odyssey, and spending time with your friends. You are a caretaker and a warrior against injustice. You love to be let loose in the kitchen to experiment with baking. As far as reading, you prefer the classics, like Oliver Twist or Anne of Green Gables. You are still learning piano and violin, you sing or hum constantly, and you have even starting making up some of your own songs in the past year.

I had a conversation with you recently about money. You were telling me that you had a lot of money but that you weren't really saving up for anything in particular right now, and it was kind of hard to have no big goals for saving. But then you decided that in the past when you have saved up for different things, by the time you had enough money you had kind of moved past the goal and didn't really want that particular thing anymore. "Like when I wanted that big hatchimal," you said. "I saved and saved but by the time I had enough I realized it was just an overpriced piece of plastic."

The other night I had to go help Daddy unpack something at the clinic. When I walked back into the house, you had Owen and AK in their pj's and gathered into your room, and you were praying with them and leading them in a devotional. It was one of those sweet moments between the chaos. Then later you told me that you planned to have a lesson with AK and Owen every day. "We'll read a Bible story and pray together," you said, "and then I'll give them each an analytical task sheet with two or three assignments to complete." I can't even.

Claire-bear, you just bring so much life and joy and thoughtfulness to our lives. I love listening to all your thoughts, watching you grow in wisdom, seeing the fruits of the Spirit growing in your life. I've never been the mom of an almost-ten-year-old before, and I'd rather learn how to do this with you than anyone else.

Happy birthday, my sweet almost-ten-year-old!!!