Keeve the Thirteen-Year-Old

Today, my baby boy turned 13, and despite all the warnings…. I wasn’t quite ready. He’s my baby boy for goodness sake. He is our only child, out of four, who was born in the USA. (We have two Canadians and one Colombian.) I felt the need to display the American flag picture for all to see.  He was so darling…. and the sole child with an American photo shoot.

We also tried to take a NICE family photo during his birthday party… but I guess I didn’t stress the word NICE loudly enough.  Believe it or not, THIS is the best one we got…… (sigh)

Yes, the birthday boy has his eyes crossed.  Typical.  Why am I surprised???  I don’t know.  He does bring lots of laughter and joy to our home, for which I’m thankful.  Keeve was our easy child.  From birth, every time anyone looked at him he couldn’t help but smile.  See?  Darling. 

I tried to liven up the party and did a little jig for Keeve…. he picked up one of the birthday cards he had just opened and held it up to me.  It said, “WOW!”… then he turned it over so it said, “MOM”  Hahahahaha.   Then I stopped dancing.  If every kid was as mild-mannered and sweet as Keeve, this world would be a better place… albeit moving at a MUCH slower pace.

Happy Birthday, to my little sunshine huggy buns. (Oops, did I type that out loud?)

 

Brag Book Time

My 15 year old daughter painted this watercolor a few weeks back.  I thought she did a great job, but I’m the mom, of course I do.  She admired this photo and explained that “she” was stepping up to kiss him.  I suggested that the pink shoes were holding the black shoes in place so she could push him down.  :o)  Not overprotective at all!  (We have given her a stack of her father’s business cards to hand to boys if they want to talk to her…. “Just call this number and ask my dad.” ….. hey, it’s an easy out for her, if need be!)

I’ve heard people say that the teenage years are a nightmare and parents need to “just get through” them.  We haven’t believed that for one moment.  These are the exciting years when we can actually have in-depth conversations and our kids are actually bringing up topics that cause us to search the Word for truth.  They can effectively run our entire household and still have time to jam on the electric guitar, paint watercolor pictures and play the Wii.

Teens are so capable at this age of accomplishing so much beyond what is expected of them.  Our daughter is working on a “secret” project at the moment.  She has been for more than two years.  It is truly remarkable, but I don’t have permission to blab the news yet.  Don’t worry, you’ll be the first to hear when I get the green light!  It makes my buttons burst to see my children striving for excellence without parental coercion.  The fact that she is thinking beyond herself and reaching out to others is honestly a grand blessing in our lives.  We are so thankful.  Thankful to the point of tears.

I’m also extremely thankful that my children love each other.  Maybe all those times I made them sit on the couch and hug and kiss each other after arguing actually paid off.  You can’t hug your sibling long without giggling. 

For my kids, I’m THANKFUL!