Happy 7th Birthday, Mei!

 Today is Mei's 7th birthday! Mei likes to make things special. She is always planning, creating, rehearsing, decorating, and imagining. Everyone in her vicinity is either going to be incorporated into her shows or become audience members. She is a very thoughtful gift giver and is extremely empathetic. She loves to teach things she is learning to Rhys. She is fashionable and will wear several outfits in a day, with outfits planned days in advance. At the end of a long day of all of her doing, her studio (bedroom) is a disaster and she has no plans to change that. Mei is beautiful joy.

Happy 14th Birthday, Alex!

Alex is 14 years old! He is reliable, competent, hardworking, particular, exacting, kind, respectful, playful, thoughtful, and sarcastic. He loves to read, eat apples, and call out cool cars he sees. He is athletic and enjoys doing all of the physical activities. Alex works hard to become better at everything he does; he is self-aware and has seemed older than his age for years. Fourteen years later and I’m still glad I didn’t give into my labor dream and name him Guillermo. You’re welcome, Alex!

Happy 4th Birthday, Rhys!

Sweet Rhys is four years old today! He has been counting down and it's finally his day. Rhys is incredible with number manipulation, he communicates clearly and concisely with adults and kids, and he is loving and friendly to everyone. He is silly and has boundless energy and stories to tell. I love being around him, so I am extra lucky since he follows me everywhere. Rhys considers everyone a friend and always has kind and encouraging things to say to people. Rhys is warmhearted and easy to love.

Happy 10th Birthday, Declan!

Declan is ten! He carries himself with confidence. He is comfortable doing his own thing but isn’t scared to join in when he sees a good time. He is our quietest kid but has smart, cool things to say whenever he talks. I wouldn’t describe him as overly sensitive but his older brothers know how to get a reaction from him. Declan is thoughtful and considerate of others. He watches, learns, and remembers. He still loves to climb, play any sports, and organize Pokémon cards. He has mastered doing things one-handed because the other hand is holding a book. His approach to everything is, “I could probably do that really well.” And he’s usually right.

Happy 12th Birthday, Edison!

Our eleven-year-old was an out of date model so we upgraded to this newest twelve-year-old. Yesterday I started reviewing the calendar for the week and he said, “Don’t even try!” Then I declared, “Nothing special happening tomorrow!” And he smiled his adorable smile. Edison considers everyone a friend. He is humble, he hustles, he is helpful, and he is chronically happy. He is always the first sibling to play with Rhys. He is self-driven in his schoolwork and practicing violin and piano, to the point we have to tell him to take a break and do something else for a while. Recently he has been reading much more and requesting I pick-up specific books at the library for him. He is confident and figures out anything he’s working on and just goes about his day, always steady and sincere.