However, your Top 10 Lists are always timely.
Top 10 Things You Love:
- Carbs and cheese (and cheesy carbs, if you're feeling very efficient)
- Natalie (playing with her, drawing with her, being read to by her, annoying her -- they all bring you immense joy)
- Having Boy Time with Daddy
- Legos
- Running laps at school on Mondays (who knew?)
- Sweets (chocolate, candy, ice cream - you're an equal-opportunity sugar consumer)
- Star Wars and Harry Potter
- Being read to (I read out loud to you and Natalie over breakfast; she reads out loud to you either right after you wake up or before you go to bed)
- Your ninja/sports class
- Church
- Bugs (I think I can confidently cross off EXTERMINATOR from a list of possibly career paths for you)
- Soup (this continues to be something you don't love and it continues to be such a shame because I continue to make some really good soups)
- Potatoes, unless they're fried and French
- Cooked vegetables (you don't love vegetables in general, but you definitely prefer them cold and crunchy)
- Losing
- Seeing me or Natalie cry
- Bad guys in movies
- Performing on stage (I'm with ya, bud)
- Chores (again, I'm with ya, bud)
- Being corrected, particularly regarding your behavior (you have pretty high expectations of yourself and you get frustrated when you don't live up to them)
- Lego-ing (particularly building creations just based off either your memory or your imagination; it's super impressive)
- Protecting the ladies in your life (if Daddy follows up my snark with his own snark, you immediately spring into action and holler out, "Don't be mean to my momma!". Or if Daddy is tickling Natalie, you'll jump on his back and yell, "Don't mess with my sister!") You're protective and chivalrous. A winning combination in my book.
- Math and cursive (despite the fact that you don't particularly like one of them …)
- Landing on Free Parking an absurd number of times and bankrupting your whole family
- Praying (I love hearing you talk to God about what you're thankful for and what you need)
- Dressing well (don't get me wrong - you love sweat pants and t-shirts as much as the next kid, but you also enjoy vests, ties, and blazers)
- Accumulating bruises on your legs (at one point, you found nine on just one leg)
- Cracking eggs
- Helping (whether it's carrying grocery bags, loading up the recycling, or helping your teacher on Mondays - you like to feel useful)
- Carrying multiple folding metal chairs (each Sunday, the four of us do the set-up that's necessary for our homeschool group to meet the following day. You and Natalie are the designated Chair Setter-Uppers, and you've gotten really strong over the past 1.5 years that we've been doing it)
- Losing gracefully (your competitive side has really emerged this year, as have many lessons on how to lose without pitching a giant-sized fit)
- Answering math questions without doodling on all the margins of your book
- Being sweat-free (you sweat like a man, dude)
- Going up the stairs without turning it into a competition to see who can get to the top the fastest
- Having a sock drawer full of matched socks (your drawer has a few sock balls in it, but there are also a lot of random singleton socks scattered throughout. I don't get it.)
- Eating all your dinner in a timely manner if the meal isn't grilled cheese, pizza, or spaghetti.
- Differential Equations (ugh, so embarrassing)
- Walking through the toy aisle of Target and not adding 52 more things to your Wish List (You: Mommy, I've wanted this Lego set forEVER! Me: Really? I'm pretty sure that's one of the newer sets. Like, it probably rolled off the conveyor belt about an hour ago. You: Well … well … UGH. I've wanted it for the last two minutes then. Can I add it to my Wish List anyway?)
- Waking up in a bright-eyed-and-bushy-tailed manner. (For such a good-natured kid, you're kind of a grumpasaurus in the morning)
- Winning gold in the triple jump at the Olympics (again, shameful)
I love how you love your sister so well. You are her biggest fan, her #2 protector (after Daddy, of course), and the cause of any premature grey hair she may get. You're continuing to learn when she needs her space and when she needs you (but won't say so) to belly flop on top of her while she's coloring. You encourage her in her talents and you've even started asking her to teach you some drawing techniques. You're just a couple of inches shorter than her (maybe by your 9th birthday recap, you'll be the same height?) which just makes her the maddest ever.
You're one of those kids who can get along with just about anybody. Older, younger, boy, girl. It doesn't matter. It's just one of the many ways you remind me of your Daddy.
Watching you love people well is a picture-perfect glimpse into how Jesus loves us. You're encouraging, kind, helpful, and loving. Nobody embodies those attributes better than Jesus, but it's like getting a little glimpse of heaven when I see you holding a door open for someone, when you carry in the grocery bags without me asking, when you compliment the way I look even if I'm just wearing sweatpants, the way you respect your teachers, and the way people feel when you're around.
You're one-in-a-million, kiddo, and I'm so glad you're mine.
Hugs and smooches,
Mommy & Daddy
