Birthday Boy!!

   My baby is 13!!!  How is that possible??  I just spent my weekend with 6 preteen/teen boys!  They ate A LOT of sugar, stayed up ALL night long and were a blast!  They were in boy heaven as everyone brought their favorite video games and hand held devices.  At one point Paul went down and shot them all with the Nerf guns because they were all so entranced in their games and quiet.  We had four on the couch linked up and two playing Toy Story on the big TV!  They ate 1 giant chocolate chip cookie cake, 4 2 liters of pop, 2 3ft long gummy snakes (a Carter birthday tradition), some chocolate peanut butter concoction Asher came up with, 3 pizzas and after all that sugar chose Pop Tarts over homemade pancakes for breakfast!  They were outside in 10 degree weather at 8:30 in the morning!  Ahhhh, you gotta love it!!

   My first baby... he was so much fun.  Always happy and talked constantly, still does (no idea where he gets that from! Ha!!).  It's funny, being my first, I remember so many of his firsts!  More of his than even Addison who just did those firsts a year ago!  I remember him watching Hard Hat Harry so many times it ruined the VHS tape!  I remember him shooting his colicky baby brother in the car where the poor kid was strapped in next to him while Caleb screamed the whole ride!  I remember all 3 of his broken bones and what a trooper he was.  And now I look UP at him and marvel.  How is this 5'9 1/2" young man my little boy??  How did I get so lucky to have a son who will sit and talk with us as adults and then turn around and be on the same level as his two little sisters and have us all rolling in laughter as they join their biggest brother in another crazy imaginary world of play?

  Carter, I am so very proud of the young man you have become.  Your faith and kindness just shines out from every part of you.  I know you will accomplish anything you set your mind to (except maybe taking over the world- your latest goal). I pray you remain diligent in your work and are a man with integrity, using God's Word as your plumb line always.  May you hold on to Jesus and trust in Him always. I pray that you will continue to be a young man on your knees ;0)  Love you buddy!