A Boy Turns 7

I've been a mother for seven years!  Caleb was born less than a week before my first Mother's Day and I am remembering that day today, when I became a mother and when my world changed forever.  And how some Mother's Days are wonderful (like that first one with a walk along Lake Superior on a beautiful spring day) and some are less spectacular (like this one with a puking kid for hours on end and a husband who's on-call at the hospital), but that each Mother's Day reminds me of the fact that I am blessed beyond measure with these precious sons of mine.

Let me backtrack to Caleb's birthday this week.  Because it was just so fun and he was just so happy and my heart was just so full!

Caleb does not like a lot of attention, so we chose to keep his birthday low-key, especially given the fact that we're still in transition and getting to know our new community.  So we opted to invite just a couple families over for birthday cake and call it good.  He was very pleased with that decision and had a wonderful time!

First, Caleb decided that he wanted a Jurassic World birthday.  Which mostly meant that he wanted a cake decorated with dinosaurs on it.  I aim to please when it comes to birthday cakes (and birthdays in general...I really love birthdays!), so I spent time the day before coming up with a plan for the cake.  Caleb was pretty excited with the results :)

But I'm getting ahead of myself!  The cake wasn't decorated until the afternoon.  The very first thing that happened on Caleb's birthday was me waking up to the birthday boy crawling into bed to snuggle with his mama and saying, "I'm seven years old today!"  Talk about melting a mama's heart!

We let him open a few presents in the morning.  My twin sis had sent a package and it arrived the day before - perfect timing!  We never know how long it will take for a package to arrive in Kenya, but this one came right on time and Caleb was stoked.  It was the first package we've received at Chogoria and it was full of birthday fun!  He was particularly pumped about a new stuffed animal: a tarantula :)

Next on the docket was a dinosaur story time.  I pulled out all our dinosaur books and we invited our new friends/neighbors over for dinosaur fruit snacks and stories.  It was so fun!

And can I just say that these friends have been SUCH a blessing to us?  They have helped us get settled in so many ways, and their kids have become fast friends with our kids, and we are making plans to help help each other homeschool, and we are just so so thankful for them!

Dinosaur water coloring, dinosaur movie...it was just an all-around dinosaur day.

The birthday boy was just so happy the whole day.  And Kai and Asa were happy too.  I don't think we had one issue the entire day.  Birthday Magic was at work!

And then the cake.  I think this photo says it all.

Yep, he was a happy boy, which made me a happy Mama.  When I snuggled with him at bedtime and asked what he liked about the day, Caleb said, "I liked all of it!"  Success :)

Caleb is a remarkable kid.  He's kind and thoughtful and encouraging.  He is the first to notice when I'm upset and often stops everything to come and rub my back and say that he's sorry I'm sad.  Caleb is creative.  He loves to draw pictures and tell stories.  He is insanely smart, in huge part because of his incredible memory.  He remembers a lot of stuff.  Like, a lot.  I can't begin to count the number of times people have told us how smart he is, especially with his knowledge of animals.  He wants to be a naturalist when he grows up, and I hope he really does because his passion for animals combined with his knowledge and desire to take care of God's creation all make the perfect blend for becoming something like a naturalist.  More than anything, Caleb loves the Lord.  He loves to learn about Jesus and wants to know more about the Bible all the time.  In the past few months he's gained a comfortability with praying out loud in front of other people, which is huge because of his insecurities with people paying close attention to him.  God is continually working to grow this boy in courage and bravery and we are so proud of where he's come and where he's going.

I am so proud to be his Mama, and so humbled that I get to nurture him and disciple him and watch him become more wholeheartedly in love with the Lord every day.

Happy Birthday, Caleb!

I love you with a fierce love.