Happy 6th Birthday Ryan

My dearest Ryan,

 

Six years old!  Six, seems so darn big and it is so hard to believe that we have come to this age already.  It is already one third of the way before you are an independent young man, living on your own.  Yet, you are still our little boy, and we are loving each and every moment watching you grow.

 

This was such a big year for you.  Our year started off rough when we found out that your brother Samuel was called to Heaven.  You wanted a new baby in our family so desperately and it was really hard on you when you found out that Samuel had passed away.  You continue to pray to Samuel every day and every day after Samuel was gone you prayed to God for a baby.  Your life was made when you found out that we were expecting again and your little world literally changed on November 7th, 2015 when your brother Peter was born.  When I was going to the hospital the night before in labor you exclaimed "This is the BEST day of my life!"  You are so fantastic with all of your brothers, but you have a real sweet spot for Peter.  You tend to him like a little Dad and already wishing and praying for another baby to join our family.

 

 

 

You are such an active boy and are always go, go, going!  You love to watch and play sports!  You love the Packers, Broncos and Huskers for Football, the Milwaukee Brewers and Minnesota Twins for Baseball, the UNO Mavericks for Hockey and Creighton Bluejays for Basketball!  You follow their games attentively and always know what the scores were, and who and when they will play next.  You played soccer and t-ball this year and loved them both.  You also learned how to ride your bike without training wheels and would ride your bike all day long if you could.  You also love to play games in the yard or driveway with your brothers and Dad!  You are a wonderful team player so much fun to play with.

 

 

 

You continue to amaze us all with your ease and interest with learning.  You are thriving with homeschooling and love all of the opportunities that it is presenting you.  You enjoy your time with our family and your brothers and you also love our homeschool co-op and going to mass and having classes with your friends each month.  This year you have learned to read, which opened up a whole new world for you.  You are also learning basic math including adding, subtraction, counting money and telling time.  You love science and history and ask so many questions.  Your latest fascination has been learning all about the history of the wars and also the US Presidents.  You are "technically" in Kindergarten this year, so when you had finished all of your Kindergarten material in September we had you take the standardize testing for the "end of Kindergarten year" and you scored at the highest level in all areas.  You quickly moved onto first grade and some second grade material and are loving all of it.

You love Jesus and learning about our Catholic faith.  You love to celebrate the Saints feasts days and all of the liturgical seasons.  You love to incorporate our faith into all that you do and are always praying for those who you love.  You have been going to Catechesis of the Good Shepard this year and are truly developing an awe and respect for the Church.  You go around to different churches and love to immediately find the tabernacle and pray to Jesus.  Your favorite saint is St. Michael and love the St. Michael prayer and knowing that he is "Defending us in battle against the Devil"! 

You love, love, LOVE your brothers.  Ok, sometimes you argue and fight, but overall you are the very best big brother in the world.  You love sharing a room with Connor and it is truly distressing to you if we have to split the two of you up for any reason.  You teach Luke everything and are so good at playing with him and little Peter is your world.  You told us when Peter was only a few weeks old that "he completes my soul"! 

The biggest change this year that I noticed is your level of independence and personal growth.  You also went from being a "Momma's Boy" to truly gravitating towards your Dad.  I know that you will always "need" be, but I have learned to let you go a little bit.  When I sit back and watch you, and see how you have grown I am so proud of you and the young boy you are becoming.  You look up to your Dad so much and always want to be with him. You are so blessed to have such an amazing Dad and great role model.  You thought it was the coolest thing in the world when you got to go on your own vacation with your Dad this year to Wisconsin.  You rode on the plane together and stayed in the hotel with just the two of you, and it was so special for you.  You love to help your Dad in the garage, run errands together, do lawn work, shovel the snow or really work on any project together.

 

 

You love being outside no matter what the season or weather and are so adventurous.  You love to climb trees, play in the dirt, build forts, throw snowballs or enjoy the sunshine!  We spent most weekends this summer at Beaver Lake with your grandparents and you love to swim and go tubing!

You are such an amazing young boy and I am so honored to be your Mom.  You bless our lives each and every day and bring us so much joy.  Happy 6th Birthday Ryan, I love you very much!
Love,
Mommy