Happy Birthday, James.

 Happy Birthday, James.

This year was a special birthday. Andie, Chad, Connor and Celia spent the week with us at the lake. It was so much fun to show them the lake life and have some quality time to catch up and just let the kids be kids.

The only downside was that fact that we all shared a stomach virus during the week - so there were a lot of ups and downs (of various kinds). Unfortunately, I was sick on your birthday so it wasn't the best day of doting you've ever had, but in typical form you didn't complain.

This year we're in the full swing of life with four active kids - you're working, running, volunteering and commuting a whole lot right now. I feel like we've settled into lake life now - we know how to schedule vacations to maximize our time together, we've discovered that sometimes the best thing is to skip the huge family dinners and focus on our small family (and sometimes the opposite is true as well). We're enjoying the deck (which Dee and I stained first thing this summer). And I know we both think of your dad every time we sit down with a newspaper, beer and lunch.

Work feels more like work than it used to for you right now. You've settled into a phase of your career that has been challenging as well as freeing. You're taking a little more vacation, trying to enjoy the perks of running with the guys at lunch, and remembering how nice it is to work so close to home.

We've done a lot of races together this year - a few of which I needed extra encouragement to get through. We're doing a duathalon, two triathalons and half marathon this summer. We're running a 25K in the fall and finishing with the Twin Cities Marathon in October.

We've both said that training seemed harder this year. We've been pretty good about staying on schedule (you better than me), but its been harder with Thomas at such an active age. But I'm proud of us for sticking it out and doing this together. You're getting faster all the time - very few men can say that as they approach 40, they're actually improving their flexibility and speed. You are amazing.

All I can say is that I am so grateful for you, for this life we've been given. Every day is a present we get to share and I can't wait to see what this next year has in store.

I love you, Happy, Happy Birthday.

MJ & MJ

 

I can't put words around how happy it makes me to see my daughter and my mother together. It is one of the most fun, unexpected joys of my life. 

More MJ Turns 6!

Happy 6th Birthday, Miss Mary Jeanne!

Wow, 6! I am writing this the day after your birthday because yesterday never left me time to sit down and write. But laying in bed this morning, after a fun party and a great day with you yesterday, I remembered how much I loved the day AFTER each of you were born.

The day after, I had no chores or jobs or plans but to hold you, feed you and investigate your tiny toes, sweet hands and beautiful face. Dad and the hospital staff took complete care of me, I got to spend the whole day with dad and the only thing I needed to do was to love this perfect, wonderful person.

I remember how small you seemed, but how bright and sunshiny even at just over 6 pounds. And today you bounded into my room, still petite but clearly growing, but just as sunshiny as ever.

Grandma MJ said to me this morning that she loved how grateful you seemed last night - how every small thing was a delight to you.  Your sense of happy perspective is amazing to me - I told my mom this morning that I couldn't think of a time where you were really disappointed.

You see the fun, the pleasure and the gift of every moment ordinary or momentous. When something is hard, you work harder.  When we have a change of plans, you jump right to the sunny side of the new plan.  When we got this last round of snow, you said "Now we can sit by the fire and read!" When you receive a gift - it is like the best present in the world - no matter what it is.

Seamus made a silver figurine out of pipe cleaners and gave it to you. You would have thought it was your own personal merry-go-round for how your face lit up. He made something sweet, thoughtful and your 6 year old self can see the preciousness of that gift.

Embrace this part of your soul. If at 16, 26, 36, 56 and 96 you can be satisfied with ordinary as well as the extraordinary you will be the most successful person in the world.  It isn't about settling for less, or about lowering your standards, it's about finding joy and opportunity in every experience.

Success in my mind, doesn't mean making tons of money or having lots of prestige; being successful to me means finding purpose in your life, finding a way to make your life impactful; finding that a life well lived looks different for everyone, but knowing what it looks like for you.

I told Greta on Tuesday night at her confirmation vigil, that if you asked me at 18 what I thought the Holy Spirit was calling for me in my life, I wouldn't have expected my vocation to be about family.  I wanted to move away,  I didn't expect to get married young, I would have said I wanted to be teaching.

And yet I see that family is a vocation for me.  I love being your mom. I love my parents and siblings and I find that right now a lot of my time is spent nurturing this part of my life. And it makes me very happy. 

Being with Greta also reminded me that Dad and I brought you to her first communion (three days old) and she was wearing my First Communion dress. That was the first moment that I really thought about how it might be different to have a daughter. And I cried with surprised joyfulness. My gratitude for you caught me off guard.

I know you had a great day yesterday. Dad made his special waffles in the morning. You brought treats to share at school (fruit roll ups).  I painted your finger nails when you got home. You helped me cook dinner (we de-veined shrimp for almost an hour) and set the table.  Nick, Erin, Kerry, Grandma and Grandpa Schneeman, Bob and Paula all came for dinner.  We had steak and shrimp, carrots and sugar snap peas, and of course baked potatoes. You asked for Strawberry Shortcake - and you wanted everyone to decorate their whip cream with sprinkles, chocolate or extra berries.  It was a great idea (all your own).

When you fell into bed, happy and grateful, you thanked me for making real whipped cream (you stood on the stool and watched me whip it). What a funny, small thing to be grateful for, but how telling.

Even at 6 years old, you are aware of what is real, what is made with love and how something so small can add such sweetness to the world.

God gave you that present - and it's the best one ever.

I love you more than you know. And as we say all the time to each other, I am so glad that God gave you to us. 

Mr. Seamus

Seamus, I can't believe that this is the year you will be 10.  Now that I am reading Harry Potter with MJ, I realize that you are edging ever closer to that magical milestone of turning 11.  Even though Hogwarts is a happy dream, the reality is even more magical. 

You got a few braces this month - much to your parents dismay, but you haven't complained at all and I know that being able to correctly close your mouth shouldn't be something we drag our feet on any longer. 

You "time" qualified for Finals this year in swimming for the first time - in the past you went because you swam uncommon events and there were more spots than young boys to swim them. Its been fun to watch you swim -  your stoke has improved and you look so strong in the water. You're growing too - which is so strange to me.  You look me almost in the eyes now (which isn't saying all that much - but it feels like a big milestone to me).

You're still inventing all the time.  You love robots and science and of course reading.  You're proclivity to read sometimes makes us crazy because you lose all track of time inside a book. I know its a good problem to have - but its funny that dad and I have had to say that we're taking a book away like some parents might need to take a video game or a phone. 

You're conversations are even more adult now - your nuanced sense of what's happening in the world is still striking to me. I have to be very careful talking around you because I know you don't miss anything. 

I can't wait for the unstructured quality of summer so you can sit in the hammock with whatever series your reading, so that you can swim for hours on end, so that you can enjoy these last few summers of true childhood. I don't want to rush or to miss a minute of it. 

I love you so.

 

 

Mr. Finn

Oh, Finny, you are so your own man!  This week you've written a plan to earn a used Ipod touch - it involves being responsible for making sure the basement is always picked up (which means cleaning up your self but also helping keep the rest of the family on track), being bedroom cleaning captain and being the happy attitude leader of the family. You are so goal oriented. It is unusual for a kid your age to have such clear and self driven focus. You've excelled at swimming and basketball.  You love football on the playground and you've made many new friends this year. But still, you love playing with your lions and having time to yourself. 

You still like to sit in my lap when we read, but now more often than not you're reading to me. You've got so much capacity - you rarely seem over tired (maybe because you also fall asleep faster than anyone - you get that from your dad) and you always seem to be ready for more.  You're the first ready in the morning, the one who has finished his chores and is looking for something to do, the one who finds time to finish homework, play catch, legos, color and read in the two hours after school. Many times I've looked at you and wished I was more like you - wished I was more mentally organized, more self driven, more capably of finding time for "one more thing." It is a gift Finn and you've got it. 

Looking forward to a family movie night because I can always guarantee that you'll be my buddy. I am so grateful for your cuddles, your humor and your big spirit. God knew how much we needed you - and I am so grateful for the gift that you are to us all.