Happy Birthday, Mr. Finn!

Finny 8 is a HUGE year for you. You can legally ride without a car seat (which, poor you, we still make you use most of the time).  You're going to make your first reconciliation and communion. You're starting flag football in the fall. You're reading like a pro (especially thanks to Grandma's birthday present  - a fancy new Kindle).

For your birthday this year, we spent the week in St. Paul (you wanted to be at the lake, but I had already signed you up for camps at Nativity and so you rolled with the punches just fine). You spent all week up at school in the mornings doing Spanish, Science and Robotics. As much as you love the lake, you did enjoy being back to see all your buddies. On your birthday, you brought treats up to camp and we stopped at your friend Caleb's house for a play date (his mom had birthday donuts for everyone to share).

I told you that we had a surprise planned for the evening and you were funny about just going along with it all - not too concerned about what the surprise might me.  We invited Winsors, Sullivans and Wauds to go see the new Despicable Me movie at the drive in. We packed dinner, drinks and cupcakes and got the car all loaded and ready to go while you played in your bedroom. Seamus had the idea that he would make masks for all of us to wear and so we sent you out to wait in the car and then Dad marched out the back door dressed as Gru (it was so hot outside - and he stayed in costume for the whole movie) and we followed as his Minions (with Bucky even dressed at the crazy dog). You looked so delighted. It was such a fun surprise. When we got to the movie and settled in, you were even more surprise to see Benny and Finn Sullivan arrive with their families. It was a treat all around.

We grilled brats and I brought homemade Mac and Cheese. The movie was cute and there is something special about going to a drive in movie theater - the one we went to is the last one left in the state.

What can I tell you about your 8 year old self? You are so driven and organized. You work towards goals, you can plan ahead and think through obstacles.

This was the year you earned an Ipod. After seeing the big cousins with their phones and Ipods, you kept asking dad and I when and how you could get one. Finally, Dad and I agreed that if you could be the captain of keeping the shared bedroom (meaning that you needed to pick up after yourself but also keep MJ and Seamus on task), the basement and the backyard cleaned up for 30 days you could earn a used Ipod. We also required that you do it with a good attitude and as a peace maker. If you all fought about keeping things clean, than you missed the whole point.

Well, frankly, to our surprise, you did a remarkable job.  At the end of every day, you'd ask how you'd done on a scale of 1-10.  I usually said 8 so you always had room to improve. You managed to get MJ and Seamus on board and they (for the most part) worked hard to keep their stuff cleaned up so you could earn your Ipod. When they didn't and you ended up racing around to pick up after them, they always seemed so grateful that they'd work harder to help the next day.

Needless to say, it made my life so much easier.  Instead of me yelling up the stairs in the mornings to double check you made your beds, I could hear you asking Seamus to quick make his bed before he came down or saying to MJ that you'd just picked up the basement so could she please put her Lego's away before she went upstairs. It was amazing to me that you were able to stay so focused and that you were able to do it without alienating your siblings.

It took us a few weeks, but eventually we got you a used Ipod Touch and you've taken great care of it.  There is no messaging or Internet, but you like to listen to your music and play DJ in the car or at the lake. You've got a few games and you've been great about using it appropriately.  It was a fascinating experiment for us as parents - you proved that you're mature and thoughtful for your age. Dad and I both said we'd do this again, but maybe make it longer than a month.

You can swim to the raft without a life jacket (if I'm there). You're up and down the hill at the cabin with your bike all day long. You kept a pile of clothes in cabin 1 this summer because you desperately want to be one of the big cousins who can drive the boat and run the tractor.

You surprise me all of the time - with your sense of humor, your sense of self and your ability to make everyone feel good. You are still very much a bridge builder at home and at school. People want to be around you because you bring out goodness in everyone.

I can't wait to see what this year bring you - we are so grateful to get to watch your grow up and share in this wonderful life. Happy, happy birthday, Mr Finn. We love you more each day!

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.