Today, my precious Noah is 8.  He's got a tender heart, and an intense sense of justice for all things. He is a fast (yet stubborn) learner.  He loves animals & Pokemon, Minecraft & music.  His favorite song this week is Fireflies by Owl City.  He just got his own pinboard on my pinterest and has been pinning up a storm!  You can check it out here. (Can I just say, it is SO neat to see them start doing this kind of stuff?)

Noah is an avid animal lover- so much so that he never really took an interest in cars/planes/trains.  He would just sit and line his toy animals up 2 by 2... heehee- I'm kidding. For Christmas, he asked for a baby lion.  So, my parents "adopted" a lion cub in his name from The Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, CO.  He has a certificate, a photo, and can visit any time. To say he is over the moon is an understatement (added bonus, telling your friends you got a REAL lion for Christmas... AND your mom backing you up- score.)  He is currently dreaming up ways he can save up to buy things Leonardo the Lion needs when he gets to go visit. *side note- this is an awesome program to donate to if you are ever looking for a great cause to give to*

His reading is really starting to gain speed, and he is always asking what signs mean when they say __________.  I am so excited this reluctant reader is starting to see that reading can, indeed, be fun.

We play pokemon together (only recently with cards), and on the nights that he is struggling to fall asleep, I ask if we can meet in our dreams to have a battle.  It works almost every time to help him sleep, and the next morning I get a full detailing of what he dreamt of.

I constantly wonder what kinds of adults our kids will be.  This has been particularly on my mind as our oldest 2 are quickly approaching being tweens- and, as most of us do, I worry if I've entirely screwed them up, or if they will at least turn out okay.  Then, things happen that remind me that they are resilient and incredible.

We played Risk for the first time with Hailey and Noah on New Years Eve.  We played and everyone laughed hard as Mommy (me) got SO angry at Daddy for beating me so handily.  Midnight came and went, and since I am a big wuss when it comes to staying up late, we decided to finish up another night.  Sunday evening, we pulled the game back out, set up the pieces according to the photos we took of the word, and got back to playing.  I was out within 5 minutes (thanks for wiping out my last 5 men Chris... HUMPH) Hailey was out shortly after, and it was down to the 2 guys.  Noah did a great job bolstering his countries, but he started to get overly excited and cocky.  "You're gonna get it!" "BOOM!" etc.  It was fun to see the excitement, but a lesson in getting overly confident (and a little nasty about it) too early was about to happen.  Chris's turn was up, and once he turned in cards, counted up countries, and added bonuses, he got to add a whopping 54 armies to the board.  Roll by roll, Noah's army dwindled, and soon he realized he was going to lose.  Do you know what he did then?  He kept rolling.  Tears were silently falling, but only once, at the end, did he say "I don't want to roll"- but he did anyhow, and with that, Daddy won the game.  Instead of stomping away or having a "fit", he crumbled into Chris's arms and cried for a few minutes.  "That was really hard>" was mumbled into Chris's shoulder- Yes, it was.  Most of us would call it before it was official defeat and walk away without truly finishing.  I asked him to shake his dad's hand and say "good game"- and then I asked him to say "I played well" (which he really didn't want to do, but I'm a meanie and make them say these things out loud and clearly so they can hear themselves)  These kinds of moments give me the most hope for their futures.  Facing the hard stuff and seeing it through.  I am so SO proud of him- heart burstingly proud.

Dearest Noah, I am so excited to find out what this year has for you.  Thank you for choosing us as your family. Thank you for being my buddy, even when you think moms are totally gross and embarrassing.  Thank you for retorting my taunts (like, "you're a NERD!" with "I got it from YOU MOM!"), and for always saying "I love you more! There's at least 1 possibility".  Thank you for being so enthusiastic about Minecraft and Pokemon, always making it highly interactive for us all.  I love that you love comfy clothes and soft things.  I love that you scream when you're excited and that you can't contain yourself sometimes (okay, it makes me a little crazy too), and I love that you cry when something touches your heart.  I love you more than I can express, bug.  I am so glad to be your mommy.  Happy, happy birthday.