9-Year-Old Love Letter

My sweet Wessy Bug,

You are a nine-year-old third grader living your best life. This school year brought a new sense of confidence and outgoingness. You’ve deepened old friendships and found your tribe with Kingston and Chase. Kingston, who lives in the neighborhood and is an only child, often invites you along on fun family adventures. You play sports at recess and are the self-proclaimed best on the playground. You love retelling your amazing fails and legendary accomplishments in equal measure.

Your teacher, Mr. Cleary, is a great fit for you—funny, engaging, and tuned in to kids who are academically advanced. You tested into the highly capable program for math but chose to stay in a traditional classroom, a decision you owned with confidence.

You love lounging on the couch, and errands are definitely not your jam. I've worked hard this year to instill “cleaning up after yourself” as a family value. It’s taken time, but you’ve really respected the rule and worked hard to do your part. You're quick to accommodate your siblings to keep the peace—something I deeply appreciate, even as I try not to rely on it too much.

Your memory is incredible, and your luck remains beyond the bell curve. Owen recently called you “the human calculator.” You love watching football and tracking player stats. You really want to go to a Seahawks game. Your favorite foods are popcorn, yellow peppers, pasta, rice, and oatmeal. You're often hesitant to make decisions, preferring to ask me or Daddy to choose for you—even the small stuff.

You opted out of soccer this fall and stuck with your spring flag football team, which you loved. Your team won the division championship, though you didn’t get to play the position you wanted. So now, we’re thinking more deeply about how our family values show up when choosing sports teams. One of the playoff games was against former Seahawk Richard Sherman’s son’s team. You lost—but what an epic experience! When those kids make it to the NFL, you’ll be able to say you played against them when you were eight.

Basketball last winter was fine, but this year we’ve decided to skip winter team sports and focus on skiing as a family. Piano lasted about three months before you decided to “take a break” (aka, quit). I’m still hoping you’ll return. Over the summer, you used your own money to buy a new bike. You’re signed up to play both lacrosse and more flag football this spring.

You and Hazel are besties. She’s constantly asking you to do things for her, and you consistently offer your love and support. You play together often and share a truly special bond. Your relationship with Owen has had its ups and downs—plenty of shared activities, and just as many sibling squabbles. You’re always up for a good board game and recently discovered “Dude Perfect.” The Lego sets from last Christmas are still untouched, but you could build forts and play school all day.

Your growing confidence, deepening friendships, and emerging independence have been the highlights of this year. I love watching you learn, play, and discover the world. You are sweet, thoughtful, and silly—and I am so proud of you.

With every part of me, I’m grateful to be your mama. You are deeply loved and cherished.

Happy birthday, sweet boy.

xoxo,
Your loving Mama

11-Year-Old Love Letter

My sweet Owen,

The first half of your tenth year was one of my favorite stages of your childhood so far. You leaned into who you are, worked hard to achieve your goals, and continued to develop your leadership skills.

There were these magical months when you were truly living out the values we’ve instilled in you. You made significant academic progress, stayed close to your core group of friends, and excelled during the spring lacrosse season. You gave 100% effort at every practice and were a true leader on the team. One day, you stayed home sick from school. Our rule is: if you don’t go to school, you don’t go to activities. But that afternoon, when you started feeling better and I reminded you of the rule, you said, “Being a leader means showing up for your team whenever you can. And I can! I feel better.” I couldn’t argue with that.

Just after lacrosse season ended, you signed up for the school geography bee and placed second. I’ll never forget the joy on your face when you realized it was down to just you and one other contestant. The whole gym smiled with you as you pumped your arms in victory. You put tremendous effort into school this year and remain impressively self-motivated to learn.

Over the summer, you attended a canoe and kayak camp, which led to an invitation to join the Gig Harbor Canoe and Kayak Racing Team—a shiny new opportunity you accepted with bounding enthusiasm. You also played in a summer lacrosse league and attended an overnight lacrosse camp. But after all of that, you felt burned out and much more excited about the fresh challenge of canoe racing.

In the fall, you joined a select lacrosse team but promptly decided you hated it. There were arguments before every Sunday practice, and your attitude—on and off the field—was tough. It was hard for Daddy and me. We thought lacrosse was the sport for you. After eight years of soccer that never really clicked, you’d been fully engaged on the lacrosse field. We went all in as a family—something we hadn’t done before. But the Sunday night struggle began to take a toll on our relationship. Still, we went to two tournaments in November, which you enjoyed somewhat. It was a fun new experience for our family, feeling out the tournament vibe. Ultimately, we learned that seasonal sports—rather than year-round commitments—work best for you, and select sports probably aren’t our path right now.

You sometimes struggle to find books you enjoy but love reading when you land on the right one. Katherine Applegate was your favorite author this year, but Ground Zero by Alan Gratz topped your list. You’ve discovered a love for historical fiction—just like me.

I can see teenage changes emerging—big emotions and difficulty regulating them in the moment. But you’re incredibly self-reflective and always willing to apologize and consider what you could have done differently once you’ve calmed down. As the firstborn, you’re used to making decisions and getting your way, and Daddy and I have worked hard to make sure everyone gets a turn—which has been hard for you. Your relationship with your siblings has been a bit rocky at times, but you're working on treating them with the same kindness and respect you show your friends.

You’re open with your thoughts and emotions, and I’m so grateful. A big parenting moment this year came when you asked about a particularly awful word. It was hard for me to say it out loud and explain it, but I want you to always feel safe asking questions. I’ll always tell you the truth.

At the end of your birthday, you lay in bed and cried because it felt like just another day. You said you appreciated all the things we did to make it special, but you still had to go to school—and the rose-colored glasses of childhood birthdays are starting to fade. I remember feeling the same way about Christmas around junior high. These are the small, unfair truths of growing up.

You feel strongly that kids your age shouldn’t have cell phones and have zero interest in social media. You still love being outside—hiking, swimming, skiing, biking, tossing a ball. You learned to wakeboard this summer and absolutely loved it. You’ve started collecting baseball cards, and going to a Mariners game was a highlight of your year. Your fierce loyalty to family remains a defining trait.

My love and pride in you are unwavering. Our family is a place to learn, grow, and make mistakes, so when you go out into the world, you bring your best self—which you consistently do. You are a kind, respectful, and confident young person who deeply trusts himself. I love spending time with you and am endlessly proud of you.

You are an incredible human, and I’m so grateful you’re mine.

xoxo,
Your Loving Mama

Halloween 2023

I usually steer clear of popular costumes in favor of something more original, but this year I fully leaned into the #1 costume trend—and I have zero regrets. Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce was just too fun and too easy to pass up.

The boys were pretty uninspired this year and ended up wearing their new Mariners jerseys. Hazel, on the other hand, was absolutely obsessed with her "sassy cat" costume. Sassy cat, sas, sas, sassy cat!

We hosted a family costume party on Saturday night, then hit the neighborhood for trick-or-treating on Halloween. It was festive, chaotic, and full of candy—everything Halloween should be.

Back to School 2023

Owen rules the school as a 5th grader, Hazel settles into first grade and Wes has the fun teacher he wanted for third. The last year they'll all be Purdy Panthers together. 

6-Year-Old Love Letter

My sweet Hazel Grace, 

You are a six-year-old kindergarten grad. 

You celebrated with an epic day of horseback riding and a backyard birthday party. You were all about party planning with a guest list a mile long. A friend of a friend recently moved to Gig Harbor so we invited her and her girls over right around the time we sent out your party invitations. As you were going to bed that night you asked, "should we invite our new friends to the party?" to which I responded, "I was thinking the same thing." I love your gregarious nature and desire to be inclusive. 

The transition to elementary school was smooth. You loved riding the bus and your best friend, Brynn, from preschool, was in your class. You had the same incredible teacher as the brothers, Mrs. Nilsen, and excelled in her classroom. 

Animals continue to be your passion and the obsession with stuffies hasn't faltered. You have a kind, empathic heart and care deeply about your friendships. You love music and dancing. Midway through the school year, you picked up phrases like "It's none of your business" and "I wasn't talking to you!" I mentioned that those sayings sound sassy. You were very thoughtful and replied, "Oh, I didn't know it was rude." You've since eliminated them from your vocabulary. You told me recently, "You're the best mommy in the whole world!" Then got a bit philosophical, vocalizing that I was the best mommy for you and you didn't want to make anyone else feel bad. 

You still use a pull-up at night and have a lot of near emergencies when you need to pee. You played a season of soccer in the fall and dominated the field. You did nine months of gymnastics and the class didn't teach you nearly as much as I'd hoped. When asked to climb the rope, you scaled it to the tippy top, causing a cold sweat to break out among all the parents observing. You decided you'd like to go back to dance next year so that you can be on stage for the recital. Creating your own performances at home is a popular passtime. We started the summer off with two weeks of swimming lessons and you're officially independent in the water. You can front crawl and roll over to a backstroke across the pool. As pictured, cat headbands were a staple of your wardrobe this year. You want to be a veterinarian when you grow up and I can 100% see that coming to fruition. 

You're always down for an adventure and so much fun to be around. Your tender heart and inquisitive spirit are exactly what the world needs. It's an honor watching you grow and being your mama means everything to me. As you gain more independence I pray that you lean into who you were made to be and continue to discover what brings you joy. You are deeply loved, my sweet girl. 

Xoxo,

Your Loving Mama