The big 6!

Tomorrow I will officially be the proud mother of a 6 year old:) Mark has been telling Aaron since he turned 5 that he wasn't allowed to turn 6. Aaron always gets a big smile on his face when Mark says that to him and says "Dad, you know I can't stay 5!"

Aaron, you are so compassionate and kind hearted. You just finished a year at Montessori for your final year of preschool. You have learned to read and we have discovered your love for numbers. That shouldn't surprise us because your daddy is awesome with numbers. We have noticed that you have an incredible amount of focus for being 5 years old...I mean 6. All your teachers talk about how easy you are to teach and how self-disciplined you are. We always have such positive feed back from family and friends about your attitude and willingness to listen. You always ask questions that I have to think about really hard before I answer. They are super complicated. A lot of the time I let daddy answer them...he tends to ask similar questions:) I love the way you volunteer to play with your siblings so I can finish whatever task I am working on. I love the way you work hard with your daddy and I when we have things to get done around the house or at the barn. I love even more how I randomly find you seeing jobs that need to be done and doing them to "surprise" us. You are a lot like your mama, a people pleaser:) This weekend we will finish a season of baseball. You are on the Nationals and play 2nd base...or 2nd 'baser' if we use your terminology.You are really enjoying playing 'real baseball' as opposed to 'tee ball' last year. You get a hit pretty much every time you are up to bat and play so hard. Last fall/winter you played soccer and loved the running part of it. I am so interested what particular sport you will end up playing more as you get bigger. Right now, you say your favorite is whatever you are playing at the time. You have also reallys started watching baseball and basketball on tv and can follow the game pretty well. Your daddy LOVES having someone who will watch 'the game' with him:) I am so grateful for your example as a big brother to Corban, and how sweet you treat Eden. You have recently discovered a love for broccoli and ribs. You have requested both for your birthday dinner! And oreo ice cream. You have been patching your left eye for a year now. We have gone from 20/200 to 20/30 during that year period patching 6 hrs a day. You have done awesome! You love legos, using your roller skates Gigi got you for Christmas, swimming (you are taking lessons right now) and riding your bike.

Just the other day we told you we are moving to Kentucky this summer. This is big. You have shown pretty mixed emotions about the whole thing. You say you are excited to move where your grandparents and cousins are, but the other night when I put you to bed you started crying because you would miss your friends. I know this move is going to effect you more than your siblings because you are older and can somewhat understand implications of us not being 'home.' I pray daily that the adjustment will be easy for you. We are trying to show you that God is faithful. He was faithful when we moved to Tullahoma knowing no one, and he will be faithful when we move again. We will be about his mission wherever we live.

Aaron, your mama and daddy are so proud of you! You are in such a fun stage of life and we are enjoying watching every minute of it! We pray that you will show Jesus in all of your activities these days and that God will show you his faithfulness as we prepare for a big transition for this family. We love you!