Six years young

It's hard to believe it has been six whole years since I experienced the most incredible pain of my life. Although, I look back on that experience a lot, I am still amazed how fresh the feeling of having my heart grow 10 times bigger in about four seconds flat is so vivid. You would think the emotions would fade over time, but just reminiscing catches my breath and quickens my heart beat. Another human could not have possibly filled the role of oldest child, first son, big brother as well as Kevin has. He has a heart of gold, a constant twinkle in his eye, and a vibrant personality. 

Sadly, Kevin's sixth birthday is going down in the books as the birthday of poor behavior. He wasn't the most pleasant individual to be around, despite this weird turn of events, he had candles in his cereal, noodles, and cake. We sang Happy Birthday in English and Danish more times than I can count and we wrapped up the night with birthday spankings. (I don't know how we forgot birthday spankings for the last six years, but they were a hit. All the kids were in stitches and of course we threw in a few extras, one to be good on, no wait... I think there were four or five to be good on. Next birthday should be better!) 

We also went to visit our dear Sister Temple as her and Kevin share a birthday. The kids were so excited to go visit. We hadn't seen them in nearly three weeks and the kids were having withdrawls. 

Thank you for all the phone calls and gifts that rolled in over the weekend. Kevin was able to FaceTime with my entire family. As they sang happy birthday in English and Danish, my sweet boy wiped a tear or two from his cheek. He sure loves and misses his family. 

I had Kevin's parent/teacher conference last Friday. I was not surprised when the teacher told me that Kevin's confidence was getting in the way of his learning. Often putting down his classmates by rubbing in the fact that he knew the answer first or interrupting them with his own answers and not being a good listener. We had noticed him displaying similar behaviors at home and we were working diligently on correcting them. After his conference I took him out to breakfast and we started a game plan. 10 days without interrupting anyone and 10 days of not hurting someone else's feelings if he knew the answer and they didn't then he could order a Lego set he has been eyeing. We gave him some ideas, such as helping his neighbor find the answer, or whispering his answer to his neighbor before raising his hand. We also got him a bracelet to wear to help remind him to think of other peoples feelings. He rocked his first week. On Thursday night I got a phone call from the teacher. She explained that Kevin had been partnered up with a child who has a hard time learning. After they finished a project, they were to present it to the class. Kevin presented the first portion and when it was his partners turn to present, his partner didn't know what to say so Kevin stood behind him and whispered line after line into his ear so that he would be able to do his part. Afterwards the class was asking follow up questions and again his partner did not know the answers so Kevin stood behind him and whispered the answers into his partners ear. The teacher explained how much this simple act boosted his partners self esteem to have the chance to shine. She said, "my Kevin last week never would have done this, but he has made a huge improvement already." I was so happppppy! And when I told Kevin about the phone call in front of Cody and the girls, he very modestly said "thank you." We were also told that Kevin is a great helper, has excellent manners, and is a leader in the class. He has a math minded brain and loves numbers and patterns. He's ready to read, but has yet to express much interest in doing it. (However, Aunt Shas sent him some new books and he read every other page of two of them tonight.) he has made lots of new friends in the class and his teacher said he walks in each morning with huge smile and a handful of friends. He is no problem playing with girls or boys and is a dedicated friend.  It was so fun to hear so many fun things from Kevin's teacher. I really love her. Nothing makes a Mom happier than a late night call from a teacher to know all our hard work is paying off. 

Last Sunday was our primary program. Kevin had two parts. His first was short and sweet. His second was a long one. He told a story about how he was nervous for the first day of school and couldn't fall asleep so he came up and said, "mom, I need you to pray for me." I took him down to his room, we said a prayer and he quickly fell asleep. The next morning he was still really nervous and had a hard time eating. He had a great day at school and he closed his part by saying, "I know that I had a good day because we said a prayer and I know my Heavenly Father loves me." He wrote the part himself, and memorized it and I bawled while he gave it. He was the last person to talk and then I had the closing prayer which I bawled through. When I turned around, there was Kevin also bawling his eyes out. He wrapped his arms around me and said, "mom, why are you crying?" He is my tender, loving boy.

Kevin boy, 

    This Mommy loves you. I love your need to learn. I love your need for facts. I love your ability to retain information. I love your need to serve. I love your love of sending "thanks you notes." I love your creativity. I love how you clean. I love to hear you pray. I love how sweetly you love your sisters. I hate that you give them everything you have, but love that you give them everything you have. You are an amazing example of love, kindness, and service. I love that I get to learn from you. I love that when Daddy tucks you in at night you tell him, "tell Mom I love her." I'm blessed to be your Mom. I love you to heaven and back! Xoxo Mom