Double Digits

I cannot believe my little Claycito is already 10! It's been a decade of fun and adventure, and I'm so thankful to have you in my life. You make me smile every single day, and I love you more than words can say.

This year has been weird in so many ways because of COVID, but you did get to travel over the summer to California, Las Vegas, and Florida. You also visited Colorado in February. Additionally, we traveled to a Jellystone Park in Kerrville over New Year's and to Port Aransas during Spring Break. You are pretty much always up for an adventure, and I love that about you. 

You have been thrilled to have Oliver living with us since the summer. You love to play with him and love on him, and he loves it too! You were especially thrilled to find out his birthday was in the same month as yours, and you insisted we spoil him with some special treats. 

We changed up the way we do school this year, and you started attending the iSchool K-5 charter school. It took you a little while to get into the swing of it, especially with the difficulty of having to start virtually because of COVID. But once you got the hang of everything, you have been thriving. You enjoy your teacher, Ms. Gasaway, and you have made many wonderful friends. You have performed well academically and have mastered the art of food trading at lunchtime. I'm very pleased with how you embraced this change and bravely stepped into a new situation, and I'm so proud of all your hard work this year. 

You continue to be VERY interested in weapons of all kinds and have amassed quite an armory. In fact, "Nerf War" was the number one activity on your birthday party agenda. You have also shown interest in a variety of video games (especially Minecraft and Clash of Clans), The Lord of the Rings movies, Spotify, and video chatting with your friends. And your deep love of Five Below is still as strong as ever, though you certainly aren't opposed to spending money in other stores if you have the chance. 

Clay, you are a lover and a giver, and you make the world a better place by spreading joy wherever you go. You are easy-going and fun-loving. And you are quick to apologize when you step out of line. You almost always ask how my day was, and you give me "extra hug" every night before you go to bed, which means more to me than you will probably ever really know. You have a wonderful imagination and really clever ideas that I always enjoy hearing about. You have aspirations to become a blacksmith/lumberjack/woodworker, and you have a plan to build a very elaborate house that is filled with booby traps and water slides. I'm incredibly thankful that you came into my life ten years ago! Happy birthday, sweet boy! Thanks for being amazing!

Arriving on the Teen Scene

Max--

I cannot believe it, but you are a teenager now! It's been a wild ride to get to this point, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. You and I have been teaching each other about life, and I believe we've both learned so much and are better for the knowledge we've gained. It has been a delight to watch you grow and learn and mature throughout the years. This last year was probably the most challenging year we have ever experienced--as a family and as a world--and I have been so impressed with the way you have handled every stressful situation and disappointment with courage and resilience. You are an overcomer, and I am so proud of you!

Just before the world shut down due to COVID-19, you had the opportunity to travel with Nana on your 12-year trip to Pigeon Forge, TN and The Ark Experience in KY. You had a wonderful time and got to do so many neat things, and you experienced the world going into lockdown mode in real time. As the world slowly started to open back up in the summer, you got to travel to California (with stops at the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas) and Florida. You also got to spend some time at Mimi and Grandpa's during the summer and Nana and Papa's during the winter break. And we began the New Year with a little trip to Kerrville, where we stayed at a cool Jellystone campground.

During quarantine, you decided to revive the barn project and took it upon yourself to figure out how to install all of the electrical outlets and the tv, creating a super fun place to hang out. In December, we added a PS3 to the mix, making the space even more fun. It was a challenging project, but you stuck with it, watching YouTube videos and chatting with experts (your dad and grandpa) until you accomplished your goal. 

Another thing you became very interested in during quarantine was coins, especially pennies, and you have taken on the role of our resident numismatist. You have spent hours and hours watching YouTube videos to learn about coins and pouring through piles of change looking for oddities and rare treasures. 

When you aren't engaged in these specialty hobbies, you can be found with your nose in a book (on weekdays) or your eyes glued to a screen (on weekends). You might also be found playing with Ollie, who joined our family late in the summer. You mostly love him, but sometimes you feel he plays a little too rough, and you don't appreciate it when he tries to interfere with the electricity in the barn by either chewing on or unplugging the extension cord. He does seem to be in tune with the feelings of everyone in our household, and he has been a comfort to you many times when you were feeling kind of down or upset. 

You are back at the iSchool this year for 7th grade, and you are thriving there. You have some good friends and are making excellent grades, and you enjoy the whole environment of the school. It's a good place for you, and I'm thankful you have the opportunity to go to school there. 

While you have struggled with the occasional emotional outburst this year, I have seen you make significant progress in managing your emotions and reactions. It is becoming more natural for you to take a breath, create some space, redirect your attention, and use your words to convey what you need and want. As I previously mentioned, you are an overcomer. I'm proud of the ways you are maturing, and I'm thankful for the ways your brain is developing to relieve some of the internal stress and anxiety you have experienced during most of your 13 years. 

You are an amazing kid, Max, and I'm so thankful to have you in my life! You are kind and generous and thoughtful. You believe in justice and standing up for what you think is right. You are courageous and creative and curious. You are a problem solver and a hard worker. You teach me many things and help me become a better person. I love you so much! Happy 13th birthday!

Love,

Mom

Arriving on the Teen Scene