fifteen

 Dearest Cooper-

You are fifteen years old today. Um, come again? FIFTEEN?! Time is a damn thief, I tell ya. I remember this day like it was yesterday.

It seems like I say this every year, but I can honestly say this past year has been my absolute favorite age so far. I sort of feared the teenage years for so long, but so far they've been a breeze compared to your toddler years. Knock on wood because those toddler years were something else! But I truly love this time with you, and I know it's only getting shorter and shorter, so I try to make the most of every minute.

Your first year of high school was pretty damn great. You put yourself out there and tried so many new things, and I'm just so proud of you for going all in. I know I was not brave enough to do that at fourteen, or forty for that matter! You have an amazing group of friends, which I've always said is the key to having a good high school experience. You also learned some hard lessons about time management and getting assignments turned in, but overall I think you would say it was the best year of your life.

You decided in the spring of your eight grade year that you wanted to try football. You had never played a single minute of football in your life, but you were determined. You went to summer weights, did the freshman camp, practiced plays in the yard with Dad, and worked your tail off to learn the game. You absolutely loved being a part of the team, and most of the season was spent learning how to play football. You started off the season playing tight end, but that position was eliminated from the offense, so you moved to linebacker, which you ended up loving. You've made it your goal to become the starting middle linebacker for the JV team this year. I absolutely love watching you play, and I cannot wait for another season of football!

You had a super busy fall because you also did marching band last year. Now, I am not really a band person, but this was way more fun than I ever expected. You loved learning all the movements and formations, and it was so fun seeing you progress as the year went on. You made some incredible friends in band, and you got to take a trip with the entire group to Disney at the end of the year. I think you all made enough memories that week to last a lifetime. You've decided to give up marching band for next year and focus on football. It was a super hard decision for you, and I know you will miss it!

Because trying one new sport wasn't enough, you also decided to go out for wrestling this year. OK, I feel like I know a lot about a lot of sports, but I knew NOTHING about wrestling before the season. I wasn't even sure I wanted you to do it, but again, you were determined. Well, I am so glad you're stubborn because it was an incredible experience for you. You took second place in your very first meet, and ended the season placing 5th in the JV league tournament. Wrestling is so different from football in that it's all on you, not really a team, so you get out of it what you put in. I loved getting to see you compete and improve in just one season, and I can't wait for next year!

Another big milestone this year was getting your learner's permit. Whoa Nelly, this might be one of the hardest stages for me to accept. Not only does it scare the daylights out of me to think about you and your buddies on the road, but it makes me sad to think about not getting to drive you around all the time. Don't get me wrong, it will be super convenient when you can drive yourself to school and practice, but those moments in the car with you and your friends are some of my very favorite memories.

You are just an incredible human, and every year seems better than the last. We spend the first few years of parenting just trying to get a break from our kids. But now I find myself soaking up every second I get to spend with you because it all feels so limited. One thing I admire most about you, is you aren't afraid to just be yourself, which can be really tough during the teenage years. You decided you wanted a pink suit for Well Dressed Wednesday earlier this year, and you rocked that thing better than anyone. You even won first place in the freshman football fashion show. I know these next few years are going to fly by, but I just can't wait to see what cool thing you do next.

Love,

Mom

twelve

 Dearest Everett-

You are twelve years old today. What the what?! Only one more year until you are a teenager. CRAZY! I swear this picture was just taken a second ago. Now I couldn't even lift you up, let alone carry you!

One of the best things about being a parent is getting a front row seat as you grow and become your own person. You are such a cool dude and every year seems to be better than the last. This age seems to be bridge from child to young man, and I'm so glad I get to be along for the ride. You're not too old to sit down and play a game with your old mom (you almost always win), but you're old enough to ride your scooter to McDonalds with friends. You no longer want to read books at bedtime, but you still want the bathroom light left on at night. You can stay home alone, just so long as someone else is home when it gets dark. Part of me wants you to stay little forever and the other part can't wait to see what's next.

You are currently on the downslope of elementary school and only have one more quarter left before we close that chapter. It has been such a good year for you, minus a couple calls to the principal's office, but we won't mention that. You got put in the advanced math class this year, and you are really thriving. Math has always been your thing and this year your confidence has soared. You are pumped to get to choose your classes next year in middle school. You love hanging with your friends, and most of the time you have a busier social life than me.

One exciting thing this year was getting to play your first season of tackle football. When I say you've been waiting for this day for pretty much your entire life, that is no exaggeration. Your team, the Cougars, went to the championship game for your league, but fell just a little short. It was a great season of learning how to tackle and realizing you actually love defense. You were an animal on the defensive line. You recovered a fumble and ran the ball 50 yards before being tackled on the one yard line. It was exciting and heartbreaking all at the same time. We will always talk about the near scoop and score. You fractured your growth plate in your foot during practice the week of the last game. We didn't know it was broken at the time, so you played your last game on a broken foot. Oops! I absolutely loved getting to watch you play the sport you love so much, and I can't wait for next season.

We took a trip to NYC this past summer, and you got your first taste of big city life. You decided after that trip that you are a mountain guy at heart and prefer the slower paced life. This year we are hitting the slopes on your actual birthday this year, so that will hopefully be the perfect way to celebrate twelve. You love skiing, so it's fun to get to enjoy that with you.

It was an exciting year for our favorite sports teams. We got to go to quite a few K-State football games and were beyond excited when they won the Big 12 Championship game. We also cheered on the Chiefs to their second Super Bowl in four years. Now we are gearing up to watch the Cats in March Madness for the first time in a few years, and you picked them to win the whole thing. I sure hope you're right! I love that I've instilled my love of the Cats in you.

I have seen a change in your relationship with Cooper this year. Now don't get me wrong, you two still have your moments of wanting to kill each other. But I also see so many moments of the two of you bonding over football, a video game, or TV show. I think both of you playing football this past fall really helped your bond. He is trying to convince you to try wrestling in middle school, but you aren't quite sold on that one. He's a pretty good salesman, so we will see how that one goes. He has tried to use his wrestling moves on you, which typically doesn't end well!

Thank you for completing our family twelve years ago today. You are one of the greatest joys of my life, and I'm so glad I get to be your mom.

Love,

Mom

fourteen

 Dearest Cooper-

You are fourteen years old today. Um, say what?! Weren't you just graduating from pre-school?

You wrapped up your middle school years just a few weeks ago and no surprise, it went by in the blink of an eye. I thought middle school was going to be terrible, but you declared eighth grade your best year yet. We were pretty much back to normal this year after a strange year in seventh grade thanks to Covid. You made some great new friends, kept some of the old friends, and did well in most of your classes. We won't talk about that stupid shop grade. 

I cannot believe you will be in high school in a few short months, but you are so ready for it! You've decided to play football, which shocked all of us. You played it a lot in PE this year and figured out that you are pretty good, so you are going to give it a go. This means early mornings all summer long for weights and conditioning. You are also going to play the saxophone in the marching band, so it will be a busy fall for all of us. I really look forward to watching you experience all the fun things that come with the high school years. These will be some of the best years of your life!

You're taking drivers ed this summer, but until you're legal to get behind the wheel, you ride your bike everywhere. You would ride all day, everyday if you could. We are lucky to live on a trail that can take you anywhere you want to go. I'm not quite ready for you to be on four wheels, so we will just enjoy the slower, safer mode of transportation for a while longer. I've always struggled with letting you out from under my wing, but it is so fun to watch you FLY!

I feel like a broken record sometimes when I say this, but you are just absolutely delightful, and I'm not just saying that because I'm your mom. The toddler years were tough with you, but now I feel like we won the kid lottery. You are so considerate of others and never complain when I ask you bring up the giant pile of socks you left in the basement. You rarely ask for anything, which is hard when tying to find something to get you for your birthday! You are one of the most easy going people I know and nothing ever seems to ruffle your feathers. I absolutely love spending time with you and treasure those moments more than you will ever know.

You've become super picky about your hair and appearance over the past few years, and things really ramped up eighth grade. You got what you thought was a bad haircut at one point, and you seriously asked if you could stay home from school. I'm not even kidding. Luckily it grew out, just like I promised, and you didn't have to go into hiding. You do have one of the greatest heads of hair around, and I'm glad you've decided it's ok to run a brush thru it every once in a while.

You are still quite the comedian and movie buff, although you're no longer into the live theater scene. I tried to get you to try out for the middle school musical, but that was a hard pass. You're obsessed with Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, so I hope that doesn't mean you have a future as a drug lord. You love to discuss film theory and behind the scenes secrets, and you know more about movies than most people I know. At this point you either want to do something in film, be a high school teacher, or be a lawyer (thanks to Saul - ha!) Whatever you do, I know it's going to be amazing.

Thank you for making me a mom fourteen years ago today. It has been the greatest gift of my life. 

Love,

Mom

eleven

Dearest Everett-

You are eleven years old today. Double ones! Doesn't get much better than that.

Two years ago our world was turned upside down just before your birthday, and I'm cautiously optimistic that we are almost on the other side of this thing. You've endured online school, hybrid school, masks, social distancing at school, a million things cancelled, and yet you still managed to make the most of it. Sure we've had some disappointments over the past couple years, one of the biggest still being a missed birthday breakfast tradition at First Watch when you turned nine. The world had just shut down, and we had to settle for pancakes at home. You still talk about that missed breakfast. But for the most part it is what you make it, and kid, you sure do make things FUN!

One of your favorite things to do lately is to play tricks on people. I seem to be your main target with Cooper coming a close second. You will hide under the bed or behind a door and scare the crap out of me before bedtime. You are a sneaky little booger. Or sometimes I will ask you to take a picture with my phone, and then when I go to look at the picture, I end up with a million pictures looking like this. You think it's the funniest thing ever. 

This past fall I got to coach your flag football team, which was honestly one of the greatest joys of my life. We ended up with an amazing group of boys and went to the division championship game where we came up one touchdown short. When we gave out awards at the end of the season, we named you "Mr. Football" for your crazy knowledge of the game. I love your love of all things Cats, Chiefs, and Seahawks. Football season is my absolute favorite, and it's because I get to share it with you.

You still love nothing more than to be snuggled up in a cozy blanket. You've been this way since you were teeny tiny. You hate "hard pants" and recently wore sweats to a fancy steak and seafood restaurant. You were happy to sit there eating your filet in your soft pants while everyone around you wore their finest clothing. There are some battles not worth fighting. 

I think I say this every year, but you're just becoming an amazing young man, and I'm so happy I get to be your mom. Do you still have that stubborn, not going to give in for anything, super spicy side? Sure. We see it less and less, but it's certainly still there. But you're also sweet and loyal, and you love your people. This adventure with you has been so fun, I can't wait to see what you do next!

Love,

Mom

thirteen

 Dearest Cooper-

You are thirteen years old today. T H I R T E E N. It gets stuck in my throat when I try to say it. I cannot quite wrap my head around having a teenager.

While I'm not quite ready for this phase of life, you are diving head first into this teenage thing. You've finally figured out how to sleep, after thirteen years of being really, really bad at it. You think you need to stay up until all hours of the night and think we are so mean when we make you go to bed at a reasonable hour. We've seen glimpses of the teenage attitude and you don't seem to want to hang with your lame parents as much anymore. You've become particular about your hair (shaggy) and your clothes - hoodies all day everyday. You got braces at the beginning of the school year, which seems like a teenage rite of passage. You've grown nearly four inches since your last birthday and passed me up in height months ago. Just slow it down, would ya!

It's not all teenage tantrums and attitude around here. You are still one of the most tender hearted kids I know, and are fiercely loyal to your friends and family. You are a people pleaser, and I sometimes worry that you won't stand up for yourself because you want to make everyone else happy. One of my favorite things is laying in bed with you at night and hearing you talk about your day. You mostly just tell me about the hilarious things that happened in class that day, and it's fun to get a little glimpse into middle school life. I know you won't want to do this forever, so I try to soak up every second while I can.

This past year sure has been a wild one, but you took everything in stride and rolled with the punches. I never imagined you would be at home for most of your seventh grade year, save for a few months of hybrid and then a few months of in-person. For the days that you actually went to school, you LOVED it. You had incredible teachers, and because of your English teacher Mr. D., you've decided you might like to be a teacher when you grow up. You made some pretty great friends, and you declared it your best year yet. I'd call that a success. 

You started the year wanting to quit the saxophone, but decided to stick with it and it became one of your favorite classes. That hour of remote band class became one of my favorite parts of the day, and I just loved hearing you progress. You and your classmates put on an end of the year concert and the sound was amazing! You also loved your performance class this year, and your sweet teacher wrote the best blurb about you. You are an original, Coop!

You love to ride your bike, and this has become your mode of transportation between friends' houses. I'm not quite ready for the freedom this is giving you, but I'm trying to be ok releasing you into the wild. You will sometimes still ride with me, although you often tell me I'm too slow to keep up. You rode to the grocery store with a group of friends the other day and came home with a giant bag of Reese's cups. Nothing better than money in your pocket and free rein of the candy aisle! 

Being your mom is one of the greatest joys of my life, and I am so thankful for your sweet, quirky spirit. It is truly an honor to have you as my child, and I am so excited to see what life has in store for you. I know it's going to be amazing!

Love,

Mama