Seven years old! My surprise! My, "how on earth can I be pregnant again?!?!" baby. Shepherd, you may have surprised me but our Father planned you from the very beginning of time... from when I found out I was pregnant and scratched my head in wonder; to now, when I still scratch my head in wonder from the things you do and say, I am so thankful that you are mine. But more importantly, I am glad you are His.
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| Happy 7th Birthday! |
This past year you have matured so much yet somehow stayed the same. God opened your eyes and you saw your need for a Savior- my biggest prayer for you... answered.
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Shep's teacher, at the beginning of the school year, asked parents to send in some information about our kids. Below is what I sent her. It is a great summary of Shepherd.
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| LOVE this kid!!! |
My Shep is like hugging a bear cub. He always wipes my kisses off, however he will often hop on my lap to snuggle. He is goofy and slightly quirky. He plays soccer, basketball, and tried baseball. And though he likes sports, they are not his passion at this point in his life. I think he does them because his brothers do.
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| Still rockin the 3-D glasses |
He would prefer to work with his hands. He loves to build with Legos and can easily build form the kit directions or come up with his own "masterpieces." He also loves to color, draw, and paint. He enjoys computer games and playing video games. I think he is pretty smart. His mind works differently in the way he sees things.
He loves all things potty humor and I am constantly telling him to tone it down. The slap stick comedy that I find ridiculous brings Shepherd great joy. We did however find common humor this summer in reading the Stick Dog books. He is starting to understand sarcasm, which is a life survival skill in our house. Though he is not at the point to go and pick up a chapter book on his own and start reading, when I suggest that he go and read, he will never complain about it. I am hopeful that at least one of my boys will be an avid reader like their mom. :)
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| Captain America/ Superman |
In the birth order, he is 3rd of 4 boys with 7 years between the oldest and youngest. I think that would probably be the hardest position to fall as you are definitely in the shadow of the older two but dont get the benefits of being the baby. However, he handles it beautifully. He is known as the silly one of my four. He has great one liners and can normally get me laughing when I want to pull my hair out.
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| Will always smile for the camera when I let him be silly for the last shot |
At home, he can be a whiner but people tell me that when he is out of the house, he is tough as nails... go figure. My biggest concern is that Shepherd jumps before he thinks. He is impulsive and if it will get a laugh, then consider it done. I constantly ask him, "is that a good idea" or "think Shep, think."
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| Hugging on Mosie |
He is a daydreamer and often is in la-la land. He finds objects in the clouds and forms Batman signs into doughnuts. He eats the dry cereal out of Lucky Charms leaving the marshmallows (his favorite) for last. Speaking of eating, he loves food (gets it honestly) and eats a ton.
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| Swimming with Riggs |
He loves animals, especially all the dogs in our family.
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| Isla and Sheppy |
He warms up to people like I do, pretty slowly so dont be offended if you feel nonexistent. But once you are in his circle and experience a true Shepherd hug, you will never be the same.
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And now for the party...
Shepherd had the big party this year. He chose a Minecraft theme and we had a really good time with his best friends and some family.
I used trusty ol' Pinterest for some ideas especially since I really didnt know that much about Minecraft.
The Play- We did Pin the Tail on the Pig. And then each kid got to take a turn to Poke a Creeper to get their party favor. Most of the time was spent playing outside... from ziplining, to soccer, to trampolining, to fusball, and building legos; the kids all seemed to have a blast.
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| Pin the Tail game... it looked much better the day of the party . This pic was taken 4 days after (plus we had rain). We also did the box creeper head that is in the pinterest link. |
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| Ella Grey ziplining. Love this girl. She was the true host of the party. She would take food out to the boys in the shed. |
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| Moses joined in the trampoline fun. |
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| Will on the Power Wheels. |
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| Lots of fusball competition... cousin comp. |
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| Mason, Owen and Ashton battling it out |
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| Shep and his best friend Mason. |
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| Soccer time. |
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| Opening presents- Thank you to everyone. Shepherd has seriously played with every gift extensively. |
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| Shepherd, Caelum, and Bennett disappeared after presents to start building legos. |
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| The spread. |
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| Even after I cut, no crumbs!!! This recipe was a success! |
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| I thought this cake was pretty cute... Pinterest link. Shep and I built the lego stuff instead of buying a kit. I think we nailed it! |
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| My brother and his family came early so we ate some BBQ before the party started. |
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| Cake time |
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| Blowing out his candles |
Birthday
As luck would have it, the child who could take or leave football, has to go to a football game on his birthday. Tonight, Chad's team is the first round of the playoffs. Though Shep would rather stay home and play with his loot, he does get to run out (with Ash and Hunt) with the football team.
After school, Shepherd opened the rest of his presents (I let him open one yesterday). We sang Happy Birthday to him. He requested Icebox Lemon Pie (mine and Shep's absolute favorite!!!) (we actually cut into it yesterday- it was half gone by this morning.) #noselfcontrol . Thankfully the other kids dont like it so I made brownies for them.
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| Shep and his presents from us. Sorry for the poor quality- no computer just stopped reading my camera/ usb cord (take have time to piddle with it.) |
He picked Cracker Barrel to eat dinner on the way to the game.
Happy Birthday my pop-a-tarda. I pray wisdom over you almost nightly. I also pray that you will have His peace with whatever you come across. It is one thing to be smart- it is another to wise.
James 3:17- "But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first pure, then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace, reap a harvest of righteousness."
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| Probably the kid that looks the most like me.... maybe. |
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And because I love stats...
Height- around 53"
Weight- 55ish lbs
Shoe size- 4.5
Shirt- 10
Pants- 10
Stay amazing!
