Happy 8th Birthday Dale!
Dale is a different kid. He has always worried me, he has been the
source of most of my motherhood tears, he has pushed me to my limits for
my patience, anger, and my love. I honestly almost lost my mind when he
was a toddler, I'm not even sure I have it back yet! With so much
sacrifice comes such a greater depth of love though. He is the darling of my heart.
Big Dale turned 8 today. He had a half day at school so I let him choose to stay home with me all day. After breakfast I couldn't find him and was looking for him and found him sitting on top of our shipping container with sunglasses, a water bottle, and a spray bottle to keep him cool as he watched the tractor moving dirt in the lot next to ours as it prepped for a building pad. He said he was sitting inside watching TV and heard the tractor and thought "You know, it's not often in my life I get to see this kind of stuff" so he went out to watch and had a great view. These pictures are screenshots of a Facebook Live video I took of him while he was up there.
Later we played Ticket to Tide and he ALMOST beat me this time. He got to open his presents from us and from Grandma Jo/Grandpa Dale. We went to Savers (my kids thing it's a great day when they get to go there and buy stuff, haha), the fun MacDonalds on Warner/Dobson with the huge old school playground for lunch, and met up with Grandma Barbara & Grandpa Dean for dinner. While at MacDonalds he made fast friends with another kid there as they played on the playground while I was ordering and waiting for the food. When they left 10 minutes later, Dale mentioned to them that it was his birthday. They went to the counter and bought him 3 cookies and brought them back and wished him a happy birthday! He was so touched, and told me after they left "I'm going to miss him," haha.
I really enjoyed hanging out with him for the day. My hardest little child has turned into my most darling and sweet child. I understand why he was such a tough baby/toddler/youngin. It's because he FEELS so much more than the rest of them. He is so sensitive to everything that goes on around him; to the spirit, to dreams, to feelings. He remembers his dreams when they are good or bad and sometimes they trouble him for days. In the morning after a bad dream last week he was trying to tell me about it 30 minutes later and became overcome with tears, the feelings were so strong for him (not the first time). I think the veil is a little thinner for him. He is so sincere, innocent, and a gentle giant who doesn't know his own strength sometimes when he accidentally isn't being so gentle. He has really been trying to prepare himself for his baptism next Saturday by praying every night and singing "I am a Child of God" to himself nightly to keep the bad dreams away. Sacrament meeting is kind of torturous for him but he has been trying SO hard to stay on our bench and stop ending up laying on the floor, lol. I am so blessed to be his mother for his journey here on earth. I wouldn't trade any of it.
He had his birthday party last weekend and we took 7 of his friends to Peter Piper Pizza and had pizza and tons and tons of tokens for play time. Afterwards we came home and opened presents and they all played for about an hour and a half before I took the friends home. His cousin Tristen stayed for a few extra hours and it was fun to watch them play together. I forget how great lifelong friends cousins can be and remember I need to initiate more play time for them.
Big Dale turned 8 today. He had a half day at school so I let him choose to stay home with me all day. After breakfast I couldn't find him and was looking for him and found him sitting on top of our shipping container with sunglasses, a water bottle, and a spray bottle to keep him cool as he watched the tractor moving dirt in the lot next to ours as it prepped for a building pad. He said he was sitting inside watching TV and heard the tractor and thought "You know, it's not often in my life I get to see this kind of stuff" so he went out to watch and had a great view. These pictures are screenshots of a Facebook Live video I took of him while he was up there.
Later we played Ticket to Tide and he ALMOST beat me this time. He got to open his presents from us and from Grandma Jo/Grandpa Dale. We went to Savers (my kids thing it's a great day when they get to go there and buy stuff, haha), the fun MacDonalds on Warner/Dobson with the huge old school playground for lunch, and met up with Grandma Barbara & Grandpa Dean for dinner. While at MacDonalds he made fast friends with another kid there as they played on the playground while I was ordering and waiting for the food. When they left 10 minutes later, Dale mentioned to them that it was his birthday. They went to the counter and bought him 3 cookies and brought them back and wished him a happy birthday! He was so touched, and told me after they left "I'm going to miss him," haha.
I really enjoyed hanging out with him for the day. My hardest little child has turned into my most darling and sweet child. I understand why he was such a tough baby/toddler/youngin. It's because he FEELS so much more than the rest of them. He is so sensitive to everything that goes on around him; to the spirit, to dreams, to feelings. He remembers his dreams when they are good or bad and sometimes they trouble him for days. In the morning after a bad dream last week he was trying to tell me about it 30 minutes later and became overcome with tears, the feelings were so strong for him (not the first time). I think the veil is a little thinner for him. He is so sincere, innocent, and a gentle giant who doesn't know his own strength sometimes when he accidentally isn't being so gentle. He has really been trying to prepare himself for his baptism next Saturday by praying every night and singing "I am a Child of God" to himself nightly to keep the bad dreams away. Sacrament meeting is kind of torturous for him but he has been trying SO hard to stay on our bench and stop ending up laying on the floor, lol. I am so blessed to be his mother for his journey here on earth. I wouldn't trade any of it.
He had his birthday party last weekend and we took 7 of his friends to Peter Piper Pizza and had pizza and tons and tons of tokens for play time. Afterwards we came home and opened presents and they all played for about an hour and a half before I took the friends home. His cousin Tristen stayed for a few extra hours and it was fun to watch them play together. I forget how great lifelong friends cousins can be and remember I need to initiate more play time for them.
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