Happy 9th Birthday, Luca!

I tried my best to get this post up during the month of March, but once again it got pushed off until April since parenting solo the past four days while maintaining ministries is kind of tough. Poor Luca was really sad the other day when he was perusing the blog trying to find posts about him and his birthdays and could not find them listed in the month of March. He said "Mamma you don't like me very much because you don't write about my birthday." I immediately showed him that sometimes he has to look at the month of April, but without fail his birthdays are indeed ALWAYS documented and that he is very much liked and loved! With his birthday being on March 29th I am glad he extended some grace towards me once again as I blog about his birthday in April.

This year we celebrated a day early as we had our new teammates arrive on the field and Jonathan had to leave on Luca's birthday to go to Perugia to get them settled in. It was a busy week of hosting a family of four in our home, plus dog-sitting and piano recital over the weekend, so I guess it was pretty amazing that I found time to make him a cake at all. More time would have meant more detail, but he was happy with the rushed result. Luca requested a Jedi Star Fighter cake this year.

This year marks the final year where we will have a single digit person under our roof.  We are passing through these seasons of life far too quickly in my opinion!

Luca you are the energy of this family, always on the move and always ready for a good rough and tumble with your dad.  You are a force to be reckoned with, powerful and strong even with your selected dietary intake. You have grown and matured this past year showing more confidence, perseverance and determination to do hard things, especially in school.  You are a friend to all, ready to defend the weak and not afraid to go against the flow.

You love to make people smile and laugh at your silly antics. You are still a LEGO maniac who loves to create and imagine.  You love math and are a genius at doing it all in your head. This year has been challenging for you at times as you have learned division and multiplication of multiple digit numbers and get frustrated that you have to show your work long hand, when you already know the answer in your head. But we all need to learn the foundations of math that will help us excel when problems get even harder.

You are super competitive in games, sports and with your siblings. It is hard to not always be the first or the best, but you are growing in emotional self-control even though it is a process. You love dogs and it is hard to pull you away after school as you just love to pet your friends' puppies.

You are so loved, Luca! You always will be no matter what! Our hearts cry is that you would trust in Jesus with all your heart, mind and strength, that you would use your God-given talents and gifts for His glory to serve Him and love and bless others. You are one very special boy whom we are so very proud of to has a son.

Happy 9th Birthday, Luca!