The world gained a new teenager today. 13 YEARS OLD TODAY!!! Happy Birthday, Dom! Also, as a side note, I am again glad our children's birthdays are every quarter of a year. This time, as it forces a blog post...wow...I will strive to do better.
It has been quite a year for the teenager. He hiked the Appalachian Trail! (At least 50 feet of it anyway. Still Counts!) He also enjoyed many camping trips with his boy scout trip and participated in a week long camp during the summer. Which marked the longest I had not seen him since he was 10 months old and Eric and I went to Italy for 2 weeks. Luckily, he did not forget me this time around. Though he apparently forgot to shower...just kidding.
He had a fun year of sports with soccer, basketball, track, cross country, and, of course, riding his bike around the neighborhood. Which means he can now ride his bike to church for activities. There is a lot to be said for living close to your parish.
In the area of basketball, he not only brought a lot of energy to his team, he also introduced these Virginians to what it means to be a Kansas fan. Not sure how they figured out he was a Kansas fan...he is pretty discreet about it. He also spent a lot of time honing his skill at the Free Throw Line (even on an arctic day with windchills in the negatives) and walked away with the 3rd place trophy at the Knights of Columbus State Free Throw Contest.
Yup...I don't see how they ever figured it out.
In the spring, all of the men in the house cut their hair as short as it would go without shaving in support of Ben who is dealing with chemo. We have all kept him in our prayers and Dom never hesitates to ask others to pray for him.
This was also the year I let him spend his money at a game at Six Flags...hoping for him to learn a powerful lesson in not wasting money...and he won instead. The
experience was immortalized on this blog a few months ago.Written in Dom's own words.
Being a history buff, Dom has loved going on various excursions around our Nation's Capital. We have visited several Civil War Battlefields and most of the museums. His appetite to learn more about history as well as the causes of events is insatiable. Granted, it also is quite likely a delaying tactic for doing the dinner dishes as many a history lesson or political lesson or economic lesson occurs around the dinner table. Either way, he knows quite a bit and we often quiz him for information. That and KU basketball game times. He really is a nice kid to have around.
Dom continues to be little kids' favorite (though Molly is giving him a run for his money). He seems to always be happy to play with the younger crowd. At least for a few hours while the parents have some adult interaction. He continues to be one of the most patient and pleasant kids to be around. Which makes the times he actually gets upset pretty jarring. Luckily those times are pretty infrequent and generally fixed with time alone (perhaps playing Fifa) and ice cream. We have also added going for a run. Which is weird. Right? But, it works for multiple members of the family. And is apparently backed by some research.
This summer, Dom was the ideal travel companion as we all traveled to Germany. I don't know how he manages to always stay positive. But, he never complained, even as travel arrangements changed at a moments notice. It was probably the pretzels...and ice cream...and walking miles a day (see earlier paragraph about running)
He welcomed all of the new experiences...well...maybe not the downhill coaster in Oberammergau. He and I value our lives higher than everyone else, apparently. Though, he would probably say his favorite thing was eating Bavarian Pretzels every day.
Or getting to be with extended family in Germany...or visiting the FC Bayern fan shop (Did you see what they did to Tottenham in the Champion's League?!! Ouch!)
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| John crying about Tottenham's performance over the last couple of weeks |
Dom continues to be a pretty good older brother. Look, he isn't a saint. But, I do know he tries to do the right thing in 85% of the situations. He just needs to tweak how he goes about it. There have been a few too many times when the story goes: "And then Dom sat on me..." What? Luckily, he is pretty skinny, so chance of significant damage is minimal. But, still, I'm pretty sure there is a better way to convince your siblings to do their chores...
Speaking of chores, breakfast chef may be added soon. He does make some delicious pancakes! Even if he refuses to add blueberries because he believes they ruin his creations. These chefs are so tempermental.
This summer, we not only visited Germany, we also got to the midwest to visit our family for a relaxing couple of weeks. And Dom did not crash the boat. So that was super awesome!
We also got to see the musical Hamilton as a group. I don't know which I enjoyed more. Watching the production or the looks of delight on my sons' faces. Probably the production...but, the delight was a close second.
And while he rode trains with L'Opa, he rode bikes with Grandpa. And got to keep his Andy Schleck Jersey! He had a pretty busy summer and was looking forward to spending the mornings in Oklahoma and Kansas watching the rest of the Tour de France...getting to pretend he was actually in the tour: PRICELESS!!
Our lives are getting busier as we try to accommodate everyone's interests and activities. For a two week period, Dom had soccer, basketball tryouts, boy scouts, cross country, and middle school youth group. He was wiped out. He made the basketball team, but we had to decline. At a certain point, it just gets to be too much and you have to consider what is really important. It was a hard morning making that decision, but in the weeks since, we have been shown again and again that it was a good one. But, don't worry! He has CYO starting up in a few weeks (post soccer season). He'll still get to be on the court, just not when he had so much else going on.
And one of those bonuses is that he gets to watch October baseball. I shared it with some of you already, but during the wild card game last week, he convinced Will to stay up to watch the last innings between the Brewers and the Nationals because "Miracles always happen in the 8th Inning". Sure enough, the Nationals came back to win. Something I learned as the sound of excited feet running up the stairs woke me up. Same thing happened last night. Nationals were down in game 5. They came back to tie and then hit a grand slam in the top of the 10th. Everyone had gone to bed, but Dom alerted me to something exciting with a shout (he'd previously let me know Nationals had tied the Dodgers). We watched the last 5 outs together. I really love my Superfan! I should add, he also helps me out during the NCAA tournament by waking me up for the last 5 minutes of close games. This Eastern Time Zone is really rough! So glad we homeschool.
Dear Dominic,
We are forever grateful you are our son. We love your smile and enthusiasm for the things you love. Time and again, adults let us know what a great young man you are. Whether it is because of your willingness to help, be coached, be a good friend, or various causes of World War I, or KU's sports schedule for the next week and their chances of winning. As the years go by, you mature, but also keep the magic of childhood. That is a wonderful gift and I hope you never lose it. You still find enjoyments in playing with your siblings whether it is fighting a skirmish with William, coloring with John (Dom has recently introduced John to coloring sports logos...), or trying to convince Molly that sports are worth watching. This is a debate you are winning with William...backed by some solid evidence that miracles really do happen in the 8th or 9th or 10th inning. This may become the most sleep deprived William has ever been in October.
We hope you have a wonderful birthday and another year of growing and learning about the world around you. Isn't great that we go to school in a place where every birthday is a holiday? Time to open those presents!
Love,
Mom
