7 years old

 Somewhere in the craziness of the Christmas season, Austin turned 7 years old. Hard to believe this kid of mine is getting so big. There are so many things that we love about Austin.

• Austin holds a special spot in our family because he is the oldest child. Most of the time he is a big help to his sisters and sets a good example for them.
• Favorite toy: his large Lego blocks that he will use to create whatever thing he is currently interested in....those Legos are the best investment in a toy that we have every made. 
• Favorite things to do: soccer, computer games and Nintendo games with his dad (they are currently playing Zelda together)
• School: favorite thing is recess but he is also very good at math
• Achievements: this last year Austin has made the most improvement in his reading skills...it is fun to see the world of words open up to him and watching him read to his sister. He was obsessed with the Magic Tree House Books for a while and wanted to check them all out at the library. He still enjoys them but is content now with having just one at a time.
• Austin is very well behaved most of the time.....I always hear praises about him at school and church and know that he is respectful to his teachers and a good listener.
• Austin has a kind heart and thinks of others. He wanted to use his birthday money to purchase a gift for each member of the family. We went to the dollar store, he got his own shopping cart, and I stood back and let him do his own gift picking and purchasing. He was super proud of himself. 

At the end of the year Austin participated in an indoor soccer team down in Tulsa. It was fun having Braxton back on his team. Almost every team they played was a year older than them but the boys tried hard and still had a good time. 

 To celebrate his birthday, Austin wanted to go laser tagging (not sure why he didn't make it in this picture). Several of his cousins were in town for Christmas so we had a big group which was lots of fun. Everyone had a good time and the adults had just as much fun as the kids did.

Austin wanted a "Battlefield" birthday cake so I let him pick out the stuff to put on top of the cake.

Happy Birthday Austin!!