Ahoy, matey!

Willem turned six years old Wednesday.

We celebrated his birthday on Tuesday, for the most part - B.J. had men's Bible study Wednesday, and Will wanted Daddy around the entire evening for the festivities.

I can remember when B.J. and I were dating, he told me once that he liked the name Willem.  I didn't forget.  And here he is, the one who's not embarrassed to give me a full bear hug and a slobbery smack right on the lips when I drop him off at school.  The one who still hibernates in the basement for long periods of time building things out of LEGOS, hates to get out of bed in the morning, but loves to be at school.

Willem, still our one with the tender heart.  When I tell the kids about Uncle Ry and the divorce, it's Will who immediately tears up, covers his face with his hands, and sits hunched over 'til I talk him gently through.  Later, I walk into the living room, and Will's standing in front of our wall of fame, hugging himself as he gazes upward.
"Whatcha doing, Will?" I ask.
 "Just lookin' at their family," he says, and then he presses his lips together and his chin trembles.
"Oh, Will," I say as I reach for him, and he tears up all over again.

But...it's also Will whose energy remains unbounded.  More often than not, I simply don't know what to do with it all.

It was the week of Marie's birthday that Will announced that he wanted a turtle birthday cake.  We were in the baking aisle of King Soopers at the time.  I merely raised an eyebrow and added a sack of flour to our cart before moving on.  A turtle?  I'd expected maybe a sled dog or a dragon (I'd just finished reading the kids Stone Fox, and B.J. had just finished reading them The Hobbit.)  But a turtle?  This child, choosing one of the slower, more predictable animals on the planet?  Yeah, right - this isn't going last, I thought.  But it did.  The "I'm going to have a turtle for my birthday cake" theme continued until Grandma visited two weekends ago and mentioned that cousin Levi had had a pirate ship for his birthday cake.  Then the tortoise went suddenly extinct.

So we made a pirate ship Tuesday.  It wasn't very big (B.J.'s not a big cake fan, and I certainly don't need to be eating birthday cake for a week) and we put it together quickly (Eli fell asleep, and I said, "OK, this cake is going to be finished before he wakes up."  And it was.  The LEGO pirates and accessories helped - they were B.J.'s when he was a kid), and Will was delighted with it.  Plus there was plenty of leftover frosting to snoop when we were finished (we made Aunt Carlene's pudding frosting - the kind she'd put on white cake for Sunday dessert at Grandma's).

Before Eli was born, I told B.J., "I think this baby is going to be a girl...but the other two times I thought I knew what our babies were going to be, I was wrong..."  And so Eli was born.  "I actually kind of wanted a girl," I said later, "because I feel so inept at mothering boys."  Turns out the good Lord has a good sense of humor!  Here I am trying to make this sloppy pudding frosting look like the planks of a ship, and Will's busy pretending he's bombing the boat.  Then the LEGO shark starts taking chomps out of the side (we did read him James and the Giant Peach.)  I send him to check why Nathan's hollering in the living room, then realize about 15 minutes later that he hasn't returned.  So I walk in to the living room only to find the furniture rearranged, and the chest where we stow library books emptied out and full of Willem instead.  He grins.  "We're playing house.  I moved the couches around."  When I make the girls' cakes, they hang around the entire time, praising me for every minute detail.  "That's so beautiful, Mommy!  You're so good at this!"  With Will, by the time were finished, I've decided that we're going to pad his room instead of paint it.

Opening his gift while Grandma watches on Skype.

A new engine for his HO set - the other one is broken - and more track (Will's Dad likes to play trains, too.  :-)

That wasn't all of the birthday festivities, though.  Caleb sent a toolbox with "real man" tools, so Thursday Will was busy pounding boards together in the backyard.  On Friday he got to ride Mrs. Moore's crazy birthday train at school, share a birthday treat, and show Eli for show & tell.  I am glad I was there to be a part of it all.

We love you, Willem!  (And I'm glad the Lord gave you to us when we were young.  :-)  Happy, happy birthday!

Love,
Mom