The Kelly Journal

Charlie, you’re FOUR! You get more precious and adorable as you grow. You are a sweet soul who loves deeply and snuggles heartily.

You have a deep and undying love of all things Batman. You are enthusiastic about all of the things you love: the color green, the letter “C”, Batman, peanut butter and jelly, and Oreos, to name a few.

You are also super loyal to the people you love. You love both your brothers with your entire being. You get so excited for mom snuggles and daddy bike rides. Anytime we are going to see one of your extended family or one of your favorite friends you are thrilled. You’re a peacemaker and a joy bringer.

You love to play games, go on bike rides, do puzzles, draw and color, go on scavenger hunts, jump on the trampoline and anything your brothers are doing. You play well by yourself and often get lost in a world of pretend all on your own.

You’re getting so big and learning so much. We are so glad you are a part of our family. We love you mucho mucho. Happy Birthday Charlie Barley!

A lot has happened world-wide since our last newsletter. Here’s an update from the Kellys with some reflections on what we believe God is looking for from his people in these times… (click on the image to read full-size)

Sam Sam, you’re six!

your favorite dessert: cinnamon rolls!

It is so fun to watch you get older. You are adorable- although you don’t like to be told that. You are maturing and growing so much! You are also super fun. You love games and can often be found playing monopoly or your current favorite game with dad at 6am! You guys are my early birds.

I think your main love language is giving and receiving gifts. You LOVE to shop, to buy things and to give gifts. This Christmas you asked if you could exchange gifts with your brothers and you took just as much joy out of choosing their gifts as you did receiving yours from them. We love that about you.

You are full of energy and enthusiasm. You love your friends & family with great exuberance. You love basketball passionately. You have an undying love of Power Rangers and Spiderman.

You got an award at school for consistently being helpful, empathetic, respectful and obedient!

You are focused and determined. You give 110% at school and it shows. You are swiftly becoming an excellent reader and a math whiz. You pick things up quickly and treat your teachers with great respect. We are so proud of you.

We love you so much buddy. Happy birthday!!

We hope you find yourselves full of vision and anticipation for this new year! Read about the sense we have for 2020 and about what’s coming up for us this month in our January  newsletter (click on the image below for the full-size file).

Hey y’all! Here’s a fun end of the year top ten highlights video we made as well as our December newsletter (click on the image to read the pdf).

May your spirit’s be jolly and bright as we celebrate the coming of Jesus into our world, an event that has forever changed everything!

Holy cow, you’re halfway to 18! Slow down, kid!

Watching you grow up is so fun. I love watching your brain work. You love interesting facts and hard questions and “what if” scenarios. You are a natural at math and love crazy big numbers (like on this awesome shirt).

This year you suddenly became a voracious reader. Your current favorite activity is listening to audiobooks. The library can barely keep up with your pace! I love listening to books with you at bedtime especially when we get caught up in a series like How to Train Your Dragon, Narnia or Harry Potter.

You are confident, coordinated and so cool. You’re a natural at most sports and love being outside, especially if there’s a campfire. You’re also a homebody. You and I would be happy to spend Saturdays at home all day in our pjs but your brothers get squirrely and we usually end up on some adventure :)

You love your family: watching Star Wars with dad, playing crazy pretend games in forts with your brothers, listening to books with me. You love your weekly night at Grandma & Grandpa’s house and any chance to hang out with your cousins. You light up whenever Auntie Trina comes over and try your hardest to commandeer all of her attention.

You’re ridiculously cute and photogenic but you don’t really like having your picture taken. You humor your mom, though, most of the time. Sometimes when I ask you to smile this is what I get:

We love you so much buddy! I’m going to soak up every moment of this last year of you being in the single digits. As you grow more and more mature and independent I look forward to seeing the young man you become.

Here’s our latest newsletter (click on it to read the pdf). Happy summer!

Charlie, you’re three! And you are a delight. You are such a sweet boy.

You love Paw Patrol, ice cream, cars, going to the playground, oreos, snuggling and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. You would eat pb&j for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if we let you!

You’re a snuggler. You love to grab my face and smoosh your face into it with great affection. You’re innately polite. When I ask you to do something you don’t want to do you say “no thanks.” Haha. And you often say “thank you mommy” for little things like when I bring you a cup of milk.

You’ve become more verbal and rambunctious in the last year. You love to wrestle Sammy (even though it doesn’t usually end happily) and you love to jump and swing and yell and laugh. You’re very good with words and I love to hear you talk. You really want to go to school and often cry when both of your brothers are at school and you don’t get to go. You are so excited to start preschool in the fall.

You’re full of imagination and you often are lost in a world of play and pretend. I love to hear you play or sing to yourself. You are quick to forgive, quick to apologize and full of love. You are willing to share and take turns (most of the time). You take great delight in the world around you and in your relationships. You LOVE LOVE LOVE your brothers. And the rest of your family and friends too.

We all love you SO much! Happy Birthday Charlie Benjamin :)

Here’s our latest update on all that’s been happening and what’s on the horizon. See samples of the comic book we produced for Mongolia! Click on an image below to see it in higher quality.

How are you five?! You are such a fun kid! The older you get the more fun you become.

Speaking of fun, you LOVE playing games. You would seriously be happy to play board games all day long if you could. In fact, you’ve decided you want to be a board game designer when you grow up. And you really track the games and get the strategy. It’s pretty fun to watch your brain learn a new game… you’re super quick to pick things up.

You love to swim and you’re super excited for swim lessons this summer

You love your family fiercely. You light up when you get to have daddy time. You love to snuggle mommy and you often say “I love mommy” over and over. You love to play with your brothers- whether it’s wrestling with Joshua or pretend play with Charlie or Sorry with them both. You love your extended family with the same fierceness and are so excited any time you get to see any of them.

I love watching you get absorbed in a project. You are focused, detailed and careful.

You’re probably going to grow up into quite a fashion lover. You love shopping and clothes and getting new clothes always brings you great joy.

You LOVE school. You are a learning sponge. You’re super excited to start Kindergarten next year and you’re especially excited to learn how to read. Whenever you have to miss school you are always disappointed.

You do everything big. And we love you. WE LOVE YOU SAMMY! Happy Birthday, buddy :)