The Kelly Journal

11! Does this make you a tween? Happy birthday, kid. We are so proud of you!

You are maturing and growing up so fast. You are intelligent, quick witted and confidant. You love interesting facts and practical jokes. And scaring your mom.

You love animals. Furry animals, scaley animals, big animals, small animals. You especially love snakes and have been saving up to get one of your own. I’m impressed with how responsible you are with animals and careful when you care for them.

You’re an avid audiobook listener and an information sponge. You’re so creative and innovative. You even find interesting uses for painter’s tape. Ha.

We love you so much! Happy birthday, Joshua!

Charlie- you are sweet, adorable, energetic and FIVE! Can you believe it? Where’s my baby? He’s turned into a big kid!

You are so fun. You have a fantastic vocabulary, a fun imagination and a joyful exuberance about you.

You love to draw. You love stories and singing silly songs. You love Sonic the Hedgehog and the color blue. You love climbing and jumping on the trampoline. You are a budding artist and you love to draw and paint and create. You have an undying love for oreos that has persisted for years. You REALLY like them.

You love your family and friends wholeheartedly. You get along (most of the time) with both your brothers and you think the world of them. You are my snuggliest snuggler and I love your hugs. You are so sweet and are always quick to apologize and quick to forgive.

Happy Birthday, sweet boy. We’re so glad you’re in our family. We love you! Let’s go have oreos.

Sammy, you’re seven! You have grown and matured so much this year. It’s fun to see your personality develop. You are full of passion and energy and enthusiasm. You are focused and determined when you set your mind to something.

You often have one passion you zero in on that rises above all the other things you love. Currently, it’s bearded dragons. We have read every book we could find, watched every video, shopped for every beardie related item and you ask for multiple chores a day to save up for this anticipated pet. I love your focus, your passion and your one-track-mindedness!

You love a lot of things with fierceness: your friends, your family, basketball, minecraft, pokemon and super mario, to name a few. Oh, and sugar. You have an undying love for sugar and would eat it all day long if we let you.

You are a quick learner and a smart cookie. You’ve become such a good reader. You’re an excellent student and you give school 110%. We’re proud of you and we love you so much, Sam Sam. Here’s to being 7!!

Merry Christmas! We’re almost through probably the craziest year ever! Read our latest newsletter with news of the crazy big changes in our world. (Click image to see newsletter full size.)

Happy fall! We are celebrating the completion of the second Frontier Comics Seminar. It was amazing! Check out our newsletter (click the image for full size) for more information and to see sample pages of the two projects we produced.

10! An entire decade! Double digits! Ten years ago you changed our lives forever. It went by so fast, I imagine I’m going to blink and you’ll be 20. Let’s just take a moment to look at that sweet baby bobo from 10 years ago!

So much has changed but you’re still just as cute. I love listening to your creative ideas and seeing the things you come up with. I love how you don’t follow a pattern or a recipe when you create but you want to come up with your own way of doing things- whether it’s making yourself breakfast or creating a pearler bead creation or doing a Pinterest science project. You are innovative, creative and an out-of-the-box thinker.

your driftwood fort creation

Some of your favorite things right now are listening to audiobooks, playing Minecraft, talking to your friends on messenger, whittling, water fights, and, of course, eating bacon. You love animals, music, acting, campfires, creating, and all things warm and snuggly. You especially love dogs. I love how you will approach anyone with a dog and respectfully ask if you can pet them. Dogs seem to really like you too!

You learn fast, run fast, and love to do everything fast! You love playing team soccer, playing freeze tag or “tickle monster” at the park and love it when dad or I will race you.

I love your confidence. I love your sweet smile. I love the way you still want to snuggle with me and tell me you love me. You may be a big ten year old, but you’re still my baby bobo.

Happy Birthday Joshua! We love you SO much.

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!!