Happy Birthday Samantha

you are now officially a whole hand!

five.

5 Reasons I am Honored to be your Mommy:

(and I know Daddy loves these things too, we talk about them a lot)

1. You share. Everything, with Everybody. And I get to watch it while my heart swells.

2. Your joy is contagious. Most times I look at you I literally cannot help but smile a little and feel more joy about life in general. It's a gift you've been given and even at age five you are handling it beautifully.

3. Your energy. It reminds me of someone else I know and for all the not so good traits I see in my kids that I know come straight from me, it's a relief to see one of my good ones! You skip everywhere, you jump and do a cartwheel off the stairs just to come down and watch a movie, you hop endlessly when you're excited, you RUN...oh girl, you can run!

4. Your 'alone time'. It's one of the funniest things to have friends over, have a house full of people and little kids but find you looking at books behind a rocking chair or stowed away with just one friend in a dark room under a reading lamp playing extra quiet with that friend. Your discipline and understanding of your alone time is adorable.

5. Who Jesus is to you already. I love how you talk about Him, how you preach about Him to your sisters and friends and how everything goes back to Him for you right now....and my biggest prayer is that this never changes.

Happy Birthday my joyful little girl Samantha!