The Norske Castle: Part 2 Gabriel's 11th Birthday!

Celebrating the 11th birthday of our first born was quite something. Time flies . . . the birth and aftermath of Gabriel's birth were very tough but all worth every minute of it. Gabriel is a gem and he lights up our home. Gabriel is a kind heart and a sweet soul. Don't let that fool you though. He is

a determined and brave young man.

I meant to blog this earlier but never did. Weeks back he had a wrestling tournament and honestly got

his butt kicked. He was thrown around like a rag dog the first match and came off and told me "That was almost humerous." He almost blacked out in one match and had the wind knocked out of him in another with the coach rushing out to check on him. Hard on a Mommy, actually even his Daddy to watch him go through all that. He ended up wrestling kids that had been in wrestling for YEARS and not months!

I say all this to say Babe and I were so proud of him. He was very nervous but never gave up, never complained and fought as hard as he could and did get better as the matches went on.

I dare say there are MANY kids that would NOT have completed some of those matches but not Gabriel. I saw that day that he had turned into a young man. I was proud of his attitude and his actions. It wasn't just us though but also his coach was really pleased with how Gabriel handled it. He noticed the battle marks Gabriel had received during the day.

Babe and I were drained by the end of that day.
Babe was there to help coach him and I was there for support. I knew I could not give the typical Mommy support. I knew I had to stay positive and encouraging. At the end of the day he said "Thank you for encouraging me today Mommy." Worth it all.

My little boy isn't little anymore he's quickly becoming a man and part of becoming a man (as we read in a book weeks back) is understanding who you are and being comfortable with it and that is

what I see in Gabriel. He may not be the best wrestler but you still fight the fight and do your best.