We have so much left to do before I will be ready to send you off to college; you have to have a bedtime later than 8, you have to get to an age where you can watch something rated higher than PG, we have to finalize which high school you will attend, we have to have the fearful days of teaching you to drive and then allowing you to go off and drive without us, you have dances to go to, crushes to tell me about, heartaches that you don't think you will every get through, you will have your first job in which you will earn a paycheck and I will be so proud, you have milestones in becoming a women that will happen and talks about topics you are too young for at this time, we have curfews to instill and you have to try stretching them, you will think your mom & dad are the dumbest people on this earth and don't understand anything, we have hours to spend driving you to and from practices along with hours cheering you on at everything you try your hardest at, you will have lots of friendships and some of those friendships you will have for the rest of your life and some will be for only a short while, we will get to watch your relationship with the Lord deepen and at times He will be who you fall upon instead of mom & dad, you have colleges to apply for and acceptance letters to receive, you will have English teachers who tell you that run on sentences are wrong, you will walk upon a stage and mom will be crying as you receive your high school diploma knowing that the rest of your life awaits you.
We have so very much to do and I know the time we have to do all of it is so very short. Another blink of an eye and another 10 years will pass us by. Being a mother is the best thing I have ever done and at the same time the most challenging thing I have ever done. It gives me the greatest high yet at other times it leaves me completely frustrated. Some days the two of you remind me why I spent years wanting nothing more than to be a mother and on other days I question why God saw me fit to be a mother. At the end of each day though I thank God that He chose me to be your mother and I pray that I can be what you need me to be to allow you to be the best you can be.
You are the best of friends, yet you have started to drive each other crazy. This is most often seen when you are getting ready for school. Aubrey you are a morning person and are ready to interact the minute your internal clock goes off at 6am. Natalie you also have a 6am internal clock but you like to take your time waking, showering and getting ready. This last year you both have found a love for reading and this love is most often found at the end of each day when you are being tucked in for bed and are trying to extend your bedtime. You both love to take on the mother role and for some reason answer whenever "mom" is called out and this has gotten you in trouble more than the double digits you are. You strive so hard to do the best you can in school and we realized all it takes is a promise of a date with mom & dad with no siblings if you land on the principal's list...we will gladly take you to a movie and sushi as was requested for this trimester of straight A's and a 3 in conduct. I wonder how long this little incentive will work? I am more than happy to still honor it throughout college as long as Natalie chooses somewhere other than North Dakota State as you currently state is your college of choice!
Today you are 10. Today you wanted to hear over and over what I was doing 10 years ago at the exact moment you would ask. You loved the 4 minutes of one of you being 9 and one of you being 10 and you giggled when your friends sang individually to you at your exact minute. Ten years ago today my life changed and I couldn't imagine not having you as the twins of the family. May your next 10 years be just as amazing as the first 10 but can they be much slower so I can enjoy each moment because I know I will look back in 10 years and wonder how in the world did 20 years go by because it was just yesterday when I held you for the very first time.
Happy Double Digits Natalie & Aubrey
