I turned around and he is a teenager.

Today Kellen turns thirteen. Our first teenager in the house.

It certainly doesn't seem like it has been ten years since he was this cute little toddler, and wasn't it just yesterday he was an inquisitive little boy? It is hard to believe he is now such a sensible young man. Sensible, for a teenager anyway.

 I'd love to show you a picture of the handsome young man he has become. Conveniently, he is rarely around when there is a camera in hand. The recent pictures I have of him are candid, and at a distance. A visitor to the farm somehow talked him into standing still, and half smiling for this shot. As you can see, he was already taller than me back in February when this was taken. I would not be surprised if he has grown another couple inches since then.

He has changed so much in the past year. In the homeschool year book pictures from the previous year, he still looks like a little boy. He has decidedly lost that look now. His voice has gotten deeper. He is wearing his dad's shoes, and there is just a tiny bit of peach fuzz on that upper lip.

We are so proud of him. He often was my dad's right hand man working around the farm. He was here to help while Tim was at work. He learned a lot, and has been a huge help to us all on the farm. His specialty is electric fence building. He puts up the new hog pens by himself, or occasionally recruiting a younger sibling to help. Tim will check and sometimes make a couple adjustments, but Kellen really has the skill down. He helps take care of the pigs, and is a big help around the house too.

Though Kellen has changed a lot in the past year or so, he still is the bookworm that we all know and love. He reads, and reads, and reads. Give him fiction. Give him non-fiction. Give him a business magazine. He'll read them all, and likely remember most of the information he read. The things he picks up, and concepts he understand from his massive reading amazes me sometimes. Of course, for pleasure, he'd prefer a good fantasy novel or manga. His slight obsession with manga, I may never understand, but his younger siblings are right behind him.

Today Kellen turns thirteen. Five more years and he will enter adulthood. Five years is nothing. Vivian was born a mere five years ago. We've lived here over five years. Five years fly by in the blink of an eye.

I know these years will likely be full of bumps, growing pains, and letting go pains, but I plan to enjoy them. Kellen is a wonderful child, and I am excited to watch the development of the man he is becoming.

Happy Thirteenth Birthday Kellen.