Life with the Ball's: Happy Birthday, Marcus!

Marcus is fourteen! Finally! He looks and acts more like a 15 or 16-year-old so I'm glad his age is slowly catching up with him. Marcus absolutely refused to let us do anything for his birthday. I offered to throw him a small party, a big party, a dinner party, a breakfast before school party, a movie party, etc. He wouldn't allow it. So I surprised him during lunch at school with a huge box full of my warm chocolate chip cookies and a gallon of milk to share with his friends. He was completely surprised, and gave everyone a cookie as fast as possible so I would get out there before the embarrassment could overwhelm him. I am confident that little surprise will be the last one I get away with.

Marcus is such a great kid. He is a natural leader and looked up to by his peers at school and at church. He is an incredible athlete with so much natural ability. His rec basketball coach said he's never seen an athlete with so much natural ability in all his coaching years. He said watching Marcus play ball was inspiring. I wish I had gotten pictures or video of his championship basketball game because Marcus was on fire. He jumps so high and seems to float in the air just long enough to shoot without anyone in his way. It made me wish we had pushed him to play basketball more because he has some serious hops. But for now, Marcus is throwing his all into lacrosse. The more I watch this sport the more I have come to enjoy it. It's got a lot of physical contact so I can yell things like, "Hit him!" or "Get him!" at the top of my lungs and no one cares. Marcus is super fast so they have a play specifically designed for him to get the ball into the goal. He came home from his first lacrosse game this season and was disappointed in their loss and at how gassed he felt. Instead of eating a late dinner and relaxing, Marcus put on his running shoes and went out for a 3-mile run at 9pm. I'm telling you, this kid is committed! And crazy. His coaches all love him because he does exactly what they say, works on stuff between practices, and always arrives early. Marcus is smart, works hard at school, and has quickly learned how to get on his teachers' good sides so he doesn't have to work quite as hard for good grades. Marcus loves his brothers, makes a conscious effort to talk to them and ask them about their day and cheers/coaches them from the sidelines at their games. We are so thankful he is part of our family!