This week will be dedicated to my daughter Memphis. She’ll be turning ten on Friday.

A few memorable Memphis moments which make ten years a remarkable milestone:

1. When Mem was thirteen months old, we took her and Ransom (2 ½) to the photo studio to get some fall pictures… The photographer got this shot moments before Memphis head-butted Ransom, causing his nose to bleed resulting in a gory horror scene that probably put this pumpkin out of commission for the rest of the season for decontamination.

2. At three, Memphis decided to “see what it would look like” to frost the cushions of my eight foot Eddie Bauer reclining sectional couch with PEANUT BUTTER. Mommy took a very long time out after that one.

3. At seven, Memphis decided to try her hand at some street art, on the sidewalk outside our BASE home. She got black spray paint out of the garage and attempted to spray her name onto the sidewalk. With a star. Then she spent every day for a week after school scrubbing the sidewalk with a wire brush.

Her vibrant personality and sweet spirit outweigh all her antics though. This girl loves life. When she was not throwing monumental fits at three years old, she was standing on the table applauding the person making breakfast. When she was not beating down kids in the toddler room at church, she was the first to defend someone smaller than her. When she was not making me question my sanity, she was opening me up to laugh and love life.

Here’s to ten amazing years, my sweet girl. Can’t wait to see what else God has in store for you! (But put down the peanut butter and spray paint. I’m not kidding. Now.)