Two wonderful kids
Am I biased? Duh! Let me tell you a little bit about my kids. Aidan is 11, and Gillian is going to be 9 next week. One of the things that Fae and I really wanted to try to foster was a loving, friend-like relationship between our two kids. We wanted them to be able to count on each other, talk to one another, and if necessary, protect one another. You shoot for the ideal situation, and hope for the best.
I can tell you that I got the best. Here's one example:
I've been trying to spend more quality time with each of them, so to calm them down and get them ready for bed, I've been reading to them for 30 minutes before their bedtimes. It's kind of an excuse to get them into bed and beginning to relax before their actual bedtimes. I've been doing it for a week or two now, and it's working well. We usually read a chapter, I give them a hug and a kiss and then they go to sleep. The example of my wonderful son, is we just got back from going to a haunted Putt Putt (they decorated a minature golf course - really cool) and we're trying to clean up the house for company we're having starting tomorrow. Gillian asked me to read to her, because she was going to bed early because she has a soccer game in the morning. I told her to go up and get ready and I would try to get up there in a few minutes.
"Dad, you're busy, I can do it if you want" he says, already heading up the stairs.
"Can he Dad?" Gillian said, freezing on the way up the steps.
So I got to bustle around moving stuff into closets and wiping stuff down, listening to the kids giggle as they took turns reading paragraphs of her book.
Example 2: Aidan was in trouble the other day. He forgot to go to his baritone lesson and an email came to Fae and I from the band teacher. Fae was talking to him about how he'd said he would be more responsible and more organized this year because of an issue we finally got cleared up last year, but was an issue nonetheless. So he's sitting there getting an earful from Fae, and Gillian is sitting in the chair next to him. Without looking up, she pulls a piece of paper from her stack, crosses out the stuff that was on there and writes a note and slides it over slipping it under his hand. She then goes back to her work.
The note says: Don't cry, it's okay, just remeber(remember) next time! (star, heart, diamond)
Sometimes I wonder which one is more mature 
I love the way they crack each other up. I love the fact that Aidan, my shy, quiet son, will shed his shell and turn into a bear when someone is being shitty to his sister. I love the fact that she knows when somethings bugging him and does something to cheer him up or distract him. I love how he keeps her calm, or when she starts doing the annoying, repetitive, sing the same line from a song 20000 times, he'll put his hand on her arm and quietly tell her to stop. I love the fact that my two children are growing up friends.
Are there times when they fight and bicker, yeah, but it never gets mean. They're never disrespectful to one another which is a thrill. They annoy each other at times, but they never fight. And that's the key that just occurred to me. They really don't fight. He'll yell her name to get her to stop doing something or vice versa when they're being annoying, but it's never gotten physical, and they've never gotten into screaming crying fights or anything like that.
I love the fact that from where I'm standing, it's not much of a stretch for me to believe that Fae and I are doing something right.