13 Years a Mama

13 years a mama. To this ^^^ handsome boy.

There are a few beliefs I held 13 years ago that I can officially debunk.

1. 13 years of being a mom is not a long time. There aren't a lot of things that we spend 13 consecutive years doing. The proverbial length of your 13 years are depends on how much you enjoy what you're doing. 13 years of school, for example, was the longest 13 years for some people, and some would say the same thing of parenting (which makes me cringe). 13 years of parenting, for me, has been better than I could ever have imagined, and my imagination is pretty wild!

2. I am still.so.young. I remember looking at my friends who had teen-agers and thinking things like, "They're so much older." Now? I look at those same people and think, they're really not much older than me, and at 38 years old, I still feel young. Lots of adventures are ahead of me. Having a teen in the house doesn't change that.

3. Parenting pre-teens is a blast. Sure, there are moments, but, mostly, as your kids are becoming these great, intellectually capable, grown-up people, it is a joy-filled journey. I knew I would love parenting through the little kid stages, but this? I never saw it coming. Seriously. Don't let our culture fool you. Don't get stuck assuming it's going to stink. It doesn't have to. It pretty much rocks. Maybe it is what you make it, and I choose to make it this amazing experience. I choose the same for the next 10 years of parenting teen-agers too.

I know that some of you might be thinking that I may be naive. He's only 13. You've "been there, done that." I get it. I'm not saying pre-teens are easy, and I'm not expecting the teen years to be easy either. I'm just saying, there is a ton of joy here, and isn't that where we should be focusing our thoughts? Let's face it, Americans have a love affair with the negative, dramatic, difficult, trials of life. I choose to find camaraderie in the joy instead, and I want all of you to know that joy exists right here! So much joy!

So anyway, 13 years a mama. How awesome is that? I love that I am the mom of a teenager! It's something new! Something fun! I'm always up for an adventure.

My boy is incredible. He is one of the smartest people I know. I'm pretty sure the fact that he can create just about anything from Legos is going to lead him to one of the best careers ever. He is genuinely helpful, and he has a heart that naturally wants to take care of the people he loves. He seeks God on his own!!! I am sure I'll be blogging about him again in a few months because he is on target to complete a one year Bible reading plan because he chose to do so without prodding. In fact, it was his idea! He's also studying high school biology this year at his request, and I think I might be a little more intimidated than he is, not because of the material, but of the responsibility of teaching a 13 year old the intricacies of biology. It's going to be a blast, and I am seriously excited about it, but..yeah. Big responsibility. But to Lukas? It's just another learning opportunity.

Lukas is so many things...Joy-filled. Humorous. Creative. Smart. Musical. Loving. Kind. Seeker of knowledge. Seeker of God. He is discovering God in new ways and growing his faith. He is more than I could have imagined. 

But mostly?

He is mine. My son. My boy. The one who made me a mama, who made Eric a daddy.

We are so blessed, so filled by God because of this boy. 

So very, very grateful.

11

In the busyness that is my life (and probably your life), I somehow missed blogging my boy's 11th birthday. It has been almost two weeks since his big day, but it is never too late to write about one of my kids. I could go on and on. Of course, if you read this blog often, you know that!

As is the case every single year, Lukas has grown so much in the past year. I thought about leaving out that sentence because every mom says it making it one of the greatest cliches of parentdom, but it's still truth. Cliches have their purpose. 

In the past year, we have watched Lukas move from little boy to pre-teen with grace. He does things that make me shake my head, things that people don't tell you kids do because Americans are so focused on all the negatives of child rearing, things like cleaning the living room with out being asked, washing the dishes for his sister, and getting everything ready for me when we're trying to get out the door on time. This is a drastic change from the little boy he was just a year ago. I see maturity in him that I know I did not possess at the age of 11. Oh the stories I could tell you about me when I was 11! 

Lukas is a lot like me, but not like the 11 year old me. He is focused on details. He is bright, mature, and creative. He likes to sing, and I am so impressed with how well he is teaching himself to sing harmony parts with  no guidance from us whatsoever. I had to work hard to learn to sing harmony, and it never came naturally for me. He is so talented, and he barely knows it.

He's a lot like his daddy too. He loves to make people laugh. He likes manly things like fast cars and monster trucks. Performing on stage brings him to life. Put him in charge of a task, and he owns the room! He loves to help people just like his dad. He willingly tries to fill in for his dad when he's working, though that is certainly not expected of him at age 11. It is admirable, is it not?

Most importantly, I am watching Lukas mature into a believer who is starting to truly grasp the truths of his faith. He is a giver of grace, joy radiates from him, he is gentle with younger children, he is loving and kind. He is learning to apply scripture to his everyday life in ways that astound me. I can't wait to see what God has in store for this child!

Watching these characteristics grow in my boy's life this past year has been incredible. Really. Eric and I have talked about it so many times. There is no part of his growing years that I have not enjoyed. Sure, we all have bumps in the road, but I genuinely like this child. If he wasn't mine, I would still want to hang out with him. He pretty much rocks. I'm so glad that we got to celebrate his birthday with family and friends and that he was so gracious that day and so very happy and thankful. May year 12 find him growing and becoming even more of the young man God desires for him to be!

First Day Lessons

The first day of school. It's always so much fun. I look forward to much in the same way I did as a girl, with anticipation and excitement bubbling over. I try too hard to make the day perfect. I stay up too late the night before. The children plan perfect first day of school outfits because they know I'm going to take too many photos to commemorate the day as if it is a once in a lifetime experience that should be cataloged into the archives of our hearts, never to be forgotten, every detail dually noted.

My kids look forward to the first day of school most likely because I have modeled my fervor for this day since Lukas first stepped into our school room when he was a week shy of his 5th birthday. Kindergarten was a blast. I learned to feel successful that year. I could teach a child to read! Outstanding! I then decided that if I could do this homeschooling thing, anyone could do it!

I've learned various lessons throughout our 6 years of homeschooling. In regard to the beginning of the school year, I have learned some specific lessons. First, never start school the day after Labor Day unless you have nothing planned on Labor Day, or unless you are super prepared and don't procrastinate or obsess over starting the school year perfectly with every I dotted and every T crossed. Uh-hem. So, basically, never start school the day after Labor Day if you are me, or if you are LIKE me.

Second, take your time. Don't try to re-invent the wheel on day one, or week one, or week two. Ease into the school year. Start with a few subjects, and plan something fun for the first day. Making our first day a positive experience helps our family to set the tone for the school year. 

Third, adjust the schedule and be flexible. If your child takes 30 minutes to copy a Bible verse and 30 minutes to do a math review page, and you are faced with only enough remaining time to either complete your history lesson or do a craft, choose the craft. It's the first day of school! History can wait one more day.

With those things in mind, we had a great day. My kids tend to be a little slow at tasks on the first day until they get into the swing of things. I know this, so I plan for it. This year, we began our school year with Bible, history, math, copywork, penmanship, read-aloud, reading, and a craft. The scenario above came into play when I nixed the history lesson in favor of the craft. Technically, our read-aloud is historical fiction that I chose to coordinate with our history study, so we didn't skip it completely.

The lesson I learned on this first day of school? If I don't have every I dotted and every T crossed, as I previously mentioned, I will be okay. In fact, I am okay. I do not have the first 3 weeks of school planned perfectly. In fact, I have only 3 days of school planned, and they are not planned perfectly. Who knew I could be okay with this?  Not me!

Our first day was a success! We'll keep adding other subjects into our schedule over the next couple weeks until we're studying everything that we have planned for this year. It should be a fun school year. I know I am looking forward to it. The orderliness is appealing to me right now. Life is busy and chaotic, but the school day is purposeful and well-planned. That's another lesson well learned over the years, but it has little to do with the first day of school, which is the purpose of this post. So, to end this post, here a few pics from our first day. I hope that your day was as successful as ours was!

 Lukas is in 6th Grade this year.

 Ava is in 3rd grade this year.

Moving Anniversary

One year. The day after Easter marked exactly one year since moving to this house. This small town. This place we now call home. This place where traffic jams are 6 cars in a single file line stuck behind a tractor on the highway. This place where everyone goes to the county fair because it is awesome. This place where life feels so much more relaxed, so much slower, so much more like the way God wants it to be.

One year sounds like a long time when you're looking forward, but it feels like the blink of an eye when looking back, most of the time. I can look back at the 18 months during which we lived in PA fully aware that it was, at that time, the most difficult 18 months of our lives.

Moving to Columbus was a breath of fresh air.

And moving away from Columbus was also a breath of fresh air.

One that I'm not sure we even realized we needed. The first several months were crazy and hectic and I don't remember them fondly at all because we were living in two cities, traveling to Columbus and spending a couple nights there each week until the kids' dance and piano recitals were complete.

I remember the moment when we drove away from the high school after Ava's dance recital better than the moment when we drove away from the house where we spent 5 years of our lives. It was the moment when I realized that chapter was over. Completely.

And I felt indifference and guilt because I didn't feel as sad as I thought that I should feel after spending 5 years of my life in Columbus. We had family there. We had a great church. We had friends.

But...

We weren't intimately tied to any of those things as much as we wanted to be.  We anticipated that things would be very different. We were moving to Eric's hometown when we headed to Columbus. We had connections with family and friends. The problem was, those people had lives and friends and didn't need us. Or maybe they were just busy.

Who we are as kids isn't who we are as adults, and some people can't move past that. This means, in some relationships, you are so different that you don't have that intimate friendship you had at 16, and there's nothing that either person can do about it. In other relationships, it means you can't have a relationship at all because one person can't move past who you were at 14, and they choose to still believe you are that immature adolescent. It is what it is, right? It's hard work to change people's minds, and we found, after 5 years of trying diligently to prove ourselves to those people, it wasn't really worth it. It wasn't worth it at all. Unfortunately, sometimes, a family is too damaged to repair individual relationships within itself. This was a sad lesson for us to learn even though most of the reasons surrounding it weren't directly our fault.

This has worked toward our benefit here in Coshocton. Who I was at 16 didn't really allow me to be close to my sister's friend, Stephanie, but who she and I have become allows us to be very close now, and our husbands love each other. Steph and Robbie were here at our new house waiting for us when our moving truck pulled up to the curb. They were the first ones here and the last to leave. They've offered us hospitality over and over, and we have welcomed them here. It is a friendship that we will forever cherish. 

And they aren't the only ones with whom God has allowed us to connect our reconnect with since moving here. I could dribble on and on about the friendships we are growing here, people we have re-connected with, new friendships, a church where we are loved. Most importantly, we spend so much time with my parents. For that, I will always feel blessed when I think of how God orchestrated this move for us. Circumstances weren't ideal, but God made it clear that He wanted us here, and He has shown us in marvelous ways that this move was completely and totally in His perfect plan for us.

This place has always been somewhat magical to me. No matter where I have lived, this place, this small town of Coshocton, always lured me back with it's tree covered hills, shallow canals, fields bursting with corn and soy beans, and people. I can't say enough about the people. 

I love being here, and I love that this one year has shown us how much we belong here. This is where God has planted our family, and this is where we are blooming. I am grateful for our one year moving anniversary, and I hope to have many, many more.

Happy Birthday Mom

I would like to think that people look at my life and see a person who makes the most of the little things, but, when I look at my life, I see that I actually neglect some things that might seem like they are little, but they are really big. Like birthdays. My kids birthdays are always a big deal, but we tend to downplay grown-up birthdays around our house too much. I don't know why. I mean, personally, I love being made to feel special and knowing that others care enough to celebrate my presence here on earth. Doesn't everyone?

Before this year, I know I was guilty of blowing past my mom's birthday. I didn't skip her birthday, and I never missed calling or seeing her, but we didn't really celebrate every single year. I think it started when I was in college and Mom's birthday fell the same weekend I left for school each year. Then, after college, we lived in other states for a total of 7 years, and, even after moving to Ohio, we still lived an hour and a half away until April. All of these things are excuses, of course. I didn't give my mom what she deserved on her birthday. That's not going to happen again.

Mom's birthday was Friday. I called Dad and he decided to have a gathering for her birthday this afternoon. Our friends, the Hershbergers, joined us in a simple celebration. I baked Mom a cake and decorated it in her favorite colors. I've never decorated a cake for my mom, and I absolutely loved doing it! We had a cook-out and sang happy birthday and blew out candles.

As I was standing in front of Mom holding the cake, singing and waiting for her to blow out the candles, I had to blink a little. We didn't know if Mom would have this birthday. All those birthdays I missed celebrating, missed making her feel as important as she is to me, ran through my mind. This birthday, we celebrated not just the fact that Mom turned 54. We celebrated that Mom is HERE. With us. Celebrating our milestones and holidays with us as well as hers.

 More celebrations lie in our future. I plan to be celebrating with Mom next June as she reaches 1 year of remission. I'm so glad to have my mom with us. God is good, isn't He?

Dance Recital 2011

Our little dancing queen danced with her Wiseman Dance Studio peers last night for the last time. I had mixed emotions all day concerning this. I enjoy two of the ladies whose daughters dance with Ava so much both at the studio and away from the studio. Before last night, I didn't have to face that little part of our move yet. I have no choice now since we will have Ava take dance at a local studio in our new community. I shed a few tears thinking about it, but that is not what this post is supposed to be about, so let's move on from the sappy stuff!

Ava was beautiful! Her tap class danced to Weird Al's "I Love Rocky Road" since the recital had somewhat of a candy/sweets theme this year. They did a great job, and watching how much Ava learned this year baffled us. She moved from being a silly little girl dancer to becoming a real dancer. She was, by far, the smallest in her tap class, but she held her own (but I have to admit she rehearsed her little hiney off this year!). We were proud of her performance. It was cute, fun and well done!

Ballet was even better. The girls danced to Fallout Boy's "Lullaby" (I know it sounds odd because it is by Fallout Boy, but it's a beautiful song). The costumes were gorgeous, and the girls did extremely well. Ava's progress, as well as the other girls who have danced together for three or four years, was just amazing. I am so glad Ava was moved into intermediate ballet because it is truly what helped her to shine and grow this year both as a dancer and as a person. She learned so much about self-control and discipline through this class. Keeping up with older girls in both of her dance classes this year helped to stretch her. I'm so, so proud of her!

One of our favorite parts of the annual Wiseman recital is the father/daughter dance at the end. Watching Ava dance with Eric is breathtaking, not because they are amazing or anything (not a lot of time goes into the rehearsals for this dance), but because Ava and Eric both love it so much. It shines through them. They are both so happy, and it's a joy to watch. I hope that wherever Ava ends up studying dance in the fall has something similar to this because we'll miss it so much if they don't!

So now the chapter has ended. All of our many activities in Columbus have ended. Our gas tank (and bank account) will no longer be suffering from countless trips to Columbus. We will not miss those trips, though we will miss some of the people and places that we loved. Onto to new things for us...It's time.

Noteworthy Scribblings

I've been ignoring my house for the most part today including school (which we will get to soon). I'm fighting a cold (I know. Whine, whine). While ignoring everything, my 7 year old daughter produced this on her own. Since my blog seems to have taken a hit lately because of our busy schedule, and I'm ignoring responsibilities anyway, I figured I should post it and show off her skills. I'm so proud of her crazy spelling and the fact that she knows all of the fruits of the Spirit!

The froot of the sperit is not a cockunute.

If you wut too be a cockunute you mite-es well here it.

Cuss the froot of the serit is 

love

joy

pess

pashinshins

kindnis

goodnis

kindnis (she hit that one 2x and missed faithfulness. I'm okay with that.)

gentlniss

self kenchrll.

The actual song goes like this (in case some of those spellings were a little too crazy to follow for those of you who don't know the song:

The fruit of the Spirit's not a coconut (repeat).

If you want to be a coconut, you might as well hear it,

You can't be a fruit of the Spirit (she left a couple lines out).

'Cuz the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Didn't she do pretty well? I realize some 1st graders are more advanced than this, but this is showing great strides for my Ava. She's really blossoming right now, and I'm so proud of how much she has learned this year!

Turning 7

Turning 7 is a very big deal. Just ask our new 7 year old. Our sweet Ava asked each day last week if she could start saying she was 7. Each day I replied with, "Nope. You're not 7." 

On Thursday night, I tucked her into bed at 9. At 10:30, I peaked into her room and two big blue eyes were looking back at me. When I asked why she was awake, she told me she was trying to stay awake until she turned 7. I snuggled into her bed with her and talked to her for a few minutes before leaving her to fall asleep, which she finally managed to do around 11.

Greeting Ava on Friday morning was a note telling her that we weren't having school.  We spent our day getting ready for Ava's first slumber party. This little girl could not have been more excited about a birthday party!

Around 5:30, little girls began to show up. We had four little girls spend the night as well as one little boy (Lukas needed someone to protect him from all those girls). We ate homemade pizza, opened girly gifts, ate cake and ice cream, watched countless spontaneous fashion shows, painted nails, applied make-up and did lots and lots of hair-styles. The girls ended the night snuggled into their sleeping bags watching Alice in Wonderland.  The first girl nodded off around 11:30 and the last two nodded off around 2. They were all awake around 7:15, which means that we were all pretty tired on Saturday.  It was, of course, more than worth it.

I kept this party extremely simple. I spent practically nothing. Ava had a blast. Her friends had a blast. Ava's grandparents had fun watching the little girls. Even the boys had fun. Eric and I were blessed because we were able to bless Ava in this way. It was perfect. Just perfect.

7 seems so big to me. Ava thinks it is. She thinks she's taller. She measured herself standing next to me on Thursday and again on Friday. She may not have grown in those two days, but she grew and learned so much in the past year. She spends her days playing with dolls and Barbies and art supplies, creating endless pictures, cards and artistic creations. She cooks with me and even has her own little knife so she can help prepare veggies. She has made great strides in learning when to speak and when to listen. She has grown...which is good, but she's still so little. 7 isn't so big is it? It feels like it. I think I'll enjoy 7...every single moment of it.

9

Last night an 8 year old boy went to bed in our house, and, this morning, a 9 year old awakened from that same bed. It's still covered with Cars sheets and a Lightning McQueen comforter. Webkinz and other stuffed friends still litter the bed and the floor near the bed where they were toppled during the night. There are still legos, Lincoln logs, geotracks and matchbox cars strewn about the room, but he is bigger, or so he thinks.

Some years bring about more maturing than other years.  This past year, we've watched as Lukas started striving to become a young man of God. It has been awesome to see how God has changed him over the past year, not that he wasn't pretty great already. He was incredible, but he seemed to take hold of his faith in a way that was much more personal in the past year, and it was a sweet experience to see that take place.

Lukas' emerging independence has allowed me to take a more obvious notice of how amazing he is. If he can do it without us, he will. He has learned to vacuum the carpet and mow the lawn this year, and he does a pretty good job at both chores (though both do require Mom or Dad now and then). In school, he devoured world geography with gusto and tackled multiplication with determination and diligence. He's pretty incredible.

And he's 9.

Halfway to 18, the world's chosen age for determining adulthood. These days do go by quickly, don't they? Any parent will tell you how fast the days fly when they are little. It's true. Even if you're a parent like me who truly takes time to appreciate each season of childhood, time races. I remember holding him for the first time like it was yesterday, and he's halfway to 18. Yikes!

I can't wait to see what the next year holds for my boy. He'll keep growing, and I'll keep telling him to stop (yesterday, I bought him men's size 6 shoes!!!). He'll keep learning and maturing and becoming all that God intends for him to be. It's quite an adventure to watch him grow. I love my boy. 

Thanks, Jesus, for the sweet blessing of sharing this little boy with me. He is one of my forever loves, and I will cherish him always.

Milestones

If your eyes are sticking to the screen, it's because there is a lot of sap in this post. I've been watching lately as my boy suddenly seems to be bursting out of one stage of childhood into another, much more mature stage of childhood. I enjoy watching these moments with my kids, but they are bittersweet, are they not?

When Lukas was a baby, he hit most of his milestones early (except for walking, which he waited until he was a week shy of 14 months to attempt). This has not been the case throughout his childhood. It meant that we spent a couple years without really seeing many milestones pass by us. He began school on a schedule that many people consider to be early, though even the school districts would have allowed him to start since his birthday is three weeks before their official cut-off date. I can't tell you how many times I heard comments about starting a boy who was so young in kindergarten. He read early too, a characteristic that has not translated into a life-long love of reading thus far, but we are glad that his little mind was active and capable at such a young age. It did cause his mama-teacher troubles when it was time to find books that were challenging while keeping the interest of a 1st grader who didn't have any interest in chapter books.

In recent months, the milestones Lukas has passed have little to do with academics and motor skills. I have watched as he went off to camp without speaking on the phone to him even once for 5 days. My mama heart wanted him to succeed at doing this desperately, but, at the same time, oh how my  heart broke a little when Lukas' counselor told me, "He did fine this week." Part of every mama's heart wants to be needed, and part of every mama's heart wants them to learn to do things independently as well. I am proud of him for this milestone. It is one that I wasn't sure he was ready to cross. He has had a couple of bad experiences staying away from home, but he had a blast this time and can't wait to return next summer.

Also in the past few months, I've watched his big brother skills climb to a new level. Lukas loves to teach his sister to do things. He's been teaching Ava to play piano for months now, and sometimes I can't believe what I hear coming from the piano. She's doing pretty well under his tutelage (have no fear musical friends, mama is taking over with the start of school)! Last month, when Ava was learning to ride her bike without training wheels, Lukas was with us the entire time, watching, encouraging and finally assisting by holding the bike and running alongside her. It was sweet to see him doing such a thing. It's one of those memories I can close my mind and see in those moments when the two of them are bickering non-stop (like they were a little while ago before I sent them to their rooms).

This week, Lukas mowed our lawn. We don't have a small lawn, so he did it over two days. Prior to this week, he had helped Eric mow, but the shoe was definitely on the other foot this time. Eric is facing a disc problem in his back, so he actually needed Lukas to do the job for him. Lukas did most of it, and Eric did the trim and tight spots. It looks great. We're proud of him. I can't believe he's big enough to do this job.

Tomorrow, he'll be driving, right? Sigh. That seems to be how it goes. One day they walk, the next they ride their bike, then they're mowing the lawn and driving your car to take a girl on a first date. MAKE IT STOP!

I don't want it to stop, though it is bittersweet. These milestones are what we want for our sweet cherubs. If he wasn't doing these very grown-up things, then I would be concerned. Lukas is just a few weeks shy of turning 9. Unbelievable. I'll continue to cherish these moments as he becomes the man God intends for him to be. He's going to be something pretty terrific.

I love my boy.

Reflections

I'm feeling rather melancholy and reflective this evening.  Maybe it's the dreary, rainy weather we've had all day, or maybe it's the season.  I don't know what it is, but I am definitely in the mood to reminisce and reflect upon many things.

Do any of you remember when my children were born?  Of course, some of you do because you were there, and others of you didn't even know me then.  My point is that it truly does seem like Lukas was just born yesterday, and here I am with a 5 year old son and a 2 1/2 year old daughter! 

Every time one of those "very wise" people told me to cherish every moment while they are little, I always thought, "well of course I will!"  And I truly do.  I am not one of those moms who is in a rush for my children to grow.  Of course I get excited when they learn something new or go through a growth spurt (though right now I'm not so excited that Lukas has 2 pair of pants that actually fit him), but I truly do cherish their smallness. 

I love that Ava can't say Lukas.  She calls him "Loo-sis".  It is so adorable, and I think that I will probably cry on the day that she actually says Lukas.  It's kind of like the day she moved from calling my sister An-Khaki to actually saying "Aunt Cassie."  Cassie was sad about that one too.

I love that Lukas still needs me to snap his pants for him, but I'm proud of him on the times that he figures it out himself.  I know the day is very near when he will no longer need me for this simple task, and I know many moms are thinking I'm crazy, but I love that he still needs me.  The days of Lukas needing me in this way are truly numbered, and I think we may be entering the single digits!  Snaps and buttons are more of a symbol of the stage of life we are in with Lukas right now.  That stage is ending too quickly, and we'll never get these days back.

I love that Ava needs snuggle time every day.  It has been more of a challenge since school started to make sure that Ava gets her snuggle time with Mommy, but we're getting better at it.  It truly is a need of hers to just be held and cuddled for a while each day.  What mommy wouldn't love that?  My hope is that she'll never out-grow this need, but I'm guessing that she won't be sitting on my lap caressing my cheek when she's 16 and heading out the door on her first date.  Oh my goodness!  Can you believe that will be happening tomorrow!  I know it's not truly tomorrow, but I'm sure it will seem like I wrote this "just yesterday" when we get to that day.

I love, love, love the relationship that my kids have with each other.  Lukas has adored his little sister since the day she was born, and Ava returns that adoration whole-heartedly.  Every Sunday after church, we pick them up from their classrooms and Ava immediately looks for Lukas.  When she finds him, she shouts "Loo-sis" and they run toward each other.  Lukas picks her up and hugs her while he swings her back and forth.  It is so precious to watch.  I enjoy it every single time as if it were the first time, and I dread the day that it will be the last time.

Last times are something I could start a whole new blog entry about and go on and on and on (kind of like I am now).  I'll just say this about last times...isn't it sad that we often don't realize it's the last time they do something?  The last time they fall asleep in your arms, the last time they wear warm footy pajamas, the last time they mispronounce a word...

Two Terrific Kiddos

A trip to my sister's house for my brother-in-law's birthday party gave Eric and I some time to talk this evening.  We were reflecting on how great our kids are.  We could not be more proud of them.  It seems that we are sharing about our mishaps with them more than their successes, so today I thought I would tell you that we are nothing but proud of them.

Lukas is doing extremely well in school.  He starts the school day with vigor and works hard to get as much accomplished as he can.  Of course, he needs a break now and then, but don't we all need breaks?  He is reading incredibly well, and we are so proud of him for that.  His favorite parts of the school day are science and math experiments and cooking projects.  He's definitely a hands-on kid, but he manages to do quite well with the pencil and paper as well.  He is such a blessing to us, and we love to tell everyone how great he is doing.

Ava is also doing very well right now as well.  It may seem to some like it's of lesser importance, but potty-training is a key thing for a two year old to learn.  She is officially a potty-trained girl!  Yesterday, she got to buy a pack of Dora the Explorer undies, and she could not be more thrilled!  They are super-cute too.  The only problem is that her diaper was truly helping her pants stay up, and now they are falling down more than ever!  LOL  I guess I need to learn how to sew so that she can have some pants that fit her little bum!

Our kids bring so much joy to us.  Lukas is truly a caring child, and that is worth bragging about more than academics any day.  Ava is as sweet as pie and so sensitive.  How could we possibly be more blessed than this?  That is what I need to remind myself on the tough days, or the days when I ask for even more.  God has blessed us so much with two beautiful children.  For that, I am eternally grateful.

Lukas Turned 5

We've been out celebrating with Lukas this evening.  Today was his fifth birthday, and he wanted to go to Build-a-Bear, which is something I thought I would never do.  It was tons of fun, and he is loving his new pal, Fred the Monkey.  He had so much fun choosing his stuffed animal and having it made, and he is still enjoying it.  Lukas and Fred are tucked safely into bed together for the night, and now we are going to take a few moments of relaxation.

I created a new smilebox of birthday photos.  Enjoy them!  Here's the link:

http://tinyurl.com/zrxug