May 28, 2006

Is it really May 28th - the 6th birthday of my little Ethan? 6 sounds so old. I remember him as a baby and how much confidence I lacked as a mother. Then I have some flashbacks as a toddler - particularly from photos. After that, it gets hazy. Thankfully, I have tons of photos. He received the prayer award at school - I was so proud. He also scored a PERFECT score on the bible portion of their achievement test - 99th percentile. I am so incredibly proud of the boy he is becoming. I see 6 as having so much responsibility - so much more than 5. Why? I have no idea, but I do. He is so appreciative of what we do for him. He thanked me and Jay so many times for the hard work we put into his birthday. Jay is out on the back field with 2 of Ethan's friends from school, Sadie and Colby camping out. I hope everyone gets some sleep. It is nice to be inside with only Lily. She is in bed and it is so quiet!

I finally recognize the types of friends that are good for Ethan. These two boys from his class are just precious. They are so incredibly sweet, well-mannered and just great to be around. They are not demanding nor are they wild and rambunctious (did I spell that correctly?). They have been taught to love God and it shows. They have confidence and they want to be with Ethan! It is not a struggle nor do we get any attitudes, power games or pouting. There are no clicks and they just want to have fun. I am so happy for him as I see great friends for him to be around.

Sadie seems to have done a 180 over the past month. It is like she just grew up over night. She finally gets it and really feels remorse, sadness, regret, etc. It is amazing. I don't know what finally happened, but prayers and all of the hard work, trying to keep her in line and wanting to please God seems to have paid off. God is rewarding us for obedience to him. Ironically, I think that this may just be in time for issues with Lily. Sadie has expressed so much love to me lately. She just wants to love on me and seems to be so much happier. I know that spending that one on one has been key as well as doing things that excite her. She wants to please me and I try to encourage her and praise her all the time. I also try to help her understand what she is doing wrong in a much better tone than yelling. It is working - thank you GOD! I feel a pride and joy when watching her that I have never experienced with her. I know she had to feel it as I recognize it now. She brightens my day and I was really looking forward when I would pick her up from preschool.

The summer has begun. We don't have too tight of a schedule. I am thankful. I am really looking forward to just hanging around the house and enjoying each other. We have lots to do outside and the kids need to learn how to find ways to entertain each other. I also have big school and craft plans with the kids. Of course, I had those plans last year and it didn't pan out. So, I won't try to tackle too much and hope for better. I need to beef up our craft supplies so we can create more this summer. Sadie keeps saying she wants to do soccer. I have her in advanced preschool at gymnastics and Ethan in horseback riding for the summer. I figure we will revamp in the fall - Sadie in soccer and Ethan in karate. I don't want to do all that running around, but at least it will only be for the fall.

Lily's hair seems to have gotten even curlier - special, perfect little ringlets - so precious. She brings such joy to me, too. I just want to squeeze her. She is starting to exert her will. I realize there is not too much we don't let her do as the house is pretty foolproof and she just can't get into things that make a mess. Well, except for Jay's computer stuff and remotes in the living room. She still only has those top two teeth, plus two molars in the back on the top. Four teeth on the bottom and two molars in the back. Speaking of teeth, Sadie will make ANOTHER trip to the dentist to have that silver cap looked at...again. Appears to be abscessed. I think we will just get it pulled...seems the easiest thing to do. I hope it is not incredibly painful for her as right now she seems totally fine despite the abscess appearance.

Lily continues to gain in her speech everyday. She puts lots of words together into small sentences. I love hearing her talk!

I am tired and though I know there is a lot to write about, I will end for now. Jay just called from the camp site to say they kids are loving playing flashlight tag. How fun!