Monday, August 19, 2013

First day of 4th Grade

Name: Elizabeth
Age: 9
Favorite Color: pink
Favorite thing to eat for breakfast: cinnamon roll cake
Favorite thing to eat for lunch: Spaghetti Os
Favorite thing to eat for dinner: pizza
Favorite thing to eat for dessert: everything sugary
Favorite movie: Scary movies
Favorite TV show: Dog with a Blog, Shake it Up, Good Luck Charlie
Favorite place to go: Six Flags and Chuck E Cheese and bowling
Favorite book: Little House books
Favorite thing to wear: dresses
Favorite sport: swimming
Favorite shoes: high heels

Things that make me.....
happy: my family
sad: getting hurt
laugh: telling jokes, being tickled and playing pranks
cry: when people in my family die
excited: presents, going to Grandma and Grand Daddy's, surprises.


First Day of Preschool

Name: Timothy
Age: 3
Favorite Color: blue
Favorite thing to eat for breakfast: cookies
Favorite thing to eat for lunch: piece of cherry pie
Favorite thing to eat for dinner: cinnamon roll cake
Favorite thing to eat for dessert: pudding pie
Favorite movie: Shark Boy and Lava Girl
Favorite TV show: Jake and Batman
Favorite place to go: Grandma and Grand Daddy's house
Favorite book: The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Favorite thing to wear: a coat
Favorite sport: basketball
Favorite shoes: tennis shoes

Things that make me.....
happy: presents
sad: when people throw me on the floor
laugh: getting tickled
cry: when I get scraped by thorns
excited: when I do school!

First Day of 2nd Grade

Name: Micah
Age: 7
Favorite Color: maroon
Favorite thing to eat for breakfast: cinnamon roll cake
Favorite thing to eat for lunch: spaghetti
Favorite thing to eat for dinner: hot dogs
Favorite thing to eat for dessert: pudding pie
Favorite movie: Chimpanzee
Favorite TV show: Batman
Favorite place to go: Six Flags
Favorite book: Pirate books
Favorite thing to wear: my sleeveless shirt
Favorite sport: flag football
Favorite shoes: cleats

Things that make me.....
happy: going to Six Flags with my friends, going to Grandma and Grand Daddy's house, shark necklace
sad: when I trip and scrape my knee and when Elizabeth is mean.
laugh: listening to Adventures in Odyssey and tickling.
cry: if I got my head cut open
excited: having a new brother or sister.

First Day of 1st Grade

Name: Benjamin
Age: 6
Favorite Color: green
Favorite thing to eat for breakfast: cinnamon roll cake
Favorite thing to eat for lunch: Spaghetti Os with meatballs
Favorite thing to eat for dinner: salad
Favorite thing to eat for dessert: pudding pie
Favorite movie: Max Steele
Favorite TV show: Ben 10
Favorite place to go: the arcade and Six Flags
Favorite book: dinosaur books
Favorite thing to wear: wedding outfits
Favorite sport: machine pitch baseball
Favorite shoes: sneakers

Things that make me.....
happy: family, my birthday, and camping
sad: when we ask our friend to come over and they can't.
laugh: getting tickled
cry: getting hurt
excited: going to my grandparents' house.

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

When he grows up

Just recently, I had a conversation with my Dad about what I imagined each of my children doing when they because adults.  Obviously, I hope they love the Lord with a passion and strive every day to follow Him.  I hope they marry, finding a partner to work with, love, and follow Christ with.  I hope the know the rich blessing of children.  But more specifically, at this stage in life, what do I imagine my children doing when they grow up?

I think Elizabeth will be in front of people!  Maybe dancing, singing or swimming.  Or maybe, in front of the classroom.  Her personality is big and contagious!  She had the ability to have a group of people wrapped around her finger.  I can see her entertaining or training people with these talents.

For awhile now, Micah has been talking about being a police man.  With his tender heart and caring spirit, I can see him in a profession that allows him to care for and shepherd people.  Policeman, Fireman, Pastor, Counselor, Vet, Nurse.  Whatever he chooses, I know Micah will do it with the gentle passion he has shown us already.  He's also very athletic, and though I don't see him making that his profession, I can see him being involved in athletics for his hobby.

Benjamin, with his smile that lights of a room!  I always imagined he would be our outspoken politician, or comedian, or TV personality.  But even stronger than his personality is his mind.  He is so bright, so intelligent!  I imagine he will be an engineer, architect, or surgeon.  He has a sharp mind, the ability to pick things up quickly and incredible find motor skills. 

And then there's Timothy.  At the time, I wasn't sure what I thought Timothy would be.  However, in the past few weeks his imagination has grown!  Curtis and I are always being asked to help defeat the bad guys, pretend that the piece of race track is a sword, or die on the spot because we've been killed.  In Timothy's world, nothing is as it seems.  I think Timothy will be our writer, our inventor, our creator or maybe even a teacher.  He'll be the one to bring life and joy into other people's worlds.

What an adventure parenting is!  And what a delight to see my children grown and change and become amazing individulas, right before my eyes.

Thursday, August 08, 2013

Swim, little fish.

This summer, Elizabeth, Micah and Benjamin joined swim team.  From the end of April till the end of June, the kids had practice every day (sometimes twice a day!) and meets on the weekends.  Though at first the schedule was overwhelming, since we were still doing baseball, I am so thankful that we had this experience! 
 
While we've always known our children are athletic, it was fun to watch them excel at another spot.  Elizabeth in particular was a natural!!  She raked in ribbons and medals through the season!  She even medaled at invitationals, a meet swimmers must qualify for based on their times!
 
Benjamin also had a great season, brought home many ribbons and a medal.  He qualified for invitationals and placed in his two events.  We were also very impressed by his competitive, yet encouraging spirit.
 
Micah had a good season, though not as great as his siblings.  Curtis and I had several conversations, worried that Micah would become discouraged by the lack of ribbons.  He didn't qualify for invitiationals, but went and cheered on his brother and sister with a kind and gentle spirit.  It was hard for me as a parent to see him try so hard, yet not get the prizes that his siblings were bringing home.  More than anything, we wanted Micah to know that we wanted him to do his best!  Not only did we see that he was doing his best, but so did his coaches!  At the end of the year, he received the award for Most Improved Barracuda!!!  It lifted his spirits and encouraged my mommy heart.
Timothy, not one to miss out on the action, took swim lessons for two weeks.  He now tells people when he grows up, he wants to be a Barracuda!
 
I'm very proud of every one of my little fish!!  We're already looking forward to next summer when we join the Bryan Barracudas again!