4 year old Abe.

I need to document who Abe is as a new 4 year old, before he becomes 4 1/2 or even worse, 5! I'm so behind over here. And sitting at the computer is the last thing I want to do when I have time to myself. But here I am. I want to remember it all one day. I want the boys to be able to read about themselves and our family life.

Abe as a 4 year old...He's sweet. He loves to gives hugs and kisses. He squeezes my neck so tight when he hugs. It feels amazing. He loves to cuddle and sit close, if not right in my lap. Yesterday, he sat in my lap for an entire movie at the theatre. He never once got restless or decided he move back to his own seat, which was right next to me. He is by far the biggest momma's boy yet. He prefers his momma at every turn. And daily, he makes me feel very loved in a very natural way. I know that is a weird thought. I just mean, I could leave town for a few days and the other two wouldn't care at all. Abe would miss me and maybe cry. And he would not look forward to my absence at all.

In some childcare situations he is having a really hard time these days. Mother's Day Out and Wednesday nights at our church, his teachers think he hung the moon and often tell me how well behaved and sweet he is. They experience all the goodness in him that I see. But Sunday mornings and our homeschool co-op he gives them all a run for their money. Unfortunately, they don't see the sweetness. I don't understand it. I don't know how to fix it for the unfortunate teachers. And I am just hoping that he soon outgrows it. When I ask him weekly, why he was making bad choices in one of those classrooms, his answer is typically: because I missed you. See, I don't know what to do for that! So I think he's a pretty easy kid for me. But some of the teachers that have him weekly would strongly disagree with my statement.

He loves to be read to. He is captivated by books and stories. He will even flip through the big boys chapter books that have a few black and white pictures scattered throughout. He will do this for large chunks of time. I hope one day he will become a great reader like the other 2 boys. I plan to start some school with him this summer while the other 2 are taking a break. He is really great at playing alone. The toys he plays with most often would be legos and his pretend play things (pizza, k-cup coffee set, wooden icecream set). Those are some of his favorites. He also loves his leap reader pen to go through his books independently. I am so thankful that he plays so well by himself.

People often ask what Abe does when I do school with the other two. That is a moment when I get to brag on this boy. He often starts out in the office. He will sing along on whatever hymn we are working on. He will play quietly while I read to them from the bible. That's about the first 20 minutes and then he is ready to go upstairs and play. Usually he ends up watching one cartoon while we finish up school each morning. But he is really a superstar at entertaining himself and letting us get our school done each morning.

Abe is still completely fascinated with fire trucks. He has been for over 2 years. Fascinated, obsessed, whatever you want to call it. He also loves Batman. And he loves to drive through a car wash. And he loves to talk about tornadoes. He's been known to tell me: Momma, I love you like a tornado car wash. Just think about it such a thing existed. That would be some powerful love! 😊

Abe loves to paint with water colors. He loves to jump on the trampoline. He loves to be outside and color our driveway with the sidewalk chalk. Last fall he attempted the bike with training wheels and it was more frustrating than fun. But we need to give it another try in the next couple of weeks. Abe also loves music and singing. Every time we are in the car I can hear his sweet, but deep, little voice behind me singing grown up worship songs along with the radio. Good, Good Father has been one of his favorites for a very long time. I pray the truths of these songs are being etched into his heart and mind and one day will be a small part of transforming him into a follower of Jesus.

Abe is a fantastic eater. He loves fresh veggies and hummus. His favorite is slices of bell pepper. But he also loves carrots and sugar snap peas. Honestly, he will dip just about anything in hummus and eat it. But it HAS to be Sabra. I can't even trick him with other brands or homemade hummus. It has to be Sabra Roasted Red Pepper or the Pine Nut one. Otherwise he turns his little nose up to it. He frequently asks for extra veggies and hummus after he's eaten everything else. Who is this kid!?!! But I love it. He doesn't really eat bread or pasta. He is more into fruit, veggies and meat. But he also loves to eat crackers, chips, yogurt, rice and beans. He has a spicy pallet. He needs his own salsa bowl when we eat Tex Mex. Even when it's spicy he loves the stuff.

Pax and Abe have a very sweet relationship and they have since the beginning. I'm going to give Pax most of the credit here. He is pretty easy to get along with and is just the perfect both big and little brother. Holden and Abe are going through an annoying rough patch that I hope will improve with time and maturity.

This kid...who knew my heart could love another boy so much. I'm crazy in love with this one and feel so fortunate that God found us fit to be his forever family.

Abe's 4th Birthday

Abe turned 4 on December 2nd. So behind over here.

He began his day by opening a gift from Holden and Pax. New legos!



Then our sweet Master Builder helped him to build it right away!

 Everyone's favorite breakfast at our house is always donuts.

We also let him open this new fire station. It was actually handed down to us without the furniture. I ended up buying a set of wooden pink furniture for it, because it was the cheapest I could find. He didn't mind at all that it was pink. :)

He was so excited to have a fire station.

Not long after breakfast we took off for Chuck E Cheese to meet a few friends and celebrate.

 

 

 We had games, pizza and Paw Patrol cupcakes.

After lunch, we came home and Abe had a nap. Then my parents came over that evening for frito chili pie (one of his favorites!) and more presents and cupcakes.

 

 I love celebrating my boys birthdays. But this #4 came all too quickly. An "all about 4 year old Abe" is next on my blog-to-do list!

Fall Update

It's been a pretty steady September/October/November over here. Our school schedule is a little more busy this year. We are not just sitting at home doing school any longer. The boys participate in a PE class 2 days a week and piano lessons 1 day a week. We are regulars at the library each week. And we still love our Wednesday homeschool co-op. And as I've mentioned, Abe is in Mother's Day Out on Thursdays. So we're in the car and on the go more this year than any years past. And there are some pieces of that schedule that I like. I like that our extras can be done during the day and not take up family time in the evenings. I love that there are three days of the week where the boys get an organized gym time (our 2 PE days + gym games at our co-op). The physical activity and time with friends is a highlight for them. But I definitely feel like we are busier and I'm just not used to that feeling. But the good thing is that I can evaluate and change things as I go. In fact, this month I pulled them out of the PE class. We pay for it monthly, so I can always pull out for a month and see how it feels and if I want to head back into it in December, then we will do that. But here are some of our highlights from September and most of  October.

 Cute Pax lost a tooth.

 And then the neighboring tooth soon followed. I love this look! He's never been cuter.

 Playing with the train tracks on the floor. I love it when they all peacefully play together. On this night, Jeremy was out of town. I was folding laundry next to them while playing some worship music. I needed this night of peaceful playtime between them all. I snapped some pictures to capture a sweet moment that God had provided, during a week that already felt harder since my other half was away.

 

Fun at the car wash. This boy LOVES to go to the car wash.

 Holden loves to tinker on the piano. Both boys had a recital last week. One was not bothered by the idea. And the other often told us daily in the weeks leading up to it that he WOULD NOT be playing at his recital. He was mortified at the thought of playing in front of other people and the thought that he might make a mistake. It was too much for him to even think about. :) Eventually he memorized his piece and sucked it up and played at the recital.

 My sweet Abe. You know, he can be a stinker. But when it comes to entertaining himself and playing quietly when we do school stuff, he is pretty amazing.

 

 While Abe napped one afternoon I made the baddest fort I've ever made. :) (Bad meaning good, obviously.) And they stayed in it to read for over an hour! What is it about forts!?? 

 

 And we all LOVE Battleship!

 Ready for PE.

Some friends from PE. Tall kid just turned 14. Crazy.

 One Thursday night our family ATTEMPTED a camping trip.

 

 It was terrible. It rained and rained and rained on us. We ended up trashing our tent right there at the campgrounds. Jeremy and I have gone camping 3 times in our 14 years of marriage. Twice have been disastrous.

 These two buddies love to play dress up! They are the best playmates together.

We completed another season of sports.

Soccer for Holden and flag football for Pax. It's always fun to watch them do their thing.

 
 This guy read books during the games or played with other younger siblings from the teams. And if that didn't satisfy him, then he whined. And whined and whined. Just being honest.

Business as usual over here, which includes some science. We are studying the human body this year. Holden chose our science and PHEW is it a DOOZY! Said the girl that was tutored through A&P to the safety of a C. I needed that class for my major, but oh my it kicked my tail. And so is this Elementary class. But they are learning some of it, all at an age appropriate level. We may just need to hit it again in 6th grade.

Sometimes I get a hair brained idea that three young boys with small carts is a good idea in the grocery store. One boy had to return his cart to the entrance of the store before the shopping trip was over. But he might be the next contestant on Supermarket Sweep...and if he is I will cheer him on running through the aisles. Just not at our local Kroger, please.

And then this sweet one went into glasses. He was NOT excited about it. And he was pretty self conscious the first two weeks wearing them. He still gets compliments on his new look regularly. He was adorable before glasses and the I think the glasses just kicked it up a notch. But I don't think he's totally sure what to do with all the compliments. By that, I mean that sometimes he just doesn't even acknowledge that the person has spoken to him. We are working on that constantly. But I think he questions if they are genuine. You've got to be genuine with this guy. He'll totally see through it if you are not.

But on this day, I remember what happened. Pax got in the car wearing his new glasses from the store. He looked at Holden (who was the kid that was bummed that he didn't get glasses with his 20/20 vision), and he said, "Holden, do you like them?" He didn't care about mommy gushing over them, or the ladies in the eyeglass store. He wanted his best friend's opinion. And Holden's excited face said it all. He said, "Yes! Can I try them on?!!" Then I asked to get a picture of Pax to text to Jeremy and Holden wanted to join him in the photo. These sweet brothers! I'm so thankful they have each other.  As different as they are, they are the best of friends.

 

 We couldn't let October sneak by without a trip to the pumpkin patch.

 We went with Holden's buddy from church and the rest of his family.

 
Abe's face on the tractor...I think he was sad because he couldn't drive it.
 
This guy is always my helper in the kitchen. He loves to help cook and bake and prep food for meals! This particular day we were making flourless chocolate pumpkin bars. And he pretty much made them all by himself. They were amazing. Here is a link to the recipe. They do not taste like a healthy dessert...they really are good!

And I talk about Pax reading all the time. Which he does read several hours each day. But Holden loves books too. A good, healthy, normal amount. :) I love to see my boys with their noses in books. If I didn't have a million other things to do, I might spend hours a day reading as well.

Halloween, the piano recital, our 14th anniversary, Thanksgiving and other fall activities will follow soon...stay tuned.