Thankful

I do not have any recent photos to post, but I'm sure I will soon. I have been doing a lot of observing lately, in particular my children. They are such a joy and delight. Each of their personalities shines in its very own way. Luke's vocabulary is exploding! He says things that I can't believe he put together in such an appropriate way. He told Rob after he sneezed, "Bless you dad". Talk about heart melting! And he has his funny expressions such as, "Car wash -wash off bird poop". We have had an increase in bird poop as of moving to Indiana.
More trees = more bird poop. And now my two year old walks around talking about bird poop and dog poop, nice. Nathaniel has been trying to make sense of the world as he knows it. He doesn't always come to the most logical conclusions. Just yesterday at the dinner table he informed us that orphans are not allowed to eat with forks and knives. We looked at him with puzzled faces and he clarifies, "Well they are allowed to use butter knives." What? He completely cracks me up! He also has the most adorable way of talking. He has not distinguished all of his sounds yet and says bwootiful rather than beautiful, brudder instead of brother and one of my neighbor's favorites...with his eyes to to ground,"well my mom said not to bodder you." He can charm the socks off of any one! Noah has most recently taken to baseball. He is playing on a summer league and is absorbing every bit of information the coach will give him. Noah and dad were watching baseball on t.v. and he was checking his knowledge of the game by asking Rob question after question. Noah is a natural and it is so much fun watching him develop into a little athlete, curious about every aspect of the game. He has also gained more confidence in his reading skills. He can read much better than he gives himself credit for and is very timid to expose his ability. However when he's not paying attention to "reading" he will read a sign with ease not realizing what he has just done. Cari is growing closer to becoming a beautiful young lady. She is all girl, but more complex questions and thoughts are arising within her. She is very curious how life works when you are "all grown up" and making plans for what she plans to do when this moment comes. There are questions that I choose to defer until she is a bit older and constantly remind her to enjoy being a kid. She still has an imagination to be sought after. She can play stories with her dolls for hours not realizing ten minutes has passed. She enjoys being the leader of the pack and has no problems directing the boys as to what they should be doing at any given moment. And although motherly she can be, she knows how to play with them better than I could ever hope for. Cari is truly a "little lady".

I have a lot to take in with these four diverse personalities. I have taken so much enjoyment and pleasure in being their mother. Of course we have our crazy times when I feel as if I need to make a visit to a mental institution, but the above are what I choose to remember and treasure. I am indeed thankful to be a mother!