Well life has kept us busy these past couple of weeks. The weather has been so amazing! With 3 active boys the outdoors is our saving grace! We have been taking hikes around our own back yard and street; it is amazing the adventures the little guys come up with. We planted some flowers in little pots, painted canvases for the bathroom, and of course caught more lizards to put in our bug catchers! The boys keep us moving, laughing, and sometimes in tears. Their sweet spirits that truly love Jesus makes our hearts leap with joy as we hear them talk to each other about who Jesus is. Here are a few of our favorite things we hear them talk to each other about or just ask us the question.
1. "OK, so God was not born right?" (Ty)
"Right" (Mommy)
"But Jesus is God, and Jesus was born in Bethlehem, so that means that God was born!" (Ty)
"ummmmmmmmmmmm" (Mommy)
2. So the boys have been saying they can't do this or can't do that, they aren't smart enough, strong enough, etc. So Dustin asked who told them that and they said they did not know. So we told them that Satan tells them lies about themselves and that they should not believe those lies. So the other day Bryce was upset about something he "couldn't do because he was not strong enough" and I asked him who told him that..."Satan did!" I told him to remember that Satan tells lies and that he is not telling the truth about who God created Bryce to be to which Bryce replied in a prayerful type way,"Go away Satan, you are not right. I want you to go to Hell!"
3. I love hearing the boys talk about God and last night at dinner the boys were asking about how God was 3 people in one. I have no idea how they seem to grasp this concept as I still struggle to understand it. But Tyler loves to tell Bryce about it as if he can help little B understand it better. Ty says, "OK Bryce, so God is God like the God that is every ones Father and He is Jesus, like the one born here, and He is the Holy Spirit, the one that lives in our hearts and tells us how to be kind, how to obey, and be joyful." To which Bryce says, "Oh, I see, the Spirit lives in my heart. Is there a door so He can go out and in so He can make me do good things!"
4. We are constantly talking about using kind words in our house and Tyler said "we want our words to be like honey or a sweet flower, right Mom?!" And Bryce replies, "We don't want our words to be like a bumble bee that stings, because that hurts!"
I mean can it get any better than that!!?? Dylan and Avary have been very lively these days too! Dylan tries so hard to keep up with the big boys that he spends half the day crying because he just can't keep up, so he gets frustrated and tackles or hits the big boys which leads to a discipline which leads to more tears....oh poor little guy! He has for sure turned into a little handful, but he is still cute as can be and he knows it. Sometimes when he does something he knows is not allowed he says, "But I funny Mommy." Try not to laugh at that when you are about to discipline! He has learned how to spell his name, recognize most of his ABC's, count in the 20s, and knows his shapes and colors. He is a smart little thing and says every morning, "I do school too Mommy like Tyler Brycie."
Ava Joy is all over the place. You put her down and she is gone. Daddy and the boys think this is the greatest thing ever, and my poor heart is about to break watching my little baby become mobile! She is truly pure JOY to us all. We all are all up in her face all day long wanting her to laugh and smile at us. Which is not hard to do! She will smile at a leaf blowing in the wind! She is so happy and so easy going. She had a big night Monday night......we moved her to her crib upstairs in the nursery! She did wonderful, it was Mommy that made a few trips up the stairs to make sure she really was OK. (yes we have a monitor, but if she made even one peep I wanted to be there to whisk her back down the stairs to our closet!!) I know I am pathetic, but it has been really hard for me knowing she is my last little baby!
Dustin and I are amazed how fast life seems to be whizzing by! I would love to freeze time for a bit and just enjoy this moment we are in! Our children bring us such delight and we are so thankful for all the blessings the Lord has given to us. This "school" year I have done two bible studies, this fall was Contagious Joy and this spring has been Stepping Up, a Beth Moore study on Psalms. God has sure been grabbing my heart about the meaning of joy and rejoicing in the moments He has us in. Sure life has thrown its share of mess at us, but God's love and grace has been my source of continuous joy and strength. I am so thankful God has blessed me with such a 'rock' of a husband and a host of faithful friends who love me for me and push me to be more what God has called me to be. I mean really, can I say anything more than, Thank You Jesus!
Saturday we got to ride the new light rail in Charlotte. We all rode round trip for just $5.00! We caught the train to the Imagine On Center where we got to see cool displays, run races, and read stories. We then had a quick lunch at Brixx Pizza and took the train back home. The boys just could not believe that we all really got to "ride a real train." It was a fabulous family day!
... homeschool to our favorite song from our sweet friend Melissa! We generally sit around the island around 9:00 AM to "do school." Typically, Ava Joy is napping, but here you can see she was a bit off her schedule today, so she got to join us and suck on a pear in her "safety fruit feeder" Tyler decided to do school in his under pants and a pair of chaps, while Dylan and Bryce stayed in their mixed matched PJ's. Dylan eventually got bored cutting and coloring and wondered into the play room where he climbed the shelf (imagine, Dylan climbing), and turned up the music as loud as it would go to sing his favorite school song, "Stop and Go." So fun, really it is so fun teaching my little munchkins in their PJS and watching them light up when they get something right!! So sweet!
Tyler has really enjoyed learning to read and write. Thankfully he has been a pretty good student :-) Here is his first attempt at creating and writing his very own short story!! He is pretty proud of it. Translation...."One time a banana was in a pie. The banana got aten"(eaten)
