Happy Birthday, A!

I can't believe you are six!! You are growing up so fast. This has been a year of growth for you. For one thing, you are a reader! Oh, how this has opened doors for you. You read everything you can get your hands on, and I am daily amazed at your innate ability to decode words and understand what they  mean. I love seeing your passion for learning. Your daddy and I actually considered the need to limit the time you spend reading to spread your time to other things (we didn't). I also love how you teach me something new everyday. Whether it is the true color of polar bears' hair (clear) or the distance from the sun to the earth (93 million miles), I love the wealth of knowledge that you have and so excitedly teach others.

This has also been a year of growth as you have started kindergarten full-time. It's been an adjustment and is still hard for you to be gone all day, but you have been so brave and never complain about going to school (okay... maybe every once in awhile, but not often). You have proven that you can make good choices whether or not your momma is there to watch. I love hearing from your teachers how you are kind to your classmates and respectful to everyone.

And I've loved watching you grow as a brother. You teach C what you learn at school and have helped him learn to start spelling words. I love seeing you cuddled up together with you reading books to him. You are a great big brother, and I know you will continue to be a great brother as the number of siblings grows.

I also love the passion you have for all things Bulgarian. You chose to celebrate the culture of Bulgaria at International Night at school instead of celebrating your birthday. Whenever you see a globe or a map, you immediately look for Bulgaria and glow with excitement when you find it. I know you are excited for your new brothers or sisters to come home, and I also know that when they do, you will do such a great job of loving them, as you already do.

Happy Birthday, sweet boy! I can't wait to see what God has in store for you this coming year. Just don't grow up too fast, okay :)

Quote-worthy

Last blog for tonight...I wanted to blog before I forget the hysterical things C has been saying lately.

-His version of Deck the Halls: "Troll the ancient Mary holds him."I guess yuletide carol was too confusing so he made up his own words.

-He got a new CD for Christmas that puts Bible verses to music. One of the songs quotes Psalm 55:22 "Cast your cares on the  Lord and he will sustain you." C's version: "Cash your cay on the mole and he will a stay you." Hysterical!

-December was a confusing  month for C. We celebrated his birthday on Dec 1st (three weeks early) since it's so hard to find time as it gets closer to Christmas. After that, he was convinced he was already 4. It took me awhile to get him to realize he wasn't 4 yet even though he had a party. Then the day before his birthday, he brought in a birthday snack to school and got to wear a birthday crown since they didn't have school on his actual birthday. Again, he was convinced that he was 4. So the next day (his actual birthday), Nonno called to wish him a happy birthday.

Nonno: Happy Birthday, C! How old are you?
C: (in an exasperated voice) 'sigh' I don't know if I'm 3 or if I'm 4.

More Holiday Traditions

A trip to the Festival of Lights at our local zoo. It was barely drizzling. Enough that we needed rain jackets, but not enough that we actually got wet. It was a perfect  night to go because it was not very crowded at all. I think the weather kept the crowds away.

On the last day of school before break, C had a Christmas Program. I loved seeing the difference between our boys. When A had his preschool programs, he barely sang. He just watched the crowd and the other kids. Not C. This kid loves to sing, and he sang every song and knew every hand motion. He wasn't obnoxiously loud, but I could certainly hear him singing each song. It was adorable. AND he had lines that he had to memorize. He did a great job as he and three other kids said, 

"Mary holds him close and warm. Joseph keeps him safe from harm." 

Holiday Tradition!

Every year, my sisters, mom and I have a Christmas Cookie Making Marathon! It is always one of my favorite holiday traditions. This year was no exception. I love, love, love this girl time without the kids running around. 

This year, the daddies and kids joined us towards the end. The boys helped frost sugar cookies and decorate Nonno and Grandma's Christmas tree. Then we celebrated P and C's birthdays with dinner and an ice cream cake. It was a long day, but such great family time.

Some Fall Pics

So much has been happening around here! This is our busy time of year. P's job is crazy busy. He's not allowed to take any time off in October, November or December because it is such a busy time of year. Add in there Thanksgiving, C's bday, our anniversary, 5 Christmas celebrations and a handful of yearly holiday traditions, and our fall flies by!

C had a Thanksgiving party at his school. I loved getting to be there with him and to see him interact with his teachers and friends. He really does a great job at school and is learning a lot! Although if you ask him, he isn't learning anything. He told me, "Mom, all we ever do at school is learn about letters." I figured for a three-year-old class, that's exactly what he should be learning!

I'm just including these because they are cute pics of my boys :) 

And a great picture of Granddad reading to the boys. Oh how they love books! They'll sit for hours and hours listening to books. I love it!

Happy 4th Birthday, C!

(C with his cake. He requested a Baby Jesus cake for his birthday.)

Sweet C,

I can not believe that you are four! That is so old! Old enough to be in school... old enough to learn your  letters.... old enough to count to 50... even old enough to sleep through the night without calling for mommy!? (I know... It's hopeful thinking!) :)

C, you bring such joy to people around you. Your favorite thing to do is sing, and when you sing, you sing with every cell in your small body. We're trying to teach you to "sing loud without screaming." It's a work in progress :) But even though I end most days with a headache from your constant soundtrack, I love the sound of your sweet, 4-year-old voice praising God with every ounce of your being. I hear you belt out, "I know who goes before me... I know who stands behind. The God of angel armies is always by my side" and "Bless the Lord, O my soul. O my soul. Worship His holy name," and I can't help but picture the huge smile that you bring to God's face.

This year, you have grown like crazy! You went straight from size 10 shoes to size 12s, and you skipped right over size 4T and headed straight into 5s. You have also grown in your desire for independence. For a mommy, this is both wonderful and hard. Sometimes that independence means things take 5x longer than if I did them for you, but you want so desperately to be a big kid and do things all by yourself.

This has also been a growing year as you have learned that you and A are separate people. As he headed off to school fulltime, you have struggled to figure out your identity without him by your side. But you are getting the hang of it slowly but surely. I know it's been really hard for you, but you are doing such a great job of learning to be "you" without your big brother telling you what that looks like.

For this coming year, I am so excited to see how you continue to grow. I pray that God helps harness your independence and use it for good. I also pray that your heart will continue to fill with joy and that you would share that joy with everyone around you.

We love you so much, sweet C. We can't imagine our family without you. Happy, happy birthday!

My Cup Overflows

Being a stay-at-home mom is the best job I have ever had. I love my job. Absolutely love it. BUT, having said that, there are some parts of the job that can be very trying. For me, the lack of adult interaction is hard. It took me more than 30 years to figure out that I am actually an extrovert. I love being around people and it energizes me to spend time with other women. So, spending large parts of my day with just a three-year-old can be draining.

As hard as it can be, there are also weeks like this past one. On three different days, I was able to connect (via phone) with three friends that I ADORE. Women who love Jesus passionately and whose voices bring such joy to my heart. It doesn't happen often as life's schedules and time-zone differences make it hard to connect, but when it does, I remember why God's Word tells us in the book of Hebrews, "Let's us not give up meeting together (even if it's only via phone) as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another."

Jesus, thank you for the kind of friends that bring so much joy to my life that my cup overflows with joy. Thank you for the perfect timing of these calls. Thank you for the wisdom that You share with me through these sweet women. I pray, Father, that we would not give up meeting together, even when it's hard to connect and it may take weeks of back and forth messages. Thank you for the encouragement that these friends provide to me. You did not create us to live this life alone, and I thank you for that. This life is too hard without the support and encouragement of others, like the cheering crowd that gives the marathoner a second wind when she's ready to quit.