Happy 9th Birthday!

Dear Ethan,

How can it be that a year has passed and it's already time for me to sit down and write this letter to you? There are so many days where I wish that time moved much, much slower. Since that is not a reality, I need to remind myself to enjoy you at each and every age.


It's hard to know where to begin to describe your last year. It's easy to say that you've grown taller--I commented to your dad the other day I don't even need to lean over to hug you anymore. The great part about how much you've grown is that it is easy for you to get your arms around me and give me a big hug. I love that you still lean against me and let me hug you.


Over this past year you finished 2nd grade and moved on to 3rd. I apparently have a hard time remembering that because this fall I labeled all of your pictures for trading with "Ethan, 2nd grade". Thankfully your dad caught my mistake before you took them to school to pass them out. Next fall that will be your job! You still love, love, love going to school. You thrive on the routine of it, and relish the opportunity to learn new things. The other day you were sick in the middle of the school day. When I brought you home, you were upset about having to miss gym class. However, I think you were the most upset because you missed FRED (Free Reading Every Day) and the introduction to the space unit. You still love reading--this year you have loved reading the 39 Clues series and most months made it a mission to see how quickly you could get the time in for your reading chart.


This fall you started the Cadet program at church. You LOVE going to the meetings, though I wasn't sure you were going to make it through the year after the first few meetings. The end time for the program is past your bedtime, so for a while the few days after your meeting were not fun around here. Zero fun. To say that you were tired and crabby seems like a ridiculously huge understatement. We had to have a few talks about how doing activities like this were a privilege and how you need to learn how to not take your tired days out on your family. Especially your mother. We made it through that learning period, and now I can enjoy hearing about what you enjoy about the meetings (instead of worrying about the after effects!!). So far you've done glass etching, made a picture frame, learned how to make a popsicle stick "bomb" and a marshmallow shooter has joined the arsenal on the top shelf. You've learned to love hanging out with the guys--and I've learned to send you straight to the shower when you get home.
Your love of sports has not wavered since I wrote my last letter. We had a great time watching you finish out the school year with your AYSO soccer team. You decided not to play this past fall as you wanted to play baseball in the spring. I loved the joy on your face when I told you we had you registered for Little League. I can't wait to watch you play. You've become dad's sidekick as a sports fan--you love to talk sports and watch games with him--especially the Tigers. I was hoping they would win the World Series this year, mainly so I could watch your excitement. Since that didn't happen, I'm going to enjoy watching you through another season.


Where do I start in describing the big brother that you are? You and Micah are such good buddies--you can play for hours in your room with your Lego's or outdoors with whatever ball you guys decided to pull out of the shed. There are times when you act like siblings (fighting and hurt feelings and all that comes with growing up), but for the most part you really, truly enjoy each other as playmates. I also love watching you with Norah. The way you'll read to her or entertain her in her crib for a few minutes for me. You love to make her laugh, and there's not much that sounds more beautiful to me than my children laughing together.


I can't end my letter without noting how I've watched you develop Spiritually. You are learning to talk to God through prayer--I sat and listened to you lead prayer at a praise assembly at school recently, and my heart was so happy. You continue to learn Bible verses for school, and I hope that you are able to remember those verses as you grow. Your dad and I picked out a devotional book for you for your birthday this year. We are praying that it becomes an important part of your life and that it will help you learn even more about our awesome God and his kingdom.


My dear son, you are a joy to your dad and I. God has blessed us with a wonderful son and I am so thankful I get to watch you grow. I love you, buddy.

Mom

Happy 8th Birthday, Ethan!

Dear Ethan,

How can you be at yet another birthday? I blinked and the year is already gone. I looked back at my last few letters to you and it is so fun to see how you've changed and grown. You are still my same sweet boy, yet you continue to develop into so much more.


Over the past year you finished up first grade and made a smooth transition into second. You still love school, though this year you enjoyed your snow days and other vacation days instead of wishing you were still in school. Dad and I are amazed at all that you have learned already in second grade--you've moved beyond addition and subtraction to beginning multiplication and fractions. You read long books and you love to set (very) high reading goals for your monthly reading chart. Your favorite books are nonfiction ones about the subjects you are learning about in school. You also love mysteries, joke books, and the Boxcar Children series.


This past fall you started playing on an AYSO soccer team. It's perfect for you and you love every minute of the time you spend with your team, the Sharks. You have never played as part of a team before so dad and I were excited to see how you would do. Your excitement began on the day we signed you up and continued through every game and practice. I was working and had to miss your first game, but everyone who was there said you were in perpetual motion. On the days that I could, I loved watching you play--you have a great coach and he has taught you well. Dad and I especially love how exhausted you are after your practices and games. You crash when your head hits the pillow!


You are still quite a game player. Your favorite right now is the card game Monopoly Deal. At first I tried to be nice to you when we played. I should know better than to let you win. You don't need any help from me. It's all I can do to win when we play, even when I show no mercy! We play round after round after round. We still sneak in a few rounds of Triominoes, but I think you figured out that when I make you keep score it is so you can practice your math.


You continue to love anything sports related. When you play outside, you generally have a soccer or football field set up and you spend a lot of time dribbling the soccer ball around the yard. You love it when dad plays catch with you (not so much when I do it because there is no accuracy in my throwing!). On most Sunday afternoons you are checking to see if there is a ball game on TV--football or baseball, and you'll take a basketball game if it's your only option. Dad loves that you like to give a play-by-play during the game...just not so much when he's taking a nap. In September you were able to go to your first Major League Baseball game with "the guys". Sheer bliss for you.


This has been the year where you've decided to try pushing more boundaries--testing some of our limits and telling some lies. Thankfully for your dad and I, you are a terrible liar. You get this certain expression on your face and we immediately know that there is something you don't want to confess to. I think you try so hard to look innocent that we know there is something going on that you don't want to 'fess up to. You try to tell us "no" about things and boy does that bring out the stubborn in your mom and dad. We prefer the times when you'll talk things out with us, but I guess it's understandable that you want to test the limits.


You continue to be an awesome big brother. With the addition of your sister this year, there are more and more ways that I see how well you fit in this role. From the day Norah was born (after you declared "I didn't want a sister") you have been conscious of her and her needs. You regularly hold her for me so I can quick take care of something and you love to make her burst into fits of giggles. You'll even throw yourself on the floor if that will make her laugh. I also see patience and love when you interact with Micah. He loves it when you play Legos with him and you are often willing to include him when you play with your transformers. There have been days where the two of you will spend a whole morning playing together in the Lego world in your room. Thanks for being a wonderful big brother.



This year in school your teacher has been focusing a lot of time on prayer. I love that you are receiving that as part of your day to day education. Recently you had to memorize the Lord's Prayer; something you already knew. It was interesting to me to listen to you pray that prayer after I knew you had talked about it at school. I can tell that there is now more meaning behind the words for you--you are more careful and precise in your prayer. It is my hope and prayer that you continue to nurture that thoughtfulness and that you continue to think about your spiritual life.


Ethan Zachary, you are a blessing to our family and we look forward to what this next year holds for you. Happy Birthday, buddy!

Love,

Mom

First day of 2nd Grade

Time for another school year to begin! Ethan has been anxiously awaiting this day since the end of 1st grade! We were all up and ready to go right on time (surprisingly, we were not up incredibly early), so we had plenty of time for pictures.

I had to take our now traditional picture by the tree. It's a great place for a first day/last day of school picture.


I was able to take a few nice pictures in between all of his silly faces and poses. The following picture is by far my favorite. Keep in mind that I just shoot the pictures and say "OK, it's time for a nice one" every once in a while. He does all the silliness and posing all on his own!


Can you say "charmer"? This boy...I don't even know what to really say beyond I love him dearly.


By far, my favorite part of the first day of school is that each year the teachers take time to pray with the kids before they even enter their classroom. Because of an incredibly busy parking lot I only caught the tail end of their prayer time, but I love knowing that it's happening. Just coming around the corner to see this reminds me of what a great school this is.


Another great part of the first day is the praise assembly that they have. The principal is wonderful and has a great way of outlining some rules while still being fun. There are 400+ children sitting on the floor (and another 160!! preschoolers will start next week). They spent time singing and learning about the theme for the school year and then off to classes they went!


As the kids all sang, "This is the day that the Lord has made". What a great day it was!

Summer Carnival

Here's a flashback to June because I'm still sorting through pictures...

I was able to take the kids to a summer carnival at our local library. There were all sorts of fun (free!) things for them to do. We started out at the balloon guy since we managed to get there before a huge line formed.

It was easy to wait patiently in line because we could watch them make balloon creations for the other kids. So cool!


I told the boys to stick close to each other since there were so many people. They obeyed...and were cute about it! Definitely something to record and remember!


Both of them chose to have a sword made. They weren't interested in any animals. They were thrilled with the end result.


Norah kindly held on to the balloon creations while her brothers toured the rest of the carnival.


Next we headed to the bounce house (again scoring a short line!) and they had fun jumping around.


After that we lined up for the goldfish race. This was so cute--each of them chose a fish and it was placed in a lane. Once the block was removed they had to blow on the fish to get it to swim to the finish line. Micah gave one little blow and his fish shot right to the end. Ethan kept blowing and blowing and his fish stayed right at the starting point. It was a fun little game!


We played a few other carnival games and they each took home a little bag of prizes. It was a great night!

Lovin' for their sister

There is no shortage of people to love on Norah. It helps that she's absolutely adorable and sweet and cute. Her big brothers have days/times where they are indifferent to her presence. Other times we have to practically peel them away from her. I often remind them (especially Micah) that she can see them a whole lot better if they are not two centimeters from her face. When they are kissing on her and cuddling her, it's so sweet that I can't help but grab the camera.



These pictures are from June, but things haven't changed much. They still love talking to her and kissing her and hugging her!



I love how Micah is checking out her dimpled chin in this one. He must be trying to figure out why his mother is always kissing her chin. :)



I believe Miss Norah is not going to be lacking in protectors as she grows. Future boyfriends don't have a chance. :)

Summer Fun

I need to catch up on some posting! I'm hoping to do a few posts over the next couple of days about all the fun we've been having this summer. Since I was on maternity leave for a good portion of summer we had lots of lazy days and did all sorts of activities! I decided to go through my pictures and post, post, post!

At the beginning of June we took the kids to a local parade. As always, the boys got tons of candy (which their mother happily enjoys with them!).


Waiting for the parade to start while hanging out with Charlie. The boys were excited when one of the motorcycle police officers stopped and talked with them. They were really excited when the officer gave them each a sheriff tattoo (when I put them on for the boys, Micah wanted his on his chest. It was pretty funny!).


Micah getting ready to wave at everyone. Nothing like a goofy smile!


Seriously, this child is growing so fast! Well, all my children are growing fast--Ethan just keeps looking older and older!


As you can see, Norah thoroughly enjoyed her first parade. She didn't even flinch when all the fire trucks went by with sirens blaring!


I love parades and my kids do, too! Watching this one made me really look forward to the Fourth of July!

1st grade

Another school year flew by. Ethan is already done with 1st grade! Summer break was not met with much enthusiasm from him. He keeps telling us he would rather be in school. No matter what fun activity we talk about, he still says he'd rather be in school! We are thankful he loves to learn!

Just to give you (and myself) a glimpse of how much he's grown since September, here's his first day of first grade picture:


He looks old enough to me in that picture. Then, I look at his last day of school picture:


He has really grown up! He was making me laugh when we took his picture because he kept trying different poses. Such a funny kid.

Hopefully we'll be able to keep him busy until second grade starts in the fall!

Teeth

Although this happened way back at the end of December, I wanted to make sure I still posted about it. Ethan lost his first tooth! He had two teeth that were VERY loose--they were so ready to come out that the two new teeth were already growing in behind them! We tried to convince him that we should just pull it out (well, Jason did more than me--loose teeth gross me out!) but he wanted nothing to do with that. He wiggled that tooth until it was practically dangling in his mouth. Thankfully, one evening he decided to just pop it out!

Here's the "toothless" grin!


His second loose tooth stayed in his mouth only a little while after he pulled the first one out. He actually popped the second one out in school. He was so proud, and he really enjoyed his visits from the tooth fairy!

Ethan's birthday celebrations

Once again this year we had the opportunity to spread Ethan's birthday celebrations out over a couple of days. It's nice because it's not as crazy that way...and it's a good excuse to eat sweet treats over and over again. :)

On his birthday we had grandparents come over for cake and presents. He was thrilled with his gifts and was excited to start playing!


He was excited about his new scooter (and the knee and elbow pads he received later) and because of some "warmer" weather and a spell with no snow he was able to try it out on the driveway the next morning.


He was also excited about his new Luge sled. It's perfect for him because it's lightweight enough for him to carry around--and it's fast! He was also able to use this gift the very next day. He and Micah spent a few hours sledding in the backyard.


He also received a new ball glove. Thankfully he's grown to a size so we didn't need to special order a left-handed glove online again! He ran around with his new elbow and knee pads on pretending he was playing baseball in the house. This will get a lot of use when Spring comes!


After gifts we sang "Happy Birthday" and enjoyed the cake. It was yummy. I ate enough so the baby could enjoy it, too!


Blowing out the candles...he told me I spaced them out too much!

On Saturday we used Ethan's birthday ice cream coupon and we all enjoyed Coldstone treats.


He stayed true to his previous tastes and once again ordered cotton candy ice cream with gummy bears in it. Micah also thought that looked good to him, so nasty...I mean yummy ice cream for them both!



Jason and I also ordered our own treats, I just didn't take pictures of those.

We had a great time celebrating Ethan and his special day!

Happy Birthday, Ethan!

Dear Ethan,

Today you turn seven. I know I say this as each year goes by, but that number seems so old! You've gotten much, much taller and I no longer attempt to pick you up. You've gotten too heavy! You still fit on my lap, but generally are more content to tuck yourself next to me.

This fall you entered first grade, your first time being in school all day. Your brother and I miss you during the day; it's very quiet without you! It took us a little while to get used to you being gone all day, so we enjoy having you home on your days off. Oh, and days off from school? You despise them! You had to stay home sick two days in a row, and you made sure your dad and I knew you were not happy about it. You are one of the few kids I know that never hopes for a snow day. Not even the idea of a day spent playing in the snow is enticing enough for you to want to miss school. You informed us that you thought school should go all year round. Even Christmas! We are so thankful that you love school so much, but teachers need a break!


We are amazed at all that you have learned this school year. You have become adept at reading, math, telling time, and spelling. You have reached the point where you can read a book to yourself instead of having someone read it to you. Your favorites right now are Cam Jansen books. You love the mystery of them! Dad and I have to remember how well you can read or spell--one day you started reading an email over my shoulder (I remember it was about the new baby...and you didn't know about the new baby yet!). You love a challenge as you learn. You'd rather add with high numbers than low and even try to add and subtract negative numbers. We finally convinced you to wait until your teacher gave you those kinds of problems to solve. All that you've learned has carried over into the games you like to play. One of your favorites is Triominoes. You regularly beat your grandma and I soundly in that game!


You have been asking your dad and I for years when you would have another sibling, and this year it was fun to tell you that you would. From the minute you found out about the baby, you have declared that you want another brother. For some reason, you don't think a sister would be a great idea--something about how girls are around simply so you can chase them. We don't know whether the new baby will be a boy or a girl, but I know you will love and treasure either (and I think you would be first in line to protect a sister!). You pay attention to this pregnancy and ask if my belly will go all the way to the wall (I hope not!). The other day you watched my stomach move as the baby moved and you declared "Oh, that's so unusual!".


This year you found that Micah is a pretty cool playmate. He can keep up with you better this year, so you don't mind him tagging along as you play. You both have spent countless hours in the backyard--in the sandbox and playing every kind of ball. This winter you built a snow fort and played many hours in it together. When you're playing inside, you spend time with Lego's, Playmobil, trains, and chasing each other around until your dad or I tell you to stop running. We are so thankful that your brother has turned into your friend!


This past summer our family went to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. You soaked up so many details there, it was amazing to see you observe everything and ask all of your questions. You and I wandered around the U-Boat display for a long time--I spent a lot of time explaining war and how there are people in the world that hate each other. Even with all of your questions, you didn't quite catch that WWII went on for longer than a day. You thought it was one day of fighting, during which the US captured the German U-Boat. I didn't have the heart to tell you that it went on for years. It was hard enough to describe war to you. What did amaze me was that as we walked and talked, you were incredibly conscious of of the people that were involved and how they were affected. That's you--conscious of people.


You've become an avid sports fan--you still like to watch NASCAR, but you also love to watch football and baseball with your dad. I love to listen to you when you watch a game--you have teams that you like and you cheer wholeheartedly for them. This year you chose to root for the Minnesota Vikings. We don't know why you chose this team, but you keep trying to convince us to go to Minnesota so you can go to a football game. I think what I find to be the most fun in all of your sport team loyalties is that you tend to choose teams that oppose your dad's favorites. It makes game day entertaining!


My little man, you have grown so many ways over the past year. Physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. You regularly pray for all the prayer requests from your class. You love to listen to Bible stories and can remember all kinds of little details from them. You love your classes at church and are upset if we have to miss them for any reason. Your dad and I are so thankful for your willingness to learn and the open and questioning heart you have about Jesus. You are such a blessing.

Happy Birthday, Ethan Zachary. I love you tons and tons.

Love,

Mom