George, Peter, and Greta

 

She is still sort of the world's worst little bedfellow-- absolutely no respect for personal space.  There is no moving away from her.  Pillow barricades are useless.  I do not sleep well when she joins us.  And at the same time I adore waking up next to her warm, snuggly little body and I'm in no rush for her to outgrow this phase.

Could she be any cuter with her little leg crossed while practicing the piano?  Let me explain something.  With my older kids I was very concerned that I teach them how to behave.  I was concerned that they would not be responsible, hard workers.  I was concerned that they wouldn't "reach their potential" (what an obnoxious phrase) if I didn't demand and push them.  I fear I sometimes did more damage than good with my overzealous efforts.  With these younger kids I'm pretty sure they are going to "turn out" as delightfully average as the older kids.  That is to say, remarkable, yet flawed.  Just how we all are. I did enjoy parenting the older kids, but I worried a lot.  I am enjoying enjoying these younger kids and watching the beautiful unfolding of their personalities.  They delight me.  Will they be spoiled and undisciplined?  I hope not, but maybe a little.  I spent many years parenting how I thought I "should".  Now I'm parenting how I want to parent-- with a lot more trust in the process, a lot more focus on relationships, and a lot more enjoyment of the people in our family.

And speaking of enjoyable little people.  Peter has such a good heart.  He is sensitive and kind.  He's mostly outgrown calling other people his "arch nemesis".  He is still so very intense and is somewhat easily offended, but I can say that Peter is rarely, if ever, purposefully naughty or disobedient.  Distractable?  Yes.  Occasionally making inappropriate comments?  For sure.  But with a little soft-spoken correction he is quick to apologize and try to do better.  

Here he is celebrating his Tae Kwon Do test to earn his senior green belt.  

Shout out to my favorite online educational games that regularly teach entertain these three:  Reading Eggs, Math Seeds, Timez Attack, Night Zookeeper, Brain Pop.  And the trick is that they get very little other screen tie (ideally) and so these are the most exciting things that happen to the.

The bow tie boys for church.

The Butterfly Biosphere at Thanksgiving Point is a magical place.  It calms and soothes little souls.

She so badly wanted a butterfly to land on her head.  

These two will be seven and five this summer.  What even in the heck?

George showing off his worn-out ballet shoes.  Impressive.

She going through a Cinderealla phase.  She loves sweeping and cleaning and helping.  And mostly it is helpful:)

George, after being told not to touch anything, looking around at the dermatologist's office (to have a mole checked-- all is well):  "This is really hard for a kid like me who likes to touch things."

TRUTH

Peter and his best buddy, Eric.

One of my favorite picture of Greta ever.  It is just so Greta.  

The church did a Primary Face-to-Face and we didn't get around to watching it for a few weeks, but it was so well done and adorable and our Primary kids really enjoyed it.  I hope they do more of them.

Greta was so, so happy (until she wasn't) to get to spend an evening doing gymnastics with her cousin, Grace. 

Faith did Greta's hair fancy and curly.

Greta was quite pleased with herself-- as she most often is.

George is a published author!  His book, Maverick and the Jaws of Wrath is a real pager turner.  Faith was his editor and publisher  They worked hard on this project and George is currently writing the sequel, Maverick in the Face of Danger.  I've gotten a sneak preview. 

Here's a look at the author page on the back of the book.  That's a good description of George!