Years later and I feel like I need to pick this back up again. I want to document things and this is a fun way to do it. Since my last post we obviously had our baby girl, and she is four years old now. Lately when her feelings have been hurt she will say, "they broke my heart" and it just makes your heart melt. She is all girl, and a girly girl at that! Pink, princesses, Hello Kitty, dressing up, makeup and nails! She is the sweetest little girl and very social. She is always asking me to set up play dates with her "sisters" Sarah, Meg, and Emily. I have to put in here that her first word was happy, and once she said it, for the next probably year or so she would go around singing "happy happy happy". Happy defines her most of the time, and she makes me happy too. She always wants us to play with her and be with her. She quickly wraps anyone who meets her around her little finger and makes fast friends in no time at all! She absolutely adores her older brothers. She loves Ethan to do "funnies" for her. He does this comedic slapstick thing that gets her rolling! She is basically Noah's little shadow. She wants to do what he does, play with who he plays with and be where he is. He is really a good friend to her! He is so patient with her and teaches her how to read by sounding out words, how to climb a tree, which rocks are special, what flowers are okay to pick and which aren't... you know, all the most important things for a kid to know. The other day I even had to stop him from boosting her over a fence that was a little too high because he was trying to help her learn to climb over it! He teaches her all about what he learns at school and he is the person she goes to to ask her questions. The other day she asked me what fat meant, and I explained it to her. I wasn't too surprised when later that day I heard her ask Noah what fat meant. He explained it to her and then melted my heart a little when he followed it up with something along the lines of, we don't call people that though because it could make them uncomfortable, and we don't pretend to be fat because that can hurt peoples feelings. He's good like that, he not only teaches principals, but compassion. Noah loves to learn and explore and to create, and he loves to share that with everybody. One of his most recent endeavors is on the front porch. We have sand stones in our garden, so he has found a large rock and has crushed many of them into powder and with the help of his sister and friends at various times (it is a work in continual progress) has made a village. He is very relaxed with the creative process and is very flexible with what it is, or can be, or will become. It has been a castle, a wall, and who knows what it will be tomorrow. I can't wait to see what his next project will be! His room is full of collections of rocks, feathers, shells, unique or interesting papers, craft projects, and other interesting finds. I love that he is always wanting to create things with me, and I especially love the times when he wants to co-create a picture with me. He will say "Mom, lets draw a garden, you draw the stems, and then we can make the flowers" We do and then we add ladybugs, or bees, or spiders, or birds, or anything else that comes to mind. Sometimes our gardens look a lot like what you would see if you walked outside and other times our garden is something only we can dream up. He is always inspiring me, and making me laugh! Ethan continues to be the sweet, comical, fun loving kid and he is growing so fast. Just the other day he and Zach and I all sat around the table working on our own projects while Izzy and Noah were playing. I was coloring, Zach was making a model, and Ethan was drawing and I was a little stunned when I realized that he's not a little kid anymore, in fact he's closer to teenager now than kid. He is developing in some really amazing ways! His need for perfection, though it still rears its head sometimes, is being refined into and intense persistence to keep trying if he doesn't get it the first time. He is amazing with spacial puzzles, and problem solving! He has a natural talent for chess, and has actually almost beat Zach a time or two. He can also do a car traffic puzzle that we have on one of the highest levels.When it comes to programming he blows my mind! With a little help from Zach Ethan wrote a program to test the speed of browsers for his science fair project. He was also in the computer club and is always so excited to show me games he's created and tell me all about what he did and why it works (which usually goes over my head so he has to do a lot more explaining for me). He taught himself to whistle with his fingers, to draw soldiers and Batman, and is now working on mastering the rub ix cube. Ethan continues in his compassion for others. He is welcoming and nonjudgmental. He opens his arms wide in friendship to everyone he meets, and keeps them wide even when others aren't at their best. He understands the suffering of others, and does what he can to show them that. He has lately been very impressed by his teacher Mr Sahagun, and has started talking about becoming a teacher himself. I wouldn't be surprised at all if he became the teacher who everybody looked up to because he was relate-able while still being demanding enough to expect their best while giving the support and encouragement to believe in themselves. He is that person now. I have to say that my kids are the best kids there are! My world is beautiful because they are in it, because they teach me to live, they teach me to love, they teach me to create, and they teach me wonder and gratitude. Being a mother truly is the greatest gift I have been given.