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March 26, 2007

butterflies

after another trip to the aquarium this weekend, the boys finally figured out how to carefully collect the butterflies. i love how the butterfly room calms them. they are able to stand quietly and watch these beautiful insects fly around them and observe the butterflies escaping their cocoons. a little girl showed my boys how to slowly place their hand in front of the butterfly and wait for it to accept a ride.

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March 23, 2007

an outing

my niece, abigail, spent this week in mt. eagle with my mom. since the drive up the mountain is around 45min, we have seen abby several times. watching my brother's little girl play with my own children has been fun to watch and somehow comforting. i think that it is the idea that despite all of the struggles that our family has faced, seeing the children's love for one another and desire to be together pulls us all a bit closer.

my mom and i took all four children (6 and under) to the aquarium on wednesday (during nap time). sounds a little crazy, i know. mom instituted the buddy system, and the kids easily complied. the boys were thrilled to see all of the different exhibits, and especially liked the sharks, river otters, and butterfly room. afterwards, the children enjoyed playing in the water outside of the aquarium. i was rightfully too tired to take pictures of this event, but i love the shot taken of all four kids together.

aidan patiently waiting for a butterfly to walk onto his hand / the boys watching butterflies feasting on orange slices

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March 17, 2007

festivities

we celebrated two birthdays last week: abel is now 5! and oliver is 3! it sounds so cliche to say that time has gone by so quickly and my babies are now getting big, but that is the case. i cannot believe that we are preparing to send abel to kindergarten this year, and oliver no longer fits comfortably in my lap. both have grown noticeably within the past few months.

grateful...that would have to be my first thought when thinking of my boys. yes, they are busy and usually cannot be characterized as calm; but when one is taken out of the cluster, i am always amazed with the individuals that they are becoming.

happy birthday, abel and oliver! i only hope that you move through these stages of life with full confidence that you are truly loved.

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March 09, 2007

to dr. seuss

this picture was taken last week. aidan's class walked over to the downtown library to celebrate the cat in the hat's 50th birthday. the kids learned a lot about dr. seuss, read several of his books, and were able to come up with their own rhymes. "little cat with a bat" and "we fight all night" were among aidan's book of rhymes. how appropriate!

there is always interesting discussion during carpool after school. i take home two of the boys' good friends each monday, wednesday, and friday. with a van full of kids ranging from 7-2 yrs. old, the trip is quite noisy and usually humorous. aidan and asa, both 6 yrs. old, will share bits of their day and run most truths learned past ezra, who is 7. after the mentioned field trip, the boys were discussing dr. seuss' age. they said that he would be 103 and certainly must be dead. right ezra? ezra agreed that 103 sure is old.

later that day, aidan grabbed a bucket full of sidewalk chalk and headed out the front door. he drew a big heart and began carefully coloring it in. afterwards, he wrote a note under his heart. he explained that the note was to dr. seuss saying: "surely he can see this from heaven. i want him to know that i just love his books."

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March 08, 2007

meet enzo

we will be celebrating five years of life with abel this sunday. this boy has such a tender heart that reveals itself when caring for younger children (other than his little brother) and animals. since inviting a dog into our home never seemed to work out, we decided to search for a more docile, self-sufficient, and allergen friendly creature.

abel recently found a book on leopard geckos at the library and was fascinated by these reptiles. after learning more about geckos, we decided that this type of pet seems well suited for our family. we surprised abel with a trip to the aquatic critter in nashville a couple of weeks ago. abel was thrilled to be handed his own pet and carefully listened to the instructions given on how to care for his new best friend.

this beloved creature was given the name enzo.

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