A Little Catching Up to Do

It has been so long since I have blogged, I don't even recognize Blogger so... we'll see how this turns out!  As much as I don't have time or motivation to blog, it makes me sad to lose this piece of our family history.  So, this will be a week of catching up before baby girl turns 2, which is still blowing my mind.  I'll start with Owen who turned five way back in April.  We discover new parts to this little man's personality all the time.  He was once the most laid back, happiest baby you ever met.  Now he is quite the perfectionist, always afraid he's missing out on something, working oh so hard to keep up with his precocious older brother, trying to find his place as the middle child, making very sure his voice is heard at home, and giving us quite a run for our money!  He loves to cuddle, have his back rubbed, and give and get hugs.  He loves adventure; he loves to do wild and crazy things that scare me half to death; he loves collecting things; and he is quite the scientist.  He can be found at any time putting his thermometer in all sorts of crazy places to see how high or low the temperature will go.  He puts it in the back of the freezer, in the bathtub, out on the hottest part of our back deck.  It is quite amusing.  He loves to time himself doing various activities and chart how far he can jump (down the stairs, off his swing in mid air, off the table, etc.)  If you were a fly on the wall in our home, you would never believe he was shy.  But if you took a look in his Sunday school class, you would see an introverted little boy trying hard not to make eye contact or get noticed.  His little mind is always churning, and he has been labeled "a thinker" by more than one person.  He tried playing baseball in the spring and has told me "no" to every attempt to get involved in something since.  Matt and I  don't want to push him-we definitely understand the desire to stay in the background.  He did not want to attend preschool last year.  His words were "why am I the only one who has to leave?"  It about broke my heart, and Matt and I decided to start home-schooling him along with Micah.  He did a fantastic job keeping up with work two grade levels ahead. He learned to read and is recently really getting the hang of writing.  Math is his favorite subject, handwriting his least.  He despises drawing, but gets really into reading stories.  He likes to swing, watch movies, play video games, and go hiking.  He is starting to have a real relationship with Margot, and it is fun to watch them interact.  She thinks he hung the moon!  He continues to be best friends with Micah-I think these boys will always have a special relationship.  He loves Jesus, and we love watching his faith grow.  Oh, how we love this boy- the good, the bad, the laughter, the tears.  We are so blessed to have him as a son.