I have been noticing things in my older kids lately... things I love and things that aren't as lovely...
I'll start with my Siah...
Siah has this amazingly grateful heart... he thanks me daily for the little things...
Like this morning for example, I know that he likes to pick out his own yogurt for breakfast and that he likes to get it out of the fridge by himself, and that he likes to open it by himself... And more often than not, I let him do it all by himself...
So at the table this morning after he had done everything by himself, he said, "Mom, (yes, I'm mom now) thank you for letting me get my own yogurt."
It's little, I know... but it's all those little things all day long that show me his truly grateful heart...
Another quality that I have noticed in Siah is that he is others-minded... A few days ago we were at the kitchen table and Siah was cold so he went upstairs to get himself some socks... When he came downstairs he had a pair of socks for himself and one for Halee (He thought that she might have been cold too)... He gave Halee the socks... Then she said, "But I don't know how to put my socks on"... Siah replied, "Don't worry sweetie, I'll put them on for you." then he proceeded to climb under the table and he put Hal's socks on for her.
He is constantly watching out for his sisters...
And yet... In the same breath... He is still a four-year-old learning that grabbing things from others simply because he wants them is not acceptable behavior & discovering that bursting into tears is not the solution to getting his needs met... but even in these flaws his heart is quick to confess his wrongdoing... He is quick to "make it right" and quick to forgive, which I must admit is another quality that I really love about him.
He is sensitive but learning to not "carry on" over every little bonk or disappointment...
He is so proud of himself when he learns new things but often gets dramatically frustrated in the process...
He is sweetly shy but learning not to be rude...
He's a fixer just like his Papa but could equally be known as a "toy breaker," his curiosity of how things work often gets the best of him and we end up throwing all the broken things away... when they are broken, they are really broken...
He loves to memorize scripture and is always looking at our scripture board in our kitchen pretending to read the verses that are on the board, but when I asked him this afternoon if he wanted to learn to read, He said, "No, I don't like reading..."
He doesn't like "new"... He doesn't adjust well to a change in plans... He gets confused and frustrated when we don't stick to what he thought we were doing that day...
He's confident and yet reserved...
His heart wants to obey, but (like all of us) he is far from mastering the art of obedience...
He's young but he loves to pray... He struggles with night-terrors, and in the morning he will tell me, "Mom, I had a bad dream but I just pray and Jesus make it better"...
He's a treasure... He's our treasure... He is loving... And he is loved...
Here he is... Siah
Now my Hal... She's a little firecracker... She's FULLY girl... sweet, dramatic, motherly, in to high heal shoes and lipgloss... she has a baby that she got for Christmas from grandma that rarely leaves her side...
Hal is affectionate... she loves to give hugs and get hugs... she's funny, i mean HILARIOUS!!! The best part about it is that she knows she's funny and I love watch her try to make us all laugh... She loves to sing, (Her favorite song to sing is "Happy Birthday," cute huh? :)...
Until recently she did everything that Siah did... She said what he said, and joyfully followed his every instruction or idea... But throughout the past few months she has been coming into her own.. She most definitely has an opinion about most things... she's far from passive...
She's very self sufficient... She can play by herself for hours... She's a morning person, an afternoon person, a night person... She genuinely loves her life...
There are so many wonderful things about my sweet Hal...
And then there are these not so lovely things...
She's as defiant as a ox... When she doesn't want to do things she makes it very clear... she'll plant her feet firmly to the ground and look at me with a, "what are you going to do about it," look on her face... She's quick to shed tears...
Her pattern usually goes as follows...
I give her an instruction... she plants her feet and stares... I walk towards her to discipline her... before I even get to her she bursts into tears in hopes that the tears will distract me from the discipline... then she gets disciplined for the defiance and the tears... after four or five minutes she pulls it together and decides to obey joyfully...
This happens several times throughout our day :)... Not my favorite thing...
She carefree yet a bit spacey...
She's smart yet insists that she can rarely remember anything that I say... When I ask her, "What did Mommy just tell you?" Her famous response is, "I no know"...
She's brave but equally reserve... she sleeps on the top bunk but is terrified of dogs and wouldn't even think about going on a ride at Legoland...
She loves to play and use her imagination but would be just as stoked to watch hours and hours of television...
She's kind but she's feisty...
She has not yet mastered a healthy way to channel her anger... More than once I have caught her at the peak of her anger wailing on Siah until he's forced to hand over the toy that she is insisting was hers to begin with...
We truly cherish this little girl...
She's a blessing... She's our blessing... She's lovely... And she's loved...
I absolutely love this picture of Hal... It totally captures her little (or should I say BIG) personality. Just look at that face!!!
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moths and rust destryo and thieves break in and steal... but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moths and rust do not destroy and thieves do not break in and steal... for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
Mathew 6:19-20
Like this morning for example, I know that he likes to pick out his own yogurt for breakfast and that he likes to get it out of the fridge by himself, and that he likes to open it by himself... And more often than not, I let him do it all by himself...
So at the table this morning after he had done everything by himself, he said, "Mom, (yes, I'm mom now) thank you for letting me get my own yogurt."
It's little, I know... but it's all those little things all day long that show me his truly grateful heart...
Another quality that I have noticed in Siah is that he is others-minded... A few days ago we were at the kitchen table and Siah was cold so he went upstairs to get himself some socks... When he came downstairs he had a pair of socks for himself and one for Halee (He thought that she might have been cold too)... He gave Halee the socks... Then she said, "But I don't know how to put my socks on"... Siah replied, "Don't worry sweetie, I'll put them on for you." then he proceeded to climb under the table and he put Hal's socks on for her.
He is constantly watching out for his sisters...
And yet... In the same breath... He is still a four-year-old learning that grabbing things from others simply because he wants them is not acceptable behavior & discovering that bursting into tears is not the solution to getting his needs met... but even in these flaws his heart is quick to confess his wrongdoing... He is quick to "make it right" and quick to forgive, which I must admit is another quality that I really love about him.
He is sensitive but learning to not "carry on" over every little bonk or disappointment...
He is so proud of himself when he learns new things but often gets dramatically frustrated in the process...
He is sweetly shy but learning not to be rude...
He's a fixer just like his Papa but could equally be known as a "toy breaker," his curiosity of how things work often gets the best of him and we end up throwing all the broken things away... when they are broken, they are really broken...
He loves to memorize scripture and is always looking at our scripture board in our kitchen pretending to read the verses that are on the board, but when I asked him this afternoon if he wanted to learn to read, He said, "No, I don't like reading..."
He doesn't like "new"... He doesn't adjust well to a change in plans... He gets confused and frustrated when we don't stick to what he thought we were doing that day...
He's confident and yet reserved...
His heart wants to obey, but (like all of us) he is far from mastering the art of obedience...
He's young but he loves to pray... He struggles with night-terrors, and in the morning he will tell me, "Mom, I had a bad dream but I just pray and Jesus make it better"...
He's a treasure... He's our treasure... He is loving... And he is loved...
Here he is... SiahNow my Hal... She's a little firecracker... She's FULLY girl... sweet, dramatic, motherly, in to high heal shoes and lipgloss... she has a baby that she got for Christmas from grandma that rarely leaves her side...
Hal is affectionate... she loves to give hugs and get hugs... she's funny, i mean HILARIOUS!!! The best part about it is that she knows she's funny and I love watch her try to make us all laugh... She loves to sing, (Her favorite song to sing is "Happy Birthday," cute huh? :)...
Until recently she did everything that Siah did... She said what he said, and joyfully followed his every instruction or idea... But throughout the past few months she has been coming into her own.. She most definitely has an opinion about most things... she's far from passive...
She's very self sufficient... She can play by herself for hours... She's a morning person, an afternoon person, a night person... She genuinely loves her life...
There are so many wonderful things about my sweet Hal...
And then there are these not so lovely things...
She's as defiant as a ox... When she doesn't want to do things she makes it very clear... she'll plant her feet firmly to the ground and look at me with a, "what are you going to do about it," look on her face... She's quick to shed tears...
Her pattern usually goes as follows...
I give her an instruction... she plants her feet and stares... I walk towards her to discipline her... before I even get to her she bursts into tears in hopes that the tears will distract me from the discipline... then she gets disciplined for the defiance and the tears... after four or five minutes she pulls it together and decides to obey joyfully...
This happens several times throughout our day :)... Not my favorite thing...
She carefree yet a bit spacey...
She's smart yet insists that she can rarely remember anything that I say... When I ask her, "What did Mommy just tell you?" Her famous response is, "I no know"...
She's brave but equally reserve... she sleeps on the top bunk but is terrified of dogs and wouldn't even think about going on a ride at Legoland...
She loves to play and use her imagination but would be just as stoked to watch hours and hours of television...
She's kind but she's feisty...
She has not yet mastered a healthy way to channel her anger... More than once I have caught her at the peak of her anger wailing on Siah until he's forced to hand over the toy that she is insisting was hers to begin with...
We truly cherish this little girl...
She's a blessing... She's our blessing... She's lovely... And she's loved...
I absolutely love this picture of Hal... It totally captures her little (or should I say BIG) personality. Just look at that face!!!"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moths and rust destryo and thieves break in and steal... but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moths and rust do not destroy and thieves do not break in and steal... for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
Mathew 6:19-20
I love my "treasures" and I am thoroughly enjoying discovering their strengths AND their weaknesses and watching them grow into these amazing little people...
Blessing upon blessing...
Blessing upon blessing...
