Gabe's 5th Birthday

June, 2015

Dear Gabe,

You have grown and matured in so many ways over the past year. This year you played hockey for the first time and loved it! You also began swimming lessons and ask to go swimming all the time. At the lake, you caught 2 keepers and 2 baby fish. You also rode pretty fast in the tube with Luke. Everyone we meet still comments on your bright blue eyes and long lashes. I love to see your smile when you succeed at something that you have been trying hard to accomplish. You are one persistent little boy. You will finish a game all the way to the end, stick with the Lego set until it's complete, and work on creative projects for hours. You recently made a Gecko poster that was very good. You have been writing stories and books also. I am amazed at the writing you are already doing and you haven't even started school yet. You are also beginning to read, but still prefer being read to. I love how excited you are to begin kindergarten next year and I can't wait to see you there every day! Above all of these things, my favorite moments are when I see you helping your sister and teaching her how to do something that you already know how to do. You are so patient with her and she just adores her big brother. I am excited to see what the next year holds for you.

Love,
Mommy

Dear Luke (age 7),

Luke you are turning 7 today!

This year you finished first grade in my class! It was so fun to watch you grow and learn both at school and at home. You are awesome at math and pretty much mastered the 2nd grade curriculum by the end of the year. Your reading has also grown by leaps and bounds. You have been really into reading the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books this summer. So far, you're on book 6.

Some other highlights from include: a family trip to Holiday World, a trip to the Smokey Mountains, singing in the first grade Christmas program, dressing up as a Star Wars clone for Halloween, playing travel hockey, losing your first tooth (and the losing it before getting it to the tooth fairy), and reading the first 2 Harry Potter Books. Some of your favorite movies this year included Harry Potter and the Lego Movie. Your favorite video game was Lego Star Wars. You spent countless hours playing with the neighbors. You and Macy took risks at the lake and got knocked off of tubes for the first time.

We celebrated with family at the lake last weekend, but have had some exciting adventures for your real birthday as well. Last night, we met your best friend Gabiel at the new Glow Golf in the mall. You two had a blast and even ventured into the laser challenge! After sharing large lollipops with his family, we finally headed home. We started your birthday morning with donuts and presents. Your favorite was the much requested skateboard. After riding it around and trying out the rocket car, we set out on the fishing adventure. We got distracted by Jenny's pool for awhile before finally heading down to Grandpa Price's pond. What happened next will make it a birthday that you'll never forget! About 2 minutes into the trip, you, daddy, Gabe, and Kiera all headed around the side of the pond to find a good spot. Moments later, we heard screaming (from Gabe). When daddy joined in the screaming and you all started running (Daddy carrying Gabe in by one arm), Jen and I dropped our poles and began running toward you. Once we discovered you were running from a swarm of yellow jackets, I ran to grab Kiera. After swatting bees away from each other, we finally took cover in Jenny's truck. Gabe managed to escape with only 1 sting, but poor daddy had 3! Fishing ended early and we drove away from the pond as quickly as we could! Hopefully, the rest of our evening will be less eventful.

Dear Gabe (age 4),

Gabe you are such a smart boy! You love to play outside with your brother, jump on the trampoline, and play Legos. You have started learning to read, which is so exciting to watch! You also sing us songs in Spanish that you learn from Miss Jackie. When we drive in the van, we hear you counting to 100 or practicing songs in a whisper voice. You get along with Kiera so well (most of the time).

This year you invited all of your daycare friends to your birthday party. Your best friend is Caleb. The two of you love playing together at Jackie's.

You have grown so much this year and you think and talk like a little adult. Your interest in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles held out through your fourth birthday, but has been gradually changing over to Ninjago.

You want to play soccer and hockey this fall. Once you are focused on a task you persist for long periods of time. That skill will take you far in life. We are so proud of you and can't wait to see what this year holds!

Dear Kiera (age 1)

August 8, 2013

Dear Kiera,

You my darling baby girl are such a delight each and every day! You have learned so many things this year and are constantly surprising us. Like today when you decided to color your legs completely blue :). You are such a little talker and we can understand most of what you say now. You've been speaking in sentences for months now and your vocabulary astounds me! I think my favorite is that you know the word iPad. You have mastered your colors and are working on counting. Somehow, you have learned letters even though I'm sure that I ever taught these to you directly. This week was your first week in a princess toddler bed. I wasn't sure that this was the right time for it, but once you saw it, you insisted on sleeping in it so down came the crib! I think we're also on the verge of potty training...that will be a big celebration! No more diapers in the house!

You have such a funny sense of humor. You recently mastered the distinction between boys and girls and then decided it was hilarious to call boys girls and girls boys! You just giggle and giggle about it. One of your favorite bedtime routines (that daddy made up) is to sing "rock a bye ____" and fill in the blank with family members. It's so cute to hear you list all the people in your family for the song.

You amaze me each day with your learning and growth. You have introduced this house to princesses, pink, and baby dolls. Thank you for that :). Don't get me wrong, you are not a complete girly girl. You still love play outside, use your brothers swords, build legos, and play dinosaurs. One of your favorite toys is actually our marble tower! I can't wait to see what age 2 will bring for you!

P.S. You called me mom for the first time today instead of mama. #growinguptoofast

Love,
Mommy

Dear Luke (age 6)

August 8, 2013

Dear Luke,

Luke you turned 6 just a couple of weeks ago and began 1st grade yesterday. I can't believe how quickly you are growing up! You are such an amazing young man. I marvel at how kind, compassionate, and responsible you are at such a young age. You think about others and always want to help those who need food, clothing, or toys. You love playing with your friends in the neighborhood - Matthew and Asxel. Making friends has always come easily for you and I pray that this continues throughout your life. At school, your best friend Gabriel is in your class for the 2nd year in a row. You can read so many books now - such a long way from the small books we read at the beginning of kindergarten. I love that you read from your Bible and want to know and understand God's word. You've been asking about baptism so I'm guessing that milestone will be in the near future. I pray that you talk to God often and about everything.

Some of your favorite things as a 6 year old are Star Wars, Legos, your new remote control car, swimming, riding the red board at the lake, playing with friends or Macy, going to the lake, riding your bike, and playing hockey. You decided to try gymnastics and basketball this year so we will see how you like those. Your biggest accomplishments this year were learning to read and skate/play hockey.

My favorite things about you are that you are smart, funny, kind, a good brother to Kiera and Gabe, and super responsible. I can trust you to follow directions and make good choices and I really appreciate that. Before I know it, you will be grown and making all of your own decisions. You have such a bright future, I cannot wait to see how you grow this year.

Love,
Mom

Dear Gabe (age 3)

August 8, 2013

Dear Gabe,

You are officially 3 now (actually you have been for a few months, but mommy's a little behind on writing this). You are so much fun to play with! You have mastered riding your Lightning McQueen bike up and down hills. You love to ride all the way to the stop sign and back. Exploring nature and learning about plants are some of your favorite activities. You love to help our neighbor, Abbie, in her garden and you have learned a lot of plant names and gardening tips. This summer you learned to swing yourself on the big swings. Your favorite color varies, but I think it is red at the moment. You have the brightest blue eyes that light up the room. Today we did puzzles together and you are a master puzzle worker. You easily complete the 24 piece puzzles with very little or no help from us. You also enjoy the big floor puzzles. Legos are like puzzles for you and you are very talented at manipulating such small pieces. This week, you also started your first gymnastics class. Your goal is to learn a cartwheel (I think that may be a few lessons away). You are an excellent helper when we cook or work on projects. You did a wonderful job listening to your teacher and doing all the activities so I know that you will flourish in preschool. Speaking of preschool, you begin in just over a week. You tell me that you are very excited so I hope that you have a wonderful experience. You have known all your letters for quite awhile and we are working on the sounds. You're good at counting to 10 (and sometimes to 20). I am amazed at what a smart little boy you are. I am so proud of you!

Love,
Mommy

Is Spring Here Yet?

The end of winter can be rough. The kids are itching to get outside, but the weather just won't quite cooperate for more than a few days at a time. Luke's "spring break" is a week away and we're hopeful that it will at least be warm enough to play outside (even if we are bundled up).



The big news is that we added a cat to our family. Luke was thrilled to bring him home last week (especially since we made him endure allergy testing beforehand)! Luckily, his allergy testing revealed only one reaction - alternaria (a mold common in dead leaves and soil). I'm still not sure what this little kitty's name is. His name was Crook when we adopted him - that's not going to cut it. Luke has named him Jaguar, while Gabe has chosen Tiger. Kiera is sticking with her choice of a high pitched squeal every time she sees him. He is a pretty awesome cat though. He lets Gabe and Kiera carry him around without putting up a fight and he comes willingly to Luke. He does have a spot under the couch claimed for when he wants a break from the chaos.

Luke's hockey season ended and he was super proud of his trophy. He then had quite a decision to make between baseball and soccer. In the end soccer won out, which is nice because they play once a week and baseball was 3 times a week! He was so excited about soccer that we wound up at the store tonight to pick up shin guards, socks, and of course a soccer ball. Somehow, we wound up buying 3 soccer balls or the price of one since they were on clearance! Definitely a good choice since Gabe and Kiera were thrilled to have their own balls. Gabe was a little sad that he didn't get shin guards...might be making another trip to the store.

Gabe's rational thinking and rule following behavior are developing like crazy. He commented about how someone cut off the bottom of an E to make and F - very random. Unfortunately, his rule following concepts are mostly for other people and not for himself. He clearly informs his siblings or friends what they should or should not be doing, though he may very well be breaking the same rule. Gabe is super excited about preschool starting next fall and has started trying to spell words!

Kiera continues to real add words to her jibber jabber language. She still confuses up and down and gets really mad if you don't guess the right one! She is all about going "bye bye" anytime to anyplace (except home). She had a blast today visiting the WonderLab, Kohls, and MC Sports. She had a friend about her age over the other day so she had to practicing sharing her toys. It went better than a few weeks ago, but she definitely gives them a look if they have what she wants!