Spring has sprung on by us since my last blog posting and here we are marking the unofficial beginning to summer with Memorial Day. Chase and Gabe are a year older now and we survived their birthday bash at Chuck E. Cheese’s. Thanks to our family and close friends for making that a special event for us! Gabe wasn’t too thrilled about Chuck E. Cheese himself, but Chase was in Chuck E. Cheese’s face the entire time trying to talk to him—so funny to see the difference in their personalities!
Obviously, for anyone who knows Chase, it’s easy to point out he’s the outgoing, talkative child. He concluded his K4 school year and is already enrolled for Kindergarten (K5) at FOEC for the fall. In the meantime, he’ll have summer camp to keep him busy June-August. I’m amazed at how much he learned in K4. He knows the entire alphabet and can write upper/lower case letters and sound each letter out. He can sound out some short words, which means reading is just around the corner for his next milestone. He’s also showing a lot of interest in music, particularly the drums. Grammie Pam and Papa got him a real drum-set for his birthday (I still secretly believe it’s payback for all that Tim put them through with the drum-set he had growing up). Believe it or not, I’m still sane with all of the drumming that goes on under my roof. I really think with good instruction, Chase could have some talent. There’s nothing sweeter than hearing a 5 year-old banging the tar out of drums while singing, “I really love Jesus, I really love Jesus.” I can’t tell him to stop because he’s making a “joyful noise” to the Lord!
Another funny Chase moment was just the other day when I was at Wal-Mart. Those “people of Wal-Mart” emails/pictures are no exaggeration! We saw a man playing the air guitar in the hair-care isle to whatever classic rock music that was playing over the intercom. He was dressed like a normal man, but his hair was hot pink and pulled back in a pony tail with matching eyebrows drawn on his face. He also had on make-up and very dainty earrings. It took every ounce of energy I had to act normal when he walked past me and not laugh. Chase, on the other hand, came right out and asked me, “Mom, is that a boy or a girl? It looks like a boy, but his hair and make-up look like a girl.” Fortunately, the man-woman-whatever didn’t hear Chase’s remark. During the same Wal-Mart trip, the cashier who rang us up was a dwarf and Chase said, “Look Mom! That man is little like me! How come he didn’t grow any bigger?” My reply was that God makes people in different shapes and sizes. Thankfully, the dwarf just smiled and didn’t take any offense to Chase’s comment. Children are so sweet and innocent, but yet painfully blunt at times!
As for Gabriel Lee, I’m thinking I should have named him “Chase” too because I sure do have to chase him around frequently. Gabe also has quite the personality. He’s giggly just like Chase and starting to develop an awesome sense of humor. I love the deep, belly laughs that come out of young children—especially when it’s something so simple making them laugh like that. Gabe is very strong for his age and in the 95th percentile for height. He’s slightly below average for weight since his most recent growth spurt made him much taller and slowed down his appetite. He still eats much better than Chase, but he’s gotten pickier over the past few months. He’s slightly behind the benchmark for talking at his age. I personally don’t think there’s anything to worry about because he’s as smart as a whip and I know he understands way more than he can communicate. However, his pediatrician still recommended a speech evaluation and a few therapy sessions to jump-start him with talking so I’m going to entertain it to see if it helps. I truly feel the main reason Gabe isn’t talking is because he has Chase and everyone else to do all of the talking for him. He can still say “Mom, hi, bye, uh-oh” and a few other words. I have a feeling all of a sudden he’ll just take off with talking and then I’ll miss these quieter days.
As for Tim and I, we haven’t had much time to unwind lately. We had our niece Bella all weekend since my sister Laurie was out of town for a wedding. Needless to say, the boys keep us busy enough without adding an extra child to the picture, but we made the most of the weekend with having Bella. The kids played in their sandbox and on the swingset, rode bikes and the Gater, went for wagon rides, got in the hot tub, played in the sprinkler, watched a few movies, and even went to a mud bog for the first time yesterday. Tim has been working overtime (12-hour days at times) and trying to keep up with yardwork, keeping the cars washed and running, and tending to whatever other home projects that arise. Then, there are the normal household chores that I do, like laundry, cooking, cleaning, packing lunches, etc. I’m just now slowing down enough to update this blog and download some pictures that were taken of the children on Good Friday (courtesy of JJ Faulkner Photography). I’m certainly not complaining because we’re blessed to have the health and means to maintain what we have and keep our family going with our full schedules. I foresee a busy summer ahead of us, but hopefully an exciting one to build memories.
In conclusion, I owe a special thanks to those who have sacrificed their very own lives for the sake of our country. My gratitude continues for those who are still serving our country today. “Greater love has no one than this, than someone lay down his life for his friends.” –John 15:13 Happy Memorial Day to All!
