The Kids

HEATHER
Heather is my "little momma", she loves to be in charge and is a wonderful helper! There are days when I am not sure how I would make it without her. She is always willing to jump in and help with very little complaining. I know I was not so good-natured as a child, I remember whining quite a bit when I was asked to help. She just seems to have been born with the knowledge that families have to work together to make things run smoothly. I am so thankful for her!
Heather has been struggling this year in school, especially in French, but has really been putting her nose to the grind stone to get her grades up. We are so proud of the young lady she is becoming! Through her hard work and diligence, she managed to bring her grades up so that her semester grades were all A's & B's.
She seems really happy lately, we think she is really enjoying having a boyfriend. Though we STILL have not met him, he seems to be a nice young man. Heather really crack us up with how embarrassed she gets about Jacob. Paul and I were picking on her just a little about not wanting us to meet him and she started to cry and ran upstairs. Of course we both apologized for upsetting her, told her we would not talk about it if it bothered her and reminded her how much much fun she was having just a second ago making fun of both Paul and me! It is easier to dish it out than to take it, but really, our teasing was quite mild. Paul teases more than me, and if I am doing it, I try to be very sensitive (though not sensitive enough this time, I guess!) The Middle School years really are hard, everything is so much drama. We have tried to tell her that it is fine that she has a boyfriend. We expect her to be interested in people romantically and not only is it normal, but we have had boyfriends/girlfriends and even gone beyond that and gotten married and had kids! We understand that she likes this boy and it's OK. Yet, she persists in being embarrassed whenever we mention him. I don't remember too much about the Middle School years, I think blocked them because they were so traumatic. At least Heather is almost out of this super emotional time, though who knows what High School will bring! She is a smart, beautiful and well grounded kid, so I'm not too worried about her. I know the drama will continue (she is a girl) but I think she will be just fine! I suspect the embarrassment about boys will lighten as time goes on. She really is a much better Middle Schooler than I was. Most of the time, she is comfortable in her skin and pretty sure of herself. That is a big thing at her age! I have often felt that is mature beyond her years.

CALEB
Ah, my Caleb, our family comedian. The other night at dinner, Heather was angry about something that seemed insignificant to Paul and me and Caleb was asking why Heather was angry. We told her that it's because she is a teenager and teenager's are just emotional. Later that evening, we were all in the living room and Caleb announces "Heather is always angry because she is a teenager." This kind of made us smirk because that conversation had been a while ago, but we humored him and asked why he was angry sometimes. He responded "Well, I'm just a 4 year old teenager." He is right, he really is. When he gets angry he rolls his eyes and slams doors and has to have the last word. I am not sure my sanity can survive 2 teenagers!

This morning, we were getting ready to go to pre-school and Zachary was getting into my stuff and I told him that that belonged to Mommy and he needed to play with his toys and leave Mommy's stuff alone. Caleb immediately adds "Zachary, you need to play with your toys and not mine! And, mommy is my toy!"

Last week, we were all sitting at dinner and Caleb got tickled at something and just started belly laughing. He has the best laugh and it is so contagious! Before I knew it, we were all sitting there cracking up and none of us were quite sure why! He is constantly entertaining us with the silly things he says and does. If I am sad or upset, I can count on him to cheer me up. He is starting to show signs of becoming a little helper, too. Occasionally, he will offer to help me clean up. He knows that I don't like the house to be dirty and when he wants some mommy praise, he knows how to get it. Yesterday morning, Zachary was being a bear (see below) and Caleb grabbed a bag of trash I had tied up and just took it out to the garage for me without even being asked! He sometimes picks up his toys spontaneously and most of the time, doesn't mind pitching in when asked. He does have days where he thinks it is horribly unfair, but I try to explain to him that being part of a family means you have to help out (and I usually offer him chocolate chips) so he's generally pretty agreeable about doing his share.

ZACHARY
It is a good thing God made Zachary so stinkin' cute! He gets into EVERYTHING and charms his way out of trouble. Caleb may have the best laugh, but Zachary has the best smile. When he has done something he shouldn't, he gives me this little look that is usually accompanied by a little dance and it is almost impossible not to laugh at him. He knows how to work Mommy, that is for sure. Though, yesterday morning, he was in a mood and driving me crazy! He woke up grumpy and had a really bad morning. He started off by getting into my make-up brushes and my lotion and "painting" the bathroom sink! He would not leave his brother alone and was constantly scratching him, hitting him, sitting on him, and being very mean to Caleb. As soon as I handed him his breakfast, he was pelting us with food and he got it taken away. The kid has a great arm, he can throw things far and with pretty good accuracy. At the grocery store, he wiggled out of the seatbelt, turned around and grabbed a carton of eggs from the basket and threw them on the floor! I wanted to leave there so badly! Luckily, another mom was on the aisle and went for help and very nicely came and told me that someone was coming to clean it up. She was very kind and I'm glad because I might have gone off on anyone who had anything negative to say at that moment. To make things worse, Zachary kept reaching into the cart to get things and I was already furious with him. It was not a good day at the store! On, the same day, he also managed to get into the diaper pail and get some poopy diapers out and make quite a mess! I don't really understand how he did that because it's sealed and difficult to get to the diapers. The little doll also loves to climb our book shelves and grab books and throw them on the floor; he's even torn up a few. He climbs on everything, even bicycle helmets, to get to the things he wants. He is constantly in the sink, on the counters, in the trash, etc. I do recognize that he is curious and determined -- those traits will serve him well if I can get him through toddlerhood! He wants to know about everything and will not give up! Every night I am thankful that we have made it another day without a trip to the E/R. I know it's coming, I just want to delay it as long as possible.
He is my cuddle bug too, he loves to be held and petted. He constantly asks me to sit on the couch with him and just hold him. It is so precious and almost impossible to say no. Caleb likes affection, but he can't be still long enough to just sit and cuddle.

I am blessed to have 3 wonderful kids, whom I dearly love! I will try to do a post next time with pictures, but this time I really wanted to write out some of the funny things the kids do while I still remember!