Eliana, El Bell

Eliana has started to call herself, "ahh-nee", as that is how a few of her little friends are able to say her name.  It is like a combo of Ellie and Ana.  She is fiery and fun.  Full of laughs and tears.  One good friend told me, "she feels everything big and on the outside."  She readily says "hi" and "bye" when people come to visit and she shrieks with delight when Carla drives into the driveway.

 She has this adorable little book bag from our good friend and when the boys got things ready for school one morning last spring, she insisted on being included in the book bag fun.

This.  This is Miss E.

Eliana loves Josh or "yosh" as she calls him.  They are both strong, very active and big feelers.  So when Carla invites Eliana over to play it is always a huge delight.

Eliana's hair is growing so our hair regimen is expanding.  She sleeps with a sleep cap as a way to get her ready for when she really needs to wear it to keep a hard earned style in place. 

When Gabby was itty bitty, I wanted a photo of the two girls.  However, Eliana was not the most cooperative subject.  Gabby's safety was in question if I tried to put the two of them side by side.  So this attempt is the best I could get: I pinned Eliana between my legs to keep her still and protect Gabby.  They are both looking at the camera so we will call that a win.

Eliana loved our little get away last spring, too.  She loves throwing things into the lake and basically anything that the boys do, she does too. 

She is so busy many times that I don't get glimpses of her quiet and calm.  I found her reading in her room, babbling the story of this book and turning the pages.

The boys do their bits of homework each afternoon and Eliana was insistent on participating, as well.    She sat and "wrote" on Jonathan's spelling list with great concentration.

It's amazing how much kids change from eighteen months to age two.  She was throwing huge fits around eighteen months and I think much of it was due to her inability to clearly communicate.  She still gets mad when she doesn't get her way but as I look back at the photos from six months ago, I am amazed at how her vocabulary has exploded.

Jonathan, aka J-man

Jonathan is my strong, independent, leader who still tells me almost every day, "I love you, Momma."  If I'm really lucky, he and Caleb will snuggle beside me while we read stories before bed.

Sometimes being the oldest isn't always easy. Especially if you're the oldest of four.  Jonathan is the best older brother these other three could have asked for.  He includes them, he loves to play with them, and he watches out for them.  He is always always full of ideas and this makes play time so fun for the others.

Chester, the fifth living being in need of care in this house, sometimes doesn't get the attention from me that he would like.  Jonathan makes up for that.  He plays catch with him, feeds him and walks him with Caleb.  I told Jamie the other day, "Chester listens and responds better to Jonathan than he does to me."

 Our family is an outdoor group of people.  Jonathan isn't as much of a random explorer as Caleb but he loves to ride his bike, hike, and he has started to enjoy shooting hoops in our driveway.  I need to hone my skills to keep my winning streak in "HORSE" alive and strong.

J-man finished second grade like a champ last year.  He loves to read and lately has been more than willing to share all of his recently learned facts with me.  I learn as he learns.  He loves robots and can still make a mean lego creation.  He still plays the piano and is improving all the time.  It is a delight to hear him play.

Caleb, aka Caleeeb, aka Big C

 In light of the reality that this little blog missed the entire spring semester of life, I am doing an update in pictures and stories for each kid.  Caleb is first because this first picture came up on the list of photos, and I couldn't wait to share this story and laugh about it for a tenth time.

Caleb loved kindergarten last year as his teacher was amazing, and the class of kiddos were really sweet to each other (most of the time).  One day he came home with this creation from the art center.  Upon asking him about it, I got this story: "A girl told me her friend was in love with me so I made this rattlesnake to scare her away."

 Caleb was home each afternoon last year which was a sweet time for he and I to read, make projects or play a game.  He also had the chance to love on his little sisters, especially the littlest one who isn't always a fan of sleeping.

 Caleb is a protector.  I found him sitting in Gabby's room, watching her sleep after I finished reading stories to Eliana one afternoon.  Wearing shorts and knee high smart wool socks, of course.

We needed a little geographic retreat in March so we drove to a resort on a lake three hours from here for a long weekend.  Caleb could spend hours and hours collecting things, creating things, exploring nature.  He "found" all kinds of amazing treasures on this nature walk by the lake.  If you open Caleb's hands, you'll more often than not find treasures he is faithfully carrying for some mysterious purpose.

Big C wanted to play soccer last spring because Jake was playing.  After the first game I suggested we kick the ball a bit in the front yard to get ready for his second game.  To which he replied, "I already had my game." I had to explain that there were going to be many more games before the end. He then informed me, "I want to be on a soccer team with no games.  I only did soccer because Jake did."  That sweet boy loves cooperation and playing with friends but competition is not the name of his game.

Big C lost several teeth this year and my little guy grew so much that little guy doesn't seem to describe him very well any more.

Last day of school for 2014-2015.  Caleb's favorite thing about kindergarten after being asked, "that Jake and I got to be in the same class!"  Caleb learned to read like a champ this year and we spent many of our winter afternoons reading the likes of "Frog and Toad".  

Kindergarten was a big year for Caleb in that he started the long awaited piano lessons.  He had been an observer to Jonathan's progress for two years and was so eager for his turn.  I love to see how his personality comes through in his playing.  While Jonathan always needs reminders to slow down, Caleb patiently plays the music and is rarely in a hurry.