4 years old selah

dear Selah, 

Today was your fourth birthday... And I'm not going to lie, my heart is kind of sad right now. Time is slipping away and you are growing up so fast! I can't believe that it has already been 4 years since God entrusted you to our care! You are such a sweet and spunky girl and (scary enough) you remind me so much of myself! You have lots of emotions and words. You enjoy laughing and being the center of attention. You have these moments where you are so sweet and giving and maternal to your siblings (especially Asa). I am so proud of you and who you are becoming. 

This past year you became a big sister... Again! You've done really well with the addition of Heze... You don't really like his spit-ups, but you're doing well with him. You started dance and were even in your first recital. You danced to Spoon Full of Sugar! The minimum age is 4, but they let you go at 3 and you did awesome! And by awesome I mean you waived at daddy the whole time. :) 

Your favorites change often but right now your favorite color is Yellow and when I ask you what your favorite thing to play is you say, "with you." You enjoy singing "you are the only king forever" and "glory arise" which you call, "glory stills" You still sleep with your This (which you call Dis) and are freakishly good at memory. You love to dance and play cat and dress up! You enjoy watching Frozen and Octonauts. You are a sweet and special girl. 

You hd a special day with church, a pizza party at church (Silvermist theme), and presents. Tomorrow, you get to go on a date with daddy and mommy. 

Lately you have been on our hearts so we have been praying for you! Praying that God will captivate your heart and your will delight in Him! I pray that you will obey and be close to Him all of your life! he loves you so much, Selah Cadence, and I can't wait to see what He is going to do in and through you!

Love,

Mommy 

2.5

Dear Asa,

You are now 2.5! You're oh so funny! To celebrate, we moved you into your "big boy bar bed." You are mastering the art of potty training too! I'm so proud of you! Love you so much! 

Prideful Girls! :)

The other day I overheard Havana talking to Selah. She said, "why do you like me so much? Is it because I am so amazing?!" 

Hahaha

Recently we were all having a rough day so Jason led us through a time of family repentance. He went first, then Havana and Jonah. When it got to Selah's turn she said, "Dear God, thank you for today. Thank you that I didn't not disobey. Thank you that everyone else in this family did bad things, but not me. Thank you that died on the cross to their sins. I love you Jesus, amen!" 

Jason and I looked at each other and thought, "parenting fail!" 

Selah also points out that when anyone disobeys it is a good thing she didn't disobey. 

Great memories

At night, we say prayers with each of the children.. For some reason asa likes to say the prayers with us and shouts the last word of every sentence. I don't know why but it always makes me laugh! 

I told Selah tonight that she was "my selah" and she looked at me very seriously and said, " uh, no, it's everyone's selah!" 

Last weekend the girls were in a dance recital. Selah dances to Spoon full of Sugar and Havana's was Somewhere over the rainbow. Havana nailed it again and selah waived to jason from on stage. Haha. I was the backstage mom, which is something I love being and during rehearsal of the finale, selah melted down and refused to go onstage. Thankfully she felt better by show time! :) 

Dislike kisses

Selah got a boo-boo on her hand and so I tried to kiss it. She quickly pulled her hand away and told me not to kiss it. I told her it was my right as a mommy to give her a kiss. She then told me that I can never ever give her a kiss again. I can only kiss Jesus and Havana, Jonah, Asa, and Hezekiah... But not her. Then she said, "I don't like kisses they are so wet!"  Hahaha. 

Selah is a spunky one who recently told me my belly was so big I must have two babies in there! 

She's also the one who is always eager to say it is a good thing she obeys when I'm correcting another child. Ov vey! 

Great Questions

Havana always asks really great questions during family Bible story. Her questions usually imply that she has really been thinking about the story. For example tonight we read the story about when Peter denies Jesus. Havana's two questions were:

1. Is Peter really disobeying/lying when he denied Jesus three times since Jesus told him he would. Wouldn't that be obeying Jesus?! 

2. Why would Peter deny Jesus if he said he wouldn't?! Why do something you just said you wouldn't. 

I'm so proud of her heart, her mind, and her questions! 

5th birthday letter

Dear Jonah! 

I cannot believe you are five! It is such a cliche, but it is very true that it feels like just yesterday you were born! 

I am so proud of the boy you are becoming! You are funny and take lots of pride in bringing everyone to laughter. You seem to be in your element when you are the center of attention and you are doing silly things! I often find myself correcting you and telling you to "control your energies" but at the same time I am trying to remember that being funny is important to you. I just hope you can learn. To real it in when necessary. :). 

You've thrived this year. It's been fun to watch you be the oldest on the days Havana goes to school. You also have become very interested in school: what it means to go to school and important information such as your letters and numbers. You can count to one hundred and you know most of the letters and the sounds they make. 

Your daddy and I have gone back and forth on what to do about school for you next year. We can argue a case for why should go to Kindergarten next year and also for why we should wait until you are six. We have prayed and discussed, and have not felt a clear answer. I recently thought that perhaps it is because I'm not trusting God to take care of you. I feel like it is my job to keep you safe and make the best decision for you when really, I need to trust God to take care of you  whether we send you or wait. So, as we move forward, I am praying that God will prepare your heart for whatever the future holds for you. 

This past year you have continued with Karate! You are now an orange belt and and just this past week you were the only kid in the class still standing at attention at the end of the 30-second challenge. I am so proud of you. For the last testing cycle you were supposed to teach the class you loved to do the right forearm block! You also had trouble saying "ax kick"  which sounded a little like... Well, you can figure it out. :) 

Speaking. of speech, you have a funny way of taking. You mix up some of your letters. For example, "marshmallow" is "smarshmallow" and "poor unfortunate soul" is "for unportiante souls". 

You're favorite song right now is "you are the only king forever" which you love to scream it at the top of your lungs and play the drums and sing into a pretend microphone. We love watching you praise Jesus and I often wonder if that will be His calling in your life. 

You're very kind to your siblings often running to get them ice packs or their favorite toy if they are crying. You often talk about when you are going to be a daddy and I want you to know that I know you will be an excellent daddy some day! :) 

You still love David and Goliath.. Which makes me so happy to know how Much you love God's word. You also love Jospeh, Daniel, and Jonah... So I always pray that you to know that God created you to be a hero too! 

For your birthday, you asked for a David and Goliath theme. We acted out the scene and you enjoyed it. For our date, we went to CHuck-E-Cheese, toys R us, and Chick-fil-a where you told a girl you could help her up the slide because you are five now! :) 

This year you were a ring bearer, watched the Incredibles and loved being dash. You are into super heroes and coloring and Legos! You still enjoy fire tucks and trains from time to time! :) 

I'm so proud of you, Jonah. I love you. You delight my heart and are such a special person. God has a purpose for you! Don't forget that.. I'm excited to watch him work in you and use you!

Love you! 

Mommy!