Spring Cleaning (kind of)

It's the first day of spring break but you'd think it was Christmas-- from the living room, i am hearing the happy sounds of a harmonica, and "look at this!" and "hey look at all these i have !" the sound of legos being piled and the occasional"I get this". No, Christmas did not come early (or late) and UPS has not come to the door-- I found a box in the garage that was full of junk we never sorted through last time we did a thourough cleaning on Gabriel's room! A wonderful and scary assortment of a busy boy's junk-- Legos, dozens of rubber bands, coins, sharp rocks duct taped to sticks to make arrows, a barrel of monkeys not in the barrel anymore. dried up markers, marbles, coins form a few different counties, magnets with paper clips and nails stuck to them.... tell me we're not the only ones, please!!! But a very fun way for the kids to pass the afternoon (if we were really studioous we could pretend it's an archeological dig) so, there's part of me that says I don't want to clean their rooms using this method anymore (the stash and dash) but on the other hand, here we have a whole afternoon of thrills and amusement 6 months later.

Gabriel's Birthday Today

Chess cake by Aunt Beca


Gabriel turns 11 today! We already had a family party and will be having a friend party in a few days. (Birthdays in this family seem to turn into week-long extravaganzas!) But today is his real birthday and I just want us to relax and enjoy the day. We started with our “traditional” breakfast of crepes with berries and whipped cream and chocolate sauce, read out loud from Eldest, the dragon story that’s getting really exciting. Now the kids are doing their jobs and setting up for a game of Clue, as well as continuing Heroscape, Gabriel’s new favorite game. I hope to get them outdoors for a walk later. Gabriel can bring his new pocket knife and cut up the sticks he collects!


Early spring is such a sweet time to have a baby, all that waiting through the winter and it rained all week, but the day he was born the sun shone, everything sparkled in the light and we were so glad to have our son in our arms. He’s everything we could want in a boy—boundless energy, imagination, curiosity, and affection. He says it feels like he’s been 10 for a whole year now! The days go by slow sometimes but the years go by fast. The kids have been reminiscing a lot lately about when they were little, which must mean they are feeling grown up. And as Gabriel says, he doesn’t really want to grow up, but he does look forward to all the exciting ideas he wants to do. He wants to be a stay at home dad to lots and lots of children, like 40! He’s a boy who knows strongly what he likes—art. writing, building, outdoors, chess, fantasy stories and games, martial arts, reading, the ocean, computer, and being silly with his family. It has been and will be fascinating to watch him develop his interests and personality as he’s becoming an young man. My prayer for him is that he will know when to be strong and when to be gentle with his words and actions and that he will always pursue the path God has for him with a whole heart.


I love you so much, Gabriel. I always tell you that you are the best boy I could imagine. I love your liveliness and the way you love me. I hope this is your best year ever!