Jack, our 9 year old, has taken to fake burping. His favorite thing is the burp INSIDE something so that the sound will be amplified. He's becoming a real pro, and I really don' t know whether to laugh with him or scold him for being so ungentlemanly. Henry, our 3 year old, is his other half. He is also becoming very adept at the classic fake burp. These two boys share a room which is next to mine and Darin's room. You can imagine the fun that drifts over into our room in the mornings.
They do have their differences. It takes Jack a little longer to let go of a grievance than it does Henry, which is interesting when they've got each other worked up. Jack will sit with his arms crossed, not daring to look at anyone around him. And there will be Henry, who has already recovered from the incident, hovering over Jack, saying, "It's okay, buddy. It's okay." Then he'll start patting Jack on the head and before we know it, Jack starts laughing uncontrollably and all is well again. It's fun to watch them together. Their latest favorite thing is to play "tackle football" in the living room. Jack is just the right amount of rough with his 3 year old bro. Every now and then Henry will say, "Jack, let's go kick and punch!"
Then there's Ben. 14 years old. This year was the first time he did not want to participate in handing out candy and tracts to trick or treaters. He hung out with Darin and me in the living room. We call him "the old man." He's always cold and can sound like a grouchy old man every now and then. Tonight, Lydia was talking about Christmas lights when Ben, in his best deadpan, said, "Do we have to do Christmas lights this year?" (LOL! I'm just chalking that one up to his being tired from getting up for his 6:30 a.m. football practice.) He's so sweet with Henry and Sophia, enjoys reading through different books with Lydia, and this fall, has been teaching Jack how to play football. He's a good big brother.
Lydia - our sweet girl. If all our daughters could have the same sweet spirit she does, we would be set for life. I call her my "little mama" because she is a natural with our littles. She could play endlessly with them - to the point where I sometimes have to remind her that she has other work to do! ;-) She loves playing the piano. She reminds me of my sister. My sister is a great pianist. Every time she got the chance throughout the day, she would sit down and go through a few songs. Lydia does the same thing. Like a true 11 year old, she NEVER runs out of things to talk about. I love that because I never have to guess what she's thinking about.
Sophia - I remember wondering on this very blog just WHO this little girl would be. Well. At 22 months, she seems to have been born with a writing utensil in her hand. She will spend over half her day filling up spiral notebooks with her scribbling. She's also partial to the coloring sheets I print out for her with babies on them. She's always very passionate about what she wants and amazes me with how she can do a belly flop on the floor when she's unhappy about something - must be her small stature that allows her to get away with that. At almost two years, she is just now growing out of her 12 month pants. She's gorgeous with her white blonde hair and bright blue eyes. We all dote on her and it's a really good thing she's not going to be the baby of the family! ;-)
And so here I am, again, wondering who our new baby will be. I am so anxious to meet her, I can barely stand it. Someone that I ran into at the chiropractic office told me that she will be like a twin to Sophia. Well, that would be okay, but how does he know? ;-) I mean, it's always possible, but I can't imagine it. They are all so unique. Such gifts from God, our Creator. I take comfort that He already knows her, and that He knew who she was at the beginning of time, and knew she would be mine and Darin's daughter. I remember back in high school, chatting with my pals about who we would marry, how many kids we would have, what their names would be, where we would live...MAN. A verse comes to mind at this point.
1 Corinthians 2:9: But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
