Brown Eyed Girl

On Tuesday when we were driving home from school...

Ethan: "Mama, my favorite girl friend at school is Madelyn."
Me: "Oh, really? Why is she your favorite?"
Ethan: "Because she looks like you! She has black hair and brown eyes."
Me: Smile! (Awwwwwwwwww)

I thought that was pretty sweet. :)

The "Good Life"

It seems that Ethan has a pretty good grasp on what the "good life" is...

 I am studying the book of James in my weekly bible study. This past week was AMAZING and totally got me thinking. In James 2 he asks the question, WHAT GOOD IS IT if you claim to have faith but have NO works to show for it? What good is it? What good is it? What good is it? What good is it.....?

What good is it if we have faith, go to church, read out bible, but DON'T CHANGE? What GOOD IS IT?

Our lives should be full of mercy and not empty blessings. The bible says that if we notice someone in need, and just wish them well (empty blessings) what good is it? How many times do we hear about someone in need, and it touches our heart and we want to do something, but don't? It can be as small (or huge) as just noticing someone.

Acts of service are HUGE. Acts of service usually bless US more than the bless the person we are serving.

As I was thinking about this - I thought about my day with Ethan yesterday. We had a great day. He went to school, played outside, went for ice cream after school. We came home and played. We played a few games of candy land and had a great time. We went for a bike ride and went to the park. Lots of fun! We made cookies. Ate cookies. Fun!

At night though, I told Ethan I wanted to clean out my car. I got the vacuum and got to work. Ethan decided he wanted to "help" me. It was so cute. He took his little squirt gun and kept re-filling it with water as he squirted the outside of my car. I didn't really think anything of it. Just glad he was keeping busy. After that he found his broom and swept up our garage.

That night before bed I asked my famous question - what was your favorite part of your day? Thought he might say....going to the park....getting ice cream...? Nope! His favorite part was helping Mama clean my car. He was so excited about that as he told me that he is a "good helper." Ethan is already seeing that the abundant life comes when you are helping someone else. :)

Good lesson to learn!

Ethan has been a great helper to Dada, too. James was fixing his bed a couple of weekends ago and Ethan jumped right in there to help. So sweet.

 He even helped vacuum up the saw dust!

Cute conversations with Ethan!

Today we were driving home from the park and had this adorable conversation.

Ethan: Mama - I am stretching my legs to try to grow bigger so that I can be a Dada! (As he is moaning and groaning from stretching). I want to be a really good Dada and I am going to love my baby. I am going to give my baby to you and Dada.

Me: Ohhhhh - that is nice. You will be a good Dad one day - but that isn't for a long time! But maybe one day you could be a big brother. Would you like that? (No, I'm not pregnant)

Ethan: YES, Mama, YES! I do want to be a big brother. I want to have a baby brother. I will give him my stuffed animals and let him use my baby bed.

Me: Well, we need to start praying every night for a new baby, okay?

Ethan: Well, I am going to pray RIGHT NOW for that!

Me: Smile and look in the review mirror at Ethan....

Ethan: (closes his eyes and bows his head.) HEY GOD! GIVE US A BABY!

Silence....

Ethan: God said not right now, Mama...but I am going to pray again, okay?

Me; Okay. :)

Ethan: HEY, DADA! (Starts laughing). I called God, Dada! HEY, GOD! I want to be a big brother. Can we have another baby?

Ethan: God said yes - one day.

:) I hope Ethan is right!

Soccer Shots!

So, Ethan is on his first soccer "team!" Actually this is his first time doing anything like this at all. He was super excited and asked all sorts of questions the way there. "Will my coach be a guy or girl? What is my coach's name? What is he going to tell me to do?

I was the only parent there! Ethan is doing this at his school and all of the kids that signed up also go to school on Wednesdays. Ethan only goes to school on Tuesday and Thursday....so I had to drive him back to school for soccer today. Ethan had a great time and that is the most important! He followed Coach Brandon's three rules to a tee....don't talk while coach is talking, never touch the ball with your hands, and everyone will score a goal!

It was a little difficult for me to sit and watch. :) When the coach was giving instructions I could tell Ethan wasn't always listening. So, when it was time to do what was told....well....you probably know what happened. :) When the coach said to hussle to the gate Ethan took his good old time. It made me laugh. I think after a few weeks he will get the hang of it. I think my boy is just like me and takes a while at new things. Ask anyone in my family what is was like watching me play sports when I was younger. They bring this up at almost every family get together. I didn't realize I was so funny to watch! ;o) ha ha ha

He says he likes his "coach" and thinks he has cool clothes. He also says he wants to practice soccer tomorrow. I think he had enough of it for today. He did a great job - I was proud of him! Here's a few pictures.

Practicing spelling words!

So, Ethan has mastered his ABC's! He knows all of his uppercase letters. Sometimes he confuses a couple of them (M and N) but for the most part he has them down. It seems like all of the sudden he just knew them all!

So, after he learned to spell his name and learned to spell ELMO (just from looking at a placemat that Grandma has with ELMO on it)...I thought he might be ready to start working on some words. I found this simple idea on Pinterest and thought I'd try it. It was a huge hit! I was pretty proud of him.

Here is a video for Grandma and Papa to watch. :)

Cutting Pro!

When I picked Ethan up from school on Tuesday his teacher told me he needed some practice with holding scissors and cutting a straight line. Well, look at this boy, now (just one day later). :) He is a pro!