A Major Way

Little did you know...

while the potty training endeavors were ensuing, G-Ville's all-stars were hard at work accomplishing major milestones. It's been a big week for us!!

Feat #1: M learned how to tie shoes, motivated by his new shoe purchase for the school year! A criss-cross, loop-and-swoop, and our biggest man was home free. One chief lesson I'm learning is if we wait until our kids are really ready developmentally and with the will to learn, the learning process goes a lot more smoothly. I didn't push shoe-tying because M didn't have a need (or a desire) to learn it thanks to velcro shoes in kindergarten. When he did learn, it literally took him two tries and he had the skill; very similar to our bike-riding endeavors earlier this summer. If we nudge and don't push, things seem to go a lot smoother!

Feat #2: MG took her first steps! Wednesday our little lady walked four steps! Since then, she's made it up to nine, but only seems motivated when working with our little neighbor gal, G. G, a rising 8th-grader, comes over as my mother's helper a few times-a-week--she's been a godsend!--in exchange for me watching her for her parents. Basically, I've been getting her help for free and she loves being with the kids. Can I get an amen?! Thank you, Lord!! And way to go, MG!!

Feat #3: T conquered his 5th birthday celebration (or shall I say, we conquered it?! ;) You'll probably have a little deja vu looking through these pics. My Birthday Formula was in full effect--a little bounce house, a little obstacle course, a little pizza and cake, a little Yoda pin-the-ear... All in all, it was a grand time! T relished the time with his brothers and 5 friends.

The crew, gearing up for the obstacle course

Practicing Jedi aim...

Blasting through the "Time Warp"

Mommy's birthday-eve Yoda rendering--had to dust off the drawing pencils!

Feat #4: I know you've been waiting for it--J is officially potty-trained! By Day #4, he was starting to go on his own, letting us know (sometimes after the fact) that he had just done the deed. Fantastic! Yesterday we felt confident saying, "He's done it!" especially after going on a family outing and having to stop twice for him to go potty. This is just great because...

Friday we accomplish Feat #5: THE TONSILS. We would love your prayers for our T. Thankfully it is an outpatient surgery that lasts 30-40 minutes, so we realize in the grand scheme of things, this is very small potatoes. At the same time, the little man has never been under general anesthesia and there is risk of extra bleeding. We're praying all goes smoothly, especially his recovery. Overall, though, I'm excited for him to have his throat back. I wish I could beam you here to see his tonsils. They are now constantly swollen. We don't even know what his normal voice sounds like... I'm excited for him to be able to breathe again like a normal guy.

It's been a fulfilling week on all fronts...

Thanks for checking in with us!

God bless you,