For those of you who know L, I'm sure you'll agree that while he may be little in stature, he is mighty in spirit. This little guy keeps us quite entertained with all his 'imaginating' and creativity. Just today as I was attempting to do his math lesson with him, he had the lid to the math manipulative bin (a 'shield' ) and a sharpened pencil (a 'sword') and was jumping around the living room fighting off imaginary enemies as he loudly counted backwards, shouted the days of the week, and answered other related questions that are a part of his math work. Later, I caught him with the roll of aluminum foil and before I realized what was happening, he had taped a large folded square of it to his head (why, armor of course!!) and was later found sitting on P's new toolbox (why, a horse of course!) galloping off to battle with his 'sword' and 'shield' ready. Odesco soon followed L's lead and had a head full of foil too! L continues to love to draw and can often be found with pencil in hand and smudge marks all over his face as he creates quite intricate drawings. Last week he announced that he needed a quiet place to draw since he can't concentrate with all the noise in our house-as if he is not a main contributor!?! . He asked permission to set up a 'studio' in the basement and that is exactly what he did.
L has truly risen to the challenges he has faced in these past 17 months. He went from being the 'baby' of the family to welcoming a 'little' brother who is actually much bigger than he is! He really has a heart for Odesco and in spite of their frequent spats, these 2 can be good little buddies. I often see them out in the yard with sticks having sword fights or hiding behind trees 'shooting ' at the enemy. Tonight they helped me clean out their room...they were both so pleased with the results that they were saying over and over,"I love our clean room!" and then for some reason, they kissed the door...silly boys!! They also crack us up with a ridiculous game they created and now call 'the paper mache game' (I honestly have no idea how L came up with this unique name!) Odesco and L stand at opposite sides of the room...both boys pound on their bellies and then L runs toward his big 'little' brother ...they sort of body slam as L bounces off Odesco's protruding belly --it is truly a sight to behold! I usually shut it down after a few moments because of the 'ouch' potential but it really is a hoot to watch these 2 in action!!
L is also our cuddlebug and many times in the day will say,"Mom, I love you!" to which Odesco replies, "L ,why do you have to keep saying that?!?" He has a very sensitive heart and today after a rather challenging day , he was feeling quite sad about his sin. What an opportunity to encourage him that God is at work in his heart causing him to feel sorrow for his sin. It was also an opportunity to reaffirm my love for him in spite of my impatience during his many dramatic episodes.
How grateful I am to have this little guy in our family...he truly does keep us all laughing with his silly antics and unique "L-isms" such as "Mom, can't you just imaginate it?", or his cute pronunciation of words like 'snaked' (as in no clothes on!), 'sterious' (as in mysterious)...oh and often he makes 'a stake' (mistake).
Phew, we have officially made it through another B family Birthday Bash season...no birthdays until September when Odesco turns '5' . What a blessing it has been to recount the faithfulness of the Lord in granting us these precious children...it's easy to lose sight of this in the thick of it all. He truly is a giver of good gifts!!
We went to visit the G family a few weeks ago...all the kids were playing rambunctiously outside when these 2 came in...L has found a kindred spirit in his friend S...they both decided to draw a 'still life' of a toy car...too cute.
L is hard at work sketching...We just finished a unit study on the Oregon Trail and we borrowed this cool wagon train model from our friends.
Voila...the finished work :)
Dress up fun :)
We were all outside playing in the cul-de-sac with some neighborhood friends when L suddenly ran inside...he was obviously busy 'imaginating' because this is what(or should I say, who) I found when I came in to look for him, Darth Vader was in my kitchen!!
Odesco and L preparing for the 'paper mache game'... what a study in contrasts!! Need I say more?!
G and L in a sweet sibling moment :)
L with his birthday stash...Civil War army men and cool Medieval figures..he didn't seem to mind that we were mixing 2 distinct periods in history :) Oh and I just love when I can get away with giving a toothbrush as a gift and there is genuine excitement from the recipient !!
One more gift...A very ingenious invention is hidden underneath all of L's masterpieces ( except for the Star War guys which were created by Miss Brittany). It's a sticky piece of plastic that clings to the wall without damaging the paint... and supposedly, it can be easily removed. It is also sticky on top so you can plaster it with whatever you want. L went through his pile of papers and chose his favorites to hang. The plastic itself is only 8.5x11" but L really got a lot of mileage out of it by creatively arranging , don't you think?!
Gotta love those 'authentic' looking helmets and L's homemade sword and shield
Never a dull moment around here...after a rather challenging morning, the 4 littles decided to lighten the mood and were busy upstairs making lots of noise. They were in stitches as they came downstairs to present to me the '2 old ladies'...notice Odesco's tights and sandals...the sword in L's hand is actually a 'cane' in this scenario.
These 2 didn't want to change out of their attire and played "Go to the Dump"(a math game similar to Go Fish except they are trying to get 2 cards to add up to 10) in costume. 
