Meet The Neighbors

I want to introduce you to Nicole. Chances are if you've talked to Ethan much in the past few months you've already heard this name a few times.

Nicole lives behind us and a little to the left. She is 5 and just started Kindergarten, but at a different Catholic school in town. She has 3 siblings and Ethan has enjoyed playing with them all...but he & Nicole are what you might call "tight."

It's adorable to watch her standing by the edge of our property waiting for him to come outside. They both do this when the other one is eating or otherwise occupied inside. Then they head to the clubhouse for "secret meetings."
They are quite the duo and it's fun to imagine what their relationship might be like ten years from now. As we were sitting on the back porch watching Ethan play with the neighbors last night Nate said to me, "This is exactly why we moved here." I agree.

First Day of Kindergarten

Ethan looked so much older than 6 when he dressed up in his new school uniform this morning and headed out the door. He was just excited about his new backpack and the fact that he wearing a belt! It's the little things!!!

Watching him walk into school from the car was very hard, but it is time to let him fly. He had a great first day. Let's hope there are more to come!

Oops!

We went out to eat breakfast early this morning at Cracker Barrel while the crazy people shopped. Ethan was playing with the little wooden game on the table (with golf tees) when I went to tickle his neck. He reacted by slamming his face straight down onto one of the golf tees that was sticking out of the triangle.

Screaming ensued. I thought for sure he'd hit his eye, but thankfully it was only his cheek. There was blood of course and a lot of tears from both of us. I felt so bad that I had to go buy him a sucker he'd asked for while we were waiting for our table and we'd said no.

Spiked Hair

What is it with this time of year and Ethan wanting to spike his hair up? This all started years ago with Dude (Uncle Layne) showing him how. Once again he's sporting his cool look.
I may be a bit biased as his mother, but I'm pretty sure he's too cute!

Remember my spiked hair last year???

Click on this to see the blog picture.

Pre-K Graduation Program

My school had a Pre-K graduation ceremony called "Fruit of the Spirit" at church. Most of my class will go to Kindergarten next year, but a few of my friends will go another year to Pre-K because our birthdays are late in the summer.

Our class practiced A LOT and learned the songs to sing. We did pretty good too!

Self-Control

The last few weeks of Pre-K, Ethan's class has been about learning about the "Fruits of the Spirit." It is their theme for the graduation ceremony this week. {The whole class participates in the graduation program, but we have decided that Ethan will return for another year of Pre-K at Holy Spirit and attend Kindergarten in the Fall of 2008. His birthday is about 8 days before the cut-off.}

If you ask Ethan to tell you what the "fruits" are he has them perfectly memorized: LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS & SELF-CONTROL.

Last week we were all in a rush to get ready one morning and Ethan choose the wrong morning to be difficult (in that he wasn't listening, following directions & in general being mischievous). He sat in time-out off & on (although when you are running late, time-out isn't exactly helpful!).

During the car ride to school I spoke with him about the things he did well that morning (like brushing his teeth by himself, cleaning up his breakfast, helping me put Parker in her cage, etc...). We also discussed how he could have been a better listener.

Ethan was explaining to me that he talks to Jesus and prays for help. He's rambling on and on about when and where he can pray. Then he remembers something Nate told him that morning: "Maybe you should pray to Jesus and ask him to give you more self-control!"

I look in the mirror and see Ethan with his hands folded, head down, praying:

"Dear Jesus, please help me to have more self-control so I can listen better and not get into trouble. Amen."

**This picture is a new favorite of mine**

The Story of Jesus (Part 1)

Ethan made this really neat scripture-based Easter story at school Thursday. I'll let him tell you in his own words.

This clip is eggs 1 - 6.

The Story of Jesus (Part 2)

Eggs 6 - 12.

DEEP THOUGHTS FROM ETHAN:

"When the Holy Spirit comes inside you after you're baptized, it comes into your heart. The Holy Spirit is a part of God. You need Him both in your heart and in your head all the time."

(What started this conversation was Ethan reading a Bible story book to me this afternoon. He explained the story of Jesus getting baptized in the river by John.)

God, are you listening?

We had the following conversation while brushing our teeth this morning:

Ethan: "I talk to God you know."

Me: "Really? When?"

Ethan: "At night. In the dark. In my bed."

Me: "Yes, that's called praying sweetie."

Ethan: "NO! I don't pray, I talk. I talk a lot. He's a better listener than you Mom."