Cora is 4!

My little sunshine is four!  She has grown up so much this year.  She started school and made some great new friends.  We have had a lot of fun adventures this past year and played a lot of girly games and toys!  She is such a great combination of girly and tough.  She can easily play dress up and have tea parties and the next minute be wrestling one of her brothers down on the trampoline.  We love her and her happiness and light are contagious to all of us in this family!  I am so thankful she is mine!  At four Cora:
1.  Started preschool two mornings a week.  She has the same preschool teacher that Eli did (Ms. Ladonna and Ms. Jennifer).  She is "advanced" for her age in a lot of areas and has really grown in her shyness towards her teachers.  She made some great friends this year at school especially her identical twin friends Joy and Jenna and another friend named Emberly.  I have seen her writing improve so much and she can sound out words because she knows all of her phonics.
2.  She loves to color with markers, pens, paint, etc.  She loves all art!  She loves to draw rainbows and suns right now.  She also likes playing with kinetic sand and playdough.  She loves crafts and anything artistic, which is fun for me!
3.  Loves animals.  She helps me take care of all the animals and loves playing with our rabbit Carrot.  He chases and follows her all over the yard and they are best buddies.  She enjoys collecting the eggs every day and giving the chickens a quick pet.  She also LOVES cats.  She has had a blast over the past year helping to take care of my Mom's kittens and enjoys frequent visits from Rabbit and Eeyore even now when they are grown.  She mothers them like crazy and they love it.  She gives Rica a lot of attention and loves birds too.
4.  She loves jumping on the trampoline, wrestling, biking (NO TRAINING WHEELS EVER), playing with My Little Pony toys, Strawberry Shortcake dolls, barbies, dolls, jewelry, clothes and dresses.  SHe will only wear her hair in braids or down with clips.  Even mentioning a "pony tail" will bring tears lol.
5.  Is super silly.  She reminds me so much of myself at her age.  She is goofy as all get out and will do silly voices and giggle a lot.  She likes to dramatically lip sync music (especially Frozen songs or kids praise songs).  She also likes to write little songs (about rainbows, rain, birds etc.)  Her latest enjoyment is singing duets with me.
6.  She is a little helper in all ways.  I am so proud of her servant spirit and loves to cook, garden, clean, etc.  She always is helping us out with a willing and joyful heart.  She always helps her brothers without us even asking her to.
7.  She planted all of my garden with me and loves to help in any way.  She loves weeding, watering, mulching, etc.  I let her plant two big smart pots full of strawberries and she loves checking on them every day and picking and eating them.
8.  Says she is going to marry "Daddy" and that I have to share him.
9.  She is super affectionate and loves snuggles, hugs, and kisses.
10.  She prays so super sweet.
11.  Has a couple of nicknames being Cora Lou, Cora Bell, and Cora Ellie
12.  Has an ear piercing girl scream when playing hide and seek or other games.
13.  Loves playing animals and has worn holes in all of her pants crawling around playing cats on her knees.
14.  Loves roller coasters and other rides and has no motion sickness.  She also loves swinging at the park.
15. Has a best friend, Avary Owens, from church, and we have many playdates where the girls completely trash her room and cook us "pies".
16.  Loves having tea parties and had a fancy dress up tea party with her friends and cousins for her fourth birthday.  We had tons of finger foods, punch, tea, scones, and crown cupcakes.  The girls had a blast making teapot necklaces and playing.
17.  Is the most beautiful girl both inside and outside!

Eli #6

Oh my Eli.  This past year has been one of the craziest times.  I feel like I have been holding my breath all year and have just now exhaled!  Juggling therapies, new school schedule and adjustment, learning the ropes of public school, Cora starting preschool, Asher's ear struggles and subsequent surgery for tubes, etc.  It was amazing to watch Eli grow into a big Kindergartner and embrace school with all the passion he's always held for life in general.  He loves school (is sad that it will be ending soon), loves his teacher, and has made tons of new friends (especially Gabe, Henry, Colton, and Brody).  I consider this year a miracle year.  Eli officially graduated ALL speech services at Heartspring (we were driving and squeezing in speech two mornings a week before school and then he was doing one session of speech at school a week).  All of his teachers tell me all the time how smart he is and how much they love him and love having him as a student.  This year has been more than we could have ever hoped for and I am thanking God for his faithfulness and his mercies that are new every morning.  At six Eli:
1.  Loves space shuttle launches.  He knows all the shuttles and loves watching their launches online.  His favorite shirt is his Colombia shuttle shirt.  He has all of his friends playing a "spaceship game" out at recess with him on the playground equipment and likes playing with space toys.  His whole room is decorated with space stickers, shuttle poster, etc.  He was born to fly!
2.  Lives to do model rocket launches.  He likes to take his friends too and the whole family enjoys them, as well.
3.  Likes all things pirates.  He likes playing with pirate ships, hunting for treasure, etc.  He also loves Star Wars and Clone Wars and playing with light sabers.
4.  Favorite restaurant is Jason's Deli or Picasso's Pizza.  Both places have great GF food.
5.  Still loves flying in airplanes and loves traveling.  It doesn't matter where we go, but his favorites are:  the farm, Texas, Lake Tahoe, and Kansas City to Great Wolf Lodge.
6.  Likes riding on the 4-wheeler, kayaking, playing on the playgrounds, going to movies, wrestling on the trampoline with Dad, jumping, running, computer games, star wars games, collecting the eggs, picking strawberries or other goodies out of the garden, sledding, eating snow, and more.
7.  For his birthday at school he had a space theme and gave out space goody bags.
8.  Is reading amazingly and loves it!  He can read paragraphs and has grown so much this year in both reading, writing, fine motor skill etc.
9. Bothered once in a while by his wheat allergy.  He still is a great sport about eating differently than the other kids, but has mentioned more than once this year that he wishes he could eat wheat and hopes he will be able to eat it in Heaven.
10.  Scared of the dark once in a while and sleeps with 5 items:  three stuffed animals and two balls.
11.  Has a great sense of spirituality and always asks great questions and can add to the conversation.  He prays for his friends and is always thinking of his friends when they are sick etc.  He is very caring and loving.
12.  Hard working in school.
13.  Very affectionate lately, especially with Cora and Asher.
14.  Still has sensory issues with smell (don't even try to open a banana near him).
15.  Can still have some not so fun emotional outbursts especially when tired, but with a good routine and structure he does great.
16.  Loves all things nerdy.  He loves math and science, but has made me very proud this year in stretching himself and actually really enjoying art and music, as well.
17. Passionate about life and inspires me in so many ways!