My fridge is cracking me up right now and since it's time to de-clutter it, I thought I'd record why. Peter has several works of art he is proudly displaying.

One is a "rich person" he drew. He titled it and when I asked him what a rich person looked like/who he knew that was rich/where he got the idea to draw such a person, he said "We are, Mom! We found Black Beard's treasure! Duh!" On Kevin's birthday, Kevin planted a treasure out back for the kids to discover, complete with "X marks the spot." This made me crack up when he first said it since we are feeling the pinch after eight years of schooling and yet another expensive move in our near future, pending costs for Kevin's licensure ($1000s of dollars just to get it), etc. But, of course, as time has passed and I've seen it day after day, I've seen the positive attitude of a child who needs so much less to be happy than adults sometimes think we need.

Another piece is a picture he brought home from school with two figures, grass, sunshine, etc. I laughed aloud when I saw this one too. The two drawings are titled "My sister Jillian" and "A mole rat." We love the Mo Willems book "The Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed." If you haven't read it, it will expand your horizons and make you think:)

Lastly, there is a paper with lines that he put up. He wanted it there to record when we do kind deeds for each other. I can't remember but he's listed something up top, along with everyone's name in the family.

That boy is always thinking.

A Pome about Lucy by Jillian

Lucy is a sweet one,
She is a baby, But so cute,
Lucy is my only sister,
She is two years old,
Verry preshes,
Verry Cute!

What to play?!

Lately I hear lots of discussions, that actually sound like arguments but couldn't possibly be!, about what the kids are going to play. Peter ALWAYS wants to play "small LEGOS" and feels slighted every time someone else wants to play a different game. Jillian plays her fair share of small LEGOS but also wants to play "family", ride her bike, etc. Usually Peter responds by saying he'll destroy her stuff while she's away, admittedly not cool. We're working on adding in a little persuasion, kindness, deal making, etc. instead of jumping right to destruction. Anyway, the other day I heard him trying to convince her to play "Jungle," with the LEGOS, of course.

"I LIKE jungles. Jungles are AWESOME! VINES are awesome! I LIKE vines!"

Not sure why it struck me as so funny but, naturally, I think everything that comes out of their mouths is genius, mostly.

A few entries from Jillian's school journal (March 2013)

Feb 20, 2013
A poem about Lucy
She is a sweet little one.
She is a baby but so cute!
Lucy is my only sister!
Lucy is only 2 years old.
Verry preshes,
Verry cute,
Lucy!

Feb 25, 2013
On Friday, I and my mom went to Vraginya! On Saturday it was my mom's sister's Weding shower! At the weding shower, I was the only kid. But, it was stil fun. My Ont's name is Katlin. She is nice!

March 8, 2013
I try not to laugh. I do hard work. I am first in line. I keep my secrets.

Weekend News March 11, 2013
On Saturday I rod my bike at the park. I olso went to the stor. To get medisin for my mom! Because on September 20th, where having a baby!

Annual Event March 19, 2013

I have gone to the Thanksgiving prad in New York Sity. We had to get up rily erly. If we wanted to go! So, we got up rily erly!

Lucy

Lulu is in the most hilarious stage right now. She has been starting to potty train, actually I think she's pretty close to having it, and is very self-motivated. Or candy motivated. Either way, it's pretty funny. She likes to do the whole thing herself, including emptying the pee into the big toilet, SICK, so we try and catch her before she does that. The phrase we hear often is "it's not comings!"

If you say, "you're silly," or "are you thirsty?," she replies "NO! I'm Lucy Gertschy!" with a big grin. I think she may be the only one who appreciates my jokes when the kids say they're thirsty and I say "That's odd. I thought you were Jillian?!"

She has a mind for remembering song lyrics, especially our jazzed up versions of Scripture Power, Dare to Do Right, and The Lucy Gertsch Song, which is actually our family song that is set to another primary tune but includes a verse that says "There's Jill and Pete and don't forget Lucy, and all the rest who are still on the way, I love my family."

She has become more and more full of smiles and kisses and she pretty much bounces from place to place. She'll read the Kevin Henkes book A Good Day every night before bed, usually with Dad, and so several times a day she makes sure she has my attention (i.e. eye contact) and says "Mama, what a good day!" (the ending line in the book- it's such a great book about being patient in frustrating circumstances and coming out triumphant, in little kids' terms of course, I recommend it to anyone). What a great reminder- thanks Girlie! 

Oh, and as a result of being the littlest, every time she leaves a room "Hey, don't touch my stuff!" Haha, she hears that about 25 times daily from the big kids regarding their small legos.

My Sweet Boy

Of late Peter seems to be pondering spiritual things more than he had before, and more than I would suppose a busy four-year-old boy would.

Last week he asked "Mom, you know the Old Testament?" "Yes?" "I believe in it and what it says, because I've been learning the stories from it and I believe in the people and it talks about God." It was completely out of the blue and I was surprised that was what was going on in his little mind. Then, this week for Family Home Evening we watched a video of people talking about how they had gained their knowledge of God. One of the men said "I feel God watching over me" and Peter chimed in "I feel that too. I feel Heavenly Father is watching over me too." He said it very matter of factly, like he'll say "my favorite power ranger is the blue one" while he's watching another show. I'm so grateful he's starting to recognize, in a very small way, what a testimony of Heavenly Father is.

A Note to Keep Mom Honest

Mom,

Reameber that you PROMIST to start my histery black persin project THIS AFTERNOON! and get books about Harryit                            (<--- cant="" from="" i="" it="" library.="" p="" reamber="" the="">
Love,
Jillian :)