Anticipation

In my years of mothering, I've learned that the anticipation of an event is often more thrilling than the event itself. Our latest celebration countdown has been going on for weeks, and it involves a little boy with an Easter birthday. Aaron has found so much joy in counting down the days until his birthday, that he's turned it into a fascination with numbers. He used to count to 11, maybe 12 if he was lucky. Since his number kick, the boy can count to 30 and beyond without a hitch. He counts his football cards, pages in books, cars, eggs, etc. He has 83 football cards, so 83 is his benchmark for deciding if a number is big or small. 101 is a new favorite as well. He finds Braylen's chapter books and turns to page 101 and announces to me that 101 is more than 100.

Today's most exciting number for him is 2, since that is how many days until his birthday. :) I'm sure he'll be overloaded with goodies and gifts on Easter, raking in quite a stash as a new 5 year old. I look forward to it, but I also live in the real world. It will be a long day. He will be tired, over-stimulated, and cranky by day's end. (I'll probably join him in it!) So we've really enjoyed the countdown stage, for the gleam in his eye is from pure anticipation of what's to come. I love it.

Braylen and Kaleb are looking forward to Easter too. Grandparents and parents make good Easter bunnies! As spring is arriving, they are spending more and more time outside. Our basketball hoop gets lots and lots of use. They are anticipating the end of 1st and 3rd grades. I am not. As much as I love summer, this school year has been exceptional. Great teachers, good ages for our kids--I just don't want to see it end. So for now we will enjoy our 4th quarter.

Coloring eggs on a rainy day

Some Aaronisms I keep forgetting to note. Aaron loves meatloaf, and one night when we were having meatloaf for supper he said, "Oooo, we're having moat-leaf, loaf-meet, leaf-moat...what is this called?" Another mixed-up word is basket. He keeps telling me about his Easter "bastic." As he grows, his word mix-ups are fewer and farther between. That's why I don't want to forget even one.