Bear Achievement Award

Cub Scouts has been such a great blessing for Gabriel. He recently earned his Bear badge award for the year. Our whole family went to his Blue and Gold banquet to celebrate and see his ceremony. You can see the the paint his Daddy painted his face with during his ceremony, and then at the end he dotted Daddy's nose with white paint. It was a special moment. We are proud of his hard work and all he has learned this year. We love our little Cub Scout.

Pinewood Derby Winner!

I am so happy for my son. He came in first place in his Bear den for the speed of his car. He received the blue ribbon award and is one happy little fellow. He is already planning how he wants to design his next car for next year's race. :)

Cub Scouts

We bit off a big commitment with Gabriel this past school year. That commitment is Cub Scouts. I have to say it has been a huge blessing in his life. You see Gabriel has four sisters, and thus all the girl stuff in our home is multiplied four times. One time he complained to me that there are always more girl toys, movies, etc. Matt and I felt it was time to make an intentional effort to do something for him that was just ALL BOY, and Cub Scouts has been the perfect thing. He goes once a week or twice if there is an event like a camp out, Pinewood Derby, Workshop, etc. As much as we want to teach him boyhood/manly skills it is easy to overlook all he needs to be learning without this accountability. The homework has been great to keep us accountable to teach him these skills and character lessons. Recently he has learned some about cooking, built a model car and display, built a Pinewood Derby car from a block of wood, began woodworking skills, and learned about safety precautions. There have been so many great lessons learned already. He is currently working hard to complete his requirements to earn his Bear badge before he is promoted to the next level. He is learning that hard work pays off as he completes these assignments and is awarded along the way. It is so precious to see him in a group of boys all in uniform and having so much fun. This has been such a great opportunity for him. We are so proud of his hard work thus far. In the pictures you can see him showing his model display to his Bear Den and also standing with his group after the police officer spoke about safety.

Yesterday Gabriel and I spent some time in the kitchen learning some basic skills he needed to know for a Cub Scouts assignment. Here are some of his accomplishments:

Boiled Eggs

Trail Mix

Cut Veggies

He did really well and enjoyed his time in the kitchen. I was able to take him to Cub Scouts last night and listen to him share, with his den, about his experience in the kitchen. His den also discussed safety measures to protect ourselves from evil people, and Gabriel had fun taking my finger prints and marking them in his book. It was a good time with him. I love my growing little man.
He is currently preparing for the pinewood derby, so we will have some pictures of his car on the blog in the near future.

That Nose!

I tell you this boy really makes me laugh. So funny and cute all in one precious boy!

Congratulations Gabriel!

Well, I am a super duper proud Mama of my little man. Gabriel began Kung Fu lessons in January and has worked really hard making great progress the last couple of months. Last Monday he took an examination and passed all the skills evaluations for advancing to a gold belt level. He was super happy. He immediately wanted to call his Daddy and tell him about it.

Here he is being congratulated by one of his teachers. You can see the red stripe of tape on his white belt. That shows that he has passed his evaluation. When the school holds another graduation night he will be awarded his new gold belt.

Gabriel has developed a lot of physical strength and stamina through his Kung Fu lessons. It is good for him to have this outlet as something just for him. He is surrounded with sisters and all their feminine interests. Kung Fu has been good for him, and he is happy to have skills to protect his sisters should the need ever arrive. I am so happy to see him accomplish this first step. :)

Gabriel's Presentation

Each Friday at Classical Conversations the children have to give a presentation to their class. It is really fun to see them up in front of everyone and how they handle the situation. This past week Gabriel was supposed to give a presentation on one of his favorite Bible stories. So, we pulled out the flannel graph set and he decided to do the story of baby Jesus. I got to sit in on his class and see his presentation. He couldn't quite remember how the angel's visit to Joseph went but fully recovered his thoughts on the journey to Bethlehem. Pretty cute. :) They have been trained to always start with, "Hello, my name is and today my presentation is about......" Then at the end they close with, "Thank you for listening to my presentation; are there any questions?" The questions the other kids come up with can be very cute too. It is good training for speaking later in life. I am glad they have this opportunity.

Sweet!!!

Gabriel got a new dry erase board on his wall for his first grade work. Look what he wrote on it. :) It made my day.

Kindergarten Graduation

I don't know how it is possible, but my little man has graduated from kindergarten. Our church has a ceremony for all the kindergarten grads each year. It is a special time to celebrate their accomplishment in finishing their first year of schooling. It is the time when they leave the church preschool department and go to the grade school department. Gabriel received a special graduation bear.
We listen to many cds as part of our schooling, and one has a song I tell Gabriel is my song for him. It is called A Man of God. It goes like this:

I don't care if you play football or play in the band,
I don't care if you're a doctor or a garbage man,
It doesn't matter if you're good in school or great at art,
There's just one thing I care with all my heart;

That you grow up to be a man of God,
That you use His Word as a measuring rod,
That you love your neighbor as yourself,
That you do not trust in this world's wealth,
That you grow up to be a man of God.

I don't care if you're a loner or have lots of friends,
I don't care if your clothes are new or they have lots of mends,
It doesn't matter if you're tall and thin, or short and round,
There's just one important thing that I have found;

That you grow up to be a man of God,
That you use His Word as a measuring rod,
That you love your neighbor as yourself, That you do not trust in this world's wealth, That you grow up to be a man of God.

I think that is the sweetest little song, and it certainly is my prayer for Gabriel. Above all else I want my son to grow up into a man of God.

My Little Man

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:20,21)


I was introducing the kids to my new blog this morning, and Gabriel requested that a picture of JUST HIM!!! be posted. :) I love my little man. Being the only boy in our family makes him uniquely special. I remember when I was pregnant with him the Lord impressed upon my heart the words from Ephesians written above. The Lord was speaking to my heart that my son would be more than I could imagine and do you know what??? Gabriel has been an absolute delight to his Mama's heart. Having a little boy has been a real joy. I thought I would bullet point some of the things I love about this little man in my life.

1. His adorable smile
2. The way he says, "I Love you, Mama."
3. His overabundance of hugs and kisses
4. The way he loves and wants to protect his sisters
5. He ponders things deeply and comes out with some amazing thoughts. Recently he told Matt, "Daddy, I don't know much about crystals, but I sure know I love you."
6. He is just so stinking cute!
7. I love to see him dressed up as Robin Hood, Superman, a Knight, a Pirate, a Pilgrim and many other things in his imagination. It is amazing how he utilizes different costume pieces to create the characters he wants to be.
8. He can be super funny and have everyone rolling with laughter.
   
9. I love the many mornings he has come in with his Nemo pillow and snuggled in bed with me at the start of a new day. (Yes, he is my early riser; always has been)
   
10. I love our special times reading together.

O.k. I could go on and on, but can you tell I love my little man? Yea, I REALLY do!!!