Our children do grow up nicely!

I am excited and happy for Taylor! I have to share a few wonderful things. Yesterday he looked out the window to the back yard and said "Oh, I need to get out there and rake my yard". Dad then advised him to wait a little bit longer as the leaves were still falling as it would be better to do the job in only a few phases instead of several. Well, I'm just excited that Taylor has learned to work willingly. He started with a back yard full of weeds up to the knees (we found 3 sprigs of real grass!) and since have thoroughly taken it through a true transformation with the rest of the families help. Pulling the weeds and removing the sticks etc. then grading it after dad tilled then, seeding, fertilizing and watering. The whole process was so rewarding when the grass actually grew! The work Taylor put into it and the ownership is sweet. I often would find him out there pulling weeds or otherwise working all on his own accord.



Taylor gets to be "safety patrol" at school his favorite part is helping the kindergartners. He takes his job very seriously and takes careful attention to keep his privilege. Too Cute!
All of his responsibility is part of showing he's ready for that dream dog he's always wanted... maybe in the next house. (I deprive the children of having a pet so far because of travel and cleanliness of people is our first goal. However, I think it may make a veterinarian out of one of our children!)



Here is his goofy demonstration of what a safety patrol does.



I think he is finally allowing himself to believe how smart he truly is. He made top grade in the two 5th grade classes on a Greece project and was pretty excited about it. He said, "I can't wait to go to school tomorrow and see how many merits I can get!" WHAT?!? ..... sweet music to my ears and joy to my soul! ~ Taryn