FIVE

Five is a very significant number, especially for a little boy. Matthew just celebrated his fifth birthday and it's amazing how much older he feels and even acts. He's trying more things on his own...because he's five. He's helping his brother more...because he's five. He wanted a big birthday party...because he's five. As a parent, it's easy to reflect on the past five years and question where the time has gone. I look back only to smile looking forward. Matthew and Thomas are at the core of why I live and love every day. The past five years have truly been the turning point in my life. Seeing my boys learn and grow and teach me new things everyday brings my soul peace, despite the seemingly constant turmoil surrounding our lives.

Matthew reminded me this week about appreciating the simple things. Last week, Uncle Greg found 8 eggs in the barn. The chickens are finally producing! Matthew was so excited when he heard the news, he jumped up and down and yelled, "we're farmers!!" Egg producing chickens sealed the deal in our attempt to live on "a farm." Today, Matthew went to the barn with his dad so I could finish preparations for his birthday party. They found one egg in the poo-filled chicken coupe (yuck)! Gavin told Matthew to go get his cousin so she could be the one to find the egg. He ran as fast as he could all the way to the house and all the way back because this was a very important responsibility for a farmer. Aunt Heather was so nice to share the egg with Matthew since he helped to find it. Matthew carefully washed the egg (you don't want a description of it's condition when discovered!) and proudly showed the egg to all of his birthday party guests when they arrived. Wouldn't our kids be happier if we ran to their big discoveries and proudly showed them off to everyone we know!

The day was a big one for our little family. Between Grandma being here for a sleepover, Matthew being the star of the day, and hosting family and friends for a five year old birthday party, we were all tuckered out by 6 p.m. Matthew and Thomas both fell asleep in a parent's lap and mom, dad, and grandma all had time to visit and relax. What would we do without each other!