What happens when...

I just found some photos on my computer I forgot about. These sequence of photos must have been taken on a day where I was MIA or just chasing the other three around. So without further delay, THIS is what happens when Cuatro (who was almost 4) gets a hold of toilet paper:

 I made him clean it up!!!

Man of God

It has bothered me for a while that I have a verse for my girls which you may remember in this post and no verse for Cuatro.

But today I ran across this:

1 Timothy 6:11 -- "But you, man of God, pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness."

Oh how I pray these spiritual truths for my son...especially the gentleness part:)

Cuatro turned Cinco!

Dear Cuatro,

You turned five two weeks ago and I have been meaning to do this post/letter since before your birthday. Five is a milestone and it deserves some celebration and fanfare. When you were two I didn't think with all the daring stunts you performed that you would see the five year mark.
You are every bit as daring still. You are my only boy and such a novelty to me. You are so completely different than all your sisters that I am constantly asking boy moms if you are in fact normal. You are, of course, but some days I need reassurance.
Right now you ask questions all day everyday. You ask EVERYONE questions even strangers. I gasp sometime with how outgoing you are since I tend to stay on the shy side. You put me in alot of uncomfortable situations but your father loves when I recount these stories because he knows that I embarrass very easily and you do not--AT ALL,EVER. You love to play with your sisters but tend to love them "too much" which results in a happy moment going to a chaotic moment in about two seconds. I know this phase is brief but oh how I wish you would get the concept of "personal space".
You think your daddy is the best person in the whole world (I do too) and love to be by his side all the time. You are crying less when he leaves every morning but still jump up and down when he comes home every night. I love this about you and pray you stay best friends even when you are a teenager and we can't get you to talk as much as you do now.
You and I have a love/dislike relationship. I probably should not write this but I want to remember everything about your fivenesss(I know it's not a word). You love me sometimes and other times you know which buttons to press to just send me over the edge. God is working on me through you and I pray the verse daily that "he who began a good work in you (which is me in this instance) will be faithful to complete it". But at night, even on the bad days, you sweetly ask me to cuddle with you and we say your blessing and you are my little boy in my arms for those minutes. I know these years are going to go fast and you are not going to want me to lay down with you at night to cuddle so I am savoring every night that we do.
You are reading and writing but we kept you in preschool this year due to your late birthday. I hope this was a good decision. You love your new preschool and the move from Texas to Maryland has been almost seamless. You make friends so easily that I am not worried.
I love you sweet boy and I pray that you come to know and love the Lord with all your heart, mind, and soul. You are so charismatic and love so fiercely that when you take that energy and use it for Our heavenly Father, many lives will change for His glory.

Love,
Mommy


(Had to include this one since this is what happens alot these days)

Just so I don't forget

The latest funny sayings of Cuatro:

--"Oh, Katie, your shirt is so beautiful!!"

--When he and his daddy were at the ranch a few weeks ago, they discovered the hunting jeep has been stolen so Joe called the sheriff and told Cuatro that the police were coming. Cuatro started crying and said he didn't want to go to jail. Joe told him that the police were heroes and were coming to help. Joe turned back around to drive and heard a little voice behind him say very quietly, "Daddies can be heroes too."

--While waiting for the police to come, Joe heard something in one of the hunting trailers and thought someone was in their illegally. He went into Marine Corps mode and admitted that he forgot Cuatro was there. So he grabbed his gun and got in his "clearing mode" and right before he was about to barge into the front door, he heard the familiar little voice whisper loudly, "Daddy, you gonna shoot somebody?"
(I was not happy about this story at first and Joe has promised to wait for the police the next time he decides to "clear" a building with one of our children present)

--This might be too much for some people but I want to remember what he says: He asked if it hurt to have a baby come out and I said yes. He thought about this for a little bit and then asked, "Does it hurt for the baby to go in?" (Joe and I both had a hard time stifling that laugh)

--When we asked what he did in preschool yesterday, he said, "Well, I did some time-out.....

It was too funny to be embarrasing

Today I took Cuatro to get a haircut at the new salon for kids. They had an X-box (something we don't have) and a fire engine to sit in while you get a haircut. And the added bonus was his personal TV he was allowed to watch while the man worked on his hair. So I am tending to Audrey in the toy area when I hear the following: "My mommy and daddy took a short shower this morning". Ummm, WHAT?? The guy shoots me a horrified look and I am sure I shot him one back. Did I mention that there were about 6 other people there and Cuatro said this in his usual loud voice? Oh, heavens please hide me, yes. The story behind that gem of a statement is that our well has been broken for five days and while our tank has some water left, we have been conserving water like crazy. SO last night I took a quick shower and this morning Joe took a quick shower. End of story. But Cuatro didn't make it sound like that. Oh my goodness, he is teaching me to be humble. I did try to explain to the man cutting Cuatro's hair but I don't think he beleived me. Oh well, at least Cuatro didn't say this at church or something....right?

Does Cuarto have a future in the NFL?

This video speaks for itself. Cuatro is in the blue jersey second from the right-#41.

A "Really" Moment

So my sister, W, came over yesterday with her three boys. We like to get together as often as we can since we are both raising four children that are relatively the same age. Her youngest and my youngest are five days apart. So our two little "handfuls", Harry and Cuatro, were playing quietly and nicely outside when Jackson (older brother of Harry) came running in saying Harry was spraying everyone with paint. My sister and I leap off our chairs and run outside to find Harry spray painting BLACK on the playground. No harm done, right? Just a little black paint on the ladder going up to the fort. Can't blame a three year old boy for using spray paint left in the yard by my husband. At least, we said, it was on wood and not anyone's skin or eyes. So we took the can away after explaining to Harry that we should not spray things with black paint--a conversation you must have with little boys:)
So W and I get another cup of coffee and sit on the front porch to watch the children outside--a little more supervision was needed now that spray paint could be found, right? So we are chatting and watching the six older kids when Cuatro comes running up to the porch to tell us something. He finishes and then turns around to go play again and, lo and behold, this is what we saw:



I guess Harry was spray painting EVERYTHING and EVERYONE before Jackson got to us. Cuatro didn't seem to notice or care which made it even more funny. Needless to say, W and I were doubled over in laughter. Oh the things boys do. Harry and Cuatro are quite the pair and keep everyone on their toes. We can't wait to see what kind of men they will become. Hopefully those two lose the destructive behavior soon or the next few years will be enlightening.......