Abbey is Eleven!

Abbey is eleven today! We had a great day. We started out by remembering the day she was born. Her favorite part is how strong she was as a newborn, lifting her head up and looking around. 

(April birthday twins)

The day wasn’t what we had originally planned but it was still good. She had hoped to attend the Rawlinsville Auction with Trent and Anne and Maggie. However, that was cancelled because of the virus. We still had a lovely day. French toast for breakfast, ham & cheese sandwich for lunch, and burgers on the grill and a peanut butter cheesecake for dessert. Abbey almost always chooses burgers for her birthday meal and it’s become tradition that our first time using the grill is for her birthday. 

(Not quite 11 candles but she got them all out in one go, but refused to tell her wish.) 

Abbey is an amazing girl. She is very strong physically. She can do lots of chin ups and climb tall trees. She is also growing spiritually. She accepted Jesus two years ago now, and last year she read the entire Bible cover to cover in one year. She is very intelligent, still working an entire grade level above her age. And books. Abbey loves, loves, loves to read. 

One of the things I love most about Abbey is her sense of humor. She is so funny. So much fun to be around. She is a good friend to her sisters and her friends at church. 

Abbey is really patient and persistent. She is very good at delayed gratification. She is good at saving money. She started calling it “moolah” as a joke and now Ruthie will only refer to dollars as moolah. Abbey will always eat her dessert slowly. If there is cookie dough in the ice cream she’ll save all the pieces for the end. Or marshmallows in cereal; she’ll collect them outside if her bowl and organize them, then put them all in her mouth at once. 

I have loved watching Abbey take on more responsibility with her younger sisters, especially Heidi. Abbey is usually the first kid awake in the morning and as soon as she hears Heidi in her room will run to get her. The bond between them is truly special. 

While she hated taking piano lessons I thought she was quite good. Caroline has a keen desire to play and a natural God-given talent. However, as she advances to harder songs without a teacher, Abbey has stepped into that role to show her where to put her hands and how to play the notes. Just this morning Abbey was holding Heidi and Carrie wanted help on the piano. I tried to take Heidi but Heidi only wanted Abbey. So Abbey put Heidi on one hip and used her other hand to show Caroline how to play the part she was having trouble with. It was so awesome to see. 

I see a particular love of children in Abbey. Not only a love but a true knack for caring for them and extreme tenderness and compassion for children without a home. Abbey was the most insistent of all the kids that we adopt a second time and when Heidi was home only one month she was already pushing for another sibling. 

Abbey also loves animals. While she doesn’t particularly care to feed and water the chickens she does seem to love watching the ducks play in their baby pool and is always glad to see bigger dogs. She would desperately love to have a big outdoor dog to romp through the woods with and to follow her around outside. Somehow our five pound chihuahua just isn’t the same as a good sheep dog, or blue heeler, or retriever, or maremma, or anything else “fun”. She would take a bunny if we weren’t willing to get a dog. I guess 1 dog, 1 hamster, 1 pig, 4 ducks, and 14 chickens aren’t enough. 

(Big fat toad)

(Is this really necessary??)

I took Abbey and Anne to the March for Life in DC back in January. I believe it was really pivotal in her life. She was very moved by the speakers and, while she would have liked for there to be less walking (truly, an exhausting day!), it was powerful for her to see the people there and hear stories from abortion survivors. We had a lot of good conversations before and after the March. I think it will be something she always remembers. I thought it was really neat to see what she chose to put on her poster. Her sister’s footprints in the shape of a heart. Knowing that kids with special needs are often aborted struck her deeply as she has so much love and compassion for her all her sisters, but especially the ones who were adopted. The thought that their lives would not exist is horrifying. I’m so glad she got to experience this!

I can’t wait to see where Abbey, following God’s direction, will go. She doesn’t have a clear destination in mind like some of our other kids, but that’s ok. I think it may help her to follow the Lord’s leading more closely. 

Her loot! A new bike basket, earring making kit, Frozen II soundtrack, a necklace from her sister, overalls, Ember’s End, hand-sewn treasures from Ruthie and Carrie, and a Swiss Army knife. What more could a girl want?? 

Happy 11th birthday, Abigail Frances. You are a joy and delight. I can’t wait to take you out for coffee (or whatever super sweet drink you order) once the virus is over. I forgot to beg for my birthday selfie with you. Maybe some year you’ll love having your photo taken, but until then, thanks for humoring me when I beg, and for the funny faces in between. 

Abbey is Ten!

In April, Abbey turned ten! I now have two kids in double-digits!

It's always hard to believe that your once little baby is getting so big, so full of life and personality. She's making her own decisions and sticking with them. Well, that's nothing new. Even as a little girl she could be quite stubborn. Abbey is such a fun girl to be around. She may come off as shy before you get to know her, then she'll knock you down in surprise at her (sometimes dark) humor.

Typical Abbey humor

Abbey doesn't usually want people to know it, but she's actually very tender-hearted. She may not cry during Little House on the Prairie like her mom does, but it's not uncommon to see her helping Caroline or Ruth with whatever they need. She is usually quite resistant to change but was the most eager for us to adopt a second time. She has the amazing ability to get along well with all of her siblings. It is rare to see her lose her temper at any of her siblings. It's not uncommon to see her get frustrated with herself. Abbey holds herself to extremely high standards and wrestles with being a perfectionist. We are continuing to work through this with her with gentleness and care, reminding her that none of us are perfect and all we ask is that she does her best.

Close in age sisters are so fun! 16 months apart!

Since turning ten is extra-special, we planned a little birthday party for Abbey. She isn't the kind of girl who likes to be around a lot of people or even have tons of friends. She has a couple of dear friends that she wanted to have over (after initially saying she didn't want any people to come over). We had a lovely day during which I only took one photo. Oops.

She had a Lego Friends themed party, complete with a “lego” pinata, a game where the winners took home Legos, and a Lego cake. It was all rather simple but fun and perfectly suited to Abbey. She had fun but was ready for the party to end when it did. She spent her afternoon reading quietly to herself.

For her birthday celebration with Trent she went to Outback to eat. We have started a tradition of eating there when we go to the beach, so for a special tenth birthday treat, that's where she went. She loves the bread and butter they give, but mostly she wanted the Thunder From Down Under dessert. She has the biggest sweet tooth.

Two hands!

Afterward she went to Longwood Gardens. She had a great day. Abbey liked when there was a boy with a stick near a pond who wanted to poke at a dead fish. She related to me that when the boy asked if he should try to get the fish daddy wanted to tell him “yes” but didn't know where the boy's mom was at so decided against it.

Our kids end up with a week or more worth of celebrations. She also celebrated at Grandpa and Grandma Hess's and then later spent a weekend at Mema's house where she sewed a cute stuffed puppy.

Abbey loves animals. While she says she doesn't like it, I think she's genuinely enjoying having a lamb to care for as her 4-H project. More than anything, I think she's nervous to show her sheep at the fair in front of people. She really doesn't like to be the center of attention or on stage or anything. She can, and does, overcome her fear with such outward ease that you never know until you talk to her later that she was feeling sick to her stomach. We are hoping she will out grow this fear with practice.

It's a real joy to have Abigail Frances as my daughter. It's surprising that she was so challenging to parent when she was small because she brings so much joy and laughter to our home now. I'm amazed at her tenacity and dedication to see a task completed. She will put off having an ice pop until her chores are complete. She has committed to reading the entire Bible in a year and has stuck to it.

Abbey, happy tenth birthday. We love you, sweetheart!

Abbey is Nine

My second born, Abbey, is nine! 

Celebrating on 4.18 at Grandpa and Grandma Hess's!

One of the most enjoyable things about being a parent of many daughters is just how different each child can be. For a long time, Abbey was a hard kid for me to parent. It seemed as if we were constantly butting heads. However, after a lot of dedicated hard work, endless prayers, lots of apologizing, and even some tears, I have found Abbey to be such an enjoyable girl to be around.

If you don't know my Abbey, I'll try to explain her complex personality. She has a dark and often dry sense of humor. This was very confusing to me to witness in her as a very young child. As she has grown and I've gotten to know her better, I realize that this is just her quick wit. Abbey is the quietest child we have, so when she speaks it's worth listening to hear what she has to say. It will either be hilarious or profound.

Abbey continues to thrive in nature. She is always the first to volunteer to help me with all types of gardening. Hiking is one of her favorite activities. Abbey is an expert tree-climber. It may surprise you that Abbey is also the first one to offer to help me in the kitchen. She recently helped me grate blocks of soap by hand for our first attempt at home made laundry soap. It was an activity that she found a lot of joy in accomplishing and was so proud when her clothes came out of the laundry smelling citrusy and fresh and knowing she had a hand it making that happen.

Abbey LOVES sweets. These triple layer brownies and ice cream did not disappoint! 

For her Daddy-Daughter date, Abbey and Trent went to Muddy Run and rented a canoe.

I loved hearing her story of attempting to get onto "Goose Island", an island covered with geese, only to realize that goose sitting placidly on the shore was actually sitting on a nest, and the gander came honking and flapping right at them as they attempted to quickly back paddle away from the angry dad. It will be a day she remembers for a long time. 

Best dad ever

Nine!

It has been so lovely to watch Abbey mature and grow over the years. While Abbey struggled for a long time to accept any major changes (moving, new siblings, etc.) it was a delight to see her quick love and acceptance for Ruthie. Beyond that, Abbey has been one of the most adamant siblings to suggest we add another Hess to the family. She has shown strength of character in her willingness to learn to be selfless. For most of us, especially those with a strong-will, it's a real challenge to put the desires of someone else above your own. Abbey has shown me that she has the desire to do this hard work.

Another celebration with Mema and cousins

Most importantly, Abbey has not had this growth without help. I have prayed for many years for Abbey's stubborn heart. Apologizing, admitting she was wrong, humbling herself, has always, always, been difficult for her. Just before Easter, while doing the Resurrection Eggs like we have for several years, a story that Abbey has heard countless times, resonated with her. The veil was lifted, her heart was changed. She prayed to ask Jesus into her heart, that he would walk with her always. And my friends! What a mighty God we serve! While her sinful tendencies crop up on her (like losing her temper and throwing something when she didn't immediately understand a math problem), through tears, before I even said anything, my girl apologized and asked forgiveness. 

This may seem small, but what a joyful breakthrough this was! I am so pleased to have Abbey as my daughter, as a daughter of the King, and as a sister in Christ. This child who used to say she would never get married because she'd rather live alone and have cats (I kid you not, this was her life goal), has said she would like to be married, to have children, and most especially to adopt. 

So happy ninth birthday, Abigail Frances. I love you!

Abigail Frances turns 8!

Abbey is eight!

While just a scant 17 1/2 months younger than Anne and 16 months older than Maggie, Abbey was my "first" middle child. As such, she possessed some middle child tendencies for awhile (mainly rebelling to obtain attention). Combined with the pouring of tender care into her for her fifth and sixth years of life and a shift in birth order from middle child to second oldest of soon to be five, we have noticed some lovely changes in Abbey.

Getting ready for her daddy-daughter date. Hiking and Lapp's for lunch!

Obligatory family picture at the PA Grand Canyon

The birth of Caroline three years ago revealed a tender heart in Abbey. While I believe the tenderness was always there, it was buried. Abbey is Caroline's go-to sister. Abbey doesn't recognize herself as a mothering type as much as Anne and Maggie and even Caroline who seem to innately have a love for all babies. I think it is what makes the relationship between Caroline and Abbey so special.

Did I mention Abbey's love of sweets???

At age eight, Abbey loves a good joke. Not necessarily on herself, but on others. Just before her birthday she thought it would be really funny to hide the remote to our TV. Then she left for the weekend. When I finally texted my mom to see where it got to Abbey told us "the crack in the couch". Nearly an hour of searching revealed no remote. It wasn't quite as funny when she got home for the weekend and couldn't watch anything because the remote was still missing. Thankfully a clever Daddy found it in a "secret compartment" in the crack of the couch.

New fabric for her sewing kit, along with some fresh buttons and thread!

Abbey is a brilliant scholar. Though she is loathe to admit it and claims she hates school (or maybe just the teacher ;) ) she is really quite clever. She is working a full grade level ahead in all subjects so will finish third grade at the end of the week. She is particularly good at math. Again, she claims she does not like it, but she really does an excellent job. She also loves reading. She is really fond of adventure type stories. We have been consistently visiting the library every two weeks and that has been a joy to her heart to choose so many books to read in her free time.

A book at the cabin. What a life!

Abbey also has some tremendous upper body strength. She loves doing chin ups on the monkey bars and seeing how many push ups she can do. While we were mulching the flower beds Abbey yelled for us to look at her on the tire swing, only for us to turn and see her climbing the rope and nearly touching the tree branch from which the rope hangs. While I was impressed with her ability it certainly didn't appear to be safe. I was concerned with how she would get down, imagining the horrible rope burn she would get, only  to watch her deftly go hand under hand to get back down.

At the Barnstormers opening night.

 Abbey loves the outdoors. Whether she is running, riding bike, hiking, or planting flowers, she loves it all.

Biking at Silvermine Park.

Taking pictures isn't her favorite thing, but she humors me because she knows it's important to me. She is learning to be selfless and I am so proud to be her mother!

Fun at the Cabin

She also loves to try to make me emotional and get me to cry. Generally she says things like, "Well, I'm growing up. I'm not your baby anymore. Before you know it I'll be going to college." It is her way of saying she loves me. At least that is what I tell myself.

Star Gazing

Happy 8th birthday, Abbey Frances. And when you're going off to college, I hope I'll still remember your tight hugs, your dirty face after playing hard outside, and your fierce love. Wishing you much joy, my daughter. Thanks for being my best Abbey.

A Belated Birthday Post

Two months ago our second oldest daughter celebrated her seventh birthday.

Abbey and Trent for their annual daddy-daughter date!

This post is truly a joy to write as our mother-daughter relationship has changed so much over the past year.

Monkey see- monkey do. Abbey is proving herself to be such a compassionate big sister.

As a teeny, tiny toddler, Abbey was by far my hardest child. She fought me and knew exactly how to push my buttons. In response, I did the worst thing possible, I withdrew from her. It wasn't until I heard another mom share how when you have a difficult child you need to PRESS INTO that child. What she meant was, go out of your way to find things to praise them for, to invite them to sit with you and read books,  to color with you, or bake with you or garden with you.

Sweet sisters

I knew I didn't want our relationship to continue on the path it was going, so I tried. I tried harder to invite her into my world. When she would push me, I would press into her. Did she still need disciplined? Absolutely! But even our discipline started to look a little different. Instead of me just getting angry and frustrated, I worked to be more self-controlled. Her discipline was then followed up with discussion and prayer. Eventually when she was about to "blow" she started asking me to pray for her.

Abbey loves to help in the kitchen.

Now, my seven-year-old Abbey is a delight to my heart. She has learned so much self-control, and I have learned new parenting techniques. It wasn't enough for me to say, "She has a different personality from me. I don't understand why she responds to situations like she does." I needed to work harder to be the best mom for Abbey that I possibly could. I still make mistakes, but I think we've made some great improvements!

A little about Abbey at seven. 
*Abbey is SO excited for her little sister to come home from China. She thinks we should name her sister Lily or some other flower.
*Abbey is an introvert.
*Abbey LOVES to joke. I'm continually surprised at her wit. (For example - she has had a loose tooth for awhile and we thought she would lose it while we were visiting friends in Virginia. She didn't. But she said, "if I pull it out in the truck on the way home you'll just have to throw me back some cash." :: She did pull it on the way home and I DID crumple up and throw her back "some cash".)

Three top teeth gone, and her Ca$h.

*Abbey loves reading. The book she is digging into now is Charlotte's Web.
*Abbey experienced a miracle just before her seventh birthday. She has had chronic constipation since she was an infant and was on a daily medication. Without it the consequences were quite painful. She asked if she would have to have this medicine for the rest of her life. When I told her I didn't know she was pretty upset. We prayed about it and talked about it for awhile. After that we decided to take her off the medicine. In the past two months she has only needed it one time. We are so thankful for her miracle!!
*Abbey loves gardening. She is always my buddy out in the garden. As a prize for her memorizing Paul Revere's Ride by H.W. Longfellow I surprised her with a really nice trowel. Not many 7-year-olds would be thrilled that they spent FIVE hard weeks memorizing a long poem to get a trowel - but Abbey was! She hugged me so tight and was thrilled to have it!
*Abbey will probably be a runner someday. She just loves running outside. I could definitely see cross country running in her future.
*Abbey doesn't like having her picture taken.
*Abbey loves sweets (just ask her Sunday School teacher, right Miss Janice??)

We love you, Abbey Frances! Happy seventh birthday my Toothless Wonder!
xoxo,
Mama

Paul Revere's Ride and the end of Second Grade and Kindergarten

May 20th we said goodbye to Second grade and Kindergarten, at least for a couple of years.

Anne and Abbey will both move up to third grade in the fall. It seems hard to believe that we have finished our third year of home schooling and look forward eagerly to the start of the fourth year.

Maggie will be doing what I lovingly call Pre-First. I know this grade doesn't actually exist in our country anymore, but if you are my age you will remember many children leaving Kindergarten and heading to pre-first instead of first grade. We have chosen to do this for Maggie for numerous reasons. I'd love to share my thought process with you all. First, Maggie turned five a week after school started last fall. She has a late summer birthday and was technically *by one day* premature (born at 36 weeks and 6 days). So she is young for her grade and quite small as well. Second, while we saw tremendous growth throughout the year, it was a hard battle. Maggie has learned to read, but she continues to sound out nearly every word, every time. She really really has to work hard to accomplish what comes easily to others. We want her to love learning and love school. I can guarantee she will not enjoy school if we push her to first grade next year. Third, I want to take this in between year to try some different techniques with Maggie - especially more music. I really believe that if we give her another year to grow and mature it will be extremely beneficial for her in the long run.

Here's a short video from the end of the school year of Maggie reciting "Trees" by Joyce Kilmer. Isn't she so adorable?

A few months ago I was introduced to the Eric Metaxas Show. I listen to his podcasts at night while I'm painting. On April 18 he gave the challenge to memorize Paul Revere's Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Although I was familiar with the poem it was not one I had memorized myself. At that point we had five weeks left of school. I decided it would be just the thing to push the girls through the end of the year.

Here is Anne's recitation.

Abbey was also able to memorize the full poem. She was a little nervous while I was recording. When I wasn't recording she was doing a great job of adding inflection to the words, but she was more concerned about getting the words right to focus on her inflection. Also, Abbey just turned seven on April 18. The fact that she was able to memorize this (with a couple minor mistakes) was astounding to me.

We are giving three cheers for summer vacation!
Hip, hip, hooray!  
     Hip, hip, hooray!  
          Hip, hip, hooray!

Looking Back

I have a terrible memory. Seriously, ask my kids. They are constantly reminding me of things I said I would do, but forgot. And if I'm half asleep when talking to you, psshhh, forget it. I probably won't recall ever having a conversation with you.

My poor memory skills are probably why I love blogging so much. If it is written down then it must have actually happened (even if I can't remember it clearly). I also love to journal out those raw emotions. I am often embarrassed by what I write when emotional, but it is so healing in the moment to get them out in a safe place, and later to look back on them.

Monday mornings I give my two oldest girls a spelling pre-test. It is good for them to see growth in short-term way. It's hard for adults to see how they are growing in the moment, how much more challenging must it be for our 6 and 7 year old children? For the past two or three weeks Abbey (age 6) has gotten all of her spelling words right on the pre-test. Whenever this happens I "reward" them by not having them take the test on Friday. This Monday morning, however, Abbey missed one word. To say the girl was upset would be an understatement. Mind you, these are words that she has not studied, and she does not have access to the list ahead of time that she could peek at it. She was distraught over this one little word she missed (I told you she is a perfectionist).

To encourage her little heart I reminded her of how hard even the simplest words were for her in the beginning of the year. She grabbed her language arts binder (that is such a pain for me to put together, but man, today I was glad I did), and flipped to the very beginning. And she laughed. And laughed. And laughed. Oh, what joy that brought to my heart. She looked back to the beginning of the school year. The word was "are", she spelled it "R" on her pre-test, week 1 of the school year. And she laughed! It was very real to her, and showed her just how far she has come this year. I could have cried.

Yes, I'm teaching spelling, but I like to think it is so much more than that. I'm teaching these girls the value of looking back on life. We don't stay back there, we move forward. Yet there is value in looking back. To take a peek at what life was like less than a year ago is important.

Just the other night my dear husband and I were looking back. He had gone through times of self-doubt, of not knowing where he was going, what he wanted to do, where he wanted to go in life. And he prayed and prayed and prayed for direction, never feeling like he was going anywhere or being led. As we talked through the decisions he made he realized just how much the Lord was leading him, guiding him, and setting him on a path. It didn't feel like it at the time, yet when he took a moment to look back, he realized how all these little pieces that didn't seem like much (quitting one job to take a pizza delivery job) all fit together and created this beautiful picture.

Sometimes looking back can be painful. I think of our foster son and daughter on a regular basis. I know I have learned a lot from that experience. However, it is still painful in many ways to look back on that time. I'm sure that someday (maybe not on this side of Heaven) I will see how those months fit into my mosaic to create something whole and beautiful. Certainly I am changed because of that experience.

Isaiah 61:3 (New Living Translation) To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the LORD has planted for his own glory.

Portions of this verse pop into my head from time to time, but I'm not sure that I ever noticed those last three words. The beauty for ashes, the joy instead of mourning, the praise instead of despair, it's for HIS OWN GLORY. Not for us. Not for me. For Him. Wow. 

I'm just letting that sink in.

I will leave you with this: Gungor "Beautiful Things". Hands down one of my favorite songs. 

I encourage you to take a few minutes today, sit, and think. The weather here has been beautiful. Grab a cup of tea or coffee, watch the kids play in the yard, and look back and realize the beautiful things He has done for HIS OWN GLORY in your life.

Abigail is FIVE (and two months)

I realized I've really lagged on the blogging lately. I'm hoping now that we are done with homeschool for the summer that I'll have more time for things like this. However, based on how this first week of "summer vacation" has gone it may not necessarily be the case.

So here's a little about our second born, Abbey Frances, who turned the big f-i-v-e back in April.

Abbey is really doing well with reading! She could read pretty many words when school started back in late August, but they were mostly sight words and one syllable words. When we read chapter books together she will often want to sit on my lap or lay beside me so she can see the words. Often she will start the sentence, sometimes reading an entire sentence, or at least getting as far as possible. She has started putting multiple syllable words together, which is really exciting for her (and me!). Math started out very easy for Abbey, but as the school year progressed she started getting more and more challenged. She did finish Kindergarten math, and will move on to first grade in the fall. It's been really fun to watch Abbey gain confidence in her reading abilities. It is now a common sight to see her reading to Maggie, and her car seat is piled full of her little books so she can read whenever we are on the go. Abbey continues to be able to memorize quickly and easily. She memorized 26 verses this school year as well as the poem 'Trees' by Joyce Kilmer.

As sweet as Abbey can be, she continues to be a challenge for me to parent. She is an introvert by nature, which, being an extrovert myself, I have a hard time understanding where she is coming from. She sometimes will get upset by something and I have NO IDEA why she is crying. From what I understand about her personality, she tends to hold things in and it could be something that happened last week that really upset her, but this one little thing (for example Maggie not sharing a toy) is that straw that breaks the camel's back.

Abbey does tend to get angry easily. But, she is usually quick to regain control. She appreciates one-on-one time and smaller settings. She tends to get overwhelmed in large groups of people. Often I will send her to her room when she is out of control. When I go to talk with her about what happened and what upset her and try to give her methods of regaining control she appreciates when I hold her on my lap and pray with her.

Speaking of prayer, Abbey is a PRAYER WARRIOR!! She LOVES to pray for people. She has a LOOOOONG list of people that she prays for every night. (Though to be honest I tend to lose patience and am ready for her to wrap it up with a tidy "Amen" at about minute five.)  She has a very tender heart toward others, especially those who are sick. She had prayed nightly for a little boy named Ben who was suffering through brain cancer. He died last month, but she still prays for his family every night. A highschool classmate of mine died last year and left behind his wife and three kids. She prays for them every night. A young woman with cancer came to speak at our church and share her journey. I told the woman I would pray for her and asked the kids to keep me accountable. We have prayed for her every night since. Unfortunately, this young woman seems to be getting worse. The children often ask for updates on the health of the people we have been praying for.

Abbey was very in tune to what we were talking about. Last night she asked, "Is Kim going to die like Ben?" I didn't know how to answer. Because, the truth is, yes, she probably will die. Of course, God CAN heal her, but they prayed so hard for Ben to be healed and he wasn't. And how can little children grasp all of this? We talked about the passage we had read from Genesis that morning, about sin entering the world, and that these bad things happen because of sin. How can they understand when I can scarcely (if at all) wrap my mind around it. When it was Trent's turn to pray he prayed for the "candy man" (a kind, older gentleman who passes out candy to children after the service) from our church who is not in good health. The kids were instantly asking all kinds of questions about what is wrong with him and why he is sick. Trent continued with his prayer and maybe a few seconds later Abbey burst into tears.

I took Abbey onto my lap and let her cry and then tried to get her to explain why she was upset. (See, extroverts like me, Anne, and Maggie will just chat about it right away. Not Abbey. I'm learning!!) After asking a couple of questions I came to understand that she was really sad that the "candy man" was sick because she really likes him. Often the people who are really sick and have died or may die are not people that we see on a regular basis or people that the children really know well. I'm sure Abbey's fervent prayers are being heard.  It sure would be nice to hear some good news to boost their childlike faith.

Abbey has really impressed me with her love for little Caroline. She tends to like things to stay the way they are, and seemed the least excited about having another baby. But I think that is because I was looking for words and external statements of anticipation and excitement. Abbey internalizes all these things and cherishes them in her heart. She has such a sweet relationship with Caroline. I just LOVE to hear her talking to Carrie and making her smile. Abbey continues to look up to Anne and look to Anne for acceptance (am I funny? Am I smart?). She is a true big sister to Maggie, telling her what to do, reading to her, and helping her on her bike. But they are also so close in age that they play (most of the time) SO NICELY with each other. They are a joy!!

Abbey Frances has a really sweet and tender spirit. Although I do get frustrated with her at times, I'm finding this really beautiful little soul peep out at me when I least expect it.  I can see a rough road ahead for her if she allows the devil a foothold on her sin-nature and the tendency to get angry. However, I have so much hope that she will instead allow the LORD to work in her life and allow Him to polish that bright little spirit she has within her.

Abbey is FOUR!

I know this is a little late, but on April 18, our dear sweet Abbey turned four! She is so excited to turn four. Abbey said, "Now that I'm four I will learn how to read." She still loves doing puzzles and can quickly assemble 100 piece puzzles.

Abbey and Magdalena are becoming good friends. Abbey and Maggie enjoy playing with the dollhouse and little farm animals together as well as doing puzzles together. Abbey loves having Anne read to her. Abbey also loves coloring with markers. She continues to be very diligent in whatever she is working on, whether it is coloring a picture, putting a puzzle together or eating. She eats very slowly, but usually does a good job finishing her meal. She loves cheeseburgers and french fries, macaroni and cheese with stewed tomatoes, and ice cream. Lots and lots of ice cream.

I feel like Abbey is a harder kid for me to figure out. Anne is very similar to me so I understand what she is feeling and her emotions. Abbey is different. She often seems like nothing bothers her and she is very very sweet. And other times something will happen that sets her off and she has the worst outbursts of all the kids put together. I am still learning who Abbey really is, and it has been neat for me to learn about her. She tends to bottle things up that may have bothered her and then explode. We are working on talking through our feelings and finding appropriate ways to show our anger and frustration. Anne has actually helped a lot in this. The other day Anne told Abbey that when she feels out of control to go to her room and shut the door and cry out to God, because He will help her. And she did it! And it worked! It was really amazing to see a little four-year-old girl crying out to God and giving Him her frustrations and her weaknesses, and emerge from the bedroom victorious!

Looking a little nixy.

Abbey is very smart. She easily writes her name, and reads many many words. She wants to start Kindergarten in the fall with Anne.

Abbey loves animals, especially dogs, cats, and owls and "cute" bugs, like ladybugs. She also still loves flowers. She loves the small, dainty flowers (like the flowers that weeds produce). Abbey says that when she grows up she wants to be like Uncle Troy and not get married.

Abbey and the bunny.

Even though Abbey has her crazy outbursts, she is overall a sweet, gentle girl. She truly loves her sisters and is very genuine in her affections. She has a tender heart and is already a little prayer warrior. She has a list of people that she prays for every night, and that list seems to get longer and longer. As people she prays for either are healed or die, she adjusts the list as needed. She has an amazing memory and can remember things that I quickly forget.

Abbey had her 4-year well-child check this morning. She is now 29 pounds and 40 inches! She has gained six pounds over the past year and grown four inches taller!!! I was so happy to see how she has grown!  Abbey is a dear little girl and we are so thankful to have her as a part of our family. Happy fourth birthday, Abigail Frances! We love you!! Enjoy the rest of these cute pictures!!