Thursday, October 4, 2012

... And to sum it up again!

I regret not posting more. It's been nearly two years since my last entry on The Trousdale Tribe. There are dozens and dozens of times in the past two years that I could have told a funny story or shared one of the boy's clever ideas on here, I just couldn't or just didn't find the time to do it. With my three rambunctious boys and witty husband I could fill pages and pages. But I will try once again to sum it all up in a very small blog.

Last time I blogged on here my oldest, Nate was 6 and in the middle of his first grade year. Calvin had just turned four and was in preschool. Our youngest, Eli, was just about to turn 2. They have all grown so much since then. Nate is now in third grade at Veritas Christian School.  He is getting so tall and has lost about half a dozen teeth. He is a really bright student (when he's paying attention) but he likes to be the class clown. He absorbs and analyzes information like crazy and can spit it back at you pretty quickly. The other day he informed me that he "preached" to his classmates at lunch. Oh, to be a fly on the wall. He's got a great sense of humor and can make you laugh even in the toughest times. He's articulate and witty like his father. Nate loves to aggravate though. Often he'll do it out of shear boredom and no one is safe. We've had many a note from school! However, he's also probably our most compassionate child. He is a great encourager too. Nate likes to play basketball and football. He plays his Wii games every weekend. He also started taking piano lessons and really seems to enjoy learning to play. Tonight he was writing his first rap song. Thankfully he has his own room now.

Calboy has started kindergarten. He is learning so much and soaking it up like a sponge. I love to hear him tell me all that he has learned in Bible each day. He still loves cowboys and superheros, but I think his favorite thing to do is to jump around like a Power Ranger (my least favorite show on this Earth). Cal is very agile and quick. He's gotten taller but he's still as skinny as a stick. His best buddy is Carson and the two of them can play for hours. Almost everyday Calboy comes home with a note or picture that one of the little girls at school has made for him. Last year five different mothers told me that their little girls had a crush on Cal. He is very well liked by his peers and the teachers. Although Calboy can catch an attitude like no other, he has a sweet heart and is as friendly as can be. Elijah has changed the most. He is now talking up a storm and asks a million questions. He'll be four in January and started pre-k 3 this year. He loves to go to school and church. The poor child is so confused because the preschool is at a church and our church meets in a school. We have fun with that. Eli is a combination of his two brothers. Although he has blonde hair, blue eyes and fair skin, he has some of the same facial features as Nate but is built more like Cal. He's strong like Nate and agile like Cal. He catches onto things very quickly and seems to understand things that most 3-year-olds would not get. His imagination is wild and he can tear up a room like a bull in a china cabinet. He's obsessed with Super Man. He loves to rough house and wrestle with his daddy, and he shares Calvin's love of all things cowboy. Our biggest struggle with this little guy (other than the huge messes he creates on a daily basis) is that he will not keep his clothes on... he's down to his underwear in less than 10 seconds flat when we arrive home. Just the other night he tried to undress at a restaurant. Eli can drive me crazy and then make me laugh so hard I cry.

The boys are my pride and joy. That's not to say that I am always proud of them or that they always bring me joy. Any full-time mom knows those children do not exist, but there are more proud moments each day and my heart is filled with joy more and more as I watch them grow and learn and develop into precious little boys. There has been a very strong bond that has formed between them and I pray it strengthens with each year. I pray that they will always play together and encourage each other. These days it is more about fighting and aggravating, but then there are those moments when they are working together to build a fort, conquer a video game, fight off the bad guys or create a Lego masterpiece. Nate likes to teach and read to his brothers and Calvin likes to be a caretaker when one of the others is sick. Eli is super loveable and will randomly give one of the others a hug (although he may turn around and punch them in the stomach or hit them over the head for no reason) but he loves his brothers and longs to be around them all the time.

I am so thankful to my Heavenly Father for these three wonderful blessings. I am even more thankful that I have a wonderful husband to co-parent. He's amazing and I admire him as a father as much as a husband. I don't know what the next few years may hold, but I hope I find the time and energy to blog. So many hilarious, unbelievable and even excruciating moments have been lost somewhere deep in my brain. Hopefully they will resurface occasionally so that I can blog them away as my "memory treasures." Until next time, goodnight!