Nicholas Andrew...Life in fast forward

Nicholas Andrew, our fourth precious kiddo, seems to live life in fast forward. He has a tenacious desire to keep up with the Pierces - the "big" Pierce kids - because he is the youngest. In doing so, we've lost the baby so much sooner than I ever imagined. The following pictures were taken September 11, 2019. His FOURTH birthday. 

That was a short five months ago. As we have resumed school in Brazil, he has begged for school activities. Did I mention he's only four. I had no lesson plans for this little man. But he's asking, demanding even, that I educate him! He spells and writes his name on everything, and knows all his letters and number and simply cannot get enough of "school with momma". 

This past week, this little man, who is merely merely years old, decided to learn to tie his shoes, learned to snap. This is not by any means a mom boast. All these achievements have been on his own initiative. He walked into my bedroom a few days ago and said, "Momma, I want to learn how to tie my shoes." He handed me my tennis shoes. I showed him TWICE and he's been tying shoes ever since. He's insisting on wearing tie shoes everywhere we go. Which means he's wearing cleats or dress shoes because every momma of a four year old knows that everyday shoes must be slip ons when you have a child who is MERELY FOUR. 

Here he is displaying his new skill accomplished on cleats. 

He ensures practice time by offering to tie other's shoes too! 

Then there's snapping...Confession...I snap to get my kids attention. It's a double snap and all four kids look at me. I guess that's cultivated a curiosity of how in the world momma makes that noise. So again, Nicholas decides he's going to figure this out. Low and behold, a few days after practicing, he is able to snap. 

I became a momma 10 years ago. There's been a baby in my arms for a decade. But the realization is that season is coming to a close. The chapter of a baby Pierce in the house has come to a close. The littlest of the babes has grown and is super excited to be a little boy. He's a delight! We couldn't be more thankful and enjoy him thoroughly. HOWEVER...time deserves a speeding ticket. This little boy is moving through milestones unkindly fast! 

Siblings...Friends

Our neighborhood here in Brazil is simply beautiful. It's green. Full of fruit trees. Beams with wild life. It often captives us with wonder in the beauty of God's creation. Because of this we often are drawn into long walks to marvel together. 

Yesterday morning our walk was initiated by our fabulous four! They dreamed up the morning adventure. We were to all walk down to the lake in our neighborhood to catch minnows. Their purpose was to later use these minnows for bait in fishing for larger fish.  We spent well over an hour filling that bowl with minnows.

I tucked my phone away and didn't document the whole adventure. But they gathered dozens of minnows for a later fishing trip. Austin and Jonathan walked that bowl home up a very steep hill to have their bait ready for fishing. Austin, who's a tenderhearted animal lover, watched over the minnows throughout the day. It was an adventure they imagined and brought to fruition on their own initiative - TOGETHER.

My greatest joys as well as my greatest strife in life as a momma of four is the sibling interactions of my little people. The quarrels among them break my heart often. I find myself ill-equipped to mediate their frustrations with one another. But there's another side too. These four are friends! I was scrolling through pictures I snapped over the last few days. This last one took my breath away. They truly love one another. They play together. They look after each other. May it always be so. There is something precious, seemingly magical when siblings turn friends. It's a delight to observe.  It's a challenge to
preserve. It's worth fighting for!

P.S. A little humor to balance out the sappy....the minnows sat in the bowl on our porch over night. Austin had separated the dead ones in a plastic cup. Overnight an animal (we suspect a possum) came and ate the dead fish and chewed through the net the kids used to catch them! 🤣