Pausing can be a blessing...

Our family had a great day today because I now have a chance to...pause. We all got to sleep in, took the weekend off of IV's (due to weather) and played in our PJ's all day. Lucas and I started a Valentine's project and it evolved into a Valentine's tree. It involved wire, painting, lots of sewing and gluing. Both Lucas and Noah worked on it with me and I am very proud of their sewing skills! I was thrilled when Noah asked if he could help me. He said he had always wanted to sew but never really got to....so he spent almost 3 hours sewing with me and I am super impressed with his patience and determination. As soon as we finish the project I will show you our masterpiece.

Today, I had the opportunity to hear Noah's heart and to see how respect is vital to him as a young man. If he does not feel respected, he will not pay attention. If he thinks that you think he is stupid he shuts down and does not retain any information. He thrives on respect and does not do well with sarcasm...the thing about Noah is that he is naturally sarcastic too but we have been talking about it all weekend and he is starting to see hurtful sarcasm vs. funny, non hurtful sarcasm. He is the one who asked for the adults to speak in a calm tone when working out our house rules. There have been moments when I see him shut down if I am frustrated with him and am not talking to him with respect. He has seen and heard that way too much that he just retreats within himself and you lose any teachable moment you may have had. He is such an amazing young man and I love to see what he accomplishes when he feels respected and takes the time to finish well.

We have been challenging Noah to push himself and to take the initiative to learn things...this has led to many trips to the computer to research topics such as mold on plants and what is the point of an Advent calendar. We are very proud of this new spark we are seeing as he pushes himself to learn. Tomorrow, the boys want to paint and Noah wants to work on his blog...he has really got some creative juices flowing lately! We LOVE that!