What a Guy!

For no good reason, Aiden and I waited until just this week to do his (July) birthday photoshoot.  We just went out into the yard for about 10 minutes, but he was really into it and the poses and locations are all his own....Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart.  ;)

He and I are in our third year of being home together while the others are off at school and we both recognize how incredibly special it is.  

Yesterday in the car we were talking about the work he had done with his daddy and uncle the day before....fixing a hot water heater, replacing a toilet, being up on a roof (??), etc.  He was very proud to have been included in the day's work.

I told him I like a man who is a hard worker and that someday he is going to be a good provider for his family.  (While he still highly values my opinion and hears my words, I often talk to him about the things I like in a man....honorable, hard-worker, protector, Jesus-seeker, honest, compassionate....the things he gets to see his daddy living out every day.)

That launched him into a 15-minute monologue about when he has sons he is going to show them how to work hard and be kind and have hearts that love Jesus.  And once they love Jesus, they will be able to tell other people and then their children will be able to tell others and then the world will know in China and Massachusetts and Russia and California that Jesus is the King.  That will make the devil mad and he'll want to do something, but there will be too many people who know Jesus and so the devil won't be able to do anything.

At five he's still not fully potty trained but he gets living and leaving a legacy and how each generation makes families grow exponentially and the importance of overcoming evil with good.  Also, he pulled something out of our social studies lesson this week!  :)

A couple weeks ago Meg took our family pictures.  Before I'd even asked, Aiden came down fully dressed in his best.  He didn't match our color scheme and I was hoping for a more casual look, but his unbidded (probably not a word since spell check can't find it) effort made my heart swell.  What a kid.

Here's a little sneak peek of 2014