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Thursday, September 19, 2013

Kid Updates: Brady

It's been awhile since I updated what's been going on with my kids. Since Brady is the oldest, I'll start with him.

Brady takes his role as oldest child very seriously. He is an excellent rule-follower and rule-enforcer
He has become very gentle, sweet, and obedient at school and with Peter and I. With his brothers, though, this is not always the case :).

At Home....

Brady is not home as much as he was this summer now that school has started. With the time he does have, though, he loves to draw and write, make his own books and card games, play football against himself in the basement, and read. He is currently reading The Boxcar Children, which he checked out from the school library. This summer he read 5 chapter books from The Magic Tree House collection.
You can also find Brady watching the Vikings on Sunday afternoons, making up hide-and-seek types of games to play with his brothers, playing his favorite board game, Ticket To Ride, or playing Scrolls, a card game on the computer.


At School....

Although we haven't been to conferences just yet, I can already tell you that Brady is well behaved at school. He loves phy ed, art, recess, and especially math. He will be starting a special group soon called GEL, which is an accelerated math group. Brady is also learning to write in cursive, which he thinks is pretty cool.
We are so proud of Brady's progress at school--both academically and socially. Brady has really grown in his maturity and relationships since starting school 3 years ago. He has had opportunities to meet boys and girls from a variety of cultures, income statuses, and family lifestyles. I believe each of these friendships will help to form the person he will become.
We were thrilled to learn that Brady's best friend Dylan would be in his class again this year, and although Brady and Dylan get along well and are good examples for each other, Brady has made another close friend this year. Today, after school, Brady's new friend Jake is having him over to play for awhile. Jake is a boy with disabilities, a boy who has a special helper at school with him all day, and a boy who does not have a lot of friends. Brady loves Jake and I can see that he is showing God's love to him too. Everyday when he comes home from school, I ask him how the day went, who he played with at recess, ate lunch with, etc, and everyday he tells me all about Jake and what they did together.
These are the moments when I know that Brady is exactly where God wants him to be---in Farmington, at this house we are renting, and at Akin Road Elementary school.
Brady is giving himself to Jake, but getting so much more in return from Jake. I can guarantee this will not be a friendship that he'll ever forget!


In Sports...

Brady has played many sports over the years. Most recently, he's been involved in track and field, basketball, and football.
We are currently in the middle of his 2nd year of flag football, and Brady is on a team made up of 3rd-6th graders.
In past sports, for the younger kids, sports are played without really keeping score or declaring a winner or loser--all kids get trophies and are made to feel important. That was great then, but it's so much more fun now!
Brady has finally gotten to the point where his games are "real". There are refs, positions, and points. Last week Brady's team won the game in the final play, with a touchdown scored by a 6th grader. Brady, one of the smallest kids out there, had a chance to run the ball 3 times, getting a 1st down for his team once. He is competitive and loves to win, just like his Daddy :).


In Video Games...

Ok, I know this section doesn't really fit in with the others, but I wanted to touch on it anyways. Brady loves technology and learning and I love that he loves it too! What I don't love is when kids sit glued to TV screens, computer monitors, or other electronic devices.
Brady goes to a school where each kid has been issued an iPad. I think this is SO awesome and an amazing learning tool. I also think it is awesome that the kids have very limited time spent using them, and that they stay at the school and don't come home--according to Brady, it's about 10-15 minutes in a day, spent doing math problems or reading books.
At home, video game time is extremely limited and always has been. Brady is typically allowed to play video games 3-4/7 days of the week, for 30-45 minutes. The games he enjoys are Minecraft (basically computer Legos), Scrolls (a strategic card game), or sports games--nothing violent, of course, and all approved by his video-game-loving and child-protecting Daddy.
Brady also owns a Nexus 7 tablet (similar to a Kindle Fire). We did not make this purchase, but we are in love with the product. There are lots of educational and fun games, books, and tools for him to use (during his allowed video game time), and it comes in super handy on all of our road trips too.
I would rather see my kids interacting and learning from a game than just staring mindlessly at a TV show,


In God's Word...

Brady, Logan, and Marshall attend Sunday School on Sunday mornings. They learn stories and songs about God there. It is great, but we wanted to take it a step farther....
So, our whole family has been involved in BSF for the past 3 years. This year we are studying the book of Matthew. Peter takes Brady and Logan to the men's and school age children group on Monday nights. Marshall and I go on Wednesday mornings to the woman's and little kids group. One night a week, I sit down with Brady and Logan and we do their BSF homework as a team. It is a great way to dig deeper into God's word as a family. Brady and Logan also have memory verses, which they do an excellent job of memorizing each week!
But again, we wanted to take it a step further....after all, you can NEVER have too much God in your life, right?
So, we started Wednesday night clubs at our church last night, for the first time. Brady is in a group called G-Force, which consists of kids in 3rd grade to 5th grade, and he already knows a lot of them from church. He had a great time last night and is already looking forward to going back.
Peter and I both believe that youth groups will become essential to shaping the Christian walks of our boys, and if we don't start now, then when?
Brady has also become more aware of which kids in his class walk with God and which ones may not. I love that he is taking notice of this, and we were able to have a conversation the other night about if he thought that other kids could see Jesus in him. Valuable lessons learned at public school...

Brady is basically a miniature version of his Daddy, and I love him for that.
He is a very special child to me and I pray everyday that I am making the best possible decisions for him and for his life.
Brady asked Jesus to come into his heart when he was 5, and nothing makes me more proud as a mom than watching him live that out in his life each day.

Lord, I want to be just like You
'Cause he wants to be just like me
I want to be a holy example
For his innocent eyes to see
Help me be a living Bible, Lord
That my little boy can read
I want to be just like You
'Cause he wants to be like me



2 comments:

  1. Awesome post!
    I love watching Brady grow into such a special kid who loves Jesus and is so considerate of the feelings of others.
    I'm blessed to be his auntie! :)

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  2. Brady!!! Such a great kid and so smart...Always so impressed with how he always treats Addy so nicely!!

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