Well, it’s that time again!  What’s shakin’ at the Seymour house?!

Hannah Renee is now 4 years old.  Kind of amazing that it has been 4 years we have had her in our lives and 4+ years we have been married and in our house here in Johnstown.

First day of School!

Hannah has been in daycare since she turned 2 years old and we have been fairly unsatisfied with the care and lack of education and focus in the class.  She disconnected and stopped coloring, would not do crafts, did not want to read books any more, was difficult to focus on a task and her communication decreased.  She was not sleeping well, having nightmares, crying out in her sleep, etc. and so Dave and I made a decision to move her to a different school.  The Lord opened doors for us to move her into Liberty Christian Academy in Pataskala and she passed the entry evaluation with flying colors.  She is in a class with Mrs. Hickey, who greets each student with a giant hug in the morning and gives each student a chance to tell the class something exciting about their evening or weekend.  They are identified, something special about each child is recognized, and then the whole class listens while that child shares.  She is writing her letters with proficiency, she iscomprehending how to spell words phonically, her observation skills have heightened, she is communicating better, back into her books, and coloring and creating on her own.

She loves stickers, and coloring, has slowed her outfit changes to twice a day, dresses like a princess as often as possible (shoes, crown and all), has developed an affinity for cats, has an active imagination, great negotiation skills, a very individual personality separate from Mom and Dad, and great fashion sense.  She loves to tell jokes (and gets them!) and even has a great sense of direction or at least location….she knows where you are by the landmarks.  She even has learned to read the route numbers on the street signs to know if we are going the correct direction.  Our car has recently died and is awaiting its final journey to whatever dealer we purchase a “new” car from and in the interim, my sister-in-law has lent me her car to get around and it has a map and navigation in the dash that Hannah loves to watch and listen to.  She is attentive to the news on the radio and wants to know where the accidents are and what they are talking about.  She knows what the weather is going to be and listens with intent to the forecast.

She draws great pictures that tell stories that rival the authors we read.  An imagination that encompasses compassion, adventure, mystery, romance, values, and humor.  “The princess lives in a little house in the woods and walks everyday to see the dragon who lives on the mountain.  She brings the dragon fresh baked cookies because those are his favorite kind and they make him have smoke and not fire.  One day she was visiting the dragon and a huge storm came with a tornado and blew and whooshed until the dragon blew it away!  But on the way home, the princess pricked her finger and fell asleep in the woods.  The stinky skunk walked up and waved his tail at her to see if he could wake her up but it didn’t work so he walked way.  Then along came a prince who saw the sleeping princess and he asked the stinky skunk what he should do. The skunk told him to give her magic kisses and when he did, she woke up and then they had beautiful music for their wedding.”

She looked out at the foggy fall morning this morning and asked, “Mommy why does it look so mysterious out there today?”  I responded by making my best ghost-like sounds “ooooooh “ and she said, “No!  Mom stop!  I don’t FEEL like being mysterious today.”

She went squirrel hunting with Dad this weekend for the very first time and came back with tales of what all she saw in the woods.  Earlier in the day she attended a ride planning picnic with us @ Scioto park.  Also, she took up post in Dad’s new ground blind to hunt for deer with her (plastic) bow and arrow.  She came back from her hunt with “Apple Juice”, her kitty from God, and had successfully hunted 2 bucks and one doe with her bow and arrow.  She was very excited that Dad promised he would hang her big buck on the wall by his. J

One morning I had been working in the much neglected veggie garden after we came home from vacation and kept having the nagging feeling that I should head up to the house to check on the bug since I had left her peacefully dreaming in her bed.  I finally made my way up to the house and walked into the kitchen where I found, on the table in her place, a the box of Graham Crackers, a granola bar ½ gone, and some juice.  Then, over by the refrigerator was her chair.  The cabinet was open for the pantry and a giggle danced down the stairs to the hallway.  I quietly walked toward the stairs and heard the bedroom door close quickly and the scurry of little feet.  Upon opening the door, I found a curly headed blonde giggle puss ducking her head into her playhouse.  When I came in and sat on the edge of her bed and said. “Huh!  Where could my love bug be?,”  she jumped out and ran over to me with a much melted Klondyke bar, saying, “Here, mom!  I saved some just for you!  Eat it quick.”  I love these moments!

We were at the dentist for a checkup and she was sharing the chair with me and watching the news.  She suddenly turned around and exclaimed. “Mommy, mommy look!  It’s an Astronaut!.”  The technician stopped what she was doing and looked at her in stunned silence for a moment before saying, “Wow!  I don’t know anyone else your age who can even say astronaut, let alone knows what one is!” 

Some of the funny things she says are; “May I be excused?  All the chairs in my belly are full.”  “I have a story to tell you and it goes like this….Once upa time,….”  

"Your drivin' me NUTS!!!" (from a CD called "Scat like that")  "Can you see in my belly button window?"
I had a list of more but misplaced them!

Hope you enjoy a glimpse of our life!