These are my 4 year olds..

Sebastien and Eden are 4 years old! We had a wonderful time celebrating their birthday. 

First we went to church, which was followed by coffee time at Great Gramma Plantenga's. That is something we still do every Sunday, but since it was their birthday, we brought the treat of their choice: chocolate cupcakes with cherries on top. 

After coffee we had lunch and then went to the zoo with both sets of grandparents. We were very thankful to have 6 adults with the 3 kids, because it was very hard to keep up with them, even on such a hot day. They rushed between all the animals, eager to see what was next.  

After the zoo, we had dinner and opened presents together. It was so much fun.

This year I am starting a new tradition of doing birthday interviews, an idea I got off of Pinterest (of course.) Next year I'll do a few things differently, like wait until Adam is home so that he can distract the two who are not being interviewed, and also wait a while between interviews so that we don't get any parroting. (You'll see.) All in all I think it will be fun to have these to look back on!

Eden, age 4

Sebastien, age 4

(you'll notice that this was edited - it was only because he was talking so softly and at several different points, his baby sister's voice was drowning his out.)

At 4 years old, Sebastien is affectionate (often seen and heard hugging Violet and telling her that he loves her), he is good at sharing, and he is reading with amazing proficiency. He absolutely loves music, especially instruments. He has a special place in his heart for horns, and tubas are his first love. Lately Bash has learned to turn on his charm when pleading innocence, saying "I don't know" with a sweet smile and in a sing-song voice, whenever he isn't sure if the answer will get him in trouble.

And Eden at 4 years old is very helpful to everyone. She is also superbly articulate. She is expressive with her face and her voice, and is learning empathy. Eden is our director, constantly pretending something and assigning roles to everyone in the family. She usually gives Violet a version of her own role. ("I am Mary and this is my little sister Sherry" or "I am a cat named Violet and this is my little sister named Kitty Cliolet.") Eden also has a great amount of sight words, but is hesitant to "perform" her reading skills. 

Both kids are very funny. They are into making up jokes, which has taught yet another benefit of having twins: they get each other's jokes. Example: 

Bash: Knock knock

Eden: Who's there?

Bash: Banana split

Eden: Banana split who?

Bash: POTATO!!!

{Both erupt in crazy laughter.}

They have a certain shared vocabulary, words that are almost right, like the statue of liverty, hunormous and thermonitor (which means "monitor.")

Sebastien and Eden are amazing gifts from God, and I cannot believe how much more love fills our hearts with each passing year. 

Here are just a few pictures from this past month or two, to illustrate life with these delightful and amazing big-kid blessings.