Sunday Rest Time

A few months ago, Vince asked Ezra and Asher if they wanted to take an "all boys nap" one Sunday afternoon. This nap consisted of "just the boys" taking a rest in mommy and daddy's bed. Ezra thought it rather fun for a time or two... until he realized that he had to actually lay still and quiet for over an hour (where as he normally "rests" in the guestroom where he gets to look at his books and play with a few cars as he has an hour of "quiet time").

For Asher, this has turned into a Sunday afternoon tradition. Yesterday during Asher's nap time, he was quite disappointed to learn that it was Saturday and not Sunday, because Sunday is rest time with daddy. So now, every Sunday, after church, Asher collects his animals, his pacis, his books and blankies and carries them downstairs. He and Vince have some quality rest time together. And really, it's a win win for Vince... he gets this special time with Asher and he's guaranteed a nap every Sunday. Really, how can one turn down the request, "daddy, you come rest with me now?"

The Evolution of a Yogurt

Obed continues to insist on feeding himself. I continue to buy things such as yogurt to try to spoon feed him, in spite of the fact that it has been weeks, maybe even months, since he has taken anything from a spoon (never have I claimed to be the sharpest tool in the shed). I decided once again, tonight, to try a yogurt. At first, there seemed to be a bit of hope. He'd take a bite (without performing his spoon clapping move)... but then it would all come back out, play- dough factory style (slowly pushed out his mouth via his tongue). Then the spoon clap came into play, and I acquiesced that this indeed was a hopeless venture. I figured it couldn't be any messier to give him his own yogurt and let him try to feed himself (I guess I didn't really think this... but I thought maybe he'd actually get a bit of yogurt into his mouth this way). Thus, the evolution of the baby feeding himself a yogurt.

He started out okay... mostly just inspecting the spoon, chewing on it, practicing the move from tray to mouth.He decided the spoon was rather complicated, so for his next trick, he'd just try to pick the yogurt up with his fingers, by the handful. Clearly he doesn't understand that liquid forms cannot be picked up (unless frozen of course).

Then he opted to try to drink the yogurt... from the back lip of the yogurt cup of course.

Then he tried round 2 with the spoon, trying to spoon the yogurt previously spilled all over the tray when he tried to drink the yogurt... from the back of the cup.
After several more tries with the spoon, as well as drinking the yogurt, Obed decided the best plan of action was to simply smear the yogurt all over his face, shirt and in his hair. This was one of those "go straight to bath and do not stop at go" nights. At times, it seems that it might be a worthwhile investment to install a garbage disposal in the bath tub.

Dusting Envy

It's been one of those mornings... a morning where Ezra and Asher are grumbling about much, griping at each other, and lacking much patience. We've had many talks about love... that love is patient and kind, and love does not delight in its own way. The best way for them to show love to one another is to be patient with each other and kind. That loving one another means giving in and not demanding his own way. We've talked much about how each of them needs to love his brother more than he loves his own way. At times, however, I feel more like a broken record playing to a deaf audience than a parent trying to shepherd her child's heart.

After argument number 96 of the morning, my patience was lacking. I was trying to get a few morning chores done, when yet again, another argument ensued... "I want to dust!" "No, it's my turn to dust!" What in the world? My boys are fighting over who gets to clean? That's a fantastic fight! I quickly decided I needed to harness this cleaning dispute and turn it into something useful. I got out the small cordless vacuum and put them to work. While one vacuums, the other "gets to" dust, and then they switch. I've had about 20 minutes now of boys taking turns vacuuming and dusting, not fighting, and on top of it all, the basement is getting shiny and clean. That's fantastic!
And being boys, of course they both need to inspect exactly where the dirt goes... fine by me!

Family Night

We have a family night every week, consisting of our family doing something together that is out of the ordinary, everyday things we normally do. Yesterday was an exceptionally beautiful day here in Nearly, Canada - one that just had to be spent outside. Ezra is into sports these days. Soccer, baseball, basketball, football, Frisbee... really, anything involving constant movement and being outside is his "favorite" sport. He has been asking for weeks now to go to the soccer fields to play soccer (rather than kicking the ball against the chalk net drawn on the garage), so for this family night, we packed up the soccer balls, a picnic, and headed out to the soccer fields.

Ezra is pretty good at dribbling the ball. He ran up and down the field, from goal to goal, about 10 times. No one was allowed to shoot the ball at the net other than Ezra. He even told me, "mommy, girls don't shoot the ball, only boys do that. Girls can dribble the ball."
Vince taught him some basic fundamentals of soccer. Ezra learned about being a team player, passing the ball, and that picking up the ball is bad unless he's the goalie. At times, he'd forget in the middle of the field that he was not supposed to pick up the ball, so he'd say, "oh, I was being the goalie." Oh, okay then, picking up the ball at the 50 yard line is fine if you're the goalie.
Obed was not so interested in playing soccer. He was more interested in his juice cup. Just this week, Obed learned that juice cups actually contain liquid and are not just for throwing on the floor, banging on his tray and pushing around. Ever since he's learned his new sippy skills, he's all about sipping. Little did I know sippy cups could offer so much entertainment.

Asher was not all that interested in soccer either - but really, how could someone be interested in soccer when there are bleachers? Asher spent most of his time going up and down the bleachers. When he was watching Ezra and Vince play soccer, he was (by his terms) "the clapping guy" - you know, the guy who claps for the players. But apparently you needed a special bracelet or ticket in order to climb the bleachers because any time I'd try to join him, he'd ask, "do you have your ticket? Are you wearing your blue bracelet?"

Then Obed thought the bleachers looked like they could be fun. They must have looked really fun because he was willing to brave crawling in the grass to get there... juice cup in hand, of course.
Then we had a picnic... Obed mostly just drank his juice (shocking) and ate a few honey bunnies and blueberries when Vince could slip one in his mouth between sips of juice.Ezra and Asher ate PB&J's, blueberries, goldfish, and as a special treat,they got a few gummy bears. This is Asher's smile face... you know, the face he makes when I say, "okay boys, smile." Technically, his eyes aren't actually closed, they're just smiling too.

Baby's Gotta Boogie

After yesterday's post, M. left a comment saying that she thought dancing with Asher looked rather scary. Although the quality of this picture is not good (due to Asher frantically shaking his head all around while "dancing"), Obed's expression communicates that M.'s musings on dancing with Asher are indeed correct... it is, at times, a rather scary experience.

Old McDonald Had Some Ice Cream

Sometimes I'm amazed I survived my childhood and early adulthood living in St. Louis. Why? Well, I am quite possibly the world's biggest (self professed) heat weenie. St. Louis has days where it has to be near 129 degrees with 398% humidity. I hate hot weather. I hate to sweat unless I am exercising on purpose or possibly sitting by a pool. When we felt God opening the door for us to move to Nearly Canada, I had quite a few emotional struggles, but one of them was not the climate. I love cold weather. I love wearing layers of clothing. Heat? Not so much.

The forecast today in Nearly Canada was close to 100 degrees. My immediate thought was, "what can we do to avoid playing outside?" The boys don't really understand, "boys, mommy is climate sensitive, so we need to stay inside today." So that means coming up with many fun activities to keep them occupied without the help of bikes, sandboxes, swings and baseball bats. What could that be? Crafts, of course! We had a case of diapers that is no longer a case of diapers, but rather, a garbage truck.

After rest we opted to head to the Playland at McDonald's (or as the boys call it, Old McDonald's). We got ice-cream and then the boys played for about an hour at the Playland. Asher made it all the way to the top of the jungle gym (with a little help from me, which was a bit tricky since I was wearing a skirt and had to figure out how to climb the apparatus while maintaining my modesty).

Even Obed got in on the action. He tried and tried to climb up the big, yellow slide. He couldn't quite get past the incline or the curve, but he had fun trying.

And finally, we ended the evening with a little family dance time. Here the boys are getting down to Ray Charles' "I've Got a Woman." A good day spent almost entirely in air conditioning. I pray God never moves us to a southern state. I think the boys might be at risk for a vitamin D deficiency from lack of sun exposure since I would find all sorts of creative ways to avoid sweating.

House Guests and a Water Fight?

Our friends, the McWhites, are visiting for a few days while Bryan and Vince take some much needed R&R backpacking through Glacier National Park (if you call backpacking, hiking 12+ miles in a day, avoiding grizzly bears and black bears, setting up camp every night and tearing it down every morning R&R). Owen Stanley William McWhite (aka Owen, O-diddy, Obed or Ezra - depending on which parent is trying to get his attention and how distracted said parent is) and Obed have been having fun crawling around. Their favorite thing is to watch the other one eat. Obed just laughs as Owen eats... not sure why as you have seen the mess that Obed becomes when he eats, whereas Owen is quite a tidy eater.
Since there are two babies needing rest time in the house during the day, we have been playing outside when the big boys get up from their rest. Yesterday, we had a water "fight." The word fight is rather questionable, however, because my understanding of a fight is that there need to be two individuals sparring back and forth to create the fight. Ezra most certainly got the whole idea of the water fight, and doused Asher time and again with buckets full of water.

Asher, on the other hand, didn't really get the concept. You may be wondering why there is a picture of water flying through the air in front of the tomato plants. Well, that was where Asher typically threw his water. I kept telling him to throw his water at Ezra... so he'd throw his cup of water... on the sidewalk... in front of the garden... no where near Ezra. Needless to say, Asher was soaked after the water fight; Ezra, totally dry. Even I got doused when Ezra accidentally threw his bucket of water directly at me, trying to aim for the running Asher. Fun times indeed.

Flakes

This morning, as we were eating breakfast, I started taking a few pictures. Obed was smearing banana gel into his hair, creating quite the breakfast time Mohawk.

As it typically goes, any time I take a picture of one of the boys, the others want their pictures taken as well. So as to try to minimize sibling rivalry, I typically accommodate this request, show each child his picture, and then later delete it from the camera (the beauty of digital pictures!). Here is Ezra's picture... sitting on daddy's lap during our morning Bible time.

And here is the picture Asher insisted I take... not a picture of him, but rather, a picture of the flake of cereal he was eating. When I took the picture, as always, he wanted to see it. After inspecting the picture on the screen, he stated, "that's a good one." Yes son, a picture of your flake of cereal is definitely a keeper.

A Brief Report

I thought I'd try to compete with Three Beekers for the cheesiest blog title. Ezra and Asher got new boxers. They have other undies, but boxers are the only undies they like to wear these days. The great thing about brothers who are 2 and 4 years old and know absolutely nothing about what is socially acceptable is that they love to swap undies (only clean of course). It is not uncommon to hear a conversation consisting of, "Asher, I'll wear the red boxers today, and then when mommy does laundry you can wear the red ones next." I love the innocence of little children.

Every night during our family devotions, we all say something from the day we'd like to thank God for. Last night, Asher wanted to thank God that in the morning, he got to wear his new boxers and that he was going to be totally naked except for his new boxers. I guess it's the little things that teach us thankfulness!

A Trip to the Pool

Our family has taken several trips to the local pool in recent days. They have renovated the children's play area and it's a fantastic play place for our three boys. And the bonus... it's only $1 to get in! I love a good deal!

Obed still has his fine, thin baby hair... which makes an awesome Mohawk when combined with pre-swim sunscreen.
Asher loves the frog slide... it's just the right size for him.

He also loves to run through the fountains. As a bonus, he doesn't seem to have too many issues getting to sleep on the nights after we go to the pool. The sun, water and excessive splashing seem to wear him out quite well.

Ezra has become quite the courageous little boy. He probably goes down the "big" slide 30-40 times when we're at the pool. He goes down on his bottom, his belly, face first, backwards, with his eyes closed.... there's no end to his creativity in sliding.

"I just so sleepy..."

Asher's been having some sleep "issues" recently. He's not ready to drop his nap (which we've learned by trial... the days we skipped his nap, he was in grumpy hysterics by 4:00, begging for sleep. He was in bed, asleep by 5:45). The issue comes, however, in that if he sleeps at all during the day, he has a tough time getting to sleep at night. He and Ezra share a room and Ezra is an early riser. Many mornings, we hear Ezra waking Asher... "buddy, hey buddy, wake up. It's day out." We've talked with Ezra about not waking Asher up first thing... Ezra's having a hard time remembering that one - especially when he's so excited that another day has come!

All this to say, Asher is not getting enough sleep. Many mornings by 10:30, Asher is asking for rest. Today was just such a day. Asher hit a wall and then just started wailing, "I just so sleepy. I just so sleepy." I promised him a quick lunch and then rest. While Asher was sleeping, Ezra, Obed, Vince and I all headed outside.
Ezra and daddy spent time building some roads and hills in the sandbox.

Obed spent time trying to get his cart to push across the grass. He HATES the feeling of grass, so he won't crawl in it. He enjoyed trying to push his cart... but not so much when he kept tipping over when the grass tripped him.

Black Beans, Bibs and Tide with Bleach

Up until a few weeks ago, Obed was a fantastic eater. He ate vegetables as though they were candy. There was little I could put on his tray that he didn't snarf up... then he learned the art of throwing food on the floor, spitting food out and my favorite, "the clap" (which consists of him clapping his hands right on the spoon as I try to maneuver it into his mouth, resulting in food splattering everywhere and no food actually making it to his mouth).

He has also learned that all he needs to do is tug at his bib and the Velcro will pull right apart - a favorite trick of his these days. The bib is a constant battle we've opted not to fight most days... resulting in many, many dirty shirts.

All that being said, meals have become a time for creativity for me... what can I give Obed (other than grapes, bananas and blueberries) that will give him additional nutrition, variety, and something he can pick up on his own? We've found some things he likes... chunks of potatoes, turkey burgers, a few cracker varieties, cheese chunks, zucchini... but all these things pale in comparison to black beans. The boy loves black beans. He loves black beans to eat, to smear on his shirt, to rub in his hair, to stick in his nose. He loves black beans to throw on the floor, to finger paint with, to feed to the dog... really, black beans are a new favorite, which is a good thing because they are chock full of nutrition, cheap and have a low choking hazard... a win, win... win as far as I'm concerned.

As we opt to bypass the bib battle, Obed's shirts become quite the filth cloth. Often we take his clothes off to eat, other times, we don't. Regardless, I do a lot of laundry - as any mom of three young kids would do. I am not particularly "good" at doing laundry... sorting is sometimes optional, stain treatment is generally nonexistent, folding it right out of the dryer to avoid wrinkles is a pipe dream... it's not an area I'd claim to excel in. That being said (here's a shameless plug), Tide with Bleach helps with many of my laundry shortcomings - even if it does enable me to continue on in my pursuit of laundry mediocrity.

The Human Q-Tip

I'm not normally inclined to post pictures of myself on this blog... but WOWZA! The bedhead this morning was far too fantastic to leave unmentioned. I know both of you readers are probably wondering how it is that Vince and I only have 3 kids when I wake up looking so amazing every morning... it's a wonder and a mystery.

Grumpy Backpack

Obed has been a grump for several weeks, which is quite odd for his normal temperament. He has had back to back... to back to back sickness. Two ear infections, Roseola, and now a nasty cold... all adding up to a terribly grumpy little boy. Last night as I was getting dinner ready, Obed was screaming. As long as he is being held, or really, touching a parent in any way, he is content. Vince was trying to fix the backdoor, which he found difficult to do with both hands holding a child, so he put Obed in the backpack. Looking at Obed in this picture, you'd never know he was grumpy - with his big smile. What you don't know, however, is that he is actually saying, "I won! I won! I got my way suckas!"

Life

Life marches on. It's hard to believe it's already August! What's even harder to believe is that Obed will be 11 months old next week. He is pulling up on everything, cruising along furniture, and desires to "play" everything Asher and Ezra are playing. Today, the boys were playing Play-Doh. Obed knew for sure the boys were eating delicious snacks at the table without him. We had a race on our hands every time a piece would drop to the floor. Apparently Obed has quite a taste for Play-Doh.
Every day, when the boys pick out their snack (generally raisins, trail-mix, dried cranberries or pretzels) Asher insists on picking out his own container. I don't know if he's thinking if he gets a larger container, he'll get more snack... but most days, he picks the largest container he can find... he never gets more snack, but it hasn't changed his container selection yet.

We have a carpet at the backdoor which is too large to put in the washing machine. It gets rather dirty, however, being the first point of contact for shoes coming in and out of the house. I considered putting it in the dishwasher - but I think it's too large for that as well. So today I decided to wash a carpet the cheap way... I took it outside, sprinkled it with soap and took the hose to it. It created quite the river of suds. Ezra quickly got his bubble wand out and was trying to capitalize on the endless bubble stream. Those are the little pleasures in the life of a 4 year old.

HAIL!

A storm moved through this morning. It started with torrential rain, then it started hailing a bit. The boys have never seen hail before, so the small, pea-sized to penny-sized hail was sort of a fun adventure for them. The hail stopped and it rained hard - so hard the window wells in the basement filled up with water - a first for us in the 3+ years we've been here. Then it started to hail again... this time harder... and larger.
The hail went from penny-sized to quarter-sized (I suppose we'll be calling the insurance company this week to check the roof).

This baby watermelon from our garden was one of the casualties. The boys kept asking if it was raining out... or if it was still "ice-chunking" out. I think that's a rather accurate description.

Bye, Bye Shaggy

For the two of you who read this blog, I imagine both of you have seen our basement. In recent days, Vince has labored hard to change the look. We (and I say "we" very loosely as my roll in the "we" part has been to take a few loads of trash outside and occasionally wield a roller or paintbrush - you know, mostly just "lovely assistant" duties like Vanna White) are almost done with the basement. All that is left is to finish off the baseboard trim as well as trim around the windows, repair a few holes created during the demolition, hang a few pictures, and then it is finished. Gone are the days of the nasty red-orange shag. Gone are the cinder block walls which radiated ice on cold winter days. Gone is the old school asbestos tile (well, almost gone - it still graces the bathroom). Gone are the 1970's light fixtures. Gone too is the orange indoor-outdoor carpet which was a hidden treasure found under the nasty red-orange shag. A big thanks to George (Bush that is) for giving us back our money so we could finish the basement.