Identity Crisis

Today while the snot-monsters, Asher and Obed rested, Ezra helped me shovel the driveway, sidewalk and steps. Near the end of our shoveling, Ezra was playing the back yard while I finished up the back patio area. I started burying him in the snow.

Ezra thought it great fun... Warnie, however, not so fun. He was very concerned and immediately started trying to get Ezra out of the snow pile. I'm pretty sure he thought he was a Saint Bernard and had a keg of brandy around his neck, rather than a skinny, short-haired pointer, not made for long exposure to the snow.

Winter Time Adventures

It was a day full of winter time adventures here in Nearly, Canada. The adventure started this morning, as I had an errand to run. Our garage has an alley entrance - but the alley is never plowed (since we are one of the only families with an alley entrance on this particular street). This is not typically a problem, since the garbage truck makes big tire grooves in the snow and we can simply follow the groves. Last night, however, we got an additional 2 inches of snow (meaning it's up to the undercarriage of the van) and there were strong winds (which created drifts)... which meant that although the tire grooves in the snow appeared normal as I backed out of the garage, they in fact, were not. I started down the alley as usual... and then proceeded to get the van utterly and totally stuck in a snow drift. After trying for about 10 minutes to get the van out myself (getting my cute little boots totally filled with snow in the process), even traveling back to the garage to get a shovel to dry to dig out the van, I swallowed my pride and went and called upon Vince for his help. It took Vince about 30 minutes and 3 different shovels to dig me out, as well as running behind me and pushing the van almost all the way down the alley. Needless to say, since they are forecasting another 5 inches of snow tonight, I have parked in the front driveway until the alley is a bit more cleared.

The next adventure was when Vince was done with work today. He took the older two boys out in the back to clear the walkway to the garage (which at this point is no longer needed since the van is in the front). The older Black men also shoveled "highways," "tunnels," and "bridges" all over the back yard. The snow is too light to pack, so the bridges and tunnels are actually just walls the boys built up really high and hid behind.
Vince and the boys also shoveled off the fort and slide and spent quite a bit of time sliding down the slide into a pile of snow waiting at the bottom.

Obed has caught the bug Asher had over the weekend which meant he had a fever and snotty nose today. His illness, combined with his face-plant in the snow yesterday made him a great candidate to stay inside and watch the big boys in the back. He stood at the window for a good 20 minutes saying, "Eesh. Eesh." Not really sure what he meant - but he kept telling me, so either it must have been important, or my response of "uh huh," made him feel like I understood his babbling... either way, "Eesh, eesh."

Obed and I from the inside looking out at the snow adventurers in the back.

Heat Wave!

There's a heat wave today. Currently it's 26.2 degrees outside! We want to enjoy this weather as much as possible, since the forecasters say the highs near the end of the week are in the low single digits again.

Ezra has been itching to get outside to play in the snow again - and it's the perfect day for that! We decided to let Obed go play in the snow as well. Of course, he wears a size 5 shoe, and the smallest boots we have are size 6. He's 15 months old and we only have a 24 month snow suit... all this to say, he was a bit "over-sized" in his snow gear. He had a great time for the first 3 minutes in the snow... until his trying to walk in a too-big snow suit and too-big boots caused a face-first nose plant into the snow. Fun done.
Vince and Ezra stayed outside for quite some time. Vince got his snowshoes out - but the snow is so light and powdery, he even sunk down low with snowshoes.After Obed's face plant in the snow, I figured he was deserving of a treat... so he had his first ever mug of hot-chocolate. I think he only made about a 1/4 teaspoon of it into his mouth... the rest was dumped down the front of his shirt as he drank it from the back side of the cup.

Asher's a bit under the weather these days. In his words, "I hab a noddy node" (translation, "I have a snotty nose"). He still got his beloved hot chocolate even if his outdoor time was limited.

Family of Blacks Christmas Film - 2008

Below you will find the 2008 installment of the Family of Blacks Christmas film. As Vince says, it's our on-going attempt to be green.  Some may call it cheap... we may agree.  Merry Christmas!

First Day of Winter?

It's good to know that the calendar has finally caught up with us... it is officially winter today. Phew! We've had a blanket of snow on the ground now for 6 weeks... but it was technically "Fall." But no more... Old Man Winter is officially here.

This morning, when the thermometer read -16 degrees, the boys did not see, "that's weather that could cause frostbite in under 10 minutes on any exposed skin." They saw, "we got 5 more inches of snow last night... can we please, Please, PLEASE go out and play?"

We got about 8 inches of snow last weekend... and another 5 or so last night - but the highest the temperature has reached in the past week is 1 degree above zero, which has meant the boys have not gotten to go out and play at all in the beautiful, white powder. This morning, Vince had to shovel the driveway and sidewalks, so we decided to bundle up the boys and allow them to go out for a bit to help shovel.

In order for them to stay warm enough, the key is layering. So, for their short stint in the frozen tundra, the boys donned a long sleeve shirt, a sweatshirt, sweatpants, 2 pairs of socks, a winter coat, snow pants, winter boots, a scarf, a hat and two pairs of mittens. It took me about 20 minutes to get the boys ready to go outside (but thinking ahead, I did have them both go potty before they got dressed).

Asher made it for a grand total of 12 minutes outside... the time it took me to get Ezra dressed, plus an additional 2 minutes.

This is Vince after about 15 minutes outside... notice the icicles on his eyelashes.

Obed stood at the backdoor while the big boys were outside, hat in hand, grunting and screaming. I'm pretty sure he was insisting that he is big enough to go out and shovel.

After his 12 minutes outside, Asher warmed up with a cup of hot cocoa (which I think was actually his motivation for wanting to go outside... he knows when he plays in the snow, he gets hot cocoa).

Children of the Corn Box

Living in the cold, cold North means many days spent inside. This week we've had a particularly long cold snap, where the temperatures have not reached above 0 for 4 days now. We have a heat wave today... high of 3!

When it's this cold, it's hard to get out with the boys. They say you can get frostbite on exposed skin in under 10 minutes in this weather... and I'm lucky if I can get all three boys out of the van and into a store in under 10 minutes - with their short legs and ice-covered parking lots, walking quickly is just not possible (well, their short legs, ice-covered parking lots, and the fact that I'm a huge klutz, falling almost as much as my kids).

All this being said, we have to find many things to keep us entertained inside - sometimes for days on end - without going out. The corn box is one such thing. We have a rather large box (about 4x2x8) full of feed corn. It's sort of like an inside sandbox - but full of feed corn (which is much easier to clean up).

Ezra has such a phenomenal imagination... We pulled the lid off the corn box the other day and all three boys were wrapped in imaginative play for a good 30-40 minutes - even Obed (who didn't even try to eat any corn, to my great shock!). Ezra started out "working" on a construction site. The rakes were graders, the Barrel O' Monkeys were concrete mixers, and the tube we had was a roller. Then he was working at a movie theater and got a plastic Ziploc baggie to make microwave popcorn to sell to the people going to a movie. After that we played "hide and seek " with the plastic m&m in the corn.

I'm thankful for our box of corn... it offers many hours of entertainment (we've had it now for 3 years). It's a cheap investment (55 pounds of corn for $5). And it is a great outlet for imagination for the boys.

Firsts

Obed had his first Oreo this week. I know for those of you who know him, this may come as a shock as you consider his affection for food... but he really, really liked it.
Asher and Ezra got new fleece, Lightening McQueen robes this week... their first robes. Not only are they warm when it's so very cold outside, but they are classy and, in the minds of a 2 and 4 year old, can be worn at any time during the day, with any clothing. Really, there is nothing that a robe does not match.

Piggy Pancakes

During the nicer months in Nearly, Canada, Vince instituted "donut day." Donut day occurred on Saturday mornings. He would get all three boys up and take them to the local grocery store to get donuts and eat them at the small deli there in the store. He did this to serve me by allowing me to sleep in a bit, and to have special daddy-son time with the boys.

Now that the weather has turned rather nasty, it hardly seems worth getting all three boys up, bundled up and out the door for a breakfast of sugar. So the winter version of donut day is "daddy cooks breakfast on Saturdays" day. This past Saturday was "Piggy Pancake Day" (if you add "day" to the end of any event, the boys think it's a super special treat... I wonder when they'll figure out this little trick?).

Winter Wonderland

This is about 24 hours after the storm started. Just beautiful... albeit cold! It's currently at the day's expected high of -10.

Snowy Walk

It was a beautiful day here in Nearly Canada yesterday. It was about 25 degrees, almost no wind, bright, sunny skies... just gorgeous! Since Vince had the car for most of yesterday, our only transportation was by foot, so we decided to go for a walk in order to enjoy the beautiful weather... especially since it's the last nice day expected for a while. The high on Sunday is -5.

So we layered up and loaded up. Now you have to understand that pushing a running stroller, which when fully loaded with all 3 boys, weighs well over 100 pounds, is much like pushing a lead box through the sand... it's tough work! I walked for about 30 minutes and got quite the work-out... then Ezra and Asher got out to run.
The older two boys ran... and ran... and ran. When all was said and done, I think they ran close to a mile.

Obed remained happily in the stroller, enjoying watching his older brothers run about.

Asher fell when he was running and his face got stuck this way... but I guess it didn't really get stuck, but rather was frozen because his tongue is no longer hanging out this morning. Phew!

The Evil Superhero Baby of Destruction

Obed the Tornado continues to be a thorn in the sides of Ezra and Asher. It's as though Obed has some evil super-hero complex... anytime he sees any sort of structure the boys have built, his mind clicks to destruction mode and he must knock down the structure with as much force and finality as possible. You name it, Obed wants to destroy it... Lego towers, gone. Block walls, gone. Potato Head families, gone. Train tracks, gone. This is quite difficult for Ezra and Asher. They have taken to playing many games in their room with the door shut so Obed the Tornado cannot enter. There is always a risk, however, when something is built on the floor. Obed waits outside their bedroom door, like a lion ready to pounce on its prey... it's as though he knows the second the door opens, he must attack quickly and completely. It's both hilarious and heartbreaking to watch all at the same time.

Ezra and Asher have learned that Obed's short stature at this phase in life can be used to their advantage these days. The best and safest place to build... up high. Obed cannot reach anything beyond the edge of the table... so these days, train sets, Lego towers, Potato Head families and any other number of structures are built on the dining room table. It's the one "evil-superhero-baby-of-destruction" proof area.

The Illusion of Control

Ezra is at an age where he rarely naps. He has one hour of "quiet time" in his room each day... although truth be told, I think it should more accurately be called, "one hour of sanity time for mommy."

Asher, understanding that Ezra almost never sleeps, but rather, sits in his bed and plays with cars, looks at books, and tries to be still and quiet (which is quite difficult for an almost 5 year old) wants in on this "no sleep" action. So, every day, when I lay Asher down for rest, he says, "I'm not going to sleep today, okay?" I used to try to tell him that he needed to at least try to rest, then tears would ensue as he explained to me in 2 year old dialect that he was not "sweepy" and he just wanted to "tay up." I quickly learned, however, that the only response I need to give to Asher when he wants to stay up is, "okay, you don't need to sleep."

The illusion of control is a funny thing... just about 98.7% of the time, when Asher is not "sweepy" and wants to "tay up" he ends up falling asleep. I suppose Asher seems to think that since he has the "choice" of whether he needs to sleep or stay up, he "chooses" to sleep.

Obed-A-Reeno

Ezra calls Obed "Obed-A-Reeno." It's sort of his pet name I suppose. Obed is quite the entertainer. He puts his spoon in his mouth and shakes his head back and forth violently until the spoon goes flying across the room. It's his new "trick" I suppose, and it makes him laugh every time.... and then the boys laugh, so it encourages him to do his magic trick again... and again... and again.
Here, Obed is pretty sure he is like the "big boys" and can get into the tub all on his own... if only his legs were a few inches longer and the tub was a few inches shorter, he would SO be in the tub by himself. Obed even "used" the potty the other night. The evening routine is that we undress him on his changing table and then he toddles into the bathroom and tries to unsuccessfully climb into the tub. Two nights ago, he toddled into the bathroom, went and stood behind the toilet and proceeded to pee all over the side of the toilet and the floor. I suppose maybe he knew that's where the big boys go potty before bath... of course, he missed the whole going potty "in" the potty aspect of their routine. He did try to flush afterwards though - you know, in case the pee would magically get transported into the potty and disappear off the floor.

Obed also loves to hide. There are many times I'll find him sitting in the closet with the door shut, playing in the dark. Here, Obed is "hiding" in the boys room behind a 4x4 post. He's pretty sure I can't see him... the 2 inches of him sticking out on either side of the post.

We were getting ready to run errands on Monday and Obed started screaming. He brought one of my own knit hats to me and was trying to put it on. I put it on him and he dissolved into even more hysterics. I took it off him, and the screaming escalated yet again. I put it back on his head again, and he was still screaming - but this time he went to the back door and was banging on it. As far as I could tell, he was sad that the boys had their coats on and he didn't... once he had his coat on, all was puppies and unicorns and really, the hat had nothing to do with it. All this to say, man my kids have big heads! Even my own knit stocking cap fits my 15 month old.

Family of Black Disco

What is one to do when the weather turns nasty (currently -6 degrees) and it gets dark before it really seems to get light? Well, you play Christmas music really loudly and dance with glow-sticks of course. We received a gift basket a few months back full of treats and treasures... and one of the "treasures" was a box of glow-sticks for the boys. Many hours of fun have been had by all three boys dancing in the dark. When the day has gotten exceptionally long, I have covered the basement windows with dark towels and let them run around like crazy men with glow-sticks... there's no end of fun to these tiny glowing sticks of light!

Even Obed wanted to get in on the fun. He started out with a flashlight... but soon learned that in order to be like the big boys, he too needed a glowing stick of light. (This is post-dinner family dancing, thus the child without a top... since he won't wear a bib, his shirt serves as a bib, which makes many a messy shirt).
Ezra has clearly inherited his very white parent's dancing skills.

Grammy and Papa Came for Turkey Day

Grammy and Papa drove all the way up from St. Louis to spend a few days with us over Thanksgiving. Grammy and Papa got to fully experience building a sweet train set, playing crash, trucks, and yes, even baby.
While they were visiting, Grammy and Papa helped put up the Christmas tree. Obed mostly enjoyed tearing the tissue paper that the ornaments were wrapped in into a thousand tiny pieces. He may look like he's upset in this picture... but actually, he's doing his evil baby laugh, "mwaahh ha ha ha ha!" as he tears away.

When the tree was initially decorated, it was a little ornament heavy at about the three foot high level. In the minds of a 2 and 4 year old, there's really no limit to how many ornaments can go on one branch.

Obed loved story time with Papa.

Ezra got to spend a lot of special time with Grammy... here he is showing both Grammy and his baby how the Leapfrog works.