For Megan

It started last year for Ezra's birthday. My sister, Megan, sent Ezra a Lightning McQueen silky basketball jersey. Now, I will say up front that there is nothing inherently wrong with silky concept clothing - but it's just not what I would choose to have my children wear. Ezra, of course, loved the basketball jersey and wore it any and every day it was clean (3-4 times a week).

In the spirit of "pay back," I found a splendid Thomas the Tank Engine t-shirt for Megan's son, Isaiah. It was blue and had all the different engines from the Thomas series, complete with sparkles to add a bit of class to the shirt. Isaiah, of course, loved his new "choo choo shirt" and wore it with great pride any opportunity he could.

Well, Megan has taken the cake with Asher's birthday gift this year. It is a full, Bob the Builder denim work outfit, complete with denim jacket (with plastic applique Bob on the front) with sweatshirt hood, elastic waisted pants with orange stitching, and a classy Bob the Builder shirt, which looks like a muscle shirt over a long sleeved t-shirt. Again, there is nothing necessarily wrong with these items... they would just not be my preference, ever.

All this being said, Asher LOVES his new work outfit and is happy to wear it, as instructed, only in the house when he's doing construction work, over his other clothing for the day. I'm looking forward to Isaiah's 3rd birthday in June... but it only gives me 5 months to find an even better "pay back" gift.

My "Helpers"

Anytime I go to the store, the checker will generally make some comment like, "my, you have a lot of helpers!" This is true. Ezra, Asher and Obed all like to "help" get things out of the cart and put them on the belt at the check out. They also like to "help" unload all the groceries. This "help" often results in fruit getting smashed, boxes being opened prematurely, items spilled and a general sense of chaos in the house... so really, nothing out of the ordinary from any other day.

In spite of the fact that the "help" from the boys will always make projects longer, messier and more chaotic, I wouldn't have it any other way. It's teaching them important life lessons like service to others, organization and working together.
Ezra "organizing" things for the pantry.

Obed "helping" by taking a bag of frozen broccoli out in the living room.

The pantry items once they've been "organized."

Asher the Rooster

I don't know what makes the difference from one morning to the next, but this morning, Asher's bed head was exceptional. I think he looks a bit like a rooster. Since we haven't left the house today (and have no plans to), he still looks like a rooster (in case you were wondering).

More Cold Days

Ezra asked yesterday if he could set his shin guards out until Spring, when he could play outside again. I tried to explain that it could be another 4-5 months until we could be outside again... he didn't really get it. We've had another sub-zero cold snap in Nearly Canada, resulting in many, many, many days inside. I think the pictures explain the cabin fever better than words ever could.

Theology: A Work in Process

The boys have a new book for our evening devotions - "Big Truths for Little Kids." The book goes through a series of basic theological questions... Who made you? Why did God make you? Is there more than one God? etc...

Last night, the question the boys covered was What is God? The answer is: God is a spirit, he does not have a body like us. Vince continued on with the story that went with the question of the evening. Asher sat deep in thought for a minute or two and then interrupted Vince as he was reading. His thought? "If God doesn't have a body, then God doesn't poop, huh?" Nope, as far as we know, God doesn't poop Asher. I'm glad to know he's listening... and trying to process these big truths!

Things That Made Me Laugh Today

I laugh a lot most days at my kids. There are some days, however, that I laugh a lot more and a lot harder than other days. Today was one of those days.

When Asher was two, he had "issues" with gum... he could not chew a piece without swallowing it. We told him when he turned three, he could try again. He has had a few successful chewing incidents, and quite a few swallowing incidents as well. Today, I looked over to see what he was doing during his "gum time" after rest. He had decided the best way to remind himself not to swallow his gum was to hold onto it the whole time he was chewing it... so that's exactly what he did. He held onto a tiny little piece while he chewed, careful not to bite his fingers. Smart kid... messy, but smart.
During dinner tonight, Obed asked for a "boof," which to the untrained parent ear, may be confusing. We knew immediately, however, that he wanted a spoon. When the other boys ask for a utensil, it is not uncommon for Vince to find the largest serving spoon or fork he can find and offer it to the boys. Ezra and Asher get the joke... Obed, not so much. He gladly took the largest serving boof we had and proceeded to happily eat his dinner.

Last night after bath was a sad time for the boys because, in their words, "Curious George was pooping in the water." You see, we had a rubber Curious George water squirter which, after months of use, got full of mold, and would only squirt out black, moldy particles. That being said, it was time for their beloved bath-time George to go the way of the garbage can. The boys were quite sad about this.

Today, we decided to treat them to a new bath toy to replace George, so we loaded up the family and headed to Target. Ezra and Asher picked a pretend shaving kit, so they could be like daddy. At dinner, I lost it when Ezra announced loudly, with great enthusiasm, "Asher, we can take turns shaving each other's backs!" Well, I guess they're like daddy in that they now have a shaving kit... although I can't say Vince has ever taken turns shaving backs with others (that I know of).

A Nice Quiet Activity

The boys are into percussion these days. Ezra got a djembe several years ago for Christmas from his Aunt Holly. Asher got a new drum for Christmas this year from Grandma and Bompa. Then Asher got $3 for his third birthday from his great Grandma... so he bought new "drum ticks" with his money. Vince brought his bongos home from work, so those too have become a drum on which they bang with the sticks.

The boys like to circle the drums around them, as if they had a full trap set, and then they play "church." There are three people at church who are the drummers for the worship service... Matt, Jason and Ms. Cheri. Every day, Ezra and Asher take turns being a different drummer from church. The conversation typically goes, "Asher, are you Jason today?" Asher responds, "No, I'm Ms. Cheri today and you're Matt." Although Obed doesn't typically get to play church with the big boys, in this picture, he was "allowed" to play church with Ezra. As you can see, however, he is clearly not Obed, but rather, he is Jason.

The Dog Has Issues

Overall, Warnie is a great dog. He's great with the kids - exceptionally patient with Obed. He's obedient. He doesn't bark much. He's a good dog. He does, however, have a couple issues. His biggest issue is that he has separation anxiety, which basically means that he panics every time we leave the house. He's relatively certain we will never, ever return, so he paces frantically from window to window, looking for us, until we return. His other issue? Serious size confusion. Today, Vince was lying on the floor playing with the boys. Warnie cuddled up as if he were a 12 pound lap dog, rather than an 85 pound mini-horse.

A Day in the Life of Obed

Obed keeps us entertained. Although he has been a bit of a grump in recent weeks due to teething, sleep issues, several colds, and more teeth... he makes us laugh a lot. Here are just a few of his antics that keep us entertained and on our toes...

This morning I was collecting the bazillion loads of laundry I had to fold and was in and out of the family room. I ran upstairs to put some mail out for the mail man and Ezra yelled upstairs, "mom, you should grab your camera." So, camera in hand, I returned downstairs to find a basket full of clothes and Obed. Obed had crawled into the laundry basket. Ezra and Asher piled clean clothes on top of him, and he was content to sit in the basket for a good 5 minutes. Now that's good babysitting!
It was a beautiful "warm" day in Nearly Canada with 32 degrees reading on the thermometer, bright blue skies, it just begged us to be outside. We went for a long walk at the park (since they have a trail cleared from the 50+ inches of snow on the ground). When we came home, Ezra and Asher wanted to play out in the snow. I agreed, but took Obed inside (since he wasn't wearing any shoes and since he also tends to fall in the snow and then it becomes a case of dramatics). Obed spent most of his time kissing Asher through the door.

Then this afternoon, I was helping the older two boys clean up their room, when Obed snuck out with Asher's Cookie Monster. I went to check on him since I heard his call for juice... "eesh, eesh." I found him happily playing at his highchair... Cookie Monster in the chair drinking the "eesh."

Although this picture was taken last night (so technically this post should be "a day and a half in the life of Obed"), it was worth including. We had mint chocolate chip ice-cream for dessert. After Asher finished his ice-cream, he was still hungry, so I gave him some raisins. He said he was still hungry, so I told him he could have some black olives (you know, the "are you really still hungry or are you wanting to just eat" food offer). I guess Asher was still hungry because he ate the black olives too. And of course, any time any food is offered, Obed insists he too should be the recipient of said food. In this shot, you will notice Obed is eating mint chocolate chip ice-cream, mixed with raisins and black olives. He found it rather delicious.

The Wise Men, Baby Jelmo and Road Work

Today in Sunday school Asher learned about the wise men that visited Jesus. Ezra told Asher that before Asher, the wise man, could visit baby Jesus, he needed to spread sand on the road on the way to Bethlehem, since the roads were icy.
Then Asher was able to come, with his crown and present, to see baby Jesus.. although since the boys don't technically have a baby Jesus, Elmo played the role of Jesus/Elmo (Jelmo).

Christmas PJ's

Long story short (since I simply do not have the space on this world wide web to write out the whole story)... our friend Phil wears girl's pajamas. He told us that if we posted a picture of our family wearing our Christmas pajamas, he too would post a picture of himself in his girly pajamas. Since we are a family who keeps our word, here we are in our Christmas pajamas.

Two Birds of A Feather

Spicy, the neighbor's cat, was outside today. Obed and Warnie were both very interested in him and shared the box in order to look out the window. Warnie just watched the cat with intensity. Obed kept pointing to the cat and barking. Obed's in the phase of life where every animal barks... unless it's a bear or a lion, they growl.

The Big 0-3

I can hardly believe Asher is 3 today! Asher has a fun and mischievous sense of humor. He is quick to laugh and to cause others to laugh. Asher is a delight and a joy for our family and we thank God for his three years of life.

The morning started today with the traditional, sugar-loaded, breakfast of champions... a birthday donut and chocolate milk.
Then it was time to open gifts. Ezra picked out a book for Asher and also helped Daddy pick out a fork lift as well.

Asher, with his new garbage truck from Grammy and Papa

Last Saturday our friend, Henry, had his birthday, so we went to Henry's house to celebrate with him and his family. His mom made a rockin' car cake!

Asher wanted to celebrate his birthday with Henry and his family by decorating cupcakes. So we celebrated two birthdays.

Soccer Cone Lacrosse

This morning when we awoke, our thermometer read -34 degrees. That's cold! We didn't quite hit a record low (-39), although about 100 miles south of us, they hit a new record low at -44 degrees.

Any "weather types" that might read this blog can correct me, but I think there was freezing fog this morning. There was a thick haze and the air just looked frozen. It's the kind of morning where I forgot several times that I was opening the storm door (to let the dog in) with damp hands (since I just washed dishes) and my fingers froze instantly to the metal handle. Nice.

The weather as it is, it's yet another day to be inside. The challenge of the day lies in creating all sorts of fun for three squirly boys. By 10:00 this morning, the boys had gotten up, eaten breakfast, done Bible time, done their morning chores, gotten dressed, played Fireman, played Trip, had a snack, watched some PBS, played in the corn box, played Church and help make bread. So what's a girl to do after that many activities for the day are done and it's only 10:00 AM?

Well, fortunately we have a very creative daddy in our house. Last night Vince created Soccer Cone Lacrosse. The boys got soccer cones for Christmas... but with over 50 inches of snow on the ground, the cones would be lost in a drift, the boys would have frostbite within 2 minutes, and I'm pretty certain the soccer ball would freeze and crack into a million tiny pieces the first time it was kicked.

So instead we play Soccer Cone Lacrosse. The rules are really quite simple... you put a ball in the cone and throw it and the other person tries to catch it. You try to get the ball as quickly as possible so that neither Obed nor Warnie can get the ball and chew on it, thus creating a slobbery mess (never worry though, Obed had his own ball with which to play, so he was really unaffected by the "keep away" that he didn't even realize was going on).

This particular activity burned a good 25 minutes today. Nice.

Long Winter Days

These are the activities in the Black house in recent days... long days spent inside with little opportunity to get out.

Ezra has been building lots of rockets and spaceships. At first he was very upset anytime a piece of his rocket would fall off any time it was flying. But then Vince showed him a video of the Space Shuttle taking off and how the blaster rockets fall off part way through the launch. Since then, we've heard, "5... 4... 3... 2... 1... BLASTOFF!" over and over and over. Asher likes to play too... but he can't remember the number sequence backwards, so from him we hear, "okay, you count now."
Vince took a picture of my ear. Why? Well, I suppose because it was something to do that was out of the ordinary. After he took a picture of my ear, he said, "hey, I just took a picture of your ear. Want to see it?" Now that's exciting stuff!

Asher found, quite possibly, the smallest toy box he could, squeezed himself into it, and sat and read a book.

Obed got his snack cup, put the goldfish in, dumped them out, picked them up from the ground, dumped them back out, picked them up, ate one, dumped them out. Yet again, another exciting and stimulating activity.

Only three more months until Spring. But with all this exciting activity, I think we'll be just fine... inside... for 100 more days. Sigh.

Now That's Just Classy

Nothing says classy like a multi-colored sweater, paired with a brown and orange striped onsie... add to that a pair of striped tube socks, brown leather slippers, and no pants. The kid's got style.

A Few Snowy Pictures

For the readers who have lived in the great, white North for quite some time, all this snow is probably not astounding to you. This is our 4th winter in Nearly, Canada... but this is the first "real" winter we've had since we've been here. Sure, we've had the sub-zero temperatures and a bit of snow - but the snow this year is unprecedented. Weather people say it's the worst winter we've had in 10-12 years with record setting snows. It's quite amazing to see!

You have to look closely, but here you can see Ezra and Asher's heads bobbing out from behind one of the snow trails that Vince has dug in the backyard.
Vince, and our neighbor James, shoveling off the roof. Vince said there were times on the roof that the snow was up past his knees.

There are drifts in the backyard where the snow is up over the top of the fence (good thing Warnie is a weenie and doesn't want to be outside... or he could walk right over the top of the fence).

Here are some of the snow tunnels in the backyard, as well as snow being shoveled off the roof.

"Icicle beard" aka Vince.

Let's Talk Personal Space

Personal space is a pretty foreign concept to the Black boys. Obed is relatively certain that the toilet is just another seat in the house. No matter how quickly I sit down to use the facility, he will inevitably bring a book to me and try to crawl on my lap to have story time.

This morning, Asher needed to "facilitate." He called me into the bathroom because he found a cat sitting on a couch in a magazine and found it rather humorous. As I was in there (among the stench) waiting for him to find the cat on the couch again, Ezra came in because he wanted to see the silly cat. Then Obed came in and grabbed a magazine. Then Warnie wanted to join in on the fun as well... so he curled up right in the mix of things.

One day the boys will realize that it's not "normal" to have a family pow-wow in the bathroom... but until then, it's just another public meeting space to them.

9 Years

Today is our 9 year anniversary. My how quickly time goes by... and how much has changed! It's fun to think back 9 1/2 years... Vince was working 3 jobs to make ends meet, living with (our now) brother-in-law. I was living with my sister, finishing up grad school. We weren't even engaged yet! After an engagement, a wedding, 2 apartments, 1 live-in situation, a house, 3 kids, 3 dogs, 8 cars, 7 moves, and lots of adventures along the way, I can say in all honesty that God has been faithful! We love each other more today than yesterday... and I'm certain more tomorrow than today. I praise God for my husband. Happy Anniversary!

Just One of Those Days

There are, on occasion, days when I am quite certain that by the end of the day, either my sanity, the dog, or one of the boys will not successfully make it through the day. Today was one of those days. Wednesdays tend to be long days. Vince has meetings starting at about 5:30 AM and he plows through until quitting time. This means that we don't have the fun of having daddy at breakfast, and we also have no vehicle in order to get out and about.

By 3:00 today, there was a serious case of cabin fever in the Black house. The boys were literally running circles through the house and the volume was rising by the second. Warnie was trying to chase the boys, knocking Obed over time and again. Asher was melting down at the smallest infraction and mom was about to lose her cool. So what better to do on a day like that than go for a walk, right? The only catch was that it was 3 degrees out and there is about 3 feet of snow on the ground. But, for the sake of my sanity, I bundled up all three boys and headed out.

Really, when there isn't wind, 3 degrees is not that bad (seriously). Most people have their sidewalks cleared, with a wall of snow on either side, making walking relatively easy. Obed was in the backpack, (bundled up and unable to move his arms due to the layering effect of his clothing) and Ezra and Asher ran... and ran... and ran. We were out for about 45 minutes and the boys ran over a mile. Their favorite activity was to run up the sidewalk and then dive into the wall of snow. Although I'm quite certain the neighbors didn't appreciate that their neatly groomed sidewalks were slightly destroyed by two boisterous boys, I'm sure the belly-laugh that this action produced from Obed every time the boys dove into the snow would soften their hearts (that, and the fact that they are forecasting another 3-10 inches of snow tomorrow, so they'll just have to shovel/snow blow again).

Diaper Duty

The older two boys have the responsibility to get their pajamas and pull-ups out each afternoon in preparation for the evening. Typically, they get the required items and place them on the couch.

Today, I was cleaning up the kitchen and noticed Obed making many trips to and from his room with diapers in hand... I found him sitting rather smugly on the couch. He had successfully "helped" get every single diaper and pull-up out of the diaper cabinet. I guess the boys are well prepared for the next 17 nights.

Ezra-isms

Ezra cracks me up. He is a kid who says funny things without knowing that he's being funny. His innocent humor is delightful! He often gets embarrassed when we laugh with his silliness - but he also loves the attention.

A few months back, we were going over his and Asher's Sunday School lessons on Monday morning. Asher was learning about Isaac and Rebekah and Vince asked Asher, "what did God give give Isaac?" Asher looked rather confused and answered, "a camel?" Ezra quickly chimed in, "Nope, but close!" In the spirit of trying to be an encourager, Ezra encouraged Asher for his valiant effort in answering. The answer that Vince was looking for, however, was "a wife" - not exactly close to camel.

We got a new toy for Christmas that plays various songs. Ezra loves to sing and often sings along with the toy. He has apparently inherited my gift of making up words to songs when you just don't know the lyrics... I mean really, the written lyrics are not nearly as enjoyable as the made-up ones! For instance, Ezra's been singing Row, Row, Row Your Boat. Ezra's interpretation: "row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream, yellow, yellow, yellow, yellow, gently down the stream." He's also been singing Skip to My Loo.... it's supposed to go, "skip, skip, skip to my loo." The Ezra version... "skip, skip, skip through the moose." It's so much fun listening to him sing... although he must never hear me as I giggle at his words lest he become embarrassed and stop singing... that would be a travesty!

Green (Scrambled) Eggs and Ham (with Toast)

The other night we decided to have green eggs and ham for dinner. The night started with the family loading into the van to go buy some ham, since that is not a meat we typically keep in stock at the Black home. Once we arrived home, Vince read the book with the boys.Then the creation began. Neither boy really likes fried eggs, but they love scrambled eggs! So we made some green scrambled eggs.

I remember once my sister's dog found a piece of green bologna on the ground and ate it. It was green because it was old and moldy. We learned that ham doesn't have to be moldy in order to be green... when one puts drops of green food coloring on a piece of ham, the ham turns greens as well. When one puts drops of green food coloring on a piece of ham and eats it, one's teeth and tongue turn green as well - this aspect of green eggs and ham was not addressed in the book.