dress up

"Boys like to play dress up!"

I overheard Liam say that to a friend that is a girl not too long ago. I had to laugh. My boys do like to dress up. Thankfully it is usually in the knight-pirate-spiderman-Jedi-ninja fashion. Tonight, it was a Wiseman and Shepard.

Noble said, "I tried to find as many colors as I could because Wisemen were colorful."
(?) Where does he come up with this stuff?

Main Street Bethlehem

Main Street Bethlehem

We drove for an hour and half North of San Antonio to Burnet, Texas, to attend a live nativity. The Baptist church puts it on and what a production it is. You walk through the gates of Bethlehem and first see the lepers on the outside of the city. We then sampled bread and cheese from the local merchants, warm fires and places to rest were hard to find in the small crowded city! Everyone there stayed in character and it was bustling with people that had come to Bethlehem! It was a neat experience to step back in time and see how it might have been. Liam was scared of the Roman Soldiers. Once we wound our way through the city we did find an Inn, but there was not room there either. And then we saw it, a new star, and below that a baby laid in a manger. It was a wonderful True Christmas experience. We were glad we went.

The most touching part of the experience was at the end, stopping to look at Mary, Joseph and the baby, I bore my testimony to the boys that this was how He came to the world, the most improtant person, the King of Kings, of humble birth. I was even more touched that they were touched and that they really seemed to get it. I am thankful for my testimony and the chance to share it with my children.

giving

We decided as a family this year that we were going to concentrate on GIVING. For the kids what that meant was every time they thought "I want that" they needed to stop themselves and say instead, "I want to give that." For the parents, that meant coming up with several opportunities to GIVE to reinforce the giving idea and make sure that feeling was felt in their hearts enough to make a difference.

Now I have thought about writing this on the blog, and wondered if it would sound show-off-ish, but really I just want to document what we have been doing. No show-off-ishy-ness. okay.

We found several places to donate toys for the Toys For Tots program. We gave toys through the Boy Scouts, Marines and Texas Transportation Museum. We donated socks, play-doh, matchbox cars and coloring books to the flood victims in Mexico. We are doing a sub-for-Santa for a single Mom in our area. We give everything that is in our coin purse or car to the Salvation Army Bell Ringers everytime we see them. We gave generously to fast offering and Christmas fund at church all year, but especially this month.

But this story, tops them all.
Alec takes his work shirts in to a cleaners to be cleaned and pressed. He does this because he loves me, it isn't anything I ever asked for, but I know that is why he does it. He takes them so that I don't have to launder and press them (the first gift to me) and he takes them in so that I don't have to keep track of when he is almost out of shirts (the second gift to me). But this story isn't about me. The women where he drops the shirts off is young, married and has a severally handicapped young daughter. He has told me more than once about her, always expressing his gratitude that our children are healthy and whole. When he dropped off his shirts last week he also gave her a gift certificate to Toys R Us. She thanked him. But when he returned to pick up the shirts she had a holiday mug and hot chocolate for him. She was touched by his gift and explained that with hospital bills and medications, Christmas may as well not have come. Thanks to Alec's gift, it would. He explained that in his life there had been people that had lifted him and given to him at times that it really was crucial, with no expectation of anything in return and that is those experiences that he, and we, remember the most. He could tell that this seemingly small gesture on his part had made a world of difference for this stranger.

hooray for my Hubby! I don't write very much about him, but he truly is one of the most amazing people I know.

Gingerbread Houses

We had a delightful time making gingerbread houses with our friends. It was great to see how the children's personalities come out in how they built and decorated their house.

Look how pleased Hew looks at himself. Like he decorated it! He did half, I did the rest.

Gingerbreading

Okay, stole the "gingerbreading" word from Anna.
Anna is awesome. We had a gingerbread festivity at our house today. Anna made all the gingerbread, see, I said she was awesome.
We invited friends over and made gingerbread house.
The Mann Family; Tina, Jessica, Jacob, David, Jonathon.
The Gifford Family; Tamara, Ethan, Hallie, Caden, Parker, Avery.
Anna and Henry
Dixie, Noble, Liam and Hewy.

beginning to look...

One of our first Christmas activities of the season.
We visited Texas Transportation Museum one night. It was all decorated for the holiday season and even had it's own Engineer Santa.
Grandpa, Grandmama, Aunt Anna, Uncle Dell and Henry joined us.
The boys loved all the trains and we even took a short 1/4 mile ride on an old steam engine.
beginning to look at lot like Christmas...

Caught

Hewy caught in action! Or not. But both are quite Hewy!
The first is his latest choice for a napping spot. He says "nigh-nigh" gets a pillow and lays on the coffee table and goes to sleep.
I don't remember why I took the lower one as he strikes a pose coming out of the pantry - but it sure is cute.

Mess

Hew doesn't like his hands to be messy but he doesn't care at all about his face being messy!
In fact, I think he is his truest self when it is messy.
See that devilish smile?

Nine Donkeys

"Mom, Dad, What does 'nine donkeys' mean?"
"What?" we ask simultaneously.
"Nine Donkey's" Liam says again.
We glance at each other, and then I ask, "Where did you hear it?"
"It was in that . . . . . book and the old man says 'nine donkeys.' So I think it means 'no thank you."
Alec asks "Nein Danke?"
"No, Nine Donkeys." Completely straight faced.
"Was this a book that Noble read to you?" I asked.
"Uh huh!" Nodding quickly.
"You're right it means, 'no thanks' Liam" I tell him.
"It's really 'nein danke' which is German." Alec tells him.
Looking puzzled as to why Alec doesn't understand "Nine Donkeys" Liam left the room.

I Know

Today after I got Hew dressed we were having our usual play time on the floor. Tickle here, laugh, ran away, come back, hug, sit on my lap, smooch, snuggle, run away... you get the idea. At one point, amused by him, I said "H-y I love you!" and gave him a squeeze. He sat down on my lap, said "I know" and leaned in for a snuggle.

Oh, melt my Motherly heart!

Merry Christmas 2007

Make a slide show, scrapbook, or ecard

Sweet Misery

A couple nights ago Hew woke up around 2am and stayed up until nearly 5 - although awake, he played happily. The next day he had a running nose and slight chesty cough. We bought Mucinex for him and gave him Nightime Triaminic and he slept the next night fine. Yesterday he had the goopiest constant runny nose he has ever had and got in all sorts of random trouble, like breaking knickknacks and drawing on walls. And then last night he woke up and cried for several hours, and hours and did I say hours. Anyone knows that after an hour of inconsolable crying everyone is about to go mad! Alec finally got him back to sleep after giving him some Tylenol because he thought he felt warm. That lasted long enough for Alec to shower and leave for work - and Hew was up and crying inconsolably again. For those of you that don't know Hewy well, he doesn't cry. He's tough, he falls on his face and says "again!" But he has been crying more, I thought/think because he is TWO and discovering emotion. But hours of inconsolable crying, songs didn't work, Curious George didn't work, being up with Daddy didn't work.... Something was wrong. He started saying early this morning (4am) "Ouch! Ear!"

OH! An ear infection! It's wonderful how much communication can do! A few numbing drops and another dose of Tylenol and we were good to go until the doctor could fit us in.
I love modern Medicine. I love small pediatric groups that are easy to get into. I love husbands that function better on less sleep than I do. I love concerned brothers that didn't mind being woke up to a screaming toddler. I love Wal-Mart Pharmacy. I love health insurance. I love being a modern day pioneer. I wouldn't have made it across the plains!

While at the doctor, Noble and Liam did their Grammar and Math, just as if they were at home at their desks. Hew sat quietly on the exam table and gently patted his little hands on his knees. Yes, something was definitely amiss with that little guy. He sat through the exam and answered the docs questions. Sat still. Quietly. No climbing or jumping or screaming (gleefully or sadly)

Misery has it's sweetness too! The peace I needed came. The quiet I needed came. The cooperation of older children came. So much to be thankful for.

Disturbing

"I like it. The only thing I find disturbing is this. . ."
-Liam answers Grandmama after she asks if he likes the Raspberry Nut Jell-o and he pointed to a vine or twig or something that must have come from the raspberries.
We laughed at his choice of words, "disturbing," great vocabulary for a 7 year old.

Hewy's Birthday

Hewy turned two!
He got a lot of Lightning McQueen stuff, a race track and dish set and some cars to hold and play with. He also received Thomas the Train things from Grandmama and Grandpa, and Dell, Anna and Henry.
He blew out his candles several times before we finished the "Happy Birthday" song.
And he really enjoyed his cake!

Hewy 2 cake

This is Hewy's TWO cake.
It's a layered yellow cake with chocolate filling, sculpted to look like a car and frosted to Lightning McQueen likeness.
It was cute enough to eat!
(Even if I do say so myself) Way to go MOM!

Paint Project Finished

Hooray! Our paint project is finished!
This is our gameroom and we lo-ooooove it! (But now we need a new couch!)

Master paint

Master Bedroom and Bathroom! We are very happy with these colors but again I am not sure the pictures do them justice. Our room is a darker, more shadows than light, blue.

Our bathroom is a crisp cool green.

Paint Bedrooms

The bedrooms turned out great. The first picture is Noble and Liam's room. It is "unfinished" for now. The ceiling is blue and the walls are grey. We plan to go in and sponge darker grey bricks randomly on the walls to make it look like a castle. Noble wants to do clouds on the ceiling. We'll see. :) The second picture is our guest room and no the pink-ish/lilac color is not a hint that we are expecting a girl or expecting anything for that matter! It's just a nice color. The bottom picture is Hewy's room - could tell from all the ducks!? I plan to stamp navy stars at the ceiling line sometime. Overall, we are happy.

Paint Downstairs

This is the Study and the downstairs bathroom. The study is just a basic light brown, we couldn't find anything else that complimented our desk furniture as well as we'd like. The powder room is a rich chocolate brown and this picture in no way does it justice! Everyone who walks into that little room exclaims "Oh, wow!"

"What's a negative?"

It would be one thing if we were doing math or if our behavior or mood were negative, but at the time it was a completely different scenario. When Noble asked me, "What's a negative?" I admit my first thought, very first in a split second was, how does one of my children not know what a negative is? But in the other half of that second I realized their world, much like my world compared to my parents, is different than mine. I came into the world, much to my mothers amazement, knowing how to program a VCR.

I explained to Noble the concept of film in a camera compared to a SM card. I compared seeing the proof on the computer or the back of the camera to the negative. He wondered aloud to himself why we would develop pictures that way. His questions stayed in my mind for sometime as we sorted through that moving box of pictures that I remembered packing nearly three years ago sitting in the basement of our Salt Lake house. Noble was simply asking if he should throw an empty photo envelope away and I responded "make sure there are no negatives in it." And I felt our worlds separate just a little with his return question.

Photography is obviously a giant part of my life. I own two quite expensive cameras for a stay-at-home-Mom. I take nearly one hundred pictures a month and that is the quiet months, not birthday or holiday months - that can be nearly one hundred a week! I realized as my thoughts wandered that the box of pictures we were going through were at least three years old. Noble was five - was he really five the last time I used my original 35 mm exclusively? That was when I made the switch. Up until then, I had gone back and forth between film and digital and always gone back to the film. Convinced it would weather the techy stage, I loved the at home feel of that camera in my hands and the digital just felt flimsy and not like a "real" camera. And then sometime, somewhere, I made the switch about 3 years ago, probably when I got the nice digital that functions like my 35mm.

Not too long ago I opened the nightstand drawer and saw my beloved 35mm film camera there in it's gentle and precious holding place. It was like seeing an old friend and I picked it up and held it. It still feels like a piece of me, an extension of my arm. But the ease of digital, the ability to correct my own pictures, the tiny storage space of electronic pictures verses moving boxes full - it's freeing to stick with digital.

I wonder if someday my grandchildren will ask their father, "Dad what's an SM card, CD-R, etc.?"

Not holding my breath

Yep, not holding my breath. Today was one of those days that you just keep shaking things off thinking, it can't get much worse right and then....

So, I didn't write about the acrylic paint in the carpet last weekend because I really would like to forget the dinner plate size matching red stains accompanied by 3 or 4 fifty cent piece yellow stains that are now the first thing you see when you walk into the family room. Our famous and yet somehow never seen guests "I didn't" and "He did" were the guilty party. Enough said.


But today. Today! Urgh!
Liam out of curiosity disassembled the doorknob and deadbolt to the door that leads to the garage. Why? Why? Why? He gives me this innocent look like "well Mom, why do they put screws in them if you aren't supposed to take them off?" But he is obviously to intelligent to ask that question when he isn't sure if I am demon Mommy or Liberal Arts Mommy for the day. I hadn't even had breakfast!
Noble thinking he was somehow magic pulled the plastic mug he IS supposed to use out from under the ceramic mug that he is encouraged not use - but he was also on a step stool reaching the third shelf, from which the ceramic mug tumbled to tile floor and shattered. (and just as a RS sisters was "stopping by" to give me bad news)
Hewy thinks that everyday when you are done with breakfast the appropriate response is to dump you leftover cereal and milk on the table, push it around like finger paints and then lap up that little bit he is still hungry for like a puppy.
Hewy also has a creative streak in him and he is oddly prone to drawing circles (perhaps he is sketching Momma's life (me running in circles), however he chooses his canvases carefully. Like my Alder wood dish cabinet, new painted walls and brothers grammar book. They are kind of like crop circles only in crayon or black permanent marker.
Liam, we all know has taken a liking to cooking. Today Noble (being 8 is allowed to use the toaster over without supervision) made chicken nuggets. Liam decided to marinate carrot sticks in lime juice with lime zest. (adventurous, yes, I know!) I turned away so he couldn't see my face as I delightfully sampled his new creation and then it hit me - "ZEST?" How did you get lime zest? And Noble holds up the foot long Microblade from the sink, "with this!" YIKES! Do these kiddos not know their mother is afraid not only of sharp objects but of her LOVED ones using sharp objects? Isn't it enough that I have approved steak knives to be used in the kitchen for preparing purposes?

That was all today, and not the evening.
Liam wiped sour cream that he decided he didn't like after slathering his bean burrito with it on the kitchen chair and then rubbed it in so that I wouldn't notice.

Tomorrow is another day. I will breath more tomorrow.

Corn MAiZE

The boys and I trekked out to Hondo Tx today with some fellow homeschoolers.
We found our way through the Corn MAiZE in the mid November 85* heat!

When we stumbled upon a clue post (like this number 8) we used our clue sheets that had trivia on the to help us know to go right, left, or straight ahead. Our trivia sheets were Scripture and Boy Scout trivia. We hit our fair share of dead ends and loop arounds, but we got through it.