Every so often, Andrew will at random say "I really like this house." The reasons vary, from having so much snow (ha!), being close to the pool, being able to see in the window to ask a question instead of coming all the way in the house (ties in with having so much snow to make that a possibility!), etc.
Yesterday's reason took the cake: "Because Daddy gets home earlier so we can play with him in the afternoon." Yep...that's why we like it, too. On our list of reasons to move to S. from MP, that was in the top three.
Kids need their dads, and I'm thrilled with all the extra time they get with Mark. (He, too, is thrilled with the extra time, and also with the fact that from their perspective, play can equal shovelling snow together, when you throw in building a snowman or a snowball fight or two)! :)
I have tons of great memories from my childhood. But if you were to ask me to pick one single memory from all of them floating around, it's an easy pick. No debate necessary. The best day I can remember as a child was a day with my dad. Olders sisters got to go on a day trip with friends, and so dad made the day all better for what would otherwise have been pretty lonesome. He took me to the big playground in town, with the brand-new "Eagle's Nest" climbing gym (which, when we got home later, was the front-page story of the newspaper-the new equipment, that is...not me climbing on it). Then we went over to the lake (couldn't tell you what lake it was, or if it was just a pond or something), and we went out in the paddleboats and fed the ducks. Then we got to go the best swimming pool, and I'm sure there was an ice cream cone thrown in there somewhere.
Point is, it wouldn't mattered a whole lot what we did that day. We could have been out working together at various surveying sites, or stopping downtown for a polish sausage from a street vendor, or bouncing along a desert road laughing at the tumbleweek rolling along. (Hmm....all of those things sound strangely familiar)! It was the time my dad took with me that made me feel special. Thanks, dad...
So that's why we like our new house. Kids need their dads.
PS to all this: Keep in mind, this is a mom writing this. A mom who still needs her own mom, and who knows her kids certainly need her. So this isn't intended to undermine the role of a mom. Dads are just on my mind...that's why we like this house! :)
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Monday, March 10, 2008
To the beat...
Andrew is the proud new owner of his own set of drumsticks! Our drummer at church had given him a pair, and one of the pair rolled into some crevice somewhere, never to be seen again. He actually needed a smaller, lighter pair (5A's, he'll tell you!), and so we set up a system for him to earn the money to buy them.
After calling the music store to find out the price, I drew a set of drumsticks and marked them off into increments, each standing for one dollar. The first space was for his tithe on the money he was earning, and the rest of the spaces went towards the drumsticks. And then he was a busy, cheerful beaver, vacuuming, carrying in groceries, collecting the trash, starting the boys' laundry and then getting it into the dryer, etc.
It was a great experience on many levels. He is so proud of his drumsticks, and practices diligently. (Our drummer at church gives him mini-lessons of drills to practice...nothing we push, as he's so young-it's just what he wants to do)! Having earned the money for them himself, he does take very good care of them.
It was a good step into the whole earning/tithing/spending arena, as we have struggled with the best way to implement allowances, etc...and so in our indecision of what's best to do, we haven't done anything with it! Any suggestions on that are welcome!
And one other grand thing about the drumsticks scenario is that it helped us re-vamp our chores structure. Andrew graduated from feeding the dog to alternating every other day between vacuuming and collecting the trash, and Jacob began his solo on feeding the dog! It's been working great, though Abby is starting to look a little thin...
Hopes dashed...
The last week or so has been pretty warm (hovering at 32-34 degrees), with a constant mix of rain and snow, generally more rain. So everyone has been speculating, "This could be break-up, but we're likely to get hit at least once more, but maybe not..."
Maybe not is right-we got another 14 inches of wet, heavy snow last night. I love winter. I love the snow. And this is the first time I've ever said it before in my life: "Enough snow, already!"
So, much of our day was spent clearing off vehicles, shoveling them out, getting the plow in, shoveling the walks, clearing the shed roof, etc, etc...
So those pictures of Mark shoveling out the back door? We should have just put them on a loop, because that will be the activity du jour again!
I do have to say, though, that it was spectacularly beautiful out this afternoon, with all the fresh snow and the blue sky and the sun shining! "Give thanks in all things..."
Maybe not is right-we got another 14 inches of wet, heavy snow last night. I love winter. I love the snow. And this is the first time I've ever said it before in my life: "Enough snow, already!"
So, much of our day was spent clearing off vehicles, shoveling them out, getting the plow in, shoveling the walks, clearing the shed roof, etc, etc...
So those pictures of Mark shoveling out the back door? We should have just put them on a loop, because that will be the activity du jour again!
I do have to say, though, that it was spectacularly beautiful out this afternoon, with all the fresh snow and the blue sky and the sun shining! "Give thanks in all things..."
Friday, March 07, 2008
Happy Birthday, Mark!
Today my wonderful husband turns ___! (He's not thrilled about his age, so I'll just leave it out for his sake). He's still young and handsome, so he doesn't have anything to worry about! I am a truly blessed woman to have him...he's an attentive, helpful husband, a patient, loving, and fun father, and he faithfully and wholeheartedly serves and loves his God! (And he's pretty handy to have around, to boot)! Happy birthday, honey!
These pics are from the surprise birthday party I had for him last weekend. It was definitely a surprise, being almost a week early. Ironically, today was the only day we could get appointments at the chiropractor (to check Jacob's ear progress and to get Anna adjusted, as she's getting an ear infection). So, we'll be over in Soldotna celebrating with my family again!
You can check out even more pics from the birthday party here!
These pics are from the surprise birthday party I had for him last weekend. It was definitely a surprise, being almost a week early. Ironically, today was the only day we could get appointments at the chiropractor (to check Jacob's ear progress and to get Anna adjusted, as she's getting an ear infection). So, we'll be over in Soldotna celebrating with my family again!
You can check out even more pics from the birthday party here!
Coffee
My friend Heather told me this funny story of something Jonah said a few years ago, when he was about 3 years old...
Her husband is a coffee drinker, through and through. She doesn't touch the stuff, but loves to drink tea. Just to be polite one blustery afternoon, she offered her husband a cup of tea. Jonah looked at her in surprise and said, "Mans don't drink tea! Mans drink coffee!"
I was reminded of this story this morning at our own breakfast table. In our family, I'm the coffee drinker...Mark can't stand it! Andrew said to me, in a somewhat quizzical tone, "Mom, did you know Gramps drinks coffee? And he's a boy."
Oh, the influence your own family has on your perspectives on life!
Her husband is a coffee drinker, through and through. She doesn't touch the stuff, but loves to drink tea. Just to be polite one blustery afternoon, she offered her husband a cup of tea. Jonah looked at her in surprise and said, "Mans don't drink tea! Mans drink coffee!"
I was reminded of this story this morning at our own breakfast table. In our family, I'm the coffee drinker...Mark can't stand it! Andrew said to me, in a somewhat quizzical tone, "Mom, did you know Gramps drinks coffee? And he's a boy."
Oh, the influence your own family has on your perspectives on life!
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Our House!
Here's the slideshow of our house! It's also running the side-bar, but the captions aren't visible. So, thought I would post it here, too, for those of you wanting the narrated tour!
Snowman!
Mark had intended to get some shoveling done, but the boys won out and a snowman got built instead! The snowman brings new meaning to asking "Do I have anything in my teeth?" after eating broccoli!
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Jacob lately...
Jacob has been a stitch lately. He's just changing so much, and is becoming more and more his own little man.
Every morning, the boys do their chores before breakfast (getting dressed, making beds, Andrew alternates days on vacuuming and collecting the trash, and Jacob feeds the dog).
Jacob is generally very cheerful about doing his chores and gets right to them (hunger will do that to a body, I guess).
One morning I was asking him what he still had to do, and he said "I need to make the dog and feed my bed." Oh, how he giggled when he realized what he had said!
One of his new games is to replicate a scene from a book about a ball game...he puts on his hat, gets his bat and ball, instructs me to say the line about the grandfathers cheering from the stands, and then acts out the ballgame. Sometimes he invites others to play in the ballgame to. But he has one prerequisite to anyone else playing along, which Andrew discovered when he asked if he could play. "Yeah-go get a hat!"
Now to set the stage for this antecdote, you must know that Andrew's reading curriculum is titled "The Scaredy Cat Reading System." (If anyone really wants the title explained, just email me)! It includes a few audio lessons on cd to which Andrew listens, generally Jacob is done with school and is playing quietly with toys by that point.
Today, Andrew had the word "bit" in his spelling list. Not long after that, I saw Jacob pretend to bite Anna on the arm (it really was pretend). I asked him why he was pretending to bite Anna, and he said,
"Remember, mom? It's from Andrew's Scaredy Cat Reading System." Ha!
And the final note on Jacob...
Below is a picture of what he was doing at dinner last night. When we understood what he was calling this little trick, Mark and I busted up laughing. Be the first to post a comment with your guess as to what Jacob actually called this, and you'll be the winner! Check back tomorrow night for the answer!
UPDATE: Yes, Tom, he had been eating with both his fork and spoon...fork for the salad, spoon for the applesauce. I'll post all the comments when I post the answer tonight!
FINAL ANSWER: It is indeed a "forklift!" The grand prize was an all-expenses paid trip to Alaska...regrettably for all the other contestants, my sister Tricia was the first to post the correct answer, and she already lives here...thus she forfeits all rights to any prize claim, and will instead be treated this weekend to a big hug from Jacob himself! Thanks for playing!
Every morning, the boys do their chores before breakfast (getting dressed, making beds, Andrew alternates days on vacuuming and collecting the trash, and Jacob feeds the dog).
Jacob is generally very cheerful about doing his chores and gets right to them (hunger will do that to a body, I guess).
One morning I was asking him what he still had to do, and he said "I need to make the dog and feed my bed." Oh, how he giggled when he realized what he had said!
One of his new games is to replicate a scene from a book about a ball game...he puts on his hat, gets his bat and ball, instructs me to say the line about the grandfathers cheering from the stands, and then acts out the ballgame. Sometimes he invites others to play in the ballgame to. But he has one prerequisite to anyone else playing along, which Andrew discovered when he asked if he could play. "Yeah-go get a hat!"
Now to set the stage for this antecdote, you must know that Andrew's reading curriculum is titled "The Scaredy Cat Reading System." (If anyone really wants the title explained, just email me)! It includes a few audio lessons on cd to which Andrew listens, generally Jacob is done with school and is playing quietly with toys by that point.
Today, Andrew had the word "bit" in his spelling list. Not long after that, I saw Jacob pretend to bite Anna on the arm (it really was pretend). I asked him why he was pretending to bite Anna, and he said,
"Remember, mom? It's from Andrew's Scaredy Cat Reading System." Ha!
And the final note on Jacob...
Below is a picture of what he was doing at dinner last night. When we understood what he was calling this little trick, Mark and I busted up laughing. Be the first to post a comment with your guess as to what Jacob actually called this, and you'll be the winner! Check back tomorrow night for the answer!
UPDATE: Yes, Tom, he had been eating with both his fork and spoon...fork for the salad, spoon for the applesauce. I'll post all the comments when I post the answer tonight!
FINAL ANSWER: It is indeed a "forklift!" The grand prize was an all-expenses paid trip to Alaska...regrettably for all the other contestants, my sister Tricia was the first to post the correct answer, and she already lives here...thus she forfeits all rights to any prize claim, and will instead be treated this weekend to a big hug from Jacob himself! Thanks for playing!
Puppet show!
When I got home from water aerobics the other night, there was a puppet theater group anxiously awaiting my return! Andrew had instigated a puppet show (the writing of which he did...it was a list of his spelling words-lol), to which Mark added some dialogue! It was quite cute!
(They simply tipped the dining room table on its side for the theater stage)!
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