Christmas Presents

Seth got to pick out a Christmas present from a friend last night. He picked this bow and arrow. I even made a "target" on the window for him to shoot at. He was hitting about two out of three from across the room.
After I went upstairs to get dressed I heard a bowl crash in the kitchen. I told Seth I would take care of it, but I forgot and Gavin went downstairs to get something. When I ran down, the bowl (Corelle - known for not breaking easily) was strewn in pieces all across the dining room. It had been on the kitchen table. I called Seth. "I shot it, but it went the wrong direction." Gavin got a bloody foot from a glass sliver. We had a long talk about how Seth was responsible for his brother getting hurt because he used his weapon inappropriately. I guess he is getting to be a pretty good shot already since he hit his target.

Now we are reading stories about Space exploration, Peter Pan and the Secret Garden. Later!

p.s. Hopefully I will get lots more pictures posted soon... but don't hold your breath. I don't want to be responsible for anyone passing out.

Memorial Box Monday (a day late.)

I have been having a hard time with my depression lately. I think it is a combination of extended illness, having been traveling and gotten out of rhythm with seeing friends, not having a consistent church family, Andrew being super stressed out and me not being able to do as much to help him, not enough adult conversation, not having consistent quiet time...

Decided that I wanted to be like Enoch and Noah and walk with God. Yesterday was particularly tough - the boys were on melt down mode from the time we got up in the morning. So Andrew got home, and I told him I needed to go for a walk. He was going to be leaving for Bible Study, and I knew I didn't need to be alone with the boys all night. I called my friend Nicki, and she said she could come over and eat with us and hang out for a bit (she is a treasure). Then I walked. Wouldn't you know it - by the spring in our neighborhood there were some big fallen branches. And I am all out of firewood. Lighting that fire and a cup of hot tea are helping me get up earlier in the morning to do my quiet times. How good is God that he met my needs. It was a beautiful evening, not too cold, not windy. His mercies are new every morning. So thankful.

Tired today, and did not get up early after being up in the night for the eclipse, but I WILL be having my quiet time today. And my spirit is renewed to do everything that my day holds.

School.

Tonight I woke the boys up at 2 am to see the lunar eclipse. Yup. Wondering if I will regret it tomorrow when they are tired and melt down on me, but it was so great to sit with them, all bundled up and wrapped up together in a quilt. The weather was perfect for December in NE. Not too frigid, no wind. The clouds even cleared completely for us. They had great questions, a lot of them we are going to have to look up in the morning. I sent them back to bed, told them they would be allowed to stay up longer when they are older. I think they really enjoyed it.

I still remember my mom waking me up as a child to listen to carolers when I was about their age. Thanks, Momy. I hope they remember this forever. I know I will.

And yet again...

This time it is styrofoam packing peanuts. All crumpled up and thrown all over the basement. Can we say "static." Yup - we have vacuumed and swept and vacuumed and swept and those little bits are everywhere. Thanks, mom. :o) Someday when they are grown I am going to pack a kit and give it to their children with instructions to fling to their hearts content: powdered sugar, ashes, moon sand, cooked noodles, and packing peanuts. I might find a few extras to throw in for good measure.

On a different note: Seth has been thinking of others a LOT lately. It makes me weepy happy. This has been a long time in coming for him, so I am very thankful that God is softening his heart towards others and teaching him generosity of spirit. He has really been loving on Gavin and looking out for him.

Last night we ran to Panera to get bagels for Andrew to take in to work. They were slicing them and packing them for us, and one of the managers was so taken with Seth and Gavin that she gave them a package of free cookies. :o) (And they had cookies and candies for breakfast today.)

Andrew is pretty stressed out and really really busy right now. New job, pre-deployment stuff, 2 term papers for his masters class... The good news is we FINALLY got our closing done on our house refinancing after them canceling on us 3 times. Hopefully he can really enjoy being home next week as we celebrate Jesus and the Good News that he brought for all of us. Really praying for peace. Someday there will be no more war, no more husbands leaving their families to keep the fighting from coming here. No more families torn apart by violence. No more fear. Someday. It is so good to remember that Jesus came for us.

Lovin' my boys.

The boys drive me nuts. Yup. I think it is because I am just clueless about boys. But I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE them.

Tonight Daddy and the boys built rockets for Seth's 4-H project. Out of candy. He is really enjoying 4-H so far. :o) I have also noticed him lounging around with his legs crossed, just something new and all Seth. He is so loving and thoughtful. When Gavin gets hurt he goes running for his blankie or one of his favorite toys to comfort his brother. Seth just melts me. I am so proud of him.

We were all hanging out downstairs, and Gavin was in time out. I notice that he suddenly pulls a tissue out of his pocket to wipe his nose and then puts it away. Seriously... where did he learn that. I didn't even know he needed a tissue. He just took care of it. I asked him if he wanted a handkerchief like Papa Buzz. Yup, he does. Oh, and his Spanish name is Guido. (It was supposed to be Gavito, but he decided otherwise.) Gotta love it.

We had a great time at advent tonight. Our friends that were coming forgot, but it was fantastic anyway. We sang a BUNCH of songs. It was way more fun than when it was me making Andrew sing along with me, just the two of us. Now if only someone besides me could hold a tune... Just kidding, it sure is a joyful noise and I LOVE it.

I won't mention the Panda express noodles thrown all over the kitchen tonight by an almost 4 year old boy...

Just thinking...

... about hot chocolate and marshmallows. Love them. Gavin can't have the dairy. Just been thinking on how to overcome that and am gonna try making hot cocoa with coconut milk and cocoa powder. Found a few recipes online. May have to make some yummy peppermint marshmallows to go with.

Why is it that by the time I get my lungs settled down for the night that my mind is awake and I still can't fall asleep????????

All for the lack of snow...

So yesterday I decided to be ambitious and make the boys a play fort. I draped a sheet over the dining table to make a tunnel with the boys' igloo tent set up at the other end. On the near end I brought in the washer and dryer boxes and cut doors and windows into them. The boys started moving in with all their blankies and stuffed animals, etc. I reminded them that whatever messes they made playing they would have to clean up...

We had a pretty good day, I vacuumed and cleaned and fed everyone. Come afternoon I had Seth working on school and Gavin asked if he could play with the MoonSand. As long as he played with it on the kitchen floor where it could be swept up easily, no problem. Then the boys wanted to do what the other was doing and they switched. Next thing I know they are both in the kitchen with the MoonSand. No biggie... till I hear clanging sounds. Yup, balls of the stuff being thrown. I asked them to stop. NOPE! They get called in to the other room where I can hear everything, but really do NOT want to see the mess. I tell them that Daddy will be home any minute and they have to start cleaning up. (Oh, they had been putting some in a huge trash bag that they were climbing into and running all over the house with, dragging it everywhere, too.) Just that moment Andrew gets home. Poor guys is astounded at the disaster zone he has entered. After telling the boys to obey me with cleaning up and asking me about 3 times if I have seen the mess (Calmly I say, "no, don't want to.") he decides to exit and get a shower after describing it as "Epic." I get up and start vacuuming. I do have this to say for MoonSand. Despite it being on EVERY surface of the kitchen, dining room, and the floor of the rest of the house from being tracked everywhere - it is MUCH easier to clean up than powdered sugar or ashes. Because the boys were not willing to clean up their mess without consequences they had the fort dismantled and all 4 containers of MoonSand are gone for good (how that much can get thrown in less than the 5 minutes before Andrew got home and I told them to clean up, I do not know...)

And Seth and I had a talk about them liking to throw things and why. I told him snowballs was a much better alternative. He says, "But there is no snow, and we can't throw snowballs inside." Exactly. No mess inside either. I told him to ask God to send him some snow if he needs to throw it so badly, so if we get a doozy we know who to blame. :o) And I think I was pretty calm about the whole thing, so maybe I AM improving as a mother of busy boys. I am sure this won't be the last mess. If only they could figure out that I really don't care about the mess if it is cleaner when they are done than when they started...