Paxifist

Alamance County wanderings

2011-10-16T00:37:00.003-04:00

We got to experience Colonial Living days at Alamance Battleground with a friend of mine (from grad school days) and her daughter Friday morning. There was a lot to see, including a demonstration of a musket firing and a cannon not firing (John and Daniel, to my surprise, didn't want to return after lunch for the actual cannonfire event- poor Isaac and I missed out), cider to be tasted, a spinning wheel and an iron smith to be watched. We got to see the short film about the Regulators again (lots of interesting under- and overtones to that one, in view of the current times), but had to leave to feed hungry tummies. We ended up picking up chicken at Hardees and taking a tailgate lunch to Cedarock park, where the boys enjoyed the playground after a nice moderate (for Mama and three boys!) hike. Daniel remains the champion fungus spotter, though John seems to be the most fascinated by it. All in all, we enjoyed our day of exploration! More photos here.

Photo Book

2011-09-16T21:14:00.001-04:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

New Addition

2011-09-02T12:57:00.003-04:00

John's favorite birthday present came a bit early. The Burlington Animal Shelter reduced adoption fees by half for a week in August, and John chose himself a new pet. Introducing:
Apple!

More photos here.

August Travels

2011-08-10T15:03:00.006-04:00

More photos here.

Photo Book

2011-06-27T18:23:00.001-04:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

Sunday Quotables

2011-03-27T17:17:00.002-04:00

John: "I thought it was so cool the way the light slowly filtered into the room!" (After I drew the curtains in the dining room)

Daniel: "Did you see vat, Mama? Ve soap is sticky, wike ve vo-wews." (Referring to the Leapfrog Talking Word Factory video).

Isaac did a nice recap of his CGS Sunday School lesson about David and Jonathan. The arrows and spears probably didn't hurt his recall.

Spring Day Photos

2011-03-25T09:33:00.002-04:00

More pictures here.

Lenten Disciplines

2011-03-09T09:48:00.003-05:00

Before we tucked into our pancake dinner (IHOP is our new Shrove Tuesday tradition!), we discussed Lenten dsiciplines for the kids. I was surprised to hear Daniel eagerly mimicking his older brothers' intentions to give up dessert ("I want to give up zee-ert!"), but we took him at his word. Isaac changed his mind later, deciding to deny himself TV and invention-building, John gave up TV, dessert, and fighting; and Daniel stated (we thought) his intention to give up dessert and videos (aka TV). I was concerned that Daniel gave up the videos, though it would certainly make it easier on the other boys.

Enter Ash Wednesday: all was well until Isaac came in (Daniel beat him to our bed, as usual). Daniel decided it was video time. Paul reminded him he'd given it up for Lent, and Isaac asked in a state of extreme excitement, "Does that mean Easter's tomorrow??" Paul reminded him that he had given up videos and dessert for Lent. After a good (though mercifully brief) cry over the lost videos, Daniel asked hopefully, "Can I have some Zee-ert?"

It's not like I didn't realize there was a cognitive gap there for the little one(s), even before Daniel mentioned something about Mr. Lent not liking thieves last night. That's why I'm not sure it's fair to hold them to their Lenten disciplines- especially poor Daniel. TV & Zee-ert are his favorite times of the day. What do y'all think?

Possibilities

2011-03-05T17:49:00.001-05:00

Me: Isaac, how did you get to be so cute?
Isaac (thoughtfully): I don't know.
**pause**

Isaac: Maybe it's because I'm so sweet.

Reciprocation

2011-03-04T17:30:00.004-05:00

Well, I guess I wasn't thinking, because Isaac did already hand down one of his birthday gifts. The foam sword does not have a plastic core and is therefore given to a certain floppiness (which didn't prevent it from being the hot item on the playground today, I might mention!). Isaac decided it was not worthy of his attentions and gave it to Daniel, fully confident that he'll receive a "better" one on his next birthday. It's been four days, and he hasn't asked for it back, not even to borrow, so here's hoping that's settled!

Sharing the Wealth

2011-03-04T11:17:00.004-05:00

Daniel got some birthday money from Grandma and Grandpa B, and we took it to the zoo. He had wanted a puffin (and found one in the perplexing array of plush creatures with astonishing speed), but Isaac and John talked him into buying a whole round of very large lollypops. Let's see if Isaac reciprocates...

Daniel's (Almost) Three!!

2011-02-06T15:14:00.001-05:00

Interview segment

2011-02-03T23:59:00.004-05:00

The boys have been telling me that they have websites, and inquiring minds want to know!

Seventy Yesterday, 40 Today

2011-02-03T20:59:00.002-05:00

What kind of weather is this?
More photos if you click on the title...

Party Time, Excellent..

2010-09-27T19:22:00.002-04:00

Jay had a blast at his birthday party! Some new 6-y-o quotables:
~"Turkey sandwiches!!" *gasp* *gasp* "With CHEESE!!" (upon being asked to choose his birthday lunch)
~"I just can't thank you *enough* for the dinosaur pellets!" (bidding a generous friend goodbye)
~"It looks like the surface of Callisto, one of Jupiter's moons." (gazing into his microscope for the first time, at a Hershey's kiss paper flyer)
~"Fourteen" (Answering my question "How old is it?", a response to Isaac's assertion that today is Air's birthday)
~"I love it so much that I want to give you ten kisses. Or maybe twenty. Yes, I want to give you 20 kisses!" (before he kissed me 24 times, after seeing his cake with the green cacti)

We are so blessed and so very thankful for our wonderful 6-year-old, and his handsome brothers :)

Exciting Week for Oldest

2010-09-20T20:37:00.004-04:00

Today, Jay became a Bobcat/Cub Scout (I am not up on the technicalities), and tomorrow, he becomes a SIX Year Old!! Daddy took him to his meeting (the boy and Daddy from the next block were there too :) ). According to Paul, it was all announcements and "boring as it could be". John had a radically different view. He told me he had a great time and that the other first-graders were very nice ("Like he got to talk to them!" said Daddy). But Daddy is happy that Jay is excited (infectious enthusiasm is one of his very strong suits), so next stop is Graham to pick up a uniform, I guess!

Pitfall

2010-09-20T18:42:00.002-04:00

Jay was excited to see a birthday card for him. Looking at the return address, he exclaimed, "Oh! It's from Grandpa and Aunt Jan!" It's confusing when your Aunt by marriage and maternal grandma have almost the same name. Particularly when it doesn't occur to you that your grandpa and aunt aren't likely to have address labels made for the two of them...

Isaacism

2010-09-08T16:29:00.002-04:00

Eating cashews at my parents' house: Isaac trots over and says, "Pwease may I have more twubbled nuts?" I drop some into his hand and ask, "How do you know they're troubled?" Never ever ever at a loss, Isaac shoots back, "Wook at 'em" cradling his dozen cashews, "Vey're day-ed!"

Another Violent Evening at the Bedtime Story Society System

2010-08-16T20:17:00.002-04:00

"Take vat!"
"NooOOOooo!! .. Take VAT!"
BANG "Aaiieee!"
"MAMAAA *gasp* Daniew knocked me OVEWWWWWWW!! WAAAAAAAHAAAHAAA"

You never would have known things would turn out this way, listening to the boys earnestly profess their love for the BSSS over dinner, describing the scholarly meeting, punctuated (apparently) by quick naps.

RIP Wormy

2010-07-11T20:09:00.003-04:00

Although we haven't had our rodent friends for long, Isaac and Wormy bonded immediately. They spent most of the day together for the first week or so. Being 4, Isaac wasn't especially sensitive to Wormy's needs or nerves, but he spent a lot of time telling her sweetly, "Wormy, it's OK, God is always with you". *Sniff*

I wasn't there to see the injury happen. I had been outside for a moment, and when I came back in, the boys said they had been playing hide and seek with their mice & I could tell right away when they picked up Wormy, she had met with some terrible accident. Isaac held her for a while, prayed for her, and put her in the mouse house. When I returned to check on her a few moments later, Hermie had buried her. It was one of those dreaded conversations, but I'm sure the most important part was the hugs. Poor Isaac :(

Nothing to Turn a Grumpy Evening Around

2010-07-04T20:03:00.001-04:00

Like having your two-year-old wander into the room absently singing "Jesus Loves Me".

Baby Shower

2010-06-25T07:57:00.003-04:00

June has been a hectic month. Paul's been practicing being a Model of a Modern Major General, work has continued to keep me busy, the boys keep growing and learning, I started Weight Watchers, we all traveled north to celebrate my sister and brother-in-law's impending child, then I ended up getting back in the car shortly after our return when a dear friend lost her father suddenly. Work got busier this past week, so thankfully Paul had the boys at VBS and I was able to go in on my day off and spend most of the day there without having to arrange child care! Yesterday was an unusually long day which included an early morning call to 911 (on behalf of our octogenarian neighbor, who probably broke her hip- it's safe to say her day was longer and worse than mine!)

In any case, here are the photos from our Ohio trip (previously posted on facebook).

Did You Know?

2010-06-01T21:04:00.004-04:00

So Paul checked a book about Neptune out of the library for Jay the other day. Jay was engrossed in learning about Neptune when he stopped, looked up and asked me, "Did you know, Mama, that Neptune's axis is just imaginary?" When I mentioned that the earth's axis was also imaginary, he gasped in wonder and I proceeded to explain that the planets weren't attached to anything, but were held in their orbits by gravity. He was speechless.

Then last night, he returned to his book only to ask me in utter astonishment if I knew that the equator was also imaginary (he wasn't quite sure how to pronounce it, but it wasn't too hard to figure out his latest discovery). When I said that I did know that, he asked me, "Then why was it on my globe?" I didn't have a great answer for that one, put on the spot like that and all :)

For those of you who may have missed a few of my recent status updates:
- Went to a most excellent pig pickin' this evening (Ed. note: Sunday). Problem Child walked by the pig, took one look, and started asking (really loudly), "Pig? Are you alwight? Pig? Are you ALWIGHT?" This is how he gets away with being a Problem Child. The boy cracks us up on a regular basis. (Ed. note: He knew the pig was NOT awwight, he's just kinda crazy. He followed up this little gem with, "Did you know vat's a DEAD PIG?!? Have you evew heawd of a DEAD PIG?!?" He ate his BBQ!)
- Another budding doctor in the family? This time, Daniel extracted the pebble from his *own* nose as I was gathering shoes in preparation for my first trip to the local urgent care center. (Ed. note: this was about 90 minutes ago. Paul was at rehearsal :P)

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-08T22:09:00.004-04:00

John and Isaac made these for their Grandmas. I'm trying not to put too much thought into the fact that Isaac noted that he was jumping on Daniel's head in his collage, even after he responded to an invitation for prayer requests with "Daniel's tail!" Yes, Grandmas, though we wish you were closer, distance has its advantages (for you!)

Happy Mothers' Day to you both!!

I Wub You, Ma

2010-05-06T20:07:00.000-04:00

Oh, but the two-year-old can turn my insides to moosh :)

Reunion!

2010-05-03T21:58:00.003-04:00

In case you didn't see them on Facebook, here are the photos from the reunion we were at this past weekend.

It's been an interesting month around here. There are considerably fewer mice in our house now, a rather large hole in the wall around our tub fixtures (pretty snugly covered with plastic sheeting), Isaac turned into a shark (Nooo!! I'm a fwendwy sawk! I onwy bite bad guys! I ONWY EAT BAD GUYS!!!), Daniel had a frightening fall, I had some more working evenings, and I found a group of people more Republican than I am (on average, anyhow).

Never a dull moment!!

CDWA

2010-04-09T20:52:00.004-04:00

I tried something new this week. Ever since I started reading Cake wrecks, there has been a word drumming away at my subconscious: fondant fondant fondant. So, using this recipe, I whipped up a batch (wrong sized-bag of mini marshmallows, but at least I noticed and adjusted the other quantities!).

I had purchased some daisy-shaped fondant cutters and have used the Wilton gel icing colors for several projects over the past couple of years (I hope those things keep! They seem to...). It was a little nerve-wracking dropping the large fondant piece over the top of the cake, but all in all, far less stressful to my hands than trying to pipe in all that icing, and way, WAY less time-consuming than the boys' fire truck and Lightning McQueen cakes, probably in large part because I only used two colors :)

Here is the result:

New Life

2010-04-05T22:17:00.004-04:00

I mentioned to Mom the other day that Patricia Mouse was looking a little chubby. There's also been extra squeaking from the mouse quarters lately, but the last look I got at Patricia, she didn't look any fatter than Mortimer. I chalked it up to an overactive imagination. Tonight, I cleaned the cage, trapping the mice in the paper towel roll, and dropping them into the bottom of a paper grocery bag while I worked on their home. When I went to replace them, one of them hopped out, and I took the tube with the one in and dumped her (?) into the cage. Then I trapped the other and put the tube in the cage. I looked into the paper bag and noticed two rolls that looked a lot like (sorry!) cat excrement on the bottom. What the?? Oh, yeah. Patricia and Mortimer have been busy.

So I moved the two babies into the cage with their parents, thinking we were pretty lucky- two babies isn't many at all. Patricia retrieved her two errant children to the safety of the cardboard tube. (She was kind enough to wait for Paul to see them briefly first). I figured that was the last I'd see of the tiny ones for a while, and set about doing something else. Returning to the living room, I noticed that the babies were no longer in the tube. And there were a lot more than two. Seven babies in all! Soooo, now what??

He Talks!

2010-03-29T22:52:00.003-04:00

Boy, does he! Daniel is rapidly catching up with his brothers' verbal prowess. He does his best to count (he can number 2 objects reliably, and has most of the way to 10 memorized- though he's stronger on 789 than 345), sings a reasonable facsimile of the alphabet song, and sings along with most of our They Might Be Giants (he calls them "gians" with a hard "g") and last year's VBS music, with a little bit of Chicago here & there.

Daniel's favorite conversation (monologue?) goes something like this: "I see 'mals zoo!" "What animals do you see at the zoo, Daniel?" "I see po' beyars. I see 'mingos. I see fwogs. I see seyuws. Zebwas, 'stwiches, g'affes atta zoo!"

Tonight, Daniel and I went to Dollar General for a couple of odds and ends. When we got back, I let him out of the stroller, and he kept saying, "He'p gosies". I couldn't for the life of me figure out what he wanted help with, until we got inside the front door- he wanted to help me with the "groceries". Awww :)

Daniel is the youngest and he's the smallest, but he is a force to be reckoned with, nonetheless!

??!!!??

2010-03-29T22:46:00.002-04:00

Sunday after church we were at lunch with some friends. Jay started relating a kindergartner anecdote about prenatal times, "When I was still in-" only to be interrupted by Isaac, who supplied "prison!"

I just don't know sometimes whether I ought to laugh or cry... :)

Speaking of needing a doctor...

2010-03-20T20:21:00.002-04:00

Paging Doctor John

2010-03-14T09:43:00.003-04:00

Paul went back to his grading from home job yesterday, so I took the boys out. We had been to the zoo on Friday, so although Daniel was pushing to go back, I wasn't anxious to try it with the Saturday crowd. My friend Julie had recommended the Alamance County Historical Museum some time ago, but we'd never been, so we decided to give it a try yesterday. John and Isaac listened really well, and seemed to be interested in what the guide was saying. Meantime, I was chasing Daniel around saying "no, don't touch!" The old farmhouse is beautiful and very well-maintained, and the boys enjoyed the kitchen building and the barn especially well. But it was getting on to lunchtime, and Daniel was done being patient, so we left without seeing the oldest part of the house.

As I was strapping Daniel in, Jay was helping with Isaac's seatbelt (this may have been after our lunch stop- I don't remember anymore), when Isaac started crying hysterically "It's in my nose! It's in my nose!" "What is?" "A bee!" "A bee?" "No, a bead!" He was holding one, but had apparently decided to try sticking the other up his nose. Why he thought this was a good idea, I'll never know, but there it was.

I was looking for a kleenex, thinking he could blow it out, but he was pushing it up. Jay was saying he could see it and it was almost out, so I pushed on the little knot on the side of Isaac's button nose, but chickened out. I'm looking for kleenex, wondering whether to try urgent care before the ER if he couldn't blow it out, when John popped it out.

As much as I miss having a tiny baby around, it is a wonderful thing to have a capable and helpful 5-year-old!! When he was reading his first "human body" books, he said he'd like to be a doctor. He just may have found his calling :) (Isaac: "I'm a doctow too!" Me: "Isaac, if you want to be a doctor you need to stop sticking things up your nose. Do we have a deal?")

Arr, Matey!!

2010-03-12T07:58:00.004-05:00

It's the Dread Pirate Isaac!

For Friends and Family Up North

2010-03-12T06:48:00.002-05:00

The Better Part of Valor

2010-03-06T21:04:00.002-05:00

Overdue Post Against Barbarism

2010-03-05T22:19:00.003-05:00

So there's been another horrible instance of a child being killed by her parents in the name of "Christian" discipline. To me, this is a clear instance of blaspheming the Holy Spirit. TulipGirl has been linking to insightful, painfully fair, painfully honest examinations of the subject, which are helpful in understanding how these things can happen. I don't hear any of my friends singing the praises of the Pearls or Gary Ezzo, which is why I wasn't especially inclined to comment. It should be obvious what we think of "teachers" whose "methods" lead to such results. Nonetheless, in case there is someone reading this blog (ha!) who disagrees:

THERE IS NO ONE-FITS-ALL PERFECT WAY TO RAISE PERFECT CHILDREN. It's a process, highly dependent on the child and on the parents. Biblical principles are important, wonderful guides, but there is no single Biblical way to parent. We should be in prayer daily [physician, heal thyself] to seek wisdom for the task of parenting and grace for our failings and those of our children. It's not a formula, it's a conversation.

For the record, we do spank in our household. It's not a daily occurrence, but it happens often enough that the boys know it's a possibility. We do not use a tool other than our hands. Corporal punishment works better for some of our children than others- creativity is required. I obviously would love for my children to obey out of love, but they also need to know that there are unpleasant consequences for rebelling against benevolent guidance. Obviously, God's guidance is more trustworthy than mine, and just as obviously, I have rebellion issues myself, but I believe my upbringing served me remarkably well, and I only hope to do as well by my own children as Mom and Dad did by me. At the end, my children will still be, lo and behold, corrupt, fallible humans, flawed; but deeply, sacrificially loved not merely by their family but by their Father in heaven, as are we all (yep, you too!).

Hey! It's My 6th Blogiversary

2010-03-05T22:18:00.000-05:00

How much things have changed!!!!

New Math

2010-03-03T22:19:00.002-05:00

So John's nearly done with his Singapore Math Earlybird Kindergarten books. He's enjoyed them well enough and picked up the concepts without much trouble, so I don't feel like we have any reason to switch to something different. Are there multiple first-grade Singapore math curricula?

Then, of course, the siren song of the Sonlight Core curriculum tempts me. It looks like a really good program, but it's kind of expensive, and looks like it requires discipline from the parents as well as the child (horrors!) While that would be a good thing for us to cultivate around here, I am doubtful of our success.

We'll see what the Daddy says...

Isaac's Birthday Present

2010-03-01T21:29:00.003-05:00

Daniel's Birthday Gift

2010-03-01T20:53:00.002-05:00

So Warm

2010-02-20T22:05:00.002-05:00

That we went to the playground (maybe next time we go it will have warmed up enough they can put their hoods down ;) )

New Reading Adventures

2010-02-20T14:04:00.002-05:00

We finally got a morning nice enough to walk down to the library. We've been driving there occasionally, but it's just been too cold to walk. Paul and Jay have been making pretty regular trips, since neither of them can stand to be without something new to read. Paul has alternative sources, but Jay's pretty dependent on the library!

I gave Jay the first four Magic Treehouse books for Christmas. In the two months since then, he's managed to polish off the library's collection (he found one today that he hadn't yet read), often reading two or three in an afternoon. Clearly, it is time for some "fresh meat". Our beloved librarian, Miss Shari, recommended the Junie B. Jones series and the Arthur chapter books series. I doubt these two have the historical lessons of the Magic Treehouse, but hopefully they will challenge John with some new vocabulary.

Then again, we got home about an hour ago, and he's already finished the Magic Treehouse Titanic book and is nearly done with Junie.

For All Two of You Not on Facebook,

2010-02-01T11:01:00.003-05:00

Snowstorm photos here

Before I Forget

2010-02-01T10:57:00.002-05:00

Jay said something else really charming at church (before the snowstorm, of course!) when we went to pick him up from children's church. It all started so predictably: "When I see food, I'm interested in eating it."

And then: "When I see Mama, I'm interested in kissing her."

Everybody together now: Awwww :)

"Sometimes People Lose Interest in Things"

2010-01-29T20:32:00.002-05:00

Jay has been the quip king today. He got onto my facebook status earlier today with "I'm pretending to be God" while he was happily placing animal stickers on a pastoral/woodland scene. Then tonight he offered to read me a Magic Treehouse book. So in between his offer and helping him find all of them, I got interrupted by dessert, piano lessons, and the other boys (not necessarily in that order and certainly not in uniform frequency). Then he hemmed and hawed, but never said he'd changed his mind (I did tell him to tell me if he didn't want to read to me anymore), he delivered the classic line at the top. *Shaking head* He finally decided that he could "focus" his "reading concentration" enough to read us a picture book about LarryBoy and some special gumballs. This he did skillfully, and with lots of expression. I'm guessing the difference is that he's heard the LarryBoy book read out loud (and on numerous occasions), whereas his confidence regarding the Magic Treehouse books is considerably lower. Anyway, I thought the whole loss of interest quip was pretty clever.

Zoo Day

2010-01-23T15:22:00.004-05:00

Complete set of January photos at: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2034834&id=1026456727&l=ad300ec127

Latest Isaac Quotation

2010-01-19T21:59:00.003-05:00

"According to my research, this is my hat." -Isaac, as he removed the snake hat from Daniel's head
This follows
1. "That's why they're so easy to kill." Upon being exhorted to be a tough Viking, who could poop sitting on solid ice,
and
2. "Mama, God made you what I want you to be FOREVER!" In a successful attempt to wheedle me into making a batch of chocolate chip cookies.

What can I say? The boy can already out-argue me. There is a long, arduous journey ahead...

Nutpack

2010-01-09T13:24:00.003-05:00

We were looking at the giant Ocean book, which has some beautiful photos at the front before the text starts. One page had a pair of clownfish & the facing page was a photo of a dolphin. Isaac promptly named the two clownfish Nemo and Marlin, so I asked him the dolphin's name. Instead of the unintelligible series of syllables he's been supplying as names lately, he very simply said, "Nutpack". If that's not a perfect name for Isaac, I don't know what is. Just call him Nutpack.

All You Ever Wanted to Know About Becoming a Present

2010-01-06T22:39:00.008-05:00

Isaac had some important information to share.

Grandmother & Grandfather's House 2

2010-01-06T21:29:00.003-05:00

My Dad's parents lived in that house for 40 years or more. There was a giant weeping mulberry tree in the front yard where that patch of dirt is now :( where we used to get snacks in the summer. Grandfather was an avid gardener, and grew grapes as well as vegetables. Grandmother canned jellies and probably vegetables as well (I remember the jellies!). They had a porch swing at the right hand end of the porch where my older brother and I spent a lot of time swinging. The concrete porch always seemed palatial when I was little.

Inside the house was a large living room with a brick fireplace which was painted in a greenish-white color. To the left was Grandfather's giant television and 4 stairs up to a landing from which you could descend 4 stairs into the kitchen or ascend the rest of the staircase to the upstairs. There was a bedroom in each of the 4 corners of the upstairs, with a full bath opposite the staircase and a large closet between two of the bedrooms (Grandmother's and Dad's).

There was a door from the kitchen down into the basement, another door to the large back porch where they had a chest freezer, and (my favorite) a swinging door to the dining room. Grandmother had a very large (it seemed big at the time, anyway!) round dining table and an organ in the dining room, and her collection of dark red glass.

Grandmother & Grandfather's House

2010-01-06T21:09:00.001-05:00

View Larger Map

Is it just me?

2009-12-31T20:04:00.000-05:00

Cookies!!

2009-12-22T15:13:00.002-05:00

Ready to dig in

Notice the little hand reaching up
No wonder he's happy now!

Nope, Not Excited a Bit!

2009-12-19T00:19:00.002-05:00

Daniel Couldn't Be Polled Due to Naptime

2009-12-19T00:09:00.003-05:00

The Gloves Appeared Later

2009-12-19T00:04:00.003-05:00

Since my 2 GB SD card isn't on speaking terms with my camera at the moment, I'm somewhat limited in my video shooting opportunities. Short and sweet, my friends!

Saturn

2009-12-16T21:25:00.001-05:00

By Jay

RIP Horsey

2009-12-16T17:21:00.002-05:00

Isaac's cute lil' piggy bank has bitten the dust. Ceramics + 3 yr-old boys= pottery shards. :(

The Good News Is, the Oven Broke Again

2009-12-02T20:31:00.002-05:00

The bad news is, all the sales ended. Anyway, Paul went out and bought me this, which should be delivered next Wednesday. A definite improvement over this:

Unconventional Imaginary Friends

2009-11-28T22:21:00.004-05:00

We've been reading and talking about Thanksgiving at our house (for some reason...) a lot lately. The boys have really latched on to a couple of concepts- so well, in fact, that we ran into Massasoit at Pomodoro today. He sat at our table (he apparently ate a whole pizza by himself), and followed us home. John told me that he is so nice that he is going to stay with us for 5 years (he was quick to refute Isaac's statement that our new houseguest was going to stay forever: "Isaac, he can't stay with us that long. Everybody gets old and dies.") All the same, by this evening, the length of stay had been revised to 16 years.

Ever the instigator, I asked whether we were going to see Squanto (to whom Isaac seems to have taken a liking- he wanted to hear the Squanto story again and again). "Oh, yes. Massasoit is on the telephone inviting him." At least we had help raking the leaves (it really did help motivate the boys), and when planting time rolls around, we know who to call!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2009-11-26T09:30:00.002-05:00

Thank you to my dear friends and our loving families for your steadfast care for us. God bless you all with great joy in the gifts He has given you!

Love,
LPJI&D

Productive Day

2009-11-23T18:14:00.003-05:00

The day started out pretty dismally. I woke up with the full-blown version of the ticklish throat I sensed starting last night & decided to take a sick day. It became clear that I was the appointed oven-buyer and that at least Daniel was coming along. Jay wanted to accompany me, and the three of us trudged out into the cold, very wet morning only to discover that Lowe's could not deliver until after Thanksgiving (which did not come as a shock, given that it's the Monday before!) and that Daniel was cranky.

Mr. Paxifist, having been consulted, recommended trying elsewhere (which was not welcome news to my ears: Papa John's delivers on Turkey Day, after all!), and so I went home with 1 cranky child, a cranky self, and 1 happy child (we get to go to more stores?!?). I decided en route to let my fingers do the walking, and lo and behold, neither Home Despot nor Best Bully was going to beat Lowe's Friday AM delivery estimate.

Enter Mr. Paxifist with the toolkit. Paul determined that the fix involved nothing more complicated than re-attaching a wire. Good news: oven is fixed. Bad news: it's the same stinkin' oven that doesn't match the other appliances and HAS NO WINDOW, and now I have no good excuse to get rid of it. *Sigh*

While he was soldering away and Daniel was napping, the big boys and I went out to rake leaves. It was still drizzling very lightly, and they got tired of the work in about an hour (which is really pretty good, considering), so we came in and had cocoa. The backyard is pretty well covered with leaves still, but the far back (in front of the brackish ditch) is mostly clear except for the piles.

Then, while the big boys worked on an art project (Daniel was still napping!), I finally plugged in the venerable clock Dad gave me last time we were in Ohio, a project which took several weeks to accomplish simply because the power strip was buried. Now we have Westminster chimes! I also took the opportunity to move the older clock off the entertainment center and onto the piano, where it is more accessible for winding & pendulum tapping.

Not bad for a sick day: now I just need some good solid sleep!

Dress-up Fun

2009-11-22T20:45:00.003-05:00

We were blessed to attend a friend's 35th birthday celebration: a surprise masquerade! My big boys went as "fancy guys", and the little one declined his caterpillar costume (cold, too much cumulative time in the car over the past couple of days, hunger, and fatigue tanked the patience quotient for all of us). It was an awesome excuse for me to buy a dress which I can now wear to the Ren Faire!!

(My thanks to Heather for the photos!!)

Exercise

2009-11-18T20:51:00.003-05:00

We walked the 2 miles down and 2 miles back from Jay's check-up yesterday (Daniel rode, of course). A donut snack and Biscuitville lunch aren't enough to totally negate the benefits from that, right?

Did That Crack You Up?

2009-11-16T21:48:00.002-05:00

The boys were discussing the various volumes at which people communicate the other week. There isn't enough caffeine on the earth to allow me to remember a whole conversation around here nowadays, but I do remember the conversation ending with Isaac making an observation that Jay wholeheartedly agreed with: Apples talk silently. Well, it was funny at the time.

Jay thinks it's just awesome when he makes me laugh. I wish I could remember what he said the other night, but it tickled my funnybone, and I told him he cracks me up, whereupon he launched into a series of crazy stunts designed for my entertainment, punctuated with "Did that crack you up, Mama?" Sadly, the answer was mostly no, and now and again, his antics looked slightly dangerous- not the way to promote mirth in one's Mama. Naturally he did eventually come up with a few more funnies, but the amount of effort he put in was eye-opening (he still didn't want to carry in a grocery bag for me the next day...).

Daniel, now, is really getting to the age of cracking me up. He still will say "no" when he means "yes", but when he means "no", he'll add "uh-uh" and shake his head vigorously. No mistaking that one! Tonight, he wanted to "play on the bed" (I'll bounce him on my stomach to the Wm Tell Overture in the key of bum-de-bum, or he'll raise his arms, smile, and say "Aaaaa" while falling on top of me, or he'll climb over me, run around the bed, and repeat, or...). He was in the mood for "Ta Tell!" (Wm Tell), so we did that once, at which point Daddy came up to commence bedtime operations. Daniel yelled "'Gain!", so I told him we could do it one more time, and I may have had to repeat once more before I pitched him over sideways onto the bed. This time when he said "'Gain", I told him he had to go find Daddy. Whew! Not a peep did he utter, but his face went from bouyant to aggrieved and suspicious in a split second. He even did that furrowed-brow glower out of the corner of his eyes. I haven't laughed so hard in quite a while! A few seconds later, the tot was cheerfully bidding me goodnight from his Daddy's arms. He may end up being more of a dramatist than Isaac. Heaven help us.

Yesterday's Fun

2009-11-15T19:44:00.004-05:00

The boys voted for going to the Goldfish Store (Pepperidge Farm outlet) over attending the delivery of the Mebane Presbyterian elementary Sunday School food drive donations to Loaves and Fishes. The allure of Finn and the gang can not be overstated.

As the boys were loading into the car, John made a fascinating discovery:

He even knew that it was a praying mantis. The thing was about six inches long; it didn't require careful inspection if you were familiar with the species, but I was impressed that he spotted and named it from the car, about 5 feet away.

Thus began our 30-minute detour.

We learned a few things: Mantises do not like to be picked up
Mantises know when you're trying to lure them onto something
Mantises have SHARP spikes on their legs and can get their legs on you however you're holding them.

In fact, I didn't get the reaction I expected from Jay when I offered to show him the mantis photos. He went so far as to call them the stupid pictures, and made a point of mentioning the very sharp spikes on the insect's legs. I think his feelings were hurt that this insect he had regarded with so much fascination and handled with tender care had poked him with such cruel viciousness. All the same, he did want to make sure his grandparents saw the photos. He wanted y'all to be informed of the dangers attending praying mantis study (and the perils he had endured)!

Photos from Ohio

2009-11-11T21:33:00.003-05:00

Home Again, Home Again (Jigetty Jog)

2009-11-09T20:46:00.003-05:00

Wow, is Daniel a fan of Uncle Todd. We've all missed him, but Daniel's just plain devoted. Daniel's starting to form sentences ("I see cat!") and I'm pretty sure he even put a question together the day we left home (though I can't for the life of me remember it), but his pronunciation is age-appropriate, which is to say, not especially intelligible. Hopefully I've finally learned what "shasher" means now (Daniel gets very frustrated when he's telling me he wants to take his fork to the dishwasher and instead of releasing him from the high chair, I sit there like a fool saying, "What?"). Todd's name, though oft-repeated, does not start with a "T" sound (not out of Daniel's mouth, anyway!) I can't tell whether he's saying "Codd" or "Godd", but it's not quite right!

We ended up staying at a hotel for part of our visit, owing to the size of my family, and so when we arrived at my parents' house Sunday morning, my parents and Todd passed us in the driveway on their way to Sunday School. We got out of the car and went into the house, Daniel asking hopefully, "Codd?" After I had explained to him that Uncle Todd had gone to church and we'd see him there, he constructed a classic baby sentence: "See Godd church." :) When we came into the sanctuary, Todd was sitting with my parents and Daniel went up to their pew and hesitated just a second (he's been very shy recently) before proceeding to cling to Uncle Todd for the first half of the worship service. It was very sweet! The older boys did really well, too, having been not especially disruptive rght up until Communion, when Paul decided to take them out for a walk (we're not LCMS-approved, at least not yet). Daniel slept on my chest the second half of the service. It was little short of a miracle, how smoothly that all went!

We had a great time at the playground Saturday morning with some high school classmates of mine and their families as well. It was really nice catching up with Jen & Rita and meeting their small folks! We even had decent weather for playing outside (though Paul thought it necessary to buy a warm hat and gloves- he's clearly been living in the South too long to survive in his native habitat!)

Villainous, Ghostly, and Baby: Caterpillars Three

2009-10-31T20:13:00.005-04:00

Well, the costumes didn't turn out quite as well as I had hoped, but thankfully the five-and-under crowd isn't all that critical :)
Baby
Ghostly
Villainous

The boys periodically decided they wanted to be x instead of caterpillars, so I fixed it by attaching that to caterpillar (You want to be a bad guy? OK, you can be a villainous caterpillar) Daniel didn't want to be a baby, he just is (at least by Jay & Isaac's standards).

The whole costume -making thing was fun up until Friday night or so. Now I'm ready to cash in that gift certificate Paul got me for a massage!!

Caterpillars- Progress to Date

2009-10-24T19:42:00.004-04:00

Daniel needs some arm holes and they both need something to keep them puffy and above the feet. I'm seriously considering a few lengths of ribbon, just tacked to each tier, though of course I wouldn't be able to stuff them thoroughly. I'm not sure they need a whole lot of extra loft, though. I'm also a little concerned they'll get tangled in the ribbon getting dressed if I go that route. The current alternative would be tacking them to their pants. That could work, too, but would probably need to be disassembled before washing, and would "consume" the pants until they were disassembled. Never a dull moment!

(Isaac's is at the same stage of completeness that Jay's is, but he took his time getting dressed this morning & missed out on his costume fitting session)

Some Typical Craziness (and Cuteness)

2009-10-21T20:38:00.003-04:00

Today's Art

2009-10-16T17:23:00.004-04:00

The colorful one is Isaac's; the meticulous one is Jay's!

Blowing Bubbles and Sleeping

2009-10-10T19:52:00.000-04:00

Cutting Cookies as Education

2009-10-06T20:40:00.002-04:00

Jay also helped with the orange icing.

How'd You Manage That?

2009-10-06T08:01:00.003-04:00

Jay just came downstairs and said, "Guess what? Instead of a regular dream last night, I had a daydream!" Apparently it was about a black bug with white and yellow spots. "Oh," he concluded, "That's an instresting daydream!"

Not really up my alley but then I'm not a 5-yr-old boy!

While Rome Burns...

2009-10-04T18:52:00.003-04:00

Daniel was plying his art while Jay & Isaac were wailing upstairs, banished for biting (each other).

One More

2009-10-02T20:24:00.003-04:00

Now to hang them. It's only 8 nails...

Where do the cool kids hang their photo montages these days?

October So Far

2009-10-02T20:15:00.005-04:00

Dexterity

And art

And cherry cake

Not bad for a Friday when Mama's recovering from a cold!

What Now? Nothing

2009-10-02T19:59:00.001-04:00

Paul's unenthused, the realtor is uncommunicative. *Sigh*

What Now?

2009-09-25T11:59:00.003-04:00

So we walked around the yellow house, then stopped in at Coldwell Banker. The realtor we had talked with at the blue house was out, but we learned from her colleagues that 1. Yellow house under contract, 2. Blue house coming back on the market.

Never a dull moment, my friends.

Complete set of blue house photos here.

FIVE?!?

2009-09-21T20:27:00.005-04:00

Jay is five today! He got his red fire truck cake (just don't look too closely!) and Daddy took him out and bought him a bike with training wheels and a good outdoor ball to play with, and then after dinner he opened his wrapped presents- a Sesame Street DVD set spanning the years from Daddy's birth to just after mine, a church outfit complete with turtle tie ("I love turtles!" said he), and a set of Math Machines from Aunt Cathy, Uncle Josh and Jonah. A card with some cash in it arrived from the Pennsylvania branch of the family (to save, or to spend? I wonder what will happen with it!) He had a great birthday and even shared his math machines with his brothers (there are four, after all!) We also got to go to the They Might Be Giants concert in Raleigh on Saturday (in preparation for which, we had to purchase MP3s of "Here Come the ABCs" and "Here Come the 123s")! All in all, Jay's had a great 5th birthday, and he's still got a gift or two in the mail!

Engineers or Architects?

2009-09-19T21:09:00.003-04:00

Is Next?

2009-09-18T14:28:00.001-04:00

The realtor listing the blue house mentioned she had expected a yellowish house on Fifth Street to hit the market... I guess this is it!

It's "Done"

2009-09-09T20:26:00.002-04:00

At least, we're done. My feet still hurt, though they hurt much, much worse before I spent most of the day sitting in a cushy chair at work. Two hours of sleep doesn't do much for the recuperation process.

Anyway, we got rid of the icky nasty carpet & padding and the stained walls (Christina even filled in the dents!), so I pronounce it a major success. The flooring people will be here tomorrow morning (unfortunately, I can't be here on a Thursday morning!), and we'll figure out something more presentable to put down (OK, for us to have put down!)

For now, we'll take it.

(More photos here)

Work in Progress

2009-09-08T14:30:00.005-04:00

I couldn't live with the carpet in the dining room any longer. While we were at it, it seemed like the scribbles and yogurt stains ought to go as well! My devoted, generous and energetic friend Chistina is ably assisting (yes, she is shooting at the wallpaper border which was also consigned to the scrapheap)! I was thankful to discover that the easily discernable lumpiness at the location of the hearth was not a disaster. Thanks to my internet informant (whose grandparents had lived here), I was not the least bit surprised to discover the hearth!

Daniel's Favorite

2009-09-05T11:33:00.004-04:00

Daniel loooooves Bo'. We were wandering through Dollar General, spending some of the money Jonah's grandma gave the boys. John and Isaac had no shortage of items on their wish lists, but Daniel was a bit more inscrutable (given that the answer to every question is "no"...) Finally, something in the workbook/ giftwrap aisle caught his eye. "BO'! BO'!!". Daniel had spotted a VeggieTales workbook. I found a different, slightly pricier one ($2 vs $1) that included a poster & a growth chart, so that's the one we bought. Several times a day, Daniel will stop on his way through the living room to point out his favorite tomato. I didn't manage to capture the full measure of his enthusiasm, but this'll give you some idea!

Meet Horsey

2009-09-05T11:04:00.002-04:00

One of Isaac's two favorite people. Number one? Uncle Todd. (Horsey is a piggy bank)

Hot Dog!

2009-09-05T09:41:00.003-04:00

Yes, we are looking forward to the They Might Be Giants show!96+

I Am Not A Monster

2009-09-03T23:06:00.004-04:00

Can't we tone down the rhetoric long enough to agree on some very basic premises?
- It is a great tragedy when a person dies prematurely for financial reasons
- It is a tragedy when a person becomes indigent or bankrupt due to medical expenses
- It is most appropriate for the patient to be in charge of decisions regarding the level of his or her own care
- Individuals have many opportunities that go wasted to improve their health through lifestyle choices
- Divorcing costs from decision-making leads to unnecessary expenses
- The profit motive has fostered many great advances in the field of medicine
- We can't afford all the guns AND all the butter (economics 101 [or 10], anyone?)

I'm open to nominations! What else can we agree on?

I think people should be able to buy catastrophic coverage (which is not legal in many [most?] states) and pay for routine treatment on their own, even if they need to compensate by buying an older car, a smaller house, or a less rad TV. I think doctors, nurses, and hospitals should have to make their charges public. Those things alone would drive down health care costs considerably. Churches should be providing primary care services for those who still can't afford it.

I think we need to face the fact that most of us can afford to spend a LOT more on our health care than we do now. If you had to give up unlimited texting for a year to pay for a medical procedure, would that really be a tragedy? Medical care is very important, and now that we have the array of technologies that we have, we should expect cutting-edge treatment to be expensive. Because it is. Budget for it.

On the political side, here are my comments:
Funny to see the Democrats turn into the party of black and white. "Health care is a right". There are different standards of care, and even with the most extreme treatment available, nobody lives forever. There are treatments that incrementally prolong someone's life. We can't keep everybody on them forever. Who would you like to be in charge of deciding when to stop resuscitating you, putting nourishment in your feeding tube, defibrillating you, or pumping oxygen into your lungs? What does "fair" mean in this context? One size does not fit all.

(I'm probably more testy than a Christian ought to be, but I'm so tired of the "they're cold &%^$8#@ who don't care about poor people")

Life Goes On

2009-08-13T23:01:00.004-04:00

This past Saturday was Sunfest downtown, and the kids' best bike decor award went to none other thean my eldest. He actually needed quite a bit of help ;), but he did choose the theme. Isaac enjoyed participating as well. Let me tell you, diminutive fire trucks are a bit more difficult to decorate than trikes!

That Figures

2009-08-12T22:48:00.001-04:00

Somebody with money (or at least more willingness to spend it) made an offer on the house. At least we tried.

Oh Yeah, I'm Back

2009-08-11T22:43:00.005-04:00

It's not likely to work out, but we'll see what happens. We should know by the end of the week.

Whimper

2009-08-04T22:04:00.002-04:00

I just saw while walking with the boys today that this house is on the market. I have admired it for years. Oh, how tempting it is to withdraw my retirement funds, which have substantially rebounded...

Beach!?!

2009-07-24T20:15:00.004-04:00

About two weeks ago, we were asked by some friends if we'd like to chaperone their 16-year-old son and friend(s) at the beach. Apart from the fact that we were asked separately and needed to consult on it, this was an obvious no-brainer! Paul, having been involved with the youth group on a weekly basis, had no reservations about the teenager in question (I didn't know him from Adam, I'm afraid!), and we were both able to clear our schedules for the week. As you might expect, we had a great trip!

The day we arrived, we beat our host(s) to the house, and made it out to the beach before they arrived. Daniel's comment on the beach was: "Baff!" To him, it was the world's biggest bathtub. Of course, he was inordinately delighted, and, as it turns out (thankfully!), deathly afraid of the giant bathtub, though he did become more comfortable with the concept as the week wore on. His older brothers also held the sea in an appropriate awe, and were not tempted to brave the waves on their own. In fact, they were more than happy to sit way up on the beach, playing in the sand. (No, as a matter of fact, we don't have a sandbox!)

We went to the aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores, which was only a couple of miles from the beach house. The most memorable part of that trip was the stingray pool, where you could dangle your fingers and pet a friendly ray. They felt pretty much like what you'd expect- smooth and slippery! John and Isaac also got to touch a spider crab, and Jay touched a horseshoe crab as well. Jay told me at one point that he loved certain fish "almost as much as I love you, Mama." Thanks, boy. ;)

We all went out to dinner one night in Morehead City at Floyd's 1921 Restaurant, where the staff was very tolerant of our vacation-stimulated children, going so far as to bring us two large boxes of crayons to avoid a scuffle between the big guys. It was serendipitous that the restaurant is located at N 4th Street.

The following day (the last full day of our vacation), I steeled my resolve and took Jay and Isaac to visit Beaufort, which I had wanted to do all along. Paul wasn't interested, and kept Daniel at the house/beach. I would rather have had him along, but I had seen plainly enough on the map that all we had to do was return to Morehead City and stay on US 70 for a few more miles. It was that easy!

Beaufort is an old city which has placed a high importance on its history. The exploits of Blackbeard are an oft-cited example of the stories linked to this beautiful town. There are preservation awards given to the historic residences which uphold certain historic-preservation standards, and many, many houses bear the plaques with the house's history in two brief statistics: the year it was built and the name of it's original occupants. I could spend days with my camera here. Maybe weeks...

I was thinking of taking the boys to the Maritime Museum, which would have been fun, I'm sure, but before we located it, we came across a horse named Tsali pulling a carriage, and I decided to splurge on a tour for the three of us (Isaac was free!) Apart from Jay periodically announcing that we had just passed a small cabbage white butterfly, for instance, in a voice loud enough to match our tour guide's, the boys did beautifully on the tour. An older boy, maybe 8 or 9, loudly complained about the tour, announcing to the assembled company that "This was a huge mistake". Hopefully, this is not what we have to look forward to, but I wouldn't be too surprised if at least one of our three feels the need to be too cool for school at some point. I'm trying to remember to enjoy the age of demonstrable sweetness while it lasts!

More photos here

Wit

2009-07-15T20:19:00.003-04:00

My M-i-L sent a link to this fascinating video on YouTube about a mega-dairy farm. Two of the most recent comments were:

Dyann301:
Humans are not meant to drink COW'S milk. We are meant to drink HUMAN milk when we are babies and then stop as we become adults like other mammals do. Common sense will tell you that. This is a money making business, so naturally the business is going to make it seem as if drinking milk is good.

draxonus:
That is one of the stupidest things I have ever read in a Youtube comment, and that's saying something.

Pithy, eh?

The House My Grandpa built

2009-07-13T19:39:00.005-04:00

From my Mom:
Hi!

I watched Grandma and Grandpa build this house when I was in first grade. I grew up in this house and left to get married from here. Unfortunately, after these pictures were posted, there was a fire in the living room. The windows are boarded up now. It was bittersweet to take the tour.

Grandpa dug the basement by hand with a shovel. Grandma mixed the concrete, and carried the 40 lb blocks for grandpa to set into place for the basement foundation. My bedroom was next to the kitchen.

mom

Fun Saturday Doings

2009-07-11T20:16:00.004-04:00

And some Friday photos, too.

Tonight, we're feasting on blackberry cobbler, thanks to the thicket in our backyard and my Holy Trinity Lutheran Church (Chapel Hill) cookbook! Yum!!

At Least They Behaved When it Mattered

2009-07-05T19:53:00.003-04:00

The boys have had a rough re-entry period. I'm not sure the fireworks last night were the best plan, since they resulted in a very tired Isaac today, but apparently he was good as gold in Sunday school...

The wedding was fabulous. Well-planned, meaningful, and just all-around beautiful. The little attendants did a great job- both flower girls, and my boys. Isaac missed recessing with the wedding party since he fell asleep about 10 minutes into the ceremony, and my brother and sister-in-law wisely decided to let him sleep! Jay was a little thrown off by this, but eventually accepted that he would have to walk out alone. They were both loud and busy during the rehearsal, and I was very concerned that they would be disruptive, but even Jay (who was awake the whole time) was exceptionally quiet and still under my sister-in-law's watchful eyes.

I do not have photos of the boys (or much of anything), since I was in the wedding party and had handed off my camera in the hopes that my brother or SOMEONE would snap some photos. No such luck. I'll have to track them down from someone else. Paul was occupied as well, and was not able to hear or see much of anything, since Daniel is at the age of perpetual motion. My cousin, who was also in the wedding party, was also missing her husband, as he had jobs to do too. Hopefully we can get copies of the video from my older brother so Paul and Aaron can experience the lovely ceremony too!

KYP's custom-made necklaces were a hit with the bridal party, but also various attendees- Uncle Todd himself admired the little yellow butterfly-shaped crystals. My sister had GORGEOUS flowers- yellow roses and blue hydrangeas. Just lovely. I can not say enough good things about the whole event. It was just wonderful, which it would have been in any case, since my sister has truly found her Prince Charming. We couldn't be happier for them!!

SpongeBob SwimPants

2009-06-21T21:31:00.004-04:00

Jay made a bookmark for Father's Day (so did Isaac, but his wasn't as comprehensible). He drew a picture of Daddy and Jay at the pool. His swim trunks are yellow with SpongeBob eyes, so that's pretty much how they look!

Gettin' There

2009-06-21T20:30:00.005-04:00