Dad is Just like Abe Lincoln...and other February Funnies

God or Jesus and the Crocodiles
Lou goes through spells where she wakes up crying in the middle of the night, or just shows up in our room.  It is usually because she has either had a bad dream or because her legs hurt.  I totally get the legs hurting- I used to have HORRIBLE growing pains.  But the bad dreams I really want to teach her how to handle on her own (eventually) so RRL and I try to give her some things she can think or pray when she wakes up from one.  Last week when she was telling about about a bad dream involving Crocodiles trying to get her feet, I suggested that next time the crocs showed up maybe she could just tell them to go back to the zoo where they belong.  Her response:
  "Nah, I think I'll just tell God or Jesus, whichever one handles the Crocodiles, to take care of them for me"
Well, ok, then there's that option.

The Invisible Man Saves the Day
Cbug has the most tender heart toward his sister.  She is not really at an age that makes that very easy, either.  She occasionally (cough cough) tries to get him in trouble by whining or crying if he doesn't do things her way.  But he still plays with her and takes care of her (except for the occasionally frustrated lash-out which is definitely not ok, but I can't say that I always blame him either).  Recently the three of us were playing Candyland. I won.  Cbug got second.  And Lou started (fake) crying, "BUT I DIDN'T WANT to be LAST."  She was hoping Cbug would give in and let her beat him.  But instead he patiently and with much enthusiasm responded "But Sissy, you didn't get last.  There is an invisible man playing the game with us and he got fourth place.  You totally beat him and got third.  See, you aren't last."  The hilarious part (if that wasn't funny enough) was that she was totally great with that explanation.  I'm going to have to remember that.

The Monster at the Ball
Cbug and Lou, on our days of playing at home, are both having to learn to be patient with Little Bear having increasing access to the toys they leave on the floor.  Recently, they had set up all of the Little People princesses and superheros at the Castle for a ball.  They were getting so frustrated because the dancing kept getting interrupted by LB crawling right through the people, putting some in his mouth, knocking them over, etc.  At first they got frustrated but when i asked if they could come up with a way for their baby brother to play along, they invented layer 2 of the game...Now, it was time for everyone to go home from ball but they had to rush to their houses before the evil monster came out of the woods and attacked them.  (interpretation: clean up all of the people quickly before Little Bear could eat them).

Family Movie Night

It was thanks to KJ that we had one of our very best family nights during February.  Don't get me wrong, its not like it was anything wildly creative, it was a family movie night.  But somehow, because biggest brother was planning the Friday night shin-dig all week, the excitement level at our house was through the roof.  Cbug's teacher even sent a note home 'Hope you all enjoy family movie night tonight, Cbug has been telling us about it all week."  To KJ's credit, it was a well thought out event.  He chose a movie everyone would enjoy (Robin Hood- Disney version, of course) and made two lists.  The first list was the evenings "activities" which included "1)Eat and 2) Watch a movie in our PJs" and also a list of items that he needed us to buy before the evening.  Here's a photo of his "Ingredients".

The last item totally stumped me.  Turns out, he wanted dinner to be from one of his favorite restaurants "Celebrity" (with a silent H of course).

Daddy is just like Abe Lincoln

KJ really is learning a lot in Kindergarten. But often his application of his newly gained knowledge just cracks me up. For example:

KJ "When will Daddy get to be the Dad on Duty?"
ABL: I'm not sure buddy, he has tried to contact the people in charge but has not really had much success.
KJ: So, he has to wait until he gets elected?
ABL: Yeah, I guess so. He's trying to be patient but he really wants to come to your school.
KJ: He's just like our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln.
ABL (confused): Oh really, how is that?
KJ: Well, Abraham Lincoln really wanted to get elected to be Governor, but he didn't get to be but he didn't give up and then he beat the same guy and got to be president. And then he freed all of the slaves because he finally got elected.
ABL: Yep, just like that. (what was I supposed to say)

Love is in the air

We started some new traditions this year, to celebrate the big LOVE day.
I can't wait to see how these evolve over the years.

Early in the week we took turns taking our littler sweethearts on dates that they helped plan.
Sweet CTL pretty much gets a special date with Mommy every-middle-of-the-night.  So he, technically, did not participate this year.  But our littlest love sure is CUTE!

RRL took Lou.  He emphasized that her Daddy was the first one to take her on dates, that her dates should always open the door for her and that the reason he was taking her on dates was to practice how she should be treated.  She was just thrilled to dress in her pink dress, have her Daddy all to herself, and go to a fancy dinner at one of her favorite places...Moo-yah (see her best "MOOOOO-Yah expression below), followed by dessert at TCBY.  Ha, nothing like a fancy dinner of hotdogs and icecream with your Daddy. 

 

We gave the kids books, Lou's was "Miss Nelson is missing"

After I ruled out McDs and Whataburger, the boys chose Celebrity for our date.  On our way home from school that afternoon, the boys and I were planning our outing and I as trying to talk to them about how to plan a date for a lady.  I suggested that having a plan and dressing up a bit were some simple ways to show her that she was appreciated.  So, KJ suggested that they wear tuxedos on our date, since they appreciated me SO much.  Cbug was more hesitant.  When KJ mentioned the tuxes, I said I thought that would be fun and Cbug responded "I like my camo pants".  Short. Sweet. To the point.  Typical.  I told him that was fine, he could wear what he wanted, but just try to think about how he could do something for someone else.  You can tell from the pictures how he compromised.  Love him!

KJ got "Where the Sidewalk Ends" and Cbug got a book that had the collection of "Alexander" stories. 

Also, thanks to a great group from our Bible Class, and an awesome idea by one of them, we enjoyed a date swap weekend.  We kept their kids one night and traded for our date night.  I'm pretty sure we got the best end of that bargain when we took in three extra kids (one from each family), and then got to leave FOUR behind.  SUH-WEET.

Our night to keep all of the kids

Speaking of Sweet...that was the theme of our date.  My man knows the way to my heart.  I mean, other than the ways he takes care of our family, the OTHER way to my heart is my sweet tooth, especially a certain love for milkshakes.  I consumed so many milkshakes while pregnant with KJ that I gained nearly 60 pounds (no exaggeration).  But I suppose my real love for a GOOD milkshake dates way back to the years where there was a little drug store down the street from my childhood home.  We could walk down with our dollars, sit at the counter, and get a great shake and grilled cheese.  The good ole days. 

With that sentimental motivation, RRL and I went on a Valentine's quest (via google) for the best places in our area to get a great shake. And boy howdy did we have success.  When we found an article about the best 3 places to get icecream treats, realized they were within miles from each other, and each had a unique experience to offer...yet another ABL hair-brained idea was born.  One that was nearly as successful as a certain idea to go sledding in rubbermaid tubs.  I mean, why take someone else's word for which of the 3 was actually the BEST.  Shouldn't we make such a pivotal decision for ourselves?  So, RRL kindly played along when I suggested we visit all three of the establishments. For dinner.  A perfect Valentine's date if you ask me- lots of time in the car to talk, lots of time to laugh over choosing dessert for dinner, and the fun of exploring new places.

We had two amazing milkshakes and a homemade icecream sandwich.  I guess it wasn't entire for dinner, I guess, since we also shared a burger and a hamsalad sandwich.  But that definitely wasn't our "main" course.

We loved every minute of these new traditions.  Hopefully they will become part of they way we are setting aside time to appreciate the blessings of our marriage. 

And the ways we are teaching our children to love each other and to love their future spouses.  

I cannot wait until next year.

Not that we technically HAVE to wait 365 days to eat dessert for dinner again.  Right, Babe?

ABL



The Valentine Box

So. Friends with older kids.  You held out on me.  No one warned me about this thing called a "valentine box".  We got instructions to decorate a shoe box or cereal box however HE wanted.  That's it.  So I let KJ go to town with scraps of paper, stickers, tape, glue, markers, etc.  It looked exactly like you might expect from a kindergarten boy.  a big red white and pink glorious mess, and that is just the stuff that actually made it ON to the box...you should have seen the craft table.  He took it to school and well, it didn't look like some of the others.  And it certainly didn't look like any of the amazing creations I've since seen on facebook. 

To be honest, I started this post with the intention of saying sometime about how we'll be more prepared next year to turn our box into a dinosaur that really roars or the like, but as I started typing I got caught up in the mental picture I have of his face while he glued to his merry heart's content.  Nope.  I'm going to let this one be.  He's not disappointed that his box wasn't better than his friends monster box that had "sharp teeth to eat the candy" and I'm not monster-box-maker's mom (who, as a side note, I happen to know doesn't work and only has one child).  If I'll let myself be, I'm actually quite content with our mess of a box.  And I sure love my little mess maker.  And that definitely is the best valentines box making experience money can buy (not that we spent any money on it). 

But at least next year, I'll know to give myself this pep-talk ahead of time.

ABL

When at first you don't succeed...

...Call KJ, he understands.

And THEN go try try again.

I'm so proud of our biggest boy!
He FINALLY learned to ride a bike without training wheels.
I say finally because he has taken the training wheels off of his bike twice before and then requested that they be put back on. 
But this time was different.

I'm pretty sure I've never seen him more determined.

And I'm pretty sure I've never been more proud.

Dear KJ,

You, my son, are a super star.  I'm your Momma, so I'll always think that.  But I sure hope you believe it, too.  I have a million reasons to be proud of you, bud, but today it is because you have learned to ride a bicycle all by yourself.  Your Daddy and I would have held on to the back of that bicycle forever if we thought it would help you ride.  But we knew that at some point you'd have to do it yourself.  There were lots of falls, sometimes some pretty hard falls.  Once you even crashed over Lou.  We laughed about how you had conquered bike riding...and conquered your sister.  It was sometimes frustrating and there were lots of bumps and bruises, but you did not give up.  I can't tell you how many times you jumped up and got back on that bike.  You've added a few more holes to your blue jeans and there were times when you'd had enough falling for one day, and had to take a break.  But you always amazed us when you requested to go back out again the next day.  You pushed yourself to accomplish this goal and it was so much fun to watch.  I'll never forget the emotions I felt as I watched you try to learn how to get started.  You'd already mastered riding and balancing and turning.  But taking that first pedal all on your own was a doozie for you.  I stood watching from the sidewalk, pacing a little.  You tried and fell and tried and fell.  You put one foot on the pedal and one foot on the ground, then switched with the other foot on the pedal and one on the ground.  Over and over.  I stopped myself just short of saying "Cmon bud, you can try again tomorrow, lets take a break".  Instead, I stood back with patient expectation and whispered to myself "you can do it, buddy.  I know you can do it."  And eventually, YOU DID.  You took off down the road without so much as a push from me and the look on your face as you came around the turn was PRICELESS.  You were so proud.  And I was, too.  It was official. You were a bike rider.

Buddy, life will be like this.  Your Daddy and I will want so desperately to hold you up, to keep you from falling, to help you succeed.  But sometimes we'll have to stand back and watch you fall.  We will teach you everything we can, but eventually you'll have to be determined to do it on your own.   I hope you know that when we do let go, we'll be standing back just far enough to watch.  We'll be whispering under our breath, "YOU CAN DO IT, buddy, we know you can".  And then we will watch with patient expectation while you try.  You'll try over and over sometimes.  Until finally FINALLY you will get it.  And you better believe that when you come around the turn, we'll be the first to jump up and down sharing your JOY at what you've accomplished.  We could hold on to you forever, but if we did, you would never experience the thrill of riding alone.  And that's worth more to us than the holes in a million pairs of blue jeans.

Because we love you, so much!

Momma

Just for fun, here are a couple of videos.  Totally laughing at myself as I listen to my voice. 
Here is one of the process (including the funny...but not...wreck with Lou.)

And one of the finished product.  A confident (and THRILLED) bicycle rider!

Baby Blessing 2013- An Overflow of HOPE

In January our congregation celebrated all of the babies born or adopted in 2012.  Our sweet Little Bear was among the honored and we were so blessed by this evening.  It is our fourth time to share the rituals of "baby blessing" night and while the traditions, the gifts, and the people look much the same- it certainly never gets old.

This round was unique for our family because RRL couldn't be there.  One of the only times he will travel this entire year for work, fell on exactly the same week.  It couldn't be helped.  But PRAISE THE LORD (and I don't say that lightly) for modern technology.  RRL wasn't there to hold my hand, but I was able to hold my ipod in my hand...and have him facetime during the prayer.  So cool!  Also, my mom and RRL's mom were there.  So baby C was well surrounded in Daddy's absence.

I will always treasure the hands of these two couples as I watched how they patiently snuggled, prayed, blessed and (lets be real here...) corralled all four of my children during this special time for Little Bear.  They were completely sincere in their patience and love and care and more than anything they said, those actions were an incredible sign to me of their love and commitment to helping RRL and I raise these four treasures.

One of the verses shared with Little Bear by our Elders that evening was

Romans 15:13 

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Because of the timing of CTL's entrance into our family I can't even tell you how much these words resonate with me.  Our sweet boy's story, in just these first short months of his life, certainly overflows with hope.  And not because of anything that our youngest son, in and of himself has done or could ever do.  But because of THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.  I've often said that this little one's conception and birth remind me that God never EVER forgot about us.  Not for a second.  In the hardest, darkest times He delighted in remembering us, in providing us HOPE in amazingly creative ways.

I'm so thankful for the place where we worship.  Although it is just that- a place- it is so much more to us.  It is a home.  A home where there are amazing men an women reminding us of TRUTH and speaking it into the lives of our children.  Just like these sweet shepherds did through these words in Romans.  They are claiming our children's lives- not by anything they can do, but by THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.  That they may indeed

OVERFLOW WITH HOPE.

And that is a blessing.

(Please make no mistake about the reason that CTL's big sibs are laying hands on him during this time of blessing.  Poor littlest guy.)

ABL

Countdown to Christmas

In the spirit of keepin it real around here...
I blogged a bit about my "December funk". 
I did still LOVE the idea of counting down to Christmas with our little family.  Taking time to remember and cherish the season of celebration. Honoring our Savior.  and savoring the family he has given us, both immediate and extended.
But ya'll DECEMBER was nutso.  SO very busy.  So not all of the days got their just-due.  Some were quite half-hearted.  But that's the great thing about doing this countdown thing intentionally, even when you don't "feel" like it.  Memories are still made, love still extended and hope still REIGNS.  That's what Christmas is all about.
insert how it is now March and I'm just now getting around to wrapping up the post about our Christmas countdown as an indicator of how we rolled at the end of 2012.

Here's a super quick recap (ha- when have you ever known me to do anything quick in deeprollingrightfield? ha.)

I decided to scrap the idea of making our own Christmas tree.  I mean, I loved last year's green Taj Mahal and all, but seriously, what was I thinking?  Instead, we had die-cut Christmas lights to hang. They started out all white but "turned on" one at a time, all month, for a fun multi colored decoration in our dining room.

1) Get new PJs and wear them to visit Santa.

Score on this one, since my workplace happened to be doing free visits and pictures with Santa that day!

 2) Read a Christmas book before bed

3) Skype with cousins and sing Christmas carols

4) Go on a Surprise Outing with friends.

(I wonder how many years in a row our "surprise outing" can be going to GWL for story time...before they catch on?) 

5) Visit the Firestation and deliver Toys for Tots.

Cbug especially LOVED the added bonus of getting a "tour" of the firetruck.  On the way home Cbug declared "I want to be a firetruck driver when I grow up." and KJ decided "Nah, I'd rather be the guy in charge who rides up front and tells people where to drive".  Lou said she wasn't interested at all.  As you can tell from the photo, she kept a safe distance at all times. 

6) Invite friends over to make S'mores!

What a treat! We made smores over our gas stove with Grammy, J&J. So fun!

7) Make Christmas things out of Playdough

8) Decorate Christmas cookies

Lucked out again, since Aunt J bought the kids gingerbread men when we went to visit here, and all the Aunts and Uncles helped the kids decorate them.

9) J&J proposal day!

Although we had somehting else planned for our Christmas activity, when Uncle J asked us to help with his amazing proposal, we jumped at the chance.  It was so perfect!  So perfect, in fact, it was featured in the Dallas Morning News...not just once BUT TWICE (a second time as one of the year's best pictures).  We were just the "sign holders" but we were thrilled to be there.

10) Make a basket of Christmas FUN to deliver to a friend.

Second year in a row to get zero pictures of this favorite activity.  The kids loved going shopping for Christmas stickers, candy, pencils, games, etc to put in a basket and take to a friend. 

11) Christmas music dance party 

12) WE ARE HALF WAY THERE!

Sing Christmas songs from the top of the playscape 

because what could be a better way to celebrate being half way to Christmas. Either that or their parents ran out of time for any other activity before church. Either way.

 13) Drink hot chocolate before bed.

14) Christmas movie night in Mommy and Daddy's room

15) Bake Treats for neighbors, teachers and friends.

Already blogged a bit about this, but the best part was when I had to borrow a cup of milk from a neighbor...for whom I was baking.  I had all 4 kids baking with me and realized I was out of milk.  Genius!

16) Buy food for the food bank.  Deliver and help sort/shelf it.

17) Help Daddy with the TeenLifeline Christmas party.

18) Christmas caroling with friends. Visit some ministers and elders from our church.

This was extra fun because we got to share the evening with some of our favorite friends!  And we found out that night that their baby #3 was on the way!  HOORAY!  Love watching these four friends (and one curly headed baby friend who sometimes joined in) show how much they appreciate people at their church.

19 and 20) Tell the story of Christmas

 ok, we were traveling so these really happened over a few days time, but I love these videos.  I posted them seperately so you could enjoy the videos!  Oh my, we'll be working on some of the facts before next Christmas.

21) Ornament hide and find

Just as simple as it sounds. Take ornaments off the tree and take turns hiding and finding them.  Always a winner at our house!

22) Buy sibling Christmas presents

I love this tradition we started last year of drawing names and then going shopping together for the "sibling gifts"

23) Make an acrostic using "CHRISTMAS"

favorite part of this activity this year was that we read "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" on our roadtrip and from that moment on, all 3 kiddos worked really hard to find a way to include Gladys exclamation "HEY, UNTO YOU A CHILD IS BORN" into all conversations about the meaning of Christmas.  Check out this year's "S".

24) Read the Night before Christmas and the Story of Christ birth with Nonna

And there ya have it, our 24 days of Christmas countdown.

ABL

The Story of Christmas- their version

One of our countdown to Christmas activities was for each of the kids to tell us the story of Christmas.

I love that each of their ages and personalities become evident as they share.

KJ

Unfortunately not feeling too great at this moment, but looking oh-so-big.  A couple of facts about his version:  1)KJ is so confident in his facts (which are sometimes questionable) that it almost sounds like he is reading.  It also means his version is the LONGEST and 2) Even his teacher at school has mentioned that he is sometimes distracted by computers in the room.  The game he is distracted by in this video is called "Perfection".  Interesting.

Cbug

I'm only showing you two of the...well...SEVERAL videos I tried to get of Cbug sharing sweetly about Jesus.  I got a lot of information about Herod trying to KILL Jesus.  And animals in the stable pooping.  I think it is safe to say he is 5.  Oh my.

Lou

Always the teacher (I love her one-handed-turn-the-book-to-the-class way of "reading".  She is never lacking a dramatic flare for story telling.  I love how she just fills in the gaps until she can think of what to say next.

ABL