Reasoning of Biblical Proportions

Josiah is still under the weather today, but getting better. He spent the day in his pajamas--relaxing, watching a movie and coloring his cardboard castle. When it was time to pick Ben up from school I picked Josiah up and carried him to the van in his slippers after first putting Gabriella in her seat. We did the same thing when we took Ben to basketball practice.

As we were driving home Josiah said "Who are you going to carry in the house first when we get home Mom? "I don't know, why?" I asked.

"Well, in the Bible it says that the first shall be last, and the last shall be first. So I think it is my turn to be first this time."


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Sick, Sick, Sick, Sick, Sick

Sick 1-4) Josiah woke up early (6am-ish), sporting a croupy cough for the 3rd day in a row (must need a few more days of animal crackers). He was a bit out of sorts and pretty sure that we needed to sit in the bathroom for awhile (steam) and then head to the playroom for a nebulizer and a movie. He also complained about crumbs in his eye and when we got him into the light it was apparent that his left eye was swollen... hoo boy. Pink eye? Anyway, we went with a nebulizer to loosen him up a bit.

Lisa called and spoke with the venerable 1st Nurse sanity line and a few minutes later the Dr's office called and recommended that we bring him in at 9:15 to have his eye looked at.

I enjoyed an unplanned morning at home "working" and keeping Gabriella semi-engaged. Around 11 Lisa returned with Josiah and several diagnosises (in anatomic order, from lowest to highest): strep, croup, pink eye, ear infection! What is that, a quad-fecta? He is, of course, bounding about playing castle and eagerly anticipating his birthday later this week.

Sick 5) Ben woke up feeling out of sorts, kinda droopy with a stomach kind-of-ache. Breakfast - done. Teeth brushed - done. Dressed - done. Shoes on - done. Coat and backpack - done. Need to use the bathroom... uh oh. Not sure whether he was sick, or just milking feeling a bit tired, we banished him to his bed to rest for awhile. Up and feeling ok... whoops, stomach hurts again. At lunch (finish ALL of your soup Ben!), back up to bed. Kevin's finally getting ready to head into wor-- "HELP!" Ben's voice called anxiously from his bedroom. "HELP ME!"

!WARNING! - Graphic gastronomy!
Highlight the text below to make it readable :)
I scurried up the steps to find him partially propped up on his side, facing the door, looking flustered and mildly panicked. He'd hit side of the tub I'd placed in the middle of a towel in the middle of his floor... the tub and most of the space in between. Impressive!

Lisa and I tag-teamed on the clean up. And now I think I'll head to work.

Coming soon: Delayed Action! Action! Action! entry from the Gateway slopes!

The Healing Powers of Animal Crackers

Josiah has been home this weekend with another case of the croup. He asked for animal crackers after dinner for a treat. He removed one from the box and handed it back. I said he could have a couple more if he would like, but he declined.

"My doctor says I need one animal cracker once a day until I get better."

"Oh, who is your doctor?"

"Um, that would be me," he answered with a sideways grin.

Laughter is the best medicine.

Gabriella's new word

Gabriella has been babbling a new word in a sweet sing song voice the past few days. "Sigh-yah" is now being said as she points to her brother, and most often with a yell as if to say "Josiah, where are you? Come play with me!"

Inauguration: Ben and Josiah's perspectives

On Tuesdays, which are, by Josiah's definition, Home School days, Lisa engages Josiah with crafts and activities and sometimes some educational TV. Yesterday, they watched part of the inauguration together. Josiah was full of questions, from trying to remember what President Obama looked like, to wondering what Arethra was thinking when she chose that hat (his words, "I don't like the way her hat looks, but she sounds nice"), to trying to understand what elected means and why we elect leaders. I think this was the first Home School Social studies day :) He also shared that he was sad for Obama's daughters since they wouldn't have a daddy anymore. Lisa let him know that he was able to be the President and a daddy, and that the girls would live in the White House with him, and that their grandma would live there with them too. He was relieved and thought living in the White House sounded like a lot of fun.

Ben's take was pretty interesting as well. When I picked him up from Upward Basketball last night, he told me how good it is that we can have a President with black skin. Because if Martin Luther King, Jr. hadn't done all the work what he did, maybe this could not have happened. Cuts through the politics and highlights one of the real positives about the past election and (now) current president.

What a gift it is to be challenged and also given opportunities to learn anew and see afresh through the eyes of our growing children. May they continue to observe and question into their adult lives!

Blessed,
-k

Mmmm, warm cozy robes.

Josiah has occasionally asked for a robe like Ben's and this past weekend Lisa struck clearance gold at Target. Here are Ben and Josiah enjoying the cozy, practical warmth of their robes, and the fuzzy warmth of brotherly camraderie :)

Since we tore out the counter to accommodate the drainage tile installation last October, we've been planning to rebuild the platform at the south end of the playroom, turning it into an elevated play area. Dad and I installed the insulation and studs before Christmas, and a week ago we finished the support skeleton and picked up the masonite to cover the walls underneath the platform and the plywood for the platform "floor." This weekend saw a flurry of progress as I finished installing the flooring and masonite and found an alternative to the carpet covering that we had originally intended to install over the plywood.

Last night, Ben and Josiah helped me arrange and connect the brightly colored foam panels. The were excited to help and went to bed eagerly anticipating being able, at last, to play up on the platform when they woke. That was enough incentive to keep me going late into the evening , cutting the foam to size and installing scrap masonite as a temporary wall around the platform so that little Legos won't slip down between the studs. I went downstairs this morning to find Ben sitting, pleased and smiling, up on the platform. He informed me that it was great, and of course I couldn't get the WHOLE thing done in one night, but it will be great when it is ALL done.

The next step is to install the peg board backing, then purchase and adhere a couple of 5' x 3' sheets of galvanized steel beneath the windows. Some finishing touches will include alternating cork panels and brightly painted sections of peg board on either side of the window. The final covering for the last couple of feet of the south wall (blue) and the west wall (right side of picture) is still under consideration.

Better than a stick in the eye.

After dinner this evening, I sat on the floor playing with Gabriella. When we picked up a book, Colors, and started reading it, Josiah piped up from the dining room:

"That's the book I read to Gabriella today...   Until we got to blueberries and she poked me in the eye! It hurt and I cried a little."

Ben, sitting in a chair working on his homework, started rolling with laughter, explaining that he Josiah's matter-of-fact presentation of the event was very funny.

** Lisa tells me that he continued "reading" to her, even as he was still sniffing and calming down from being upset.
-k

Tattle Tale

Josiah stomped angrily down the stairs yesterday afternoon, calling to me in a tattling voice, "Mo-om! Ben said that I am kind, intelligent, and loving! Is he being sassy?"  "No Josiah, he is giving you a compliment." "Oh," he replied, breaking into a smile as he yelled a cheerful "Thank you Ben!" and bounded back up the stairs.

Early Dismissal

School was out early yesterday due to the snow and supposed blizzard on its way. It was fluffy snow for playing in and not too cold, although the little red cheeks make me think otherwise. We had friends over for the afternoon and all eight kids enjoyed some time in the backyard sledding down a little mound of snow, making snow angels, and playing with icicles. It was Gabriella's first time out playing in the snow. She liked being out with the kids, sleding and going down the slide with them. She did not like actually being in the snow so Anna pulled her around the yard in a little box which she enjoyed. She also was not excited about being so bundled that she couldn't really crawl or bend... Now the temperature has really dropped, so I am thankful the kids went sledding this weekend with Kevin, and played outside yesterday.

Out of their mouths...

* During bedtime sometime in the past week, Josiah informed me that he doesn't like loving God the most, but Ben told him he had to. Great to have him engaged in his faith at such a young age!

* This evening during dinner, Ben told us that he'd like a bottle of wine and one of those fancy glasses (wine glass) so he can make a pastel (Lisa gave him a nice set of pastels for Christmas).

* Josiah chimed in on topic, asking Lisa if you could draw on a pastel. She asked him if he meant with a pencil? "No," he replied, "can you draw a different color on top of another color?"

Christmas morning

We spent Christmas morning at home, enjoying some time with just our family before heading to the Millens' for lunch. David took some time to shoot a few photos of our whole family engaged in gifting, adding to the blessing of having Kari, David and Alexa in our home.

The boys presented their gifts to each other and to us with great delight and enjoyed the surprises Santa had left under the tree, wrapped in brown paper and red yarn. Josiah was ready to play with each gift he opened, and was especially excited to wake up and find that Santa had left a thank you note for the milk and cookies, as well as the treat bag of carrots Josiah had left out for Rudolph.

To his delight, Ben unwrapped a Wii console, with which he happily engaged extended family over the next week.

Josiah's "good guys" Lego castle provided many opportunities for one-on-one with uncles and parents as we worked together to assemble the people, walls and towers.

Gabriella really enjoyed the ribbon tied around a new rug for her room (good ol' Santa!).

A snow day!

Our Christmas break started off with an early dismissal, and a snow day. The boys were glad to be home and enjoyed a little time out in the snow. Gabriella watched from baby jail as it was too cold to go out.

Gabriella, 9 months

Gabriella will be 10 months tomorrow, so we reflect on where she is now. Such a big girl! She has 5 little teeth and is loving to feed herself finger food. She babbles mama, dada, ni-night, bye-bye, no no- sometimes at the right time, sometimes not. But her first real word is "this" said with a point. She loves to be carried around and asks about everything around her. She can sign for milk, more and food, which helps us understand what she needs- what a communicator she is becoming! She can pull to standing and walk around furniture. She attempts to free stand in the middle of the room on occasion, and enjoys walking around holding hands with someone. Her love of chewing on CDs and paper seem to be waning in favor of her actual toys, which makes us glad.

Christmas photo, Take 1

Here is our first attempt at a Christmas card photo shoot. A friend gave us this fabulous dress for Gabriella, and Aunt Sarah even made the amazing coordinating barrette that can clip onto just a few little hairs.

Christmas card photos, take 2

Our Christmas greetings will be reaching you soon, to welcome in the new year. We tried posing the kids twice to get a nice shot of the 3 of them, but didn't get quite what we were looking for. The boys were great, but Gabriella doesn't like to sit still. They are still sweet, so thought I would add them here.