We had communion today in church, and this time everyone walked to the front to receive it. I was sitting in the back row and noticed that all most all of the men let their wives and possibly children go ahead of them. I know that Ben often does it, but I didn't realize how common it actually is.
This evening Joshua was fussy so I went to pick him up; it was a mom day today. He proceeded to say "ni-ni" to Ben and pointed very clearly to his bedroom. When we were in his bedroom he pointed to his crib. Really? It was a bit surprising, but if he was tired and knew it than I wasn't going to argue. It was only about an hour early, so still a reasonable time to go to bed. I'm glad that night-night is one of the few words he knows...it's come in rather handy a few times.
It worked pretty well...we put ornaments on the tree and it was probably easier to do without Joshua.
The mouse got his normal place near the bottom. :)
Today's Thanksgiving meal was with the other side of Ben's family. It was nice as always.
Joshua playing with the balls.
Isaac playing with the black (of course) play-doh.
Playing "Where's my water" on the I-pad. It isn't really a multi-person game, but they were doing really well with it. On Wednesday one of my "chores" was to get more ducks to unlock the next meta-level so Isaac would have more levels to play. :)
Today was Lego day. It went pretty well...Isaac enjoyed playing with the treasure chests and a spring loaded grabber thingy. Joshua didn't play with the legos much. At one point he just went back and forth between Ben and I for kisses (we were happy to oblige) and he worked on his sliding.
Ben is working on a flying boat and I'm building a robot army. This is what it looked like at lunch.
We also started Christmas decorating this year. We got some new lights...LED rope lights. It makes the tree look different, but not bad. We'll put up ornaments later...baby steps as always in this house.
First of all, there are so many things to give thanks to God for. Ironically, I find that Thanksgiving tends to be so busy that I don't think about them much on this day. But I am very aware of them.
It was also Ben's birthday. ...I didn't do much for him today. I didn't even give him his present. This could either win me bad wife of the year award (because it is in my closet) or shows you how busy the day felt.
After our Thanksgiving meal we started our Lego weekend.
So far Joshua's been doing ok. We're still watching him closely though. Oh...he can also go down our slide by himself now! We did it in nursery this morning and then he did it all by himself tonight.
The end of the first hour. It is getting messier faster this year, partly because we have four people and partly because Ben dumped one of the buckets out.
We ended up watching part of a movie for the last half hour before bed. Isaac didn't manage to go to sleep until 11:15pm last night and has a bad cold. He was exhausted. I kept checking to see if he had a fever because he was rather flushed, but his temp was fine.
I'm home alone today! Since there is no school for the kids tomorrow, I asked if they could go today instead. I feel like I've gotten so many things checked off my list!
1. I got some fabric for the back of a quilt. This was a super fast stop and didn't involve buying giant smarties.
2. I didn't get Joshua's wall painted, although I did try. I can't get the paint can open. But...now I know what the next step has to be!
3. I cleaned the kitty litter.
4. I cleaned the inside trash can. I am pretty sure there are no more fruit flies, and it's getting cold out, so it'll be nice to have an inside trash again.
5. I paid some bills, sent some emails, did some Christmas shopping.
6. I made of movie of Joshua's first year pictures. I made a similar one for Isaac. I'm obviously not a professional photographer by any means, but it's still fun to see. Joshua was much more cooperative in staying on his back for at least one picture!
7. I relaxed. I ate a quiet lunch and took a nap with no one around to wake me up.
8. I took pictures of a quilt. (And hope to post them soon.)
9. I rearranged Isaac's room for his new quiet time. I think we'll have a drawer with a few activities that should only be opened during quiet time. I also printed out some more mazes for him to do. I also looked at the pictures of towers he made from a set of Duplos during the last rest time. They're great. Why am I making the towers for instructions when he makes such cool ones?
The time has come to help Isaac not take a nap during the day. At least, not when he's at home. I've noticed that if he does take a nap lately he is then up for several hours in bed, unable to fall asleep. So rest time is changing to quiet time. He only has to stay in his room and we'll slowly accumulate more options of things for him to do.
It worked out well today. He did some mazes. He colored on the white board. He built some duplo towers and took pictures of them. He may have played with his marbles, although those have been out for a while.
Afterwards he still gets his screen time.
So overall a success, although kind of sad. It was always nice to hope that everyone would take a good nap.
1) I got a haircut yesterday. I mostly like it. I chopped off about seven inches.
2) I moved the nightlight from our bedroom into the kitchen. I know, it feels like an odd thing to mention. But makes so much sense! It makes our bedroom darker and lets me better see as I stumble to a child's room. (It also lets Isaac see better if he needs to use the bathroom. I'm pretty sure I don't wake up when that happens unless he calls me.) I should have made the change a while ago, but didn't think of it.
3) Our winter lights are up. Lights are my favorite part of the Christmas season, but this strand is really to help light up a corner that has no other great lighting. The odd thing was that we received the package today...Sunday. I guess the shipping season has started, but for some reason it makes me a bit sad that you can receive packages on Sunday.
It snowed today! Not as much as predicted, but it was nice and wet.
The first time we were not out for very long...Isaac seemed more excited about playing with the snow inside than about being outside.
For the second time I clothed Isaac much better and got out the sand toys. I really need to remember to not put them away for the winter...I always end up digging them out of the garage when it snows out. Joshua was complaining that he didn't get to go outside too, so I bundled him up. He can't walk all that well to begin with, so the boots and snow pants were just too much. He was out probably about four minutes. Isaac was out a bit longer.
Hmm. I had something profound to say...but I can't remember it now. :p
We went over to Betsy's house. Isaac and Ethan had a good time playing...and there were only a few tears. I'm still not sure what the tears were about, but the dog barked which made Isaac laugh and then everything was ok again. I had a wonderful time too...it is nice to be with other people and makes the day go by so much faster.
I was going to put up our winter lights today but then they were completely dead. How?? They were working when I took them down at the end of the winter. It frustrates me.
Don't start a routine in which your young child gets a few minutes of Ipad time first thing in the morning. They may wake up at 5am and then scream for a bit because they think it's Ipad time when it's really sleeping time.
This morning we tried a new activity: can we put all the Duplos on the Duplo table? I find it an interesting question, especially since you can't attach Duplos to some Duplos (i.e., they have to go on top) and there is a toddler. I also started a time lapse video, but the angle was poor so I won't be showing it.
We didn't get all the Duplos on before lunch time and the youngest members of the activity were done with it. However, Joshua did better than I was expecting, only taking a few off. Once we got some windows on he played with those pretty well. Isaac didn't put a lot on, but did bring a lot over.
There was a lovely rain storm this afternoon followed by an incredible rainbow. We could see both legs and half of a second rainbow. And the primary rainbow was so bright! I don't think I've ever seen such a bright one before. Ben managed to see the whole arc...lucky him.
We also tried hamburger enchilada with chicken. It wasn't as good. Not bad, but not as good.
I am sad that the governor of Michigan is one of the governors that wants to refuse Syrian refugees into the state (legality aside). I was especially sad he was one of the first.
Is the possibility of terrorism scary? Yes, defiantly. Does that mean we should refuse to help those in need? Absolutely not.
The thought of my friends or family, especially my children, being hurt in violence is terrifying. But God says not to fear. He says it over and over and over again. Jesus shows kindness to the poor and needy over and over again.
Isaac: I wish Dad could come home early. [Note, it was about 10am].
Amanda: yeah, me too.
Isaac: Can we pray about it?
Amanda, surprised but happy: sure. Do you want to pray or shall I?
Isaac: you
Amanda: Dear God, please let Dad come home early. Please let him finish his work really, really, really fast. Amen.
Isaac: Amen.
Imagine my surprise when Ben pulled into the driveway at 3:30 this afternoon. I shouldn't be surprised, I guess. He hadn't finished his work, but Isaac's part of the prayer was still answered; the server Ben needed crashed and he was unable to work for the afternoon.
We say his name, for whatever reason and he says he's puppy Isaac. This happens many, many times a day. You'd think Ben and I could remember by now.
He crawls around on all fours on a regular basis.
He barks, although not that often.
He refers to puppy Isaac in the third person all the time. "Puppy Isaac would like some water."
I forgot to mention it to Aunt C when she was babysitting. Not to fear though...Puppy Isaac told her what was going on. Probably several times from the sound of it.
It's a bit of an annoying stage, but not too bad. Possibly more annoying for puppy Isaac since we can't remember he's a puppy.
I'm reading a book about justice. (Our church recommends a book each year, this year this is the book.) Last night the reading was on being content with what you have.
This comes at such an interesting time, since it has been "making Christmas list" week. As always, I feel like I already have plenty. I can find some things for my list, but so much of that just things that would be fun. Don't get me wrong - fun is good. Fun items give people jobs.
Yet every year I always wonder what would happen if I only put donation items on my list. I always feel like I would be a disappointment to people trying to buy for me, because choosing a charity wouldn't be as fun. As I think about it though, I wonder why I should care. As I think it through, I wonder if I would enjoy Christmas as much without tangible gifts.
So this is my possible notice to everyone. Next year I might finally do it. ...or I might not. I have a year in which to think about it.
A while ago we got a mailing about a Lockheed 401k settlement. We had to fill in some paperwork and send it back in. Mine was easy; I haven't moved my 401k. Ben's was a bit harder, involving a phone call. Then he missed a signature so we had to send in an extra piece of paper. At this point, our investment in Ben's side of the project is $0.90 in stamps and maybe 20 minutes.
We got a check yesterday for Ben's...$0.88.
*sigh*
At least we came out ahead on my side, by an estimated $0.43.
Joshua's favorite toys today were the cameras. Neither has batteries. I think he just likes pushing the buttons and the weight that they are. Joshua was also rather cranky today. There was a 15 minute meltdown in the morning...I want to be in your lap, no I want to be on the floor, no I want to be in your lap. Then tonight at dinner he kept saying "more" but we had no idea what he wanted. Since the fever his appetite hasn't been great, so eventually we hand fed him some Cheerios. It worked for a bit but wasn't really what he wanted. He needs some more words.
Isaac and I played flags today. It consists of chasing each other around and trying to pull off some flags that we got in a happy meal.
He's really into "super speed" the last few days. He has his walking power (grape water), his running power (pomegranate water), and when combined with lemon water he has super speed. (I'm running out of sippy cups.)
He also wanted me to take a picture of him going backwards on the horse.
Yesterday I worked on picking up the house. This is a normal thing for me, but I feel like progress was made. This morning Isaac came out of his bedroom and said, "Mom! The table is so clean! Good work! You can have a treat." And gave me an M&M from his Halloween candy. A little later he said that I should finish cleaning Joshua's room for a treat, and I said that maybe he should clean his room for a treat. Well, that started a cleaning day. Isaac did his room, finished Joshua's room, and started the basement before getting sidetracked.
Also, we started working on Christmas lists. Isaac is so easy this year! He thinks a lot of things look interesting, but not everything. Many of the things he picked out look interesting to me too, so that will probably be fun. My list, on the other hand, is currently rather boring. Hopefully I can spice it up a bit, but even if not that's ok.
Joshua had a fever all day. He woke up a bit late and seemed normal, but then barely ate breakfast. Alone that wouldn't set off any alarms, but he was also content to just sit in the high chair.
The rest of the day he was just sleepy and clingy. He had about an hour throughout the day of happiness. But, cuddles sure are nice sometimes.
Today's tragedy is that Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Helper is not available from Amazon and we used our last box this week. This is pretty much the only "helper" that we eat anymore, and it is absurdly hard to find.
I finally got a picture with Joshua's face full of lovey. He has two - elephant and bear. They both got washed this past week because they were smelly. Especially elephant. Joshua likes to stick them in his mouth, and sometimes he'll walk around with his hands holding something else and it is pretty silly. But he does love them. :)
Emotions/attitude: it was a pretty good month. We've had some problems with listening the last few days, but overall pretty good. He loves Ben and me. He often says to me, "I love you so so so so so so so so.....so so much." Which is fun...most of the time. Ben usually gets "I love you ten much" or whatever number Isaac is feeling like.
Time scales: Isaac gets his time scales all messed up. He has two: all day and tomorrow. All day can mean often, today, or all the time. Tomorrow can mean yesterday, tomorrow, a long time ago, or in the future. It is often hard to figure out what he's trying to say.
Imagination: Isaac likes playing castle. He is a puppy all the time lately...and by default the rest of us are dogs too.
Learning: They are concentrating on a letter a week at school and I can tell he's picking up on it. He can sound out the first sound of a word and sometimes can even figure out what that sound is. He is starting to write his name without prompting...below you can sort of see his name. He got a little messed up around the As and crossed one out. It also kind of wraps around.
Praying: Isaac has started to pray aloud about one time a day. They are good prayers (see the video from a few days ago) although they sometimes lack complete sentences. The prayer at the beginning of the month was "Dear God, [Thank you] for everything in the whole world and [help] everyone not break anything. And [thank you for] Jesus and thunder and lightning Amen."
He also wanted to take a picture of the pretty star. I'm just excited because he's willing to sleep under my quilt again.
Today I thought we'd make Oobleck. It worked because it was a beautiful day out! It felt like a nice day in September, not the beginning of November.
Anyway, I'd recommend Oobleck. 1) Easy to make. 2) It's messy. We did it outside, which was perfect. 3) It is the easiest thing to clean up ever. A lot of it can be brushed off. If it can't be brushed off, it just needs to hit a stream of water and it dissolves. Awesome. 4) If you add color too it it takes a while for the color to fully mix, so you can see the color swirls for a while. Like adding food coloring to water, but slower. (Note: however, I'd recommend against having your young child get red food coloring in the same place he hurt his lip. It looks bad and as though you are a bad mom for not taking care of your child.) 5) Isaac and Joshua enjoyed it. It lasted for about an hour, which is pretty good.
Let's see...what else happened today? Oh, I found out why people don't use a walking lawnmower to pick up their leaves. It doesn't work well. However, the lawn really needs to be mowed so I did it anyway, emptying the bag every two minutes. But now the bin is full of long grass that grew really well and chopped up leaves, and I didn't finish mowing the grass. It meant I could take a nap, which I was completely fine with doing.
I won a game of racquetball against Ben, 16-14. He proceeded to win the next game as normal. Well, let me take that back. He didn't actually win because we didn't finish it because the first game took too long and our time was up.
Joshua discovered jumping. He did it once by himself, probably by accident, and then thought it was so funny when Ben would jump. Joshua kept trying, but it usually looked as though he was jumping down instead.
Joshua has also started bringing drinks to the couch at dinner time. Usually he doesn't fall.
We had a new record today! Two bloody lips. Isaac must have had a split lip...I saw it in Meijer and he was completely oblivious. I asked him if it hurt and he thought a bit and then said yes, but I kind of wonder if he said yes because he was hoping to get something out of it. However, Joshua did a face plant and fully understood that something was wrong. My first instinct with bloody lips, I've recently learned, is to rush into the bathroom. I then decide that I need a paper towel, which is not in the bathroom and sigh to myself. I should really think about what I'm going to do when I see blood before doing anything. Or have some paper towel in the bathroom.
Ben and Isaac "played science" tonight. The second machine was a hit...he laughed and laughed and laughed with it.
The boys have been sleeping in pretty well in the mornings. There have been a few where I haven't had to get up until 8. (And on a weekday it feels rather scandalous.) It may have helped that I set the heat so that it doesn't kick on until 7:45.
Anyway, due to this lovely sleeping in streak the boys did well today. Joshua woke around 6:45 and started creaking. I was vaguely aware of it but Ben got up with the boys so I got to sleep in even more. It was wonderful.
