Remembering

Time flies when you're having fun. It's been ages since I've written a post, so I need to write down a few things for the sake of remembering.

Today we were supposed to go to the pumpkin patch with friends, but I woke up sick. I feel bad for the boys, but I don't even think they've remembered yet. I'm so proud of how they've been playing together today- it's been one of the better days that I can remember. Granted, it's been a free-for-all: my answer has been yes to Wii, movies, and macaroni and cheese for lunch. It's beautiful outside, the last day before a week of cold and rain. But, we're making the best of it inside today.

Hannah is such a sweet angel. Aaron got the johnny jumper out of the attic recently, and I didn't think she would enjoy it. I guess father knows best- it is her favorite place to be. She grins and jumps and watches the action around her. She watches us until she catches our eyes, and then grins and jumps even harder.

She looooves her Papa. She braces herself for his whiskered-kisses and laughs when she sees him. She loves her brothers too. Asher will get down on the floor with her and cuddle and coo with her. Both boys would LOVE to pull back that johnny jumper and see how far she will fly, but they know there would be some serious trouble if they did.

She's starting to show different emotions- she is terrified of the vacuum cleaner. Once this week I held her while I vacuumed and she buried her face in my shoulder the whole time. It was so cute. She is starting to show a preference for me, specifically over grandma babysitting last night when she didn't feel well.

Asher was sick a few weeks ago, just 3 weeks into school. One day he was watching me Lysol the house and he asked what the Lysol was. "It kills germs."
"Is it for people?" He wanted me to spray some on him in hopes that it would kill his germs and make him better. Aaron thinks that was a brilliant line.

I went to his curriculum night this week to hear all about his class. I started meeting parents who told me they hear his name a lot at their house. Then another mom walked up and said, "You're the infamous Asher's mom?" I guess Asher is holding his own pretty well, making new friends and charming his friends left and right. I went to his class party and watched the teacher read them a story. When she asked questions he was the first to raise his hand and explain how the characters were cooperating. For all my worry about his missing tooth and his speech, he gave a terrific answer and I don't think anyone has a problem understanding him. He's so level-headed- he wasn't clingy when I was there, he was happy to see me but went along with what he was supposed to be doing until our paths crossed minutes later.

I decided there was no reason for me to rely on his teacher to teach him how to read, so we started the phonics lessons I used to teach Owen. He loves it! I think it's really helped him, as they've taken right off with reading in class.

Owen has shown that he's growing up, grappling with 2nd grade problems with 2nd grade logic. One day as I was putting him to bed, he asked seriously, "How do you know I'm not a midget?" He has talked before about how he's the shortest kid in his class (or grade), so this was not surprising. But it was a little insight into the things he worries about and thinks about and needs answers about. It hurt a little!

He also recently (I think just the day before the midget question) realized a favorite friend from church had not invited him to his birthday party. I knew, but I wasn't sure if he knew. I thought about how he wouldn't ever know I cared about things in his life if we didn't talk about them, so despite my hesitation i asked him what he knew about the birthday. "How come all my friends keep forgetting to invite me to their parties?" Ouch.

So we talked through it and I suggested that we start praying for more or better friendships. The very next morning two things happened. When I opened up my email, there was an invitation from one of his church friend's to his birthday party. And not 30 minutes later, we realized Owen had grown out of all the pants that fit him just 6 weeks ago. Two concerns mercifully tied up quickly. I was so happy for him.

He is one happy boy. He reads voraciously, loves his math homework, has creative ideas about crazy inventions and ways to solve problems, and loves to be in charge. One friend told us last night, "That kid is going places!"

So- that's the latest. Here's to remembering the little things.

He's Got BIG PLANS

Owen is such a good boy. He has such an active mind and a definite sense of what he wants and likes and doesn't like. And he likes attention (NEEDS attention actually). That's all causing a bit of a problem lately, considering: a) I'm pregnant and tired, and b) it's the end of the school year and he's a bit squirrely. He's also recently shown a tricky, sneaky side. If I ask him to give water to the dog, he pretends to. If I ask him to clean his room, he just shuts the door so I won't see it. If I tell him to come in, he decides that as soon as he's made the golf shot across the yard successfully, he will be glad to come in. He has big plans, but they have nothing to do with obeying mom, doing chores, or washing his hands.

So imagine the kick I got out of one of the library books he brought home this week- BIG PLANS. The entire thing is written in capital letters with an exclamation mark. This boy who is sitting in the corner at school, tells us about his BIG PLANS, BIG PLANS, I say! He starts by dressing snazzy and taking over the corporate world, shouting orders to everyone as he goes. He makes the winning pass of a pro football game and then the president calls and asks him to become his assistant. He talks the president right out of his job, orders the states to make a rocket ship and some space gear, and blasts into space to set things aright. And on every page he's shouting out orders and telling people he has BIG PLANS, BIG PLANS I SAY! At the end, the whole world knows about his big plans!

It's perfect for Owen. I don't even know if he gets the whole book, but I guess subconsciously he knew something was sounding very enticing. And somehow it gave me a little perspective on a 6 year old's brain. They're not anything like his parents' plans, but he has BIG PLANS, BIG PLANS, I SAY!

me: Did you wake up your brother this morning?
Asher: Yeah.
me: Why?
A: Because I wanted to talk to him.
me: 'Bout what?
A: About super-hero things..

Things to Remember

There are so many things the boys say and do that I want to write down and remember! So here's a list for the past few months.

-Tonight I was remembering that one of them (I think Asher) a few months ago would ask often about our skin color. And as we would discuss the different colors of skin of people we know, he would always ask, "so why is our skin white and Papa's isn't?"

Huh? He always thought Aaron's skin was darker than ours. Should I explain sun exposure and 5 o'clock shadow now, or wait til later?

- About a month ago, Asher earned himself a spank. I told him what he did and told him he was getting a spank, and then told him to come over to me. He put his finger up and told me to wait a minute. He then folded his hands, bowed his head and I heard him whisper, "Dear God...."

I couldn't hear the rest (probably because of the amount of self-control it was taking for me not to laugh), so I asked him what he was doing, and he said he was praying it wouldn't hurt. A new definition for making all your requests known to God.

-I can't think of anything funny with Owen. I'll have to add later. Our latest development with him is that he was invited to a summer academy for "gifted" kids in a neighboring district. Only one student per class was invited, so it's kind of a big deal. I think. Is that what I'm dealing with- a gifted and talented child? I knew from his conferences that he's excelling in every subject. His challenge is behavior, which does not distract him from learning. It distracts the rest of the class from learning. He's chatty (wonder where he gets it) and wiggly. Too much energy. Maybe a little boredom. He gladly does his homework every night, and in his spare time, he asks to do workbooks. Seriously- the kids loves learning.

- Asher loves Jesus. Loves talking allll about him. He asked me one day about going to heaven and seeing Jesus, which I turned into a "let's pray for you to ask Jesus into your heart so you can go to heaven" moment, which he did! It was sweet.

-Lately he's been talking about Jesus dying on the cross (all of this info comes from preschool, which is hopefully piggy-backing on something he's heard at home). The other day he wanted to know who killed him, why they killed him, why his clothes were off, he noted that his face looked sad, etc. He is so interested! For days he will talk about Jesus. "Why does Jesus always pray for us?" "Are God and Jesus the same?"

-Today they watched a cartoon called Bible Man who talked about the armor of God. He talked about it ALL afternoon. You need the belt of truth so you don't lie. What are the shoes of the gospel (in the dr's office)? Does that guy have the sword of the Spirit? The whole world loves God. I don't think Owen was nearly as interested, so it's kind of funny to hear Asher talk all about God.

-So, Asher broke his foot. He was jumping off the ramp of the UHaul truck that Aaron was loading for Mimi and he must've landed wrong. The nurse's notes said, "patient fell off moving truck," which the dr. took to mean a truck was traveling and Asher took a flying leap off of it. I think he was disappointed our story wasn't better. Anyway, it's a tiny fracture, I couldn't see it on the xray until the dr showed me where it's shaped funny. Whatever. He's wearing a hard-soled boot so his foot will stay straight instead of bending for the next while. If I thought it was hard to have a fast-moving boy before, now I think it's hard to have a slow one.