The Sandbox

SO, I'm not much of a handy woman by any stretch of the imagination, however I AM usually the one who puts together simple pieces of furniture that come in a box with instructions- end tables, small cabinets, shelves, etc. I even figured out how to attach our under-the-cabinet-radio to our cabinet. THAT definitely took some extra skills. I am the one who does these things because I DO enjoy it, but also because I am a little impatient. I do not like to nag, BUT I know that if I wait for Max to do it on his own time, it will sit in the box indefinitely. I save my nagging for the things I CAN'T do :)

SO, I have been wanting to make the boys a sandbox for quite some time. Ever since Deanna made one for her kids, I've wanted to do it too. However, Max keeps saying he will build one with his dad, who made an amazing one with a nice lid when he was a kid. If I pester them, they are really good at following through. However I do not like to pester, SO last thursday (on the 91 degree day) when he was in Philly, I decided I could not wait any longer and I was going to do it myself. I printed off directions and it seemed simple enough. I dragged the 3 boys to Home Depot, put Isaac in a cart and went to the back of the store for my wood.

The guy looked at me with a smirk, and I could tell he thought I was crazy to do this project with 3 little ones. I showed him my blueprint and he told me that I needed the REALLY BIG cart (which doesn't have a spot for a baby). Off we went back to the front of the store. Back again to where he was collecting my wood, and now waiting for the guy in front of me to get his 16 pieces of wood CUT.

We were standing there for a few minutes, when Andrew, as always, had to go to the bathroom. Off we went, to the complete OPPOSITE side of the store, holding Isaac who was getting awfully heavy, and running with the other guys so Andrew would not pee himself (which he often does). We got to where we THOUGHT it was, but the lady pointed and said "its down there -->". We ran a little ways more and finally arrived and by then, I had to go too (which is always tricky while holding an infant, but I've gotten better at it over the years). We got back and the wood was finally cut.

Then I had to get the sand - at least 10 bags. Isaac was now getting REALLY heavy, while I tried to maneuver that awkward cart (or whatever you call that big thing), WITH Luke and Andrew continuously trying to jump on for a ride. Fortunately, 2 guys loaded up the sand for me, and then as I was about to start pushing the cart again and head out, a kind lady in the aisle said, "you guys are gonna take that out for her, right?" Since I often don't ask people for help, this was EXTREMELY helpful! (although, I guess they might have been planning on helping me anyway).

For some reason I thought this trip would only take about 20 minutes! Boy was I wrong! It was much closer to 1 hour. (Come to find out later that week, when I called about our fence we are installing, I COULD HAVE called ahead, told them EXACTLY what I needed, and they could have had it ready for me when I got there! - Oh well)

Because I had all the kids with me, I was not even THINKING about the cost of this thing (usually I'm really good at totaling things up in my head so that I'm not surprised at checkout). I was DEFINITELY surprised this day when they said "$83.00. . . WHAT?? for a SANDBOX?? (actually, I then realized I had gotten about $10.00 worth of garden stuff too) I guess the wood was about $30 and the sand about $40.

So I was REALLY determined to get this thing done before Max got home - as sort of a surprise. But I soon found out that I'm not too good with a hammer, AND I'm not too good at taking out nails that are halfway in. If you look really closely, there are 5 bent nails and about 4 or 5 OTHER holes in which I couldn't get the nails either! That is about 9 failed attempts on this side.

However, I did manage to figure out a better angle to hold the hammer, so that I could successfully finish the other three sides. Not too shabby! There are still triangle "seats" that have to be cut, and of course the sand, but we are still trying to figure out exactly where to put it. For now, I am still very proud of it!

His Plan (part 1)

I've been thinking about a lot of stuff lately, related to church and our lives as a "pastor's family". I wanted to write my thoughts out, but decided to start from the beginning.

When Max first mentioned going to seminary, I was VERY opposed to it, because he said he wanted to go full time and NOT WORK! I did not like the idea of being the SOLE supporter of our family. I remember mentioning that I went to school, worked almost full time while planning a wedding! Why can't you do the same? I asked.

He tried to explain to me that Westminster is NOT like UMBC, and you really have to use ALL of your extra free time to study. I really could not comprehend this concept. Then I decided I did NOT want him to go to Westminster if that's how it was! I was pushing for Covenant seminary because it was the "easier" school and more family minded. Westminster had a reputation of being TOO academic and more geared towards single men who wanted to maybe be a professor or something. We drove out to Covenant seminary to check into it, although we both had a sick feeling in our stomachs while we were there, just thinking about being so far away from home.

It was October of 2002, and we were planning on going to Covenant in January (I had even reserved a moving truck), but I woke up one morning and said, "why don't you call Jerry McFarland and just ASK about Westminster, maybe we could at least visit ". (The Lord was obviously changing my heart about the whole thing!) Wouldn't you know that their PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS DAY WAS THE NEXT DAY!!! AND I, the workaholic, was miraculously OFF work!

We went up and LOVED it! They treated us all like kings with their fancy lunch and dinner! It was not at all what we had expected. People were really nice and there were plenty of "family men" that we met. Jerry McFarland was the dean of students and his job was to keep guys focused on Christ and WHY they were there, and not let them get carried away with "book knowledge". We really liked that their focus was on the right things. THAT'S what its all about, right?

Max never really knew what he wanted to do after seminary, but he always thought he would go the teaching route. We began to realize that Westminster may be the better choice because it was academically probably the best seminary around. We finally decided we would move there the following fall. I was finally okay with going AND being the sole provider, just as long as he didn't want to be a pastor! . . . .

you ate THAT?

It never ceases to amaze me the things a baby will eat. I understand that they explore things by putting them in their mouths, but SERIOUSLY? I was in the kitchen this morning and heard Isaac messing with a bag. I turned around to find him eating a potato. Can you guess which one he chose to chomp down on??


That's right. The one in the middle. The discusting old rotten potato.

I could understand if it were Andrew. He ate ANYTHING and EVERYTHING under the sun, and still does! But Isaac is super picky! Just about anything that has any texture to it, he spits out- noodles, cheese, peas, berries, you name it! (although now He IS getting better at eating stuff that I put through the baby food grinder). But he seems to LOVE dirt, sticks, grass, paper/tissues, or ANYTHING else that is dirty! Hopefully he's just building a super strong immune system!

Weto, Weto

When Andrew was about 18 months old, it was sometimes difficult to know what words he was trying to say. Usually over time we would figure it out, but there was one particular word that he said quite often and I always wondered what it meant.

"Wee-toe" is how it sounded. Sometimes he would say it several times over. After a while, I noticed that Luke would say it too. I just assumed he was imitating Andrew, and maybe he was. . . at FIRST.

For a couple months I remember asking them, "what is weto, weto?"( usually kind of playfully, thinking it was just a silly word.) They always said that they couldn't tell me.

Finally one day they let me in on their little secret. They told me that Weto, Weto was a store JUST for kids. No mommies or Daddies were allowed! I asked what they sold at the store.
Ice Cream!, they replied.

Every morning after that for probably the next 9 months, they would say, "we're going to weto weto, see you later" Andrew would get banana ice cream, and Luke would get chocolate. They would run back and forth from our bedroom to our bathroom to get "ice cream" and sometimes share it with us. We would pretend to eat it and then they would get more.

This is such a fond memory I have of our sweet boys. I love seeing their imagination at work, and the bond between them that continues to grow.

9 months

I have decided that I absolutely love when babies turn 8-9 months! I remember saying that with Andrew, but I never knew for sure the reason (he had just gotten tubes, and I suspected this had something to do with why I liked 8 months). However, with Isaac I am reminded of WHY I love that age!

Isaac has to be one of the sweetest, easiest babies EVER, but there is just something about 9 months especially that is super sweet. He is crawling very quickly, and beginning to wrestle with Daddy just like the other boys. He laughs and smiles SOO easily. We love how he holds onto us when we carry him around. He holds on with one arm, while excitedly slapping us with the other hand when we first pick him up. He loves to touch our teeth, or any part of our faces. He also just started clapping!! (I LOVE when babies learn to clap because they concentrate so hard and are so proud of themselves when they finally do it). He waves and says bye ("ba ba"). He is just beginning to dance when he hears music. That NEVER gets old-- seeing a baby move to the music! He usually obeys "NO". There are no tantrums (although he occasionally has one upon going to bed). He is beginning to get better at eating textured foods and finger foods. He loves his family so much, and greatly admires his big brothers. It is so fun to watch a 9 month old explore and discover new things.

The other day I was giving Isaac his 2nd dose of Augmentin. He is a VERY picky eater and I knew he wouldn't like the taste of it, so I mixed it with strawberry yogurt. The first day, he did NOT see me mix the yogurt with the medicine and he ate it up real fast. The second day, however he WATCHED me mix it. SO he hesitantly tasted it, then looked suspiciously at the medicine, and back at the yogurt. His eyes went back and forth between the two a couple of times. He then REFUSED to eat anymore. He shut his mouth so tight that I couldn't even force it in. This little baby KNEW I was trying to TRICK him!! Part of me felt guilty and a bit frustrated that he figured out my trick, and the other part of me was a proud mama of such a smart little guy! I then had to force down some medicine with the traditional syringe.

Several times a day, Max and I find ourselves saying, "man, he is SOO SWEET" or "isn't he SOO CUTE?" Sometimes its hard to find the words for the love that continues to grow in us every day for this little boy. What a joy and what a blessing God has given us once again!

As I was writing this, I couldn't help but think again of Catherine Bangs. I always think of her and her family when my kids are this age, or when I see a baby that age. She was 10 months old when she died, and at such a joyful and innocent stage of life. I don't think I can ever truly comprehend
the devastation and grief they must have gone through, and still face to this day. We can NEVER take a SINGLE day for granted! God has surely been good to us.

Obsessions

I have known for a while now that Luke has a bit of an obsessive personality. When he loves something, he REALLY loves it, and wants to read, learn, play, and wear ANYTHING and EVERYTHING pertaining to that particular thing. When I was thinking about this the other day, I realized that this began when he was about 10 months old.

I remember being at my parents house when Luke began to play with a ball. We didn't have any yet, but he was totally hooked. He learned that day how to throw it with both hands. We quickly bought a few, and so it began. I don't think anyone can really understand the extent of this obsession.

"Ball" of course was his first word.

When I would go get him in the morning, the first thing he would say is "ball. . . ball. . . ball".

Everything, from balloons, to the very round belly of a teddy bear was a ball. He spotted them EVERYWHERE!

ALL he wanted to do was play with balls all day long! A family that we visited in Philly when he was 11 months old babysat for us and were amazed at how well he could throw a ball. He would take turns, without them prompting him, throwing it to the husband, then the wife, then their daughter.

We had to have a ball with us everywhere we went. We knew this would always keep him happy.

He actually took a long time to learn to walk, until finally we put a soccer ball in front of him, and stood him up in front of it. He wanted to kick it, so this was how he took his first step.

By 16 months, he could identify and name every type of ball. Around this same age, he also had to wear a baseball hat at all times (this lasted for at LEAST one year).

Then Thomas the train came along. We had one of the free hardback books you get when you have your first child. We didn't really know anything about Thomas, but after reading this book to him he was hooked.

He soon even had the book memorized. He had just turned 2 and was reading the book to Caleb, turning the pages at the right times, and LITERALLY reading each page word for word. We were amazed!

We slowly accumulated a train here or there, but when he got James for his 3rd birthday, it was definitely his favorite. He was sure to tell everyone that DADDY gave him James for his birthday ( I think because it was from Daddy it was EXTRA special). It seemed for quite some time that this was all he wanted to play with or watch. (I must confess that sometimes I would hide his Thomas shirt at the bottom of his drawer, afraid that he would insist on wearing it AGAIN.)

When Andrew got big enough to play with his trains, Luke was always sure to give Emily and Salty to him. . . which definitely means they were his LEAST favorite-- he has never been one to share his favorite things with others.

Luke's love of Darth Vader first began as a tremendous FEAR. When I started to teach the Behrendt's piano, Luke was almost 2. They had TONS of Darth Vader masks, capes, figures, etc. Luke was absolutely PETRIFIED when he saw one of them wearing a mask. Of course, this was probably one of Max's WORST nightmares- that his kids might not like Star Wars!

Time after time we would go to their house, and every time, someone would inevitably put on that dreadful mask! He would start screaming his head off until they took it off. We would try to explain that it is just a mask, yada, yada.

Well, who would've thought that just a year later, Luke would INSIST on being Darth Vader for Halloween! I guess the gradual exposure to his fear eventually paid off. (also Max showed him some of Star Wars at age 2 1/2 and this somehow helped turn his fears into an intense love).

This obsession was EXTREME! He would literally march around the house dressed up like Darth Vader for close to 2 hours EVERY DAY!! seriously! He would want the "imperial march" on repeat, and then he would march and march!! Before we got a real cape, he used his bath towel, black glove on one hand, and his red lightsaber to dress up.




The most SURPRISING obsession was a Larry Boy STICKER!. Luke once saw a Veggie Tales video that had "Larry Boy" in it. Shortly after that, he discovered that we had a veggie tales
book with stickers in the back of it. Sure enough, Larry Boy was one of the stickers.

He took that sticker and first wore it, but eventually it fell off, so he CARRIED it around with him for WEEKS!! He would SLEEP with it at night, keep it in his pocket or carry it around ALL day!! I specifically remember him waking up one morning when I was downstairs exercising, and he talked to me about his STICKER for one hour!!!! (we didn't have much space in our townhouse for toys, so I'm convinced that this led to an immense appreciation of ANY toy/thing that he DID have).

The GI JOE OBSESSION began when Luke and Joey spent LOTS of time together at the '09 cabin trip "hunting for Cobras". This is kind of an ongoing phase, however when it first began it was an OBSESSION.

We ALL were characters from GI JOE. (Luke - Duke, Andrew - Roadblock (or sometimes flash), Mommy - Scarlet, Daddy - Gung Ho, Nana - Cover Girl, Ange - Lady Jay). For several weeks, if we dared to call them by their real names, they would say, "NO NO, I'm Duke", or "No, I'm Woadbock"

This also began his love for Camouflage, which can get a little annoying when this is ALL he EVER wants to wear!! (Its especially the worst when he wants to wear the hunting camo shirt with the army camo pants, with an even different shade of camo coat).

this is the only all camo photo I could find


Out of the many animals Luke has loved (farm animals, eagles, elephants, crocodiles, cheetahs, leopards, and turtles) turtles have been his favorite for a while, although followed closely by leopards. (Nana gave him an Easter egg last year with a turtle in it that grows when you put it in water. It is a tiny little thing, but this was also carried around and protected for many MONTHS. We had to glue gun the turtle's head back on many times!)

So when he was given a Ninja Turtles movie and cup by Chup pop, it makes sense that he would easily be obsessed since it combined ninjas and turtles, two of his favorite things! This is his most current phase and I will be sure to add a picture of the boys with their homemade masks. Luke was Rafael, but is now Donatello. Andrew was Michaelangelo, but is now Leonardo (I love how he says this with his lazy "R")


some other obsessions that I don't want to forget are Super Why, wearing a suit EVERY Sunday (beginning at about age 3 1/2), "baby loves Jazz" (he would put the dreadful "monkey song" on repeat until we couldn't stand it anymore!), his snoopy spoon, the "orangish-red" spoon, "freezing bread", army PJs, Dinosaur PJs, transformers, "baby dop", anything red, Lego Star Wars.
Mondays are when they can play "lego star wars"



It is always a bit sad to see one phase end, but he typically will revisit it again down the road (at least while he is still young). I sometimes wonder how this personality will manifest itself as he gets older. Only time will tell. Meanwhile, we will be praying for the shaping of his personality, and that God will use these traits for good.

"I know more"

We were at Kinder Farm Park the other day, when Jen pointed me towards Luke who was surrounded by a bunch of little girls. At first I thought it was cute. . . until I realized he was arguing with them about something.

About what? About who knew more about animals of course! I wasn't sure exactly how the conversation got started, but this is the part that I heard:

Luke - well, I know more about animals than YOU.
Girl - No, I know more about animals than YOU.
Luke - Well, I watch Marty Stauffer's wild America, so I know more about animals than YOU.
Me - Luke, you don't even know this girl, so you don't know how much she knows about animals.
Luke - yeah, but I watch Marty Stauffer, and she doesn't

me - well, maybe she has seen something else about animals or reads books about them.


This was sort of the end of the conversation, but on our ride home we continued to talk about it. Luke kept arguing with me that he was sure that he knew more than her. (probably because I'm always telling him how impressed I am with his knowledge of animals). He said that she kept saying she knew more than him, and he KNEW that HE knew more. I asked how the conversation started and he said that she started it by saying "I know a lot about animals", and he said "well, I know more about animals than you".

Anyway, I told him that he probably DID know more than her (because he truly has an amazing memory for details), however when you don't know a person you can't tell THEM what they do or don't know. I asked him how HE would feel if he were in HER shoes - if she just assumed he didn't know much about animals, and she told HIM that. I told him a much better way to respond to her comment would have been to say, "I know a lot about animals too -- what's your favorite animal?" or something like that, starting a conversation about it rather than an argument.

It was then that he realized his error. He suddenly began to feel really bad about it, and I could tell just by the look on his face. He then said, "well, I hope we can go back there soon, and I hope I see her again so I can tell her I'm sorry."

what a sweetie.

Just one of those days

This particular day happened a little over a year ago, and it was "just one of those days" so I had to journal about it. I decided to transfer it to this blog, since it is the only "journal" I ended up writing.

Luke woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Just plain cranky all morning. We went to Michael's birthday party which was fun. (On a side note: Joy and I were reminiscing about the time that Luke and Kya went to the bathroom together at church when they were 2 1/2. I went to check on them and Luke had no pants on and Kya was holding his wet underwear! I said, "did you wet yourself?" He said, "umm. . . Kya" Apparently Kya was in the midst of potty training and was used to her mom rinsing her DIRTY underwear in the toilet. So when Luke was going, she took it upon herself to rinse HIS (not) dirty underwear in the toilet!! What a good laugh!!)

Anyway, we got home from the Behrendts' where Luke had received a "lightsaber" made out of a balloon and the shape had straightened out so that it was no longer a lightsaber, but merely a very long balloon. This was the worst thing that could have happened before naptime on an already cranky day, but nonetheless, the boys had a little lunch and went in for their naps, Luke screaming because of his lightsaber, and Andrew screaming because he hates taking naps. (he has also just figured out how to climb out of the pack n play (about 19 months old), but after getting spanked 2 times in a row for climbing out, he hasn't tested us in about 2 days). Of course, today Andrew climbs out again and (knowing his punishment) he got spanked and acted like he would be good and go back to sleep.

I then thought it was safe to make a phone call. After about 30 minutes on the phone, I heard a voice and the door opening upstairs. Andrew had a stinky diaper this time, so I simply changed him without spanking but told him next time he got out he would be spanked.

Well, of course he DID get out again. I went upstairs and the door was LOCKED!! He had locked himself in!! I tried to tell him how to unlock it on his own (our door is very tricky to unlock with a bobby pin, or whatever, and usually we ended up taking the whole doorknob off, so I was trying to avoid this). Anyway, with the door still locked, I told him he'd better get back into his bed and go to sleep or he would get another spanking. (I mistakenly thought a 19 month old would actually climb BACK into his pack n play on his own and go to sleep).

I call the person back on the phone, meanwhile hearing Andrew in the monitor. After about 45 minutes -1 hour, I thought my plan had worked because he had become very quiet.

Just then Luke came walking down the stairs, but this time REALLY woke up on the wrong side of the bed!! He was just as cranky about his lightsaber now as when he first went to sleep. I tried to fix it, but am not a pro at manipulating balloons. NOTHING was settling him down (and I thought he was so sweet lately and totally done with the "terrible twos").

I finally sent him back to bed, to which he REALLY threw a fight, screaming and crying all the way up stairs. Just then, I heard a voice saying "mommy."

It was Andrew, still stuck in his room. I finally did what I should have done in the first place, unscrewed the entire doorknob, spanked Andrew for getting out, and put him back to bed. IMMEDIATELY, he climbed out again, even though i had warned him. This happened about 5 more times, till his butt was bright red. At this point (about 3:00) he was so overtired, that nothing was working, so I rocked him and he was asleep within minutes.

Back to dealing with Luke who was finally calming down in his room. We went downstairs, read, snuggled and watched veggie Tales. (Good thing I had a crockpot meal planned!!)

The drama was over. . . for a little while.

Max came home briefly, but had to leave around 7pm to help his men's group with a project. He couldn't find his keys. I then remembered hearing keys clattering (about 1/2 hour prior to the search) when Andrew was standing on the couch, but we had NO IDEA where they ultimately landed. BAD IDEA to let a 19 month old play with keys! We turned the house UPSIDE DOWN during the next 1 1/2 hours!! When we asked Andrew where Daddy's keys were, he said, "umm. . . up" FINALLY we found them behind the blinds, and cleanup took until 10 :30!

The trivial, yet trying matters we stay-at-home-moms deal with! :)

Yankee Doodle

For a little while, anytime Luke and Andrew would get mad at each other, they would start to angrily sing Yankee Doodle, inserting the other person's name into the song. "YANKEE DOODLE WENT TO TOWN RIDING ON A ANOO!!" Then , Andrew would start singing it right back at him, trying to sing louder, and more angry, "YANKEE DOODLE WENT TO TOWN RIDING ON A LUKEY!!!" They would start screaming "NOOO" and then scream the song even louder. Usually this would turn into a chase around the house and then a wrestling match.

This was such a strange event that occurred for a couple of weeks in our house, and I just couldn't help but laugh about it. I'm even chuckling right now as I think about it. It was just SO ridiculous!! I have no idea how this even started, and how being inserted into Yankee Doodle was the worst insult that could ever happen.

A few weeks later, Andrew began to kind of innocently sing it to himself, without any bad intentions. Luke said,

No Andrew, don't sing that!!

we said, yes he can. . . he can sing whatever he wants.

Luke replied, well if he sings it, its gonna be stuck in my head all day, and I hate that song!!!

We thought it was so funny that a four year old understands the feeling of a song being stuck in his head all day. . . and especially when it is an annoying song to begin with.

This finally answered some questions as to how his vehemence for the song began!

Pillows

I don't know what Luke and Andrew's obsession with pillows is, but it drives us CRAZY!! It seems like the first thing they do when they wake up is run into the living room and throw all the pillows on the floor. When we get home from anywhere, and ESPECIALLY just after I have finished tidying up, Luke (he is usually the main culprit with Andrew following right behind) becomes overwhelmed with an intense urge to throw all the pillows on the floor.

After they are thrown on the floor, they usually just run away to do something else. . . WHY??? we always ask. But other times, they begin to go back and forth from their room to the living room, dragging EVERY blanket, pillow and stuffed animal from their bedroom.

When Isaac is in the living room, crawling around, they get kind of giddy, because this is their ultimate pleasure -- to trap Isaac with their many blankets and pillows so that he can hardly even move. They don't do it to be mean, but just think it is HILARIOUS.

Although i don't condone this behavior, I do think it is kind of funny. Isaac hardly ever complains. He loves his brothers so much and just thinks it is the coolest thing that they are giving him so much attention. At a certain point, he will usually begin to complain, and I make them stop this bizarre behavior.