St. Patrick's Day 2013

I can't get over how much pleasure Zachary gets out of the color green.  It is his FAVORITE color.  Since the theme color for St. Patrick's day is green Zach has come to the conclusion that it is "his" holiday.  He loves that everyone is waring green and the thought of a sneeky leprechaun running around makes him burst into giggles and bounces. 

I really wouldn't do much for this (made up holiday) but because it is special to Zachary I make a special effort.  Besides it is nice to do something different during the cold weather that we've been having.  So last minuet I put up some decorations, had Larry the Leprechaun come over to leave some goodies in the kid's shoes, set out a special breakfast, set up a treasure hunt, and go crazy with green streamers all over the house.  It really made the day special for Zach and Adam.  They had fun finding all the little things that Larry had left behind.  Andrew just enjoyed eating the treats.

Man-of-the-House

As Daddy left for his conference out of town he turned to Adam and told him that while he was a way he would be Man of the house.  That made Adam feel really important.  Later that evening over dinner I explained what being man of the house ment and what Daddy's responsibilities were.  Adam and Zachary were ready and willing to step up and help me out.  I didn't evening need to ask; after dinner Zachar started to unload the dishwasher.  Adam and Zachary were literally fighting over who got to put a way some of the dishes.  Once the dishes were put away Adam stayed and wanted to load the dishwasher.  It was great! So we had a good time doing that.  Later that night Adam led us in scripture study and was happy to choose someone to say the prayer. 

As a parent I got to see a little how much a good example of an awesome father effects my sons.  I saw my boys wanting to perform upto Daddy's standards.  They really do watch us and our examples.  I pray that I can be a good example for them.

Oh, For the Love of Reading

So, I've tried to introduce books and the love of reading to my boys.  I don't think that I have been that succesfull.  We read everynight and have done so from an early age.  However the love of reading for my older boys didn't happen until they discovered "Captain Underpants".  I can hardly get Adam to go to sleep because he stays up reading his book.  He studies it.  At my last teacher conference his teacher told me that his reading has really jumped up.  I told her the secrete was "Captain Underpants".  She loved it.  Adam and Zachary planned out their book fair purchases so that they could get the new "Captain Underpants" books and others.  They had half-days the book fair days and instead of playing video games with their extra time, they poured over these books; reading to each other, laughing about and discussing the characters.  I love it.

 

Andrew has found his love it is cars and anything to do with cars or trains is game including books.  He likes to go to his book supply and sit in our chair and read to himself.  It is so fun to listen to his gabber and watch him point to the pictures and get excited about the his book.  I wish I could bottle up these moments and keep them forever. 

Dr. Seuss Celebration

Adam and Zachary's schools were celebrating Dr. Seuss' Birthday one week and were suppose to dress up in different wacky things each day of the week.  I forgot about on Monday and when I was picking Adam up from school I heard the parents talking about the hats that their kids were going to ware the next day.  "Shoot! I've got to come up with something."  I thought and forgot about it until about 8:00 when I was tucking the boys in bed.  They picked out characters that they wanted to be and I had to go to work.  Zachary wanted to be a Yep on a step (from "there's a wocket in my pocket") and Adam decided to be the dog from "Apples up on Top".  With the help from some wire hangers, an old t-shirt, hot glue gun, and things I found from around the house I made their hats.  Adam won a prize for his hat.  Zach's class didn't do a contest.  It was fun. 

 



Wacky Wednesday



George Washington's Headquarters

Josh's cousin Sam (19year old) came to visit for the weekend and during his stay we took him to see a couple of the historical sites around here.  One of these trips turned out to be our Saturday family outing.  We took the kiddo's to George Washington's Headquarters during the winter of 1779-1780.  It is an ok outing but if you are a 7 year old boy and all you really want to do is play your video games and watch TV then this wasn't the ideal place to be.  Adam struggeled and in his mind he thought that by buying somthing in the gift shop would somehow make everything a little less lame.  When we explained that he would be spending his own money for his purchase of choice then the real conflict began.  He communicated that he wanted to save his money and that he wanted us to buy it.  We explained the way things worked over and over.  After some inner turmoil he came to the conclusion that buying the (made in china) piece of junk cannon wasn't a good idea and that he would rather save his week's wages.  It was a good parenting moment and I think a good lesson learned.  Way to go Adam.

My favorite moment was when the tour guide kindly told me that the lolly pop that was keeping Andrew happy needed to be removed before we entered the house.  I responded kindly "Ok, I can do that but what ever you will be saying will not be heard." Park ranger: "ok then just make sure that it doesn't get on the furnishings."  Me: "You got it."

Groundhog's day

So what to do on a very cold Ground hog's day Saturday? Go to Giggle Berry Mountain! Which is what we did. We haven't been there for a while and this was Andrew's first time. Andrew enjoyed climbing through the maze of tunnels and slides (thanks daddy for following him through that) and Adam and Zach were captivated with balls; shooting balls, collecting balls, sucking balls into shoots etc. Everyone ran around for a while we ate pizza and played a little longer. Then is was time for a nap...for everyone. :)

So we drove back over the frozen Delaware river to our home in NJ. I always enjoy our drives through this area it makes me think of the times back when the revolutionary war was fought and what those men suffered for us in order to have the freedom that me and my family have.

 

 

Super Storm

We got back from our Hilton Head vacation just in time to prepare our home for the expected hurricane.  Josh had a conference in Pittsburgh and had plans to be gone for a few days.  He didn't want to leave us behind to face the high winds and possible damage that they were predicting alone.  Making the decision to go with him for me was kind of hard.  the news always makes things sound worse than they really are or going to be and everyone around us didn't really seem to think that it was going to be a big deal.  So I prayed about what we should do.  I was worried about the kids missing school and what about Halloween and my responsibilities to the school.....every time after we prayed we received promptings to go to Pittsburgh.  The first couple of times it was a phone call from Parents giving us council and the last time that I received an answer to my prayers was a call from the school saying that school was canceled.  After that last answer I put myself in gear and we got out in an hour. 

300 Miles away from home and still in the reach of Hurricane Sandy.

We stayed in Pittsburgh for a whole week.  The storm was worse than they predicted and it took several lives and destroyed over 73,000 homes in New Jersey alone.  We were very fortunate to get away with just a downed branch lost power from the house and lost food from the freezer and fridge.  Other than those small losses we were fine.  While we were away our neighbors said they would look after our lil pets but when because the power was down they couldn't get into our house through the garage (like they had been doing).  So for a week our fish and hamster survived with out care.  I prayed that they would be ok and I know that Heaven Father answered my prayers.  I full expected for the fish to be dead at least one of them but they were fine.  It just goes to show that what ever is important to you (your children) it is important to Heavenly Father.  I feel like our pets being a live was our family's miracle.