Bicycle Tales

I am so glad to have my computer back. A few days ago, I spilled an entire cup of coffee over the keyboard. Needless to say, that keyboard is history!

We have had a great time this past week. Temps in the upper 70's with virtually no humidity - is this really Houston? Lots of bike riding. Brennan is trying so hard to ride without training wheels, but alas, he tends to freak out and bail. Quite literally. He's going along fine, then he senses that the adult has let go of the seat. He immediately dives off of the bike, catching himself on his hands as the bike comes crashing down after him. I really should video tape these things...

Nicholas is very pleased with his new big boy bike. He rides it quite well (training wheels on, of course). Philip now gets the hand me down tricycle. And Jonathan happily scoots along on his bouncy inchworm. Quite a picture.

Today starts the trek back to normalcy. We spent the vast majority of today getting the house back together. Tonight is full of family fun - board games mostly! Brennan really wants to play a complete game of Monopoly. Well, we will see what happens there...

Since tomorrow will be full of football watching, an early Happy New Year to all!

Giving it our best shot

This is it! Everyone is looking at the camera. Nobody's tongue is sticking out. (Why, oh why does my life remind me of a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon sometimes?) Score one for Mom!!

Merry Christmas everyone!

One Down, Three to Go!

Nicholas's quilt is finished!


Complete with Snoopy themed squares

Next up is Philip's!

Whew!

So it's not just me then...

Here is our morning so far...

And never fear! Little elves have duly warned this mama that this little Jedi will be receiving his weapon in about 24 hours. He won't be left out for long!

Actually, that fishing pole is a serious weapon. It has a string which allows that plastic end to swing freely.

I'm just happy that mine is not the only household out of sorts today. I was beginning to feel like a really bad mama! :)

Calling in the Pros

We had a glorious afternoon yesterday riding bikes. Brennan was doing great practicing his "no training wheels" riding skills when I noticed he had two flat tires. We were down in our cul-de-sac (about 3 houses down) so I told him that he couldn't ride the bike home on account of the tires being flat. I offered to pump them up at the house, if he would bring his bike.

Brennan walked it for about one house length, and then suddenly dropped it on the neighbor's grass and began to follow me without the bike. "Get your bike." I told him.

Brennan merely replied "Oh, I'll come back. But first my bike needs a tow."

My Spiritual Thought for the Day

I am re-reading (again) A Mother's Rule of Life. There are always insightful new thoughts to be gleaned from each reading of this wonderful book. And my latest rumination is this: Since God is a God of order, and we all need this order in our lives, why oh why did He make some of us (like the author seems to be, and I definitely am) free spirits? Such free spirits that we struggle mightily with anything considered to be routine as dull and monotonous. Is it a character flaw, or can it really be turned into something better?

I sure hope it is the latter! Obviously, the author worked her way past it, so there's hope for me yet! :)

Christmas Shopping: 2007 edition

I am done. Yes, I should have been done a while back (and I thought that I was) but my dear friend's suggestion of turning to the power of the internet (namely ebay) to look for these books on Nicholas's list led to a bit of a last minute shopping spree. Basically, I found the two books with such ease and at such a good price that I begin to ponder "Hey, what about this truck and this movie that I also could. not. find. anywhere. else.".



The movie was a breeze to find. I actually bought it used from a private collection instead of new from a warehouse, as I have found you more often get an authentic USA version (aka legal) copy this way. And a DVD viewed several times is still just as good - we frequently shop Blockbuster's pre-viewed DVDs.



The fire truck was quite another story. Apparently, I was not the only one looking for this particular item, and there just were not that many out there. I found one, starting at a reasonable price, and I decided to watch it. Even if it arrived a little after Christmas, no big deal. Late one night, I checked the listing, only to discover that someone else, in the same boat as me, asked if the seller would consider a Buy It Now option. Apparently there were two trucks, one of which the seller agreed to place as Buy It Now. I looked for this other listing.



There it was! Just placed on the auction and still available! I scooped it up for a bargain price!



I just discovered that the other truck that was auctioned finally sold for almost thirty dollars more than I paid. I must admit that I feel a little guilty, because I was not the one who asked for the Buy It Now option, yet I am the one who benefited from it. All I know is that there is no way that I could have/would have paid $45 for this wooden truck! I consider it pretty fortunate that I checked in on the item at the time which I did.



All in all, I was pretty impressed with my Christmas shopping on ebay. I need to remember that next year, earlier!

My Christmas Gift

I don't know if it was actually my Christmas gift, but if so, it was one of the best! My husband took all three older boys to the park yesterday afternoon for an hour and a half. Without any prompting.

I am definitely not a jewelry person. I do like old movies, but there are only so many movies that you can watch anyway. So this time to do as I wished was fabulous. And the best part was that it was so spontaneous, so unexpected.

I had a coffee. I read a book to Jonathan without three other people trying to sit on top of him. I got the dishes done and the living room clean. The school papers were organized. And best of all, it left me time last night to nearly finish Nicholas's quilt! I also have have half of Philip's squares finished.

Thank you, thank you honey!

Narration Gone Too Far Part Two

I'm sure that this will be an ongoing series with little boys! In this episode, Nicholas takes to performing the story of "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas", a family fav this time of year!

I walk into my bedroom where the boys were watching Cars, only to find Nicholas holding a piece of fabric to his shirt.

"Look at my Santa Claus coat I made" he proudly boasts. I respond with a "That's nice honey", all the while trying to place that fabric. It looks familiar, but I cannot figure out why.

"Where did you get that?" I ask.

Nicholas grins. "I cut it out, like the Grinch!" he exclaims.

Uh oh.

It didn't take long to figure out where the fabric came from. He cut it right out of the middle of my fitted bed sheet. No wonder it looked so familiar!

Jedi Master

I'm crazy, but this is exciting news! I am now the reigning Jedi champion in my household!

We have this crazy Star Wars plug and play game where a sensor picks up your own lightsaber moves and translates them onto the screen. Really, this game is quite a workout!

And I have now gotten farther on the game than any of the other members of my household (including my husband!).

The things that I never knew that I would be proud of!

I am sure my DH will pass me in no time, but until then I will bask in my victory!

This is how we play...

Happy St. Nicholas's Day! We thoroughly enjoyed this book today, which led us to a little discussion about Santa Claus and his comings and goings. How interesting, after the discussion on Danielle's blog this week. No, Brennan does not know for sure. Or at least he isn't letting on. Basically, the conversation went something like this:

Brennan: So, St. Nicholas is up in heaven?

Me: Yes.

Brennan: So who is Santa Claus now on Christmas Eve?

Me: (not wanting to over play it, yet also not wanting to give too much away too soon) Well, what do you think?

Brennan: Maybe he comes down from heaven to deliver the gifts?

And then Brennan ran off, without waiting for an answer. That tells me that he is still ready to indulge in the fantasy of it all.

We also watched the CCC video "Nicholas: The Boy Who Became Santa". Which led to the following exchange outside:

Brennan: Hey Mom! Philip is throwing us in jail!

Me: Why?

Brennan: Because we are Christians. I am St. Brendan. And Philip is the Roman guard.

Me: Who is Nicholas?

Nicholas: I'm the Grinch!

Me: The Grinch? Why are you in jail then?

Nicholas: Because the Grinch is a Christian too!


See all of the things that we learn in our household! :)

Hope your day was awesome too!

The Little Things

Danielle has been posting some thoughts for each day of Advent. Yesterday's reminders hit me particularly - especially the bit about eye contact. I am notoious for listening as I do whatever it is that I am up to. I have always championed myself as the master multitasker, and taken this as a good thing!

Yet I must remember that the little people in my life don't see me multitasking. They equate my lack of eye contact as a lack of attention. So for the rest of this Advent, I am challenging myself to stop what I am doing and make eye contact when a little one is speaking to me. No small task, since my 5 year old constantly has things on his mind!

Deprived Children

I have enjoyed seeing the pics of everyone else's decorating sprees. Normally I would already have our tree up too, but I have one more thing on my to do list first: paint the living room. This is no small task with those 12 (or 14 is it?) foot ceilings!

The boys are pestering me, however. So maybe, just maybe, we will have the tree up this weekend.

Only time will tell...

Nice Try

Conversation in our kitchen:

Nicholas: What are you doing?

Me: Making dinner.

Nicholas: (Said nonchalantly) I can't eat dinner. My stomach hurts.

Me: I'm sorry.

Nicholas: I bet if I ate some candy, that would make my stomach feel better!