Birthday Boys

Happy birthday, Nathan and Mark! Gram and Gramp were our special guests for the birthday weekend. There was a lot of excitement and happy laughter and a living room full of family and gifts.

Nathan and Charlie got to sit at the big boys' table in the den.


Everybody loved the party horns!




Mark and his cake...


And Nathan with his, strawberry chocolate (by request)!


They had been practicing blowing out their candles for weeks...even that morning, they were running around holding gourds on their heads pretending the gourds were candles. Silly boys. I don't have any pictures of that, but you can use your imagination.

They liked eating the cake.



Opening gifts was big fun...and getting to spend the rest of the weekend with Gram and Gramp was truly the icing on the cake.

Squirrels

Nathan's inner squirrel has come out to play. Beatrix Potter's Timmy Tiptoes has spawned much of this activity. Last week, we took some leftover walnuts outside and both boys hid them for the squirrels.

Yesterday I was pulling out some of my fall decorations and we found a bag of nuts. I happily folded clothes while Nathan sorted them. Mark played along for a little bit, but he really liked snuggling under Daddy's cuddly blanket and lying on Daddy's pillow on the couch.




I love it when we discover the fun in something so simple.

Helpers

This is what happens when two boys help with the laundry. Nathan came up with this idea all on his own.





Next thing I know: like big brother, like little brother.





Now who says staying at home with children is boring?

Rainy Monday

It looked like rain yesterday. With this in mind, we did our grocery shopping early. After we unloaded the cold things, I released the boys to play in the rain. They had worn their rain jackets and boots to the store, so they were ready. You have never seen two little people so delighted to explore wet weather!


We had a mid-morning snack on the front porch.



Nathan wanted to push The Yellow Truck all over the yard. When the rain came down hard, he pushed even faster. He got a kick out of watching the water from the rain spout pour into an old flower pot.


Mark took hold of the spade and did some digging in the mud. I think he gave Nathan some to eat (which seemed to go over well at first, but in the end was not well-received.)


On a side note, Mark sang "Jesus Loves Me" at the breakfast table this morning. What a sweet blessing to hear these words come out of his mouth.

Early morning

It's Friday and we're taking it easy this morning. Mark woke up asking to wear his Thomas Train shirt. We have been building train tracks this morning.


It has been a week of sleep recovery for all of us. Afternoon naps and Zyrtec before bed seem to be helping Nathan make it through the night. Praise God for the gift of restful sleep.


I was hoping to propel myself out of bed to run this morning, but I gave in to sleep instead. I am hoping that running with Dad tomorrow morning will help me get back into my running rhythm.

We've been memorizing Philippians 4:6 this week: Don't worry about anything. Instead, pray about everything. Don't worry about sleep issues. Don't worry about difficult phases with the children. Don't worry about whether or not I do everything perfectly as a mother. Don't worry about anything. Instead, pray about everything.

Mark was watching the steam from the dryer this morning. Nathan said he wanted to go outside and run through it, so maybe we'll do that in a few minutes.

Growing up is hard to do (a.k.a. the cow train adventure)

We are having some growing pains in our family these days. Nathan has entered the realm of bad dreams, and I have entered "round two" of sleepless nights.

His recurrent nightmares are about bumblebees and alligators, although last night his mind took a different turn, and he dreamed about a sticker that wouldn't stick - I guess that was some frustration working its way out in his sleep!

I think it just comes with the territory of growing up a little bit.

Nathan has been trying new things lately - putting the finishing touches on potty training, learning to laugh off the countless little falls that happen during the day, and figuring out how to relate to a now-very-talkative-and-opinionated little brother Mark...not to mention taking a big risk and hopping on board a cow train at the corn maze we visited this weekend with Aunt Melanie and Uncle Rick.

Let me just say that this whole adventure began with me calling the Country Days Corn Maze and asking a very convoluted question about whether or not we could purchase a pumpkin at this "facility." I was trying to figure out what we could do for free there. We were trying to be frugal and didn't feel like getting lost in a cornfield that night. I will admit that I wasn't exactly at my best before going out on this little adventure.

Mark had been scoping out the cow train since we arrived. Nathan had shown very little interest, as he was still recovering from the excitement/terror of the hayride in from the parking lot. Aunt Melanie kept him company and provided snacks for a hungry and tired and rather ornery little boy (who hadn't slept well the night before.)


We visited the farm animals, checked out the bonfire, played a little bit on the playground, and looked at the pumpkins (all for free!) And then, all of a sudden, as we were gathering out things and waiting for the hayride out, both boys climbed right into the cow cars. Nathan chose the last car, and Mark sat in my lap in the car right in front of him. We buckled up and held on tight.


Things were fine for the first 30 seconds. Then came the tears and fearful cries from the car behind me as the cow train picked up speed and raced between a corn field and a dusty cotton patch. The driver kindly turned around, assessed the situation and smiled very gently. She slowed that cow train down to a more pleasant pace for an almost-four-year-old's first ride of this sort. And I said a thankful prayer.

As we turned the corner and finished the ride, I had this moment where I thought, "What am I doing with these two boys? How did I get here, with two little people riding around in a dusty corn field with me? And how is it that they are growing up in the blink of an eye, surprising me with the risks they are willing to take when the day before, they wouldn't have thought of doing such a thing?"

A photo recap of the rest of the experience...

We checked out the cotton patch and remains of a cornfield while we waited for the hayride in.


Nathan found a corn cob.


Mark found his new favorite sport, thanks to Uncle Rick.



Mark with the pumpkins - he tried to pick up a few. He also took off running into a corn maze, but I caught his quick little bottom before he could get too far.


Nathan checking out the pumpkins (this is all right before the cow ride.) These two pumpkin photos are especially for you, Aunt Kate! We do wish you and Aunt Amy (and the uncles) could have been here to experience the moment with us.

Boy in a Basket

After quiet time today, Nathan climbed right into a basket of clean clothes. He said he was in there with "cuddle socks and a piece of yarn." I thought the comparison photos were amusing.


I think he was about 3 months old here - I remember putting him in the basket one cold, rainy winter night and laughing at how relaxed he looked. I love that it's a basket of his baby clothes. My, oh my, how my laundry load has grown!


He was about 1 year old in this photo, and climbed in all by himself - not sure why he wasn't happy.


And now, here we are at almost 4 years old, when he makes this strange face when asked to smile. Oh, my Nathan.