Hooray for Hand Me Downs!

Our cousins, with the assistance of Papa, passed along a sandbox. Even though we had snow on the ground when we awoke today, we decided it was a great day to get the project going. The snow melted/rained away and we were able to get to work right after church. Steve purchased twenty 50 pound bags of play sand yesterday. I couldn't believe we needed 1,000 pounds of sand to fill that box. Thanks to our radio flyer wagon (great idea, grandma!) and the help of a neighbor and his wagon, we were able to shuttle the sandbags down the hill and empty them out into the box. The boys were very excited. Luke likes to be a helper and he was thrilled to be involved in a 'family project', as he calls it. They started playing right away, digging and scooping, fighting over who could use the biggest dump truck. It warmed up before dinner and actually started to feel like spring outside. They went back out for another round of digging and scooping. I think this might be a keeper.

He's Up! He's Down! He's Making Me Crazy!

Andy continues to amaze us with the frequency of his mood swings. When he's up, he's really up and when he is down...take cover! He went for his 2 year check up this week (now that he's almost 2 and 1/2, I thought we should check that off the to-do list). He cried as soon as we drove in the parking lot because it wasn't Papa's house. He was convinced that was our destination. Now, he might have cried because his brother was taunting him with warnings about getting lots of shots. Leave it to the older sibling to scare the younger one to death, before we even get out of the car. Andy made a grand entrance in the totally packed waiting room, racing in circles and attempting to jump off the couch, insisting that he sit wherever his brother sat. Let's not forget, I have a mountain of paperwork to fill out, even though not one single detail of our contact info has changed. But I still I have to fill it out, just to appease the paperwork goddess behind the counter. I'm attempting to write while trying to sit on Andy and chastize Luke for yelling, "You are a very bad brother! I don't love you anymore!"
Splendid. This is going so well.
I had to drag Andy back to the exam room, praying the whole time I wasn't leaving fingerprints on his little arm. He didn't want to be weighed, he resisted being measured, he refused to take his clothes off. Ugh. Thankfully, the nurse didn't bat an eye. Our pediatrician is a wonderful man with about 6 kids of his own. He let me hold Andy the entire time. Despite his diet of oatmeal, yogurt, milk and applesauce, he appears to be growing and thriving. The best news of all, no shots were needed. Hurrah!
I don't believe in karma, but I'm beginning to wonder if this is payback for my own misbehavior as a toddler. Couldn't be. Could it?

Our VIP

It's the week we've all been waiting for...Luke gets to be the VIP this week. Which begs the question, when isn't he the VIP around here? His preschool acknowledges each student's birthday by celebrating for a whole week. Hence the title, Very Important Person. Luke's actual birthday isn't for a couple of weeks, but his teacher chose to celebrate this week. Perhaps it conflicts with Easter and spring break. At any rate, the grand event is upon us and we are prepared to celebrate. The first highlight is bringing the class puppet home for the weekend. Her name is Jelly and she sleeps in a basket. I'm so glad it's a puppet and not a guinea pig. We had to rescue her from Jake numerous times, apparently she smelled quite tasty. Luke instantly showed her his favorite game: the tank game on the Wii. She was very impressed. (Please excuse the random date on the photo, not quite sure how that happened. I really took the picture on Friday afternoon).

This is the Snow That Never Ends

Winter continues to stick around in western WA...although yesterday we experienced fall, winter and spring in about 2 hours. Ugh. We are ready for some warmer weather, that's for sure. In the meantime, Steve took the boys sledding. He drove about an hour from our house to find the snow. Although they came back soaking wet and exhausted, a good time was had by all.

Prayer According to Luke

The scene: my bedside, early this morning, as I am trying desperately to squeeze in a few more minutes of sleep
Enter stage left: Luke, wide awake and eager to discuss what's on his mind
Luke: Mama, I have bad news for you...
(this is always an interesting way to start one's day)
Me: ugh
Luke: Mama, I have a BRUISE. Look, I'll show you (pulls up pant leg to reveal teeny, tiny bruise) I got it last night when I was playing with daddy.
Me: that's too bad
Luke: I know who can fix it. I know this one. It's God and Jesus. Can you please pray and ask them to make it better. I don't know how to do that, yet.
So pleased that he's been paying attention to someone's instruction regarding prayer, I try to wake up enough to pray something coherent.
Me: Dear Lord, please make Luke's knee feel better soon. Amen. That should cover it.
Thousand one, thousand two...
Luke: IT STILL HURTS!

I considered launching into a long explanation about how God doesn't always answer prayer in the way we expect, that He is operates on His timing not ours, we can pray about anything that's on our minds...then I remembered two very important points: one, I was not yet fully caffeinated and could not possibly possess the patience for such a discussion. Secondly, he's almost five years old and in the time it took me to begin formulating a response, he had already dashed into the next room to see what his dad was up to. That's the wonderful thing about almost-five year olds, sometimes their short attention span works in the adult's favor. Ah, parenthood. Isn't it lovely?

Mom's Away, the Boys Will Play

Nice Igloo!
Who needs a sled?

Okay, this just makes me smile. But I'm not biased.

Steve was flying solo this weekend. He was a superstar. They went bowling at a REAL bowling alley with some friends. Luke can't get over the fact that it was real. He lives a sheltered life. Seriously, who knew you could take kids bowling at 9am on a Saturday? Thank goodness for friends who are informed regarding such matters. Luke hasn't announced which method he prefers: real or virtual. I'm sure he'll give me the merits of both tomorrow. This morning, Steve couldn't resist an opportunity to go and play in the snow. He had to drive a little way, but at last, the glorious white powder was in sight. Good job, honey.