The World According to Adam

Adam has had quite a few great insights and funny comments lately!

On Sunday we attended the First Holy Communion Mass for one of our homeschool friends. As the first communicants processed in, looking very fancy and holy.... walking two-by-two.... girls paired with boys, I pointed out our friend to Adam. He very non-chalantly asked, "So, who's Christian marrying?" I wanted to laugh out loud. I thought I had prepared the boys so well for this special celebration. It reminded me that they don't always completely understand what's going on or how things work. I think the funniest part was how non-interested he sounded.... like he witnesses marriages of eight year olds all the time. I'm sure part of his confusion came from the fact that we were telling the boys that we got married in this particular church. Oh well.... same church, different Sacraments. No big deal to an almost four year old.

Adam has also been telling us that he isn't afraid of anything. He is very brave. When he grows up he wants to be "a defeator." He can defeat anyone or anything. My sister's home was broken into this weekend. Adam has repeatedly told me that he will catch those "badgers" (bad guys) and DEFEAT them! Today I asked him how he will defeat bad guys. He told me he will use the very powerful (flashy, noisy) gun he got at the circus. I love his confidence and innocence.

The boys have also recently discovered "grafitti." When we drive downtown, we see several bridges, train cars, and buildings that are colorfully decorated. The boys are fascinated by it. They search it out. We've had many conversations about how disrespectful it is to deface other people's property. They think the word "graffiti" is hilarious. They use it all the time. On Sunday Adam came to me in the kitchen and said, "Mommy, I am sorry about this but Ray and me did graffiti on the back porch." Ugghhh!!!! Sure enough, they had written with chalk (thankfully) on the carpet or our screened-in porch. Hopefully, the consequences they paid will deter them from further artistic exploits.

Finally, Adam thinks he is a monkey. He wants to climb all the time. Today we went to the park by our house. The boys like to have me lift them onto some big branches on a tree there. They lay on the branches and pretend to be sloths. Today Adam swung around and attempted to hang down from the branch. He scraped his belly, cried for a minute, then got up and walked away saying, "I really didn't think that would happen."

He is so funny.... and such a challenge sometimes as well. He will turn four in a few weeks. Several of my friends and I subscribe to the theory that SOMETHING goes on in a child's body, mind, and spirit during the weeks before and after their birthday. They just seem to be "in an upheaval." Could it be a time of transition or development? Do any of you notice that dynamic as well?

I love this precocious little boy so much! He is certainly entertaining and fun to be with every day.

The Good Shepherd's Garden Party - Week Two

We are continuing our celebration of the Easter Season by adding to our Good Shepherd calendar each day. This week's theme was, "Welcome to the Lord's Table." This is what our chart looks like now:

We had our Garden Party at dinner time on Saturday. We had read all of the Scripture passages and put the stickers on during the week. We celebrated all of the symbols of this theme as follows ---

Table: We set the table beautifully with a fancy tablecloth, flowers, candles, and some fancy dishes.

Chairs: We decorated our chairs with ribbons.

Bread: We made "Lamb of God Bread" using dinner rolls and arranging them to (sort of) resemble a lamb.

Honey: This was the biggest hit of the evening! We put butter and honey on the rolls.

"Wine" --- We used berry-flavored juice mixed with Sprite and drank it from fancy glasses.

Fruit: We enjoyed a delicious fruit salad.

Milk: We are still anticipating the most-anticipated part of this celebration.... ice cream sundaes!

(We added chicken and vegetables to the items listed above and were planning to enjoy the ice cream sundaes after taking a walk. Well, the boys were fighting with each other on our walk and we decided to postpone the dessert. We didn't get to it today either. So, hopefully tomorrow we will enjoy the grand finale of this celebration!)

I am really enjoying planning and presenting these Garden Parties. Perhaps it's the girl in me wanting to have tea parties! I am enjoying getting out special dishes that I haven't used very often. We are trying to use these opportunities to work on table manners with the boys. We are all enjoying these parties as special family time. We are already eagerly anticipating next week's symbolic meal.

Happy Easter! Keep the Alleluia's ringing!

Recovery Mode

We are SO HAPPY to have Jon back! He finished up tax season around 6:30 on Thursday evening. We greeted him with lots of hugs and kisses, some posters and balloons decorating the house, and a nice dinner including his favorite strawberry cake for dessert.

It's always a bit of an adjustment when he finishes tax season and is home with us more. First of all, he is exhausted. I am trying to let him decompress and catch up on some sleep. At the same time, there are lots of projects and "agenda items" that have been on hold for some time.

Jon has been amazed over the last few days at some of the things the boys are doing and saying. He didn't realize how much they've been learning and how they are getting more independent every day.

This morning I had the great privilege of sleeping in AND being brought breakfast in bed! Jon woke me up and immediately told me how impressed he is by what the children are learning from me and/or their Montessori class. He told me that he and the boys were watching birds at the bird feeder and Adam told him he had an "hypothesis" about why the black birds like our bird feeder so much. I let Jon marvel at my wonderful teaching abilities! Later, I asked Adam about it. He told me, "They talk about 'hypopeseses' all the time on Dinosaur Train!" So funny! Thank you God for PBS or Disney or whatever channel is teaching my child so well. :) *Note -- I really don't let them watch THAT MUCH TV!

Anyway, we are in recovery mode here.... enjoying being together as a family, re-examining some routines and discipline approaches, getting ready for birthday celebrations and some family trips, shoring up our to-do lists of projects, and planning some date nights too!

Yeah Jon! I am so proud of all the hard work you do. Thank you for supporting us so well.

Easter Art Lesson

On a recent trip to the library, one of the boys picked up this book: Henri, Egg Artiste by Marcus Pfister (the author of the "Rainbow Fish" books). It was a really fun surprise that launched us into some discussion and study of famous artists.

In the story, Henri is in charge of painting Easter eggs, but he wants to be more artistic and creative rather than using regular Easter egg designs. He paints eggs in the style of several famous artists (including DaVinci, Warhol, Van Gogh, Monet, Matisse and more). He paints rabbits instead of people in his versions of the Mona Lisa, the Scream, and Van-Gogh's Self-Portrait. The best part of the book is the fold-out section on the back flap. It shows the original paintings on which Henri's eggs are based and tells a little bit about each artist. It's a great survey of some of history's greatest artists. My boys are fascinated by it. We're going to get our own copy of this book and keep it on our shelf all year.

So, if you have young kids... or even if you don't... check out this clever book!

True Love

One of my darling boys drew this lovely picture on the easel this morning.

Who do you think it is? 1. A giant pig-man 2. The troll from The Three Billy Goats Gruff or 3. Me? If you guessed me, you're a winner! It's "great big mommy!" Yeah!

Which of the features most truly resemble me? 1. The pig nose 2. The fork hands 3. The sparse hair or 4. The ginormous belly? Don't answer that! At least I don't have a double chin or flabby neck in this picture. That's right, I don't have a neck (or feet or clothes) at all.

Which of my adorable, lovely, kind children drew this picture? 1. The older one, who later fell at the park and couldn't move his neck and had to be taken to urgent care where he proceeded to suddenly be healed and talk nonsense to the doctor and stick his hand down his pants..... or 2. The younger one, who threw a monster tantrum for over an hour this morning about a toy that he didn't even want to play with anyway and who then proceeded to not listen and/or disobey me for the rest of the entire day? The answer to that question would be 1.... my first born, whom I love with all my heart. I kept repeating to myself all day that I love him with all my heart, so it must be true.

I love them both and they love me and we all love daddy, who will return to our world tomorrow after completing 578,264 more tax returns. Now that is true love.... still loving one another after a day like today. I was SO HAPPY when they went to bed tonight, but I'll be happy to see them again in the morning too. This is true love. This is the domestic church, love in action, for better or for worse. It's where I'm called to be and where I want to be. It's where we're all four learning to be saints, to love God and one another. It's way harder and way better than I ever dreamed it would be. Deo gratias!

*Note 1: Thanks a BILLION to my mom who came to my rescue. She watched Adam and made a delicious and healthy dinner while I took Ray to urgent care. I love you mom!

*Note 2: Ray is fine. He pulled some muscles in his neck.

*Note 3: Ray thinks the picture he drew of me is beautiful. He explained that I have lots of babies in my belly in that picture. I thanked him for the lovely picture and assured him that there are no babies growing in my belly. Thank God I've already started a diet and exercise program! This picture will be my motivation!

"Taxed to the Max!"

Tonight I am missing Jon and our "normal" life as he is working so hard to finish up this tax season.

My mother often told me I needed to marry an accountant (when I'd come crying to her about unexpected bills or mystifying interest rates or unbalanceable checkbooks). I followed her advice and the benefits have been great! (Jon takes care of all those headaches for us.) Most of the year we are so blessed because Jon works less than a mile from home. He leaves around 8:30 and comes home around 5:15.... and often stops home for lunch as well.

But tax season is another story. He has been working very very very long hours. Every day. It really wears on him and on all of us. Fortunately, now that the boys are a little bit older, it's easier on us. We have our own routine that is tiring, but do-able for me. The saving grace of this grueling season is that Jon really loves what he does. He loves finding ways to help people save money. He is a hard-working, honest man of integrity. He is brilliant with numbers and codes and forms and all of that accountant stuff. He is the ultimate tax man.... and he loves the "Tax Man" song by the Beatles too! I am so proud of him!

I know that there are lots of other "tax widows" out there tonight. Please join me in praying for all accountants and their families as this tax season comes to a close. May God give all of us the grace and strength to perservere through this challenging time. May we remember to be thankful for our jobs and for the benefits that the taxes provide for us and for all who live in our country. May our work and our lives always reflect our values and morals as faithful followers of Jesus.

Saint Matthew is the patron of our parish and the patron of accountants. Here's a prayer to him as well: "Dear Levi, now known as Matthew, your were first a publican, a tax collector, and then a gatherer of souls for Christ after immediately following his call. Later you wrote wonderful accounts for your Jewish brethren of what Jesus, descendant of David, said and did as Teacher and Savior. Make all accountants imitate your example in giving careful and honest accounts. Amen."

P.S. Don't forget to get your taxes in! We're at 50 hours and counting! (Of course, as always, we're filing an extension!)

The Good Shepherd's Garden Party - Week One

For the second year, we are using this Easter Season calendar by Tomie dePaola. It includes a Bible passage and corresponding sticker for each day of the Easter Season. It is arranged by weekly themes. We got a slow start this year, but now we're all caught up through week one. (I'll post a picture of what the actual sticker scene looks like soon.)

Last year we put the stickers on at dinner each evening and talked about the symbolism of each one. We tried to read most of the Scripture passages. The boys were very young and much of it went over their heads. This year they are much more into learning all of the symbols and stories.

This year, in addition to the daily stickers and discussions and Scripture readings, we are celebrating each weekly theme with a "Garden Party." The ideas and menus for these weekly parties come from one of my favorite bloggers, Jessica at http://showerofroses.blogspot.com/ (She also has links to printable versions of this entire project.)

Tonight we had our first Garden Party at dinner time and it was so great! We began by talking about all of the symbols and reading the Scripture passages (since we hadn't done this during the week as planned.) Here is what the table looked like (I apologize for the dark picture) -

Here are the boys checking out all of the food and listening to Daddy read some Scripture about the Good Shepherd -

And here's the yummy food we shared. It's not the normal meat/potato/veggie/fruit dinner we normally have, but it was a really fun and festive meal. (I did add peas and carrots to our plates!)

1. Mini-shepherd's pies (The Good Shepherd)

2. Shepherd's staff-shaped breadsticks (The Shepherd's Staff)

3. Popcorn (Sheep... the bowl represented the Sheepfold)

4. Graham Cracker "Gates" with peanut butter and pretzels (The Sheep Gate)

5. Lamb Cupcakes (Ewes and Rams)

6. Mini-Marshmallows (Lamb's Wool)

7. Wolf Paw Cookies (The Wolf)

I'm sure you can guess which foods were the biggest hits! The boys are already looking forward to the next Garden Party.... and so am I! This is such a great way to celebrate the Easter Season in our home and I am so thankful to the ladies who have come up with and shared this idea.