I'm Clean!

Grandma sent some 3-D Glitter Paint Pens for Christmas. Any reason to do an art project is acceptable for Grace. So last night, she and Caleb made some pictures. (Grace's favorite picture is in the upper left corner.) Caleb's picture (lower right corner) was done more with his hands than with the pens. After the painting, we asked him to wash his hands. He did it once. We looked at them and sent him back to the bathroom. After this washing, it was my turn for inspection duty. I looked at his hands and noticed that there was a bit of glitter left on them.

I wanted to impress upon him that he could do a better job washing. As I showed him the glitter I pointedly asked, "Caleb, what is this?"

Caleb looked at the glitter and shouted with glee, "I'M ALL SPARKLY CLEAN."

I was laughing so hard at this comment that I could not make him go wash his hands again.

Okay, So I'm Biased

But I think Grace and Caleb are cute kids. Here are a couple of pictures after church last Sunday when they were all dressed up.

Achieving Our Goals

When people asked me what I was doing this Christmas vacation, I had one of two answers ready. Depending on the day, I replied with one of the following:

"Sit on our rear ends and watch them get bigger."

"Find a way to sleep in one day."

It has been a long time since I really slept in. Young children are not conducive to sleeping in. But today, we achieved this goal. I really did not sleep in that long. I got up with the children but managed to fall back asleep. I got back up around 9:20 and the family finished eating breakfast at 9:48. Usually we are wrapping up at 8:00 am on a late morning.

After breakfast, Caleb came up to me and said, "Dad, can we please snuggle?"

So, we had a late breakfast and then went right back to bed. There is nothing quite like the glow you feel when you have achieved the goals you set.

(Or maybe it is a great feeling to spend a lot of time in bed.)

What's in a Name?

Everyone has favorites. Oliver's favorite child is Clara. Dale only needs Costco for his existence to be complete. Caleb loves his blankets more than anything else. Basketball is the drug I constantly crave. And when Mary needs something or is feeling down, you know Target will brighten her day.

The funny thing about Target is how most people pronounce it. It used to be called Target. Today it seems most people call it Tarzhay. I refer to it as "The Zhay". How often does the name of a commercial entity get changed so universally?

This thought was in the back of my mind as I was riding the bus one day. Could you imagine my surprise when a mother started calling for her son by saying, "Tarzhay"? I could not be sure, but that was either his given name or nickname. I have since ridden the bus a few times with them and she always calls him the same name.

How many commercial entities can turn into names? When will someone named Espn marry Tarzhay? Wouldn't that be a match made in (advertiser's) heaven?

Yesterday

(Sing with me.)

All my troubles seemed so far away
Now it looks as though they're here to stay
Oh, I believe in yesterday

Yesterday we had to stop by The Zhay for post-Christmas errands. We made our purchases and ran to the square to drop by the bank. While we were there, we decided Chinese was in order. This is a delicate proposition when we are out with our children. Could we get them to eat out and behave? Also, this was our favorite Chinese restaurant back in the student days.

We walked into the restaurant and got a table for four near the back. That was good. The server got our drinks quickly and the shredded beef Szechuan style was the lunch special of the day. Things were looking up since that was exactly what I was craving.

We ordered four dishes with wonton soup and egg rolls. Grace tried her wonton soup without prompting. Caleb and Grace each ate some of their egg rolls. Lunch came and they loaded up on orange chicken and rice and then devoured it. Both of them tried to use their chopsticks and did so responsibly without making a mess. A revolution was going on in the back of the Chinese restaurant and I am not sure enough people knew about it. We walked out shocked and proud of the way they conducted themselves.

On the way home, Caleb asked if we could stop by the cemetery to see Robert. We agreed and headed there. As we were nearing Robert's grave site, my heart sank. A service was going on. The children know how to behave in a cemetery but it has not been easy to teach them. Children love to run and climb. Running and climbing on a headstone or marker are taboo in cemeteries. It has been a struggle for them to understand and remember this (especially Caleb).

As we walked over, both Grace and Caleb stayed close by us. We went over to Robert's marker and chatted quietly for a couple of minutes. Caleb sang Robert a little song that he made up about Christmas and Hanukkah. Then we walked over to the car as the graveside service was finishing up. The children were respectful and stayed with us.

As we drove out of the cemetery, I could not be more proud of them. It is hard to see my children grow up, but when they do all the right things I could not be happier. They are understanding the lessons we are trying to teach them. Elation falls short of describing what I was feeling.

Then I remembered that the new baby is due in only six more weeks. We are so excited for the impending birth, but logistically this day could not have happened with a newborn along. So I guess for every great tomorrow, we trade something from yesterday.

And yesterday is the day that we are trading in order to be able to hold a newborn and love that child. A trade we will willing make, but we still can't wait to find more of these kinds of days sometime in the future.

Could It Be Any Easier?

Each child seems to be incredibly adept at certain things. Caleb is an amazing sleeper. This is especially true of nap time.

When it is time to go to bed at night, he does know how to stall. Yet, he never stalls before nap time and he is even old enough to give it up. Why why would we want him to give it up when this is how he went down today?

"Caleb, it is time for your nap."

"Okay. Dad can we go run errands after my nap?"

"Sure, let's give Mom a kiss before I put you down."

"Okay." Caleb kissed Mary.

Then I took him into his bedroom and laid him down. His blankets were not there, so I went and found them. After I gave them to him, I kissed him.

Then Caleb said, "Dad, leave my blinds up."

"Okay," I said.

Then I left. The blinds are up. The light is coming in. His train table is in his room. You would think he would play. You would be wrong. He has not left his bed and fell asleep within a minute or two of me leaving. Almost every day nap time is that difficult. Sometimes it is easier because his blankets are already in his bed. At times he will remind us that he needs to take a nap.

It really should not be this easy.

(Well, life is not always this easy with him. Just nap time. But we sure do appreciate that.)

I've Seen a Spectre

My brother recommended a website to me recently. He is into all different kinds of music. I checked out the video for Fidelity and thought the music was good. (Click on videos. It will begin to play eventually.)

I think she is doing a couple of cool things musically. I am not sure that I would love listening to a lot of songs in this style, but I like a couple of them (particularly, Fidelity and Better). My brother really likes Samson.

Christmas and Grace

Grace is also excited for Christmas. Here are a few stories about her:

1) Grace loves our calendar. We keep track of the days of the week and major holidays. Grace loves to countdown the days until Christmas. Each day she corrects Caleb and counts down for him.

2) Grace loves to organize; it is in her blood. She is constantly moving the presents under the tree to make sure they are sorted and ordered appropriately. Fortunately, we have only had six present under the tree for most of the season.

She also loves to organize our nativities. We only have four of them and she can reach three. Recently, she set all of them up in the baby's room. Fortunately, we are not at my parents' house this year. I would have heart failure if she tried to organize and rearrange their nativities.

3) Grace and Santa have had a rocky relationship. When she was small, Santa scared her. We have some great pictures of her screaming on Santa's lap. Last year, she made a break through and sat on his lap. She reverted back to old habits this year.

She would not sit on his lap "because she was scared", which did not make sense. Now why would a child not want to sit on Santa's lap when she knows Santa will bring presents? Her answer would be: What if you don't know what you want for Christmas? Grace did not know what she wanted for Christmas, so she would not sit on his lap.

(It is hard for her to know what to ask for since she doesn't play with toys. Santa should bring her markers, paper, a stapler, and some tape. She would love that.)

4) Mary has read "The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey" to Grace and Caleb a number of times. At the beginning of the story, Mr. Toomey is not overly fond of Christmas, even a little Scrooge-ish. But a little boy helps him enjoy Christmas. There are many good Christmas themes in this book, but what is the line Grace and Caleb repeat from this book?

"Christmas is pish-posh."

You never know what your children will get from a story.

Christmas and Caleb (Updated)

Caleb is 3-years old. It would be difficult to imagine him more excited for Christmas. Four stories serve as illustrations:

1) We have a small Christmas tree. We thought it should have some presents under it, so there have been about six presents under the tree. For the last two weeks, Caleb would take the presents and find the two that have his name on it. Then he will ask if he can open them.

That gets a no.

How about take them into his room? Put them on his dresser?

No and no. They need to stay under the tree.

Then in exasperated tones, "I want it to be Christmas." (Mind you this has only happened since the tree and presents were up.)

2) We have been listening to Michael McLean's Forgotten Carols in our Christmas music rotation. The song about Handel's pen may be Caleb's favorite. He loves to sing the hallelujah parts, but he is always ready to break out a "Aw, then I can't sing in the choir." whenever the song is on.

One of my memories from this Christmas season will be Caleb repeating that line at a number of funny points in time.

3) Many toys come with little brochures. You get a new toy and a reminder there is much left to acquire. Caleb calls these brochures "maps". Caleb can play with the maps as much as the acutal toys at times. When we told him that he was going to see Santa at a Christmas party, he was excited to talk to the jolly old elf. But the things that HAD to come with to the Christmas party with him was his maps.

This pictures has Caleb showing Santa a map of the Bob the Builder toys and Cars the Movie cars and telling him which ones he wants. I guess you just can't take chances when it comes to Christmas toys. You need to be able to show Santa exactly what you want. 4) Last night we got a box of presents from my parents. (Well, really two, but that does sound a little greedy, doesn't it.) You should have seen the excitement as we took the 10 or so presents out of the boxes to put under the Christmas tree. Caleb was hopping around like a madman. It took us a few minutes but we finally got everything arrange under the tree.

Then it happened. Caleb found his four or five presents and started walking around with them.

"Dad, can I open these presents?"

"No, Christmas is in just another day and a half."

"Can I put them on my dresser?"

"No, they go under the tree."

"Can I look at them?"

"Of course, you may."

"Dad, can you read me the names on these tags?"

"Sure." (But he had only gotten the presents with his name on them!) "This one says "To: Caleb" and so does this one and this one..."

"No read it all Dad. Who are they from..."

I could go on. But needless to say, I hope Caleb makes it all the way to Christmas. Miraculously, he has lasted this long. He needs to hold on for one more day.

UPDATE: One last story that is tangentially related to Christmas.

At church today, Caleb needed a drink. He went to the water fountain downstairs and bumped into his friend Nicole. They are the same age and Caleb likes Nicole. They came upstairs together holding hands. Nicole was wearing a beautiful black and plaid Christmas dress. Caleb had black pants with a red snowman sweater. They looked just adorable, like a picture in a magazine. A couple of others stopped to admire the picture. I wish I had my camera.

The Christmas Spirit

Ben is new to our congregation. He has piercing eyes, plays the piano, and is the father of a beautiful family with two children. Also, he has a clear, strong voice that is not forced and resonates. Last week he sang a solo as part of the Christmas program - "O Holy Night", my favorite carol for a male voice. Though he is not a professional singer, it was wonderful to hear from him.

As the final verse was about to start, the congregation was unusually quiet. The words to this verse are:

Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His Gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother
And in His Name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy Name!
Christ is the Lord, O, Praise his name forever.
His power and glory ever more proclaim!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!

When Ben reached the line about "Sweet hymns of joy", he started choking up. The emotion of the song and his voice was reaching us in ways a professional singer's voice usually does not. He touched my heart because this song was his "grateful chorus". I sat in my pew awash in Ben's love for Christmas and Christ and the feeling at that moment. Ben almost started to cry, but pulled it together to finish the song masterfully.

After that performance, I would have preferred Ben singing from his heart to any other person singing from memory. Carols become sacred when we lend the power of our lives and our love to them, which is the real spirit of Christmas.

Honey-Do List

Due to use-it-or-lose-it vacation, I have taken a couple of days off over the last three weeks. Mary wrote a 19-point honey-do list for the our four-day weekend last week. I think we got through most of it.

Yesterday, we finally hung the "Tin Town". I am really excited. It looks great. In order to hang the Tin Town, we had to rearrange furniture and go to Home Depot, but what can you do? It was definitely worth it.

So a recap of the household activities that we have done over the last week:

• Run errands to stores, car dealers, and banks
• Close and adjust accounts
• Hang the Tin Town
• Purchase way too many things
• Clean the house
• Drop off gifts
• Write and mail the Christmas letter, etc.

We could go on, but hopefully this means we should be able to enjoy Christmas a little more. I was hoping one night Mary could go to bed knowing everything on the list was done. When I told her that we may be out of things on the list she responded, "Don't worry, that only means I can start a new one."

Guess I better go clean the bathroom.

A Hint of Minty Freshness

Nestle Tollhouse has come out with new chocolate chips. They have swirled two complementary flavors together. We recently purchase the Semi-sweet Chocolate and Mint Swirled Morsels. Mary made chocolate chip cookies and substituted them for the usual chocolate chips.

You will be thanking me if you do the same thing. Seriously.

JT Ain't the Only One Bringing Sexy Back

You know you wish your balding hair could stand straight up.

I wore this look for most of the day last Friday. I am not sure if Mary was confused, mortified, or thought it par for the course. She hates the look. She doesn't know if she should complain about my long, unkempt hair or the fact that I did not shaved for a week. How do you pick your battles when there is no way to win on both of them?

(Full disclosure: I did shave on Sunday and got my haircut on Tuesday. But I am trying to decide if I should grow my beard out before the baby is born.)

The Upward Climb

Driving around last week, we past a cheap gas station where we usually buy gas. (No, not that one.)

Friday gas price for 87 octane: $2.25/gallon
Saturday gas price: $2.29/gallon
Sunday gas price: $2.32/gallon
Monday gas price: $2.35/gallon
Monday evening gas price: $2.36/gallon

I am glad that election time is over so gas prices can get back to being up where they were just a couple of months before the election. Nice to know that our politicians are not powerless. They might not do much between elections, but around elections they can do a lot. They can even get the price of gas to drop.

Well, You Asked for It

A couple of you have asked for a picture of Mary in her pregnant stage. Well, here it is at 32 weeks 3 days. No, she is not having twins in case you were wondering. (And that was not my comment. She said that herself. In case you were wondering.)

Strategizing for Kid-Friendly

As a parent, you have to teach your child a number of skills. Some are a priority while others tend more to the mundane. Eating at a restaurant leans more to the latter than the former, but something that must be taught nonetheless. There are some things you need to know before you teach this skill.

There are three types of kid-friendly restaurants. The first type is exceptionally rare; the good (or even great) restaurant that children can go to, feel comfortable, and be entertained. An example of this in our area may be Bugaboo Creek, but I am not totally convinced. The second kind of restaurant has the whole experience aimed at the children with okay food; like a Rain Forest Cafe. The third category is fast food style restaurants, running from a McDonald's to a Friendly's. Once you know the category a dining strategy emerges.

If you are making a trip to the fast food style place, I feel bad for you. There is no great dining strategy. The food may taste good at first, but it will sit heavy and won't be overly nutritious. You will feel the meal in the pit of your stomach.

If you are lucky enough to find a good (or great) and entertaining restaurant, then the first part of the strategy includes giving thanks. When you go there, you can order what you wish knowing the food will be well prepared. These restaurants are to be cherished.

The middle category is the most difficult to navigate and a common eating establishment. From personal experience, I can offer the following observations:

1) The cooks at such places matter a great deal. There is a wide variety in how dishes are prepared and because it was good last time does not garuantee anything. Not all cooks are created equal at these restaurants.

2) If a restaurant is catering to children, your order should cater to your inner child. The burgers/sandwiches will probably be good. The non-alcoholic frozen drinks will probably be great (and loaded with sugar). Seafood dishes or specialty dishs are buyer beware. Unless you know from others that a dish is good, it probably isn't worth the culinary adventure.

3) Keep it simple. The simpler the dish, the better the chance of a good meal.

4) These establishments do have quality dishes. You need to find them and stick to that when you order.

Remember when dining with children, you should still try to find a good meal. These tips will help you have a better experience next time you happen to be out with the children.

Crack Kills

My brother, Oliver, is a connoisseur of online crack. He also occasionally blogs about the crack he finds.

In a recent post, he blogged about an online game called Winter Bells. Tonight he finally convinced me to play it. I could not stop. It is not the most challenging of games but it certainly sucked me right into. I am even going to change the post time for this entry so I don't have to admit that I was up all night playing. (Though it won't be hard to figure out when I went to bed because of comments on Oliver's blog.) I am certainly no DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE, but I did manage a decent score eventually.

Letter Campaign

Christmas letters are supposed to be cheery. They seem to be a brief recap of the year with a little fun thrown in so everyone goes home happy. I have had a hard time finding that tone this year. There are so many good things that I want to write about and a number of difficult things I have to write about. Distilling 2006 into a brief, positive summary is a difficult task.

As I have tried to write the letter, I have come up with a number of quotes that summarize our year in some way. I cannot use any of the quotes below because they don't capture the essence of this year. Well that, and they are downers. I read them to my Mom and she was aghast that I would even consider any of these quotes for the Christmas letter. Don't worry Mom, I will come up with something that is more palatable.

A sampling of my upbeat quotes:

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, … it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us …” –Charles Dickens

“April is the cruelest month.” –T. S. Eliot (Robert's funeral was in April and I am still surprised at how draining that was for me even though I thought I had no emotion left to be drained of then.)

“One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise.” –F. Scott Fitzgerald

“I have wept and fasted, wept and prayed.” –T. S. Eliot

Oh, yeah, have a super, grand, merry Christmas, too!

Mind Boggling

Today a momentous thing happened in our home.

Grace asked Mary if she could organize some drawers in our computer room for Mary.

Organizing something for Mary, the queen of organization? The woman who has had MANY family members, friends, and strangers tell her that if she ever feels like she needs to organize something to please come over to their house? Grace needs to help her? WHAT?

Didn't that apple fall far from this tree?

Chillin' Like a Villian

It was sunny and cold yesterday before church. As I was putting on Caleb's seat belt, Mary hopped in the front seat and let out a, "Brrrrrr."

"What was that for?" I asked since it is not quite that cold yet.

"I got a chill," Mary said.

"You gotta chill out, Momma," says Caleb.