To Infinity and Beyond!

First of all, can someone tell me who this child is?

Greg took this picture while I was at the Ladies’ Retreat, and when I saw it, I was shocked.

Is that my son?

Is that my son?

I have such clear memories of him in that exact spot on the church playground, falling asleep while I pushed him in the baby swing. What happened? He doesn’t even look like a baby anymore! Or a toddler! He’s a kid!

Secondly, can someone tell me when my child got so obsessed with Toy Story?

Actually, I can answer that one. It happened on June 19, when Toy Story 3 came out, which—as fate would have it—was on Luke’s fourth birthday.

Lately, he has been particularly fixated by the image of Buzz Lightyear catching the train from the opening scene of the movie. Apparently, that act, to Luke, is the iconic portrayal of heroism:

Clearly, it has been on his mind:).

He has, however, begun to widen his view from that one scene to the movie as a whole. His latest project is to make a whole book about Toy Story 3. So far, he has nine pages on the train scene alone, and he assures me that his book will cover the whole movie. If that is true, then this is going to be on epic illustrated book!

Anna is a big help, as always. She keeps Luke supplied with whatever crayon he needs:

So far, we are keeping his pages together in a Toy Story folder. His collection of Buzz Lightyears is on the left, and his book is on the right:

I personally love the exclamation points, mainly because I haven’t taught him about exclamation points. I also like the fact that it says, “Buzz Lightyear!” over a picture of Woody. Luke explained that he did not know how to spell “Woody.”

Right now, Luke is in a very artistic phase. When he is not putting together books about Toy Story, he is directing plays on the subject. Greg even took some video footage of his latest stage creation, but I will post that later!

Bible Class

(This will be interesting only for me, but it is definitely something I want to record.)

For weeks now, I haven't been able to get Luke to tell me what he learned in Bible class. Whenever I ask, he always refers me to his review sheet and claims that he has forgotten. Luke has an amazing memory, so I just have a hard time believing it. But it has seemed to be true.

I think part of it is that he is on the big kid curriculum now, which moves pretty quickly through the entire Bible, which can be problematic in itself (Luke's class once made a craft out of Dorito "flames" and Teddy Graham bears who represented the soldiers who burned up when Elisha called down fire from heaven. Yikes!) Aside from the sometimes adult nature of the content, however (usually presented in a more child-friendly, edited format), Luke also hears a lot of obscure stories that move pretty fast. So maybe that's why he is not remembering them so well.

Anyway, on Wednesday night, I was trying my hardest to get Luke to tell me what he learned about in class. He had spilled water on his review sheet at church, so we didn't even have that to fall back on. After several minutes of flat denial that he remembered, coupled with insinuations on my part that he just must not be paying good attention, I finally remembered that they were in the exilic period of the Old Testament. I also vaguely remembered that they had been learning about prophets a few weeks ago, so I started asking, "Was it about Isaiah? Jeremiah? Amos? Obadiah? Habakkuk?" All of a sudden, it was like something clicked in Luke's head and he said in one fluid breath,

"No, it was about King Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel, and King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream, and he asked the three [?] wise men to interpret the dream, but they couldn't, and so Daniel told him the dream, and he dreamed about this huge statue, and then a rock came and destroyed the statue, and then the rock turned into a mountain."

Ah, good ol' Daniel. I honestly don't remember the part at the end about the rock turning into the mountain, but it is probably accurate. Regardless, I started laughing halfway through his rendition of the story. I knew it, you know? I knew that he had to be learning and remembering. It just didn't make sense to me that he could sit quietly in class and not learn the story. What a relief to know that the stories are floating around somewhere in his memory, even if he doesn't always feel like accessing them:).

Big Boy Haircut

(Brace yourself, Gaga.)

Greg has been ready for Luke to get a “big boy haircut.” Apparently, the bowl cut has to go before kindergarten. And in fact, the sooner the better.

Personally, I love Luke’s haircut. He’s only four years old, after all. And what’s wrong with a bowl cut? It’s adorable. Greg’s response is that I didn’t have to grow up with one. And other people generally seem to concur that Luke will get beat up more often if he has a bowl cut. Hmph. I am opposed to changing hairstyles in general. I think it’s because I value stability and consistency. I’ve had essentially the same hairstyle—give or take a few inches—since ninth grade. The idea of a new hairstyle makes me a little nauseated, frankly.

But like I said, Greg was all about it. So…we did it. We got Luke a big boy haircut yesterday, and he looks so grown up:

(Deep breath, Gaga:))

I’m not sure what has made Greg so angry in the background:).

Wow. It still just blows me away to look at it. He looks very handsome, and yet, part of me is just not ready for any step that means he is growing up!:)

Anna Grace also got a couple inches taken off, and she was all for it!

She was so excited when I told her that she was getting a haircut, and she asked me all day if it was time for her to go get her haircut. She was very pleased with the whole process, and with the results, as well!

Daddy Knows Best

Yesterday afternoon, Luke, Anna, and I were working puzzles, while Greg was traveling home from being gone all weekend at Winterfest.  Luke was working beside me on his own, and I was helping Anna with her princess puzzle.  Anna kept losing interest, and I was encouraging her by saying, “Anna!  I need your help!  Anna, aren’t you going to help mommy work this puzzle?”  Trying to be helpful, Luke chimed in cheerfully with, “Anna, we always need to help our mommy.  We don’t necessarily always have to help Daddy, but we defically [definitely] need to help our mommy.”  I was amused, but confused, and asked why we didn’t have to help our daddy.  In all sincerity, and without batting an eye, Luke immediately replied,

“Because Daddy already knows everything.”

I certainly thought of several smart remarks with which to respond, but the better angel of my nature settled on, “You’re right; your daddy is very smart.”

Luke happily responded with, “Yep…and he can kill anybody he wants to!”

Good heavens!   From the mouths of babes…

I responded that Daddy certainly would not want to kill anyone, as that would not make God happy, and Luke immediately concurred.  Apparently, it was important just to know that his daddy could if he so desired.  It’s important to know that your daddy is strong.

Later that evening, we were again working puzzles—this time upstairs—while we waited the last few minutes before Greg’s much anticipated arrival home.  We had just gotten out Luke’s state puzzle to work, and I said, “Do you think we can work this?  It’s pretty tough.”  Luke thought, and then said that we could, but “we might need Daddy, b/c it might be too hard for just Luke and mommy.”  This time I did respond that I did indeed know my states:).

Then this morning, Luke and Anna were headed to the backyard to play with moon sand, and I told them that before they played, either mommy or daddy would have to move their little table out into the yard b/c moon sand was so messy.  Luke replied, “I think Daddy should do it, b/c he’s the strongest!”  I heartily agreed on both counts:).

All joking aside, I am so thankful that Luke respects and admires his father.  Greg is so gentle with the kids, and I love that even in his gentleness, he is still able to cultivate respect in his son’s heart.

Although, I might be enjoying this admiration a little too much.  When we took the kids on a wagon ride around the block today, I said, “Kids, who do you think should pull the wagon?  Which one is the strongest?”  Greg just shook his head at me as he grabbed the handle.  He did add a smart remark about mommy needing to build up her strength, but he is allowed some smart remarks.  After all, he does already know everything:).

"So Cute My Beak Hurts"

You might remember that in the fall, we posted a video of Anna reciting The Pigeon Wants a Puppy, by Mo Willems.

Yesterday, Greg noticed that he had gotten a few comments on it from people he didn't know. One guy was from Ireland.

He also noticed that about 300 people had watched it in two days time, out of the blue.

We looked into this.

We discovered that on February 15, someone had tweeted Anna's video, which had in turn prompted the hundreds of views.

After trying to figure out how to discover the mystery tweeter, we finally plugged the URL to Anna's video into the Twitter search engine. Bingo.

The ten most recent tweets of Anna's video came up. Ten most recent?? We didn't know any of the people, but here they were, talking about Anna's cuteness and her impeccable timing.

They were all retweeting from the same original tweet, though. The original tweeter was, "The_Pigeon." The_Pigeon had tweeted a link to Anna's video on February 15, with the tag, "So cute my beak hurts."

And who was The_Pigeon? It was the Pigeon. The one who wants a puppy? That pigeon. Mo Willems' official twitter feed had discovered and tweeted Anna's video. How cool is that?

I don't know if he does his own twitter feed, but I'd say that the chances are high that the author of the book has seen and enjoyed Anna quoting his work.

We continue to love The Pigeon Wants a Puppy. And if Mo Willems would like to send an autographed copy or 12 our way, that would be fine by us:).

‘Round Here…

…we are finishing up Round 1 of the flu,

starting Round 2,

and trying to stay/get healthy!

One downside of having two sick kiddos is when they are both crying for me at the same time for mutually exclusive reasons. The upside is that thirty minutes later, they are both asleep! Two napping children (sick or no) is a minor miracle around here, and it gave me some time to listen to this:

And smell this:

(A yummy beef and vegetable stew, whose recipe I got from a friend).

And have a date with this:

My floors were so happy!

Last night, the flu hit Anna Grace full force, which kept me and her up for much of the night. Lots of Tylenol/Motrin, a lukewarm bath, and many cold compresses later, she acts like she is completely fine:

In the meantime, I am about to fall asleep sitting at the computer! Why are my kids so much tougher than I am???

A Wonderful Valentine’s Day

I had big plans for Valentine’s Day. Turns out, I really like holidays. I didn’t really realize this about myself until I had kids. And then I learned just how much I value traditions and celebrations. I love marking the year with my children through our observance of the various special events and holidays that each month brings. And each year, the kids are more willing and able to participate in the holidays, which compounds my excitement. This year, for example, Luke was able to fill out all the Valentines for his preschool class, which he did with enthusiasm.

Last Tuesday, we also went to a Valentine’s party for our Mommy and Me group. Anna worked on a Valentine for Gaga and Granddad.

Luke opted to make a Valentine for his friend, Tyler, who was home sick with the flu that day.

The next day, we made Valentines for Gaga and Granddad. I helped Anna fill out her Valentine from the party. She definitely did not understand the concept of dictation. I tried my best to explain to her that I was going to write a message from her to Gaga and Granddad. The best I could get, however, was this:

“Anna, what do you want to write?” “A heart.”

“A butterfly.”

“An A.”

“A flower for them.”

So that’s what they got! And while I was helping Luke with his, she also “painted” her nails:

Luke opted for his old standby, the Toy Story train:

As you may know from my previous posts, Luke got quite sick on Thursday. That meant that we didn’t get to bake sugar cookies for their Sunday school classes on Friday. Or decorate them with my cell group on Saturday. Or bake cupcakes for my Sunday school class and our Life Group on Sunday. Or host Life group on Sunday. Or go to Life group on Sunday. Or go to church. Or get much sleep. Which is a problem. I need church, and I need sleep. And I need sugar cookies, daggonnit:).

By Sunday evening, I was feeling worn out, stuffed up, and very much not like celebrating Valentine’s Day on Monday. Luke was still sick, and didn’t have a great appetite, and a lot of our plans revolved around food. However, I prepared that night anyway. And early the next morning, I got an email from a friend whose whole family has the flu. It kind of put things in perspective for me. For one thing, it reminded me that I was not sick. I was not incapacitated. And celebration is a choice. It is important to me to celebrate the blessings in our lives. And I have a lot to celebrate.

I walked downstairs this morning to our breakfast table:

Every year, Greg buys Anna a stuffed animal for Valentine’s Day. This year’s animal was an adorable white bear. We also got Luke a Toy Story toy, and both of them some Dove chocolates. After I went to bed last night, Greg set out flowers and truffles for me, also:).

I smelled my flowers, thanked God for my wonderful husband, and then got busy making heart shaped pancakes for the kids. I realized we were out of milk, and so I went to BiLo in my pajamas and slippers (yes, I did). It was worth it.

Anna loved her bear:

…but she is also a big fan of flowers!

Luke woke up with a fever and wasn’t feeling great, so he ate his breakfast in bed, and I joined him.

He loved his present.

Later in the morning, I tried to get a picture of Anna with all of her Valentine animals she has received from Daddy:

We puttered around that morning. Greg dropped Luke’s Valentines off at preschool, along with the sprinkles we were supposed to bring to the party. I went running. We played with Luke’s new toy.

Around noon, we went to Chickfila to lunch since Luke felt up to it. On the way, we stopped by preschool and picked up Luke’s bag of Valentines. Here is a picture of the inside:

When we got to Chickfila, they surprised us with stuffed bears for the kids, with coupons for free ice cream attached. We also got a Valentine’s “gift” of a mint and a coupon for a free chicken biscuit. I love Chickfila. I told the kids to hold up their bears for a picture:

For dessert, we got a milkshake:

We checked the mail when we got home and found Valentines for Luke and Anna from Grandma Dottie. We set them up by the Valentines they got from Gigi and Papa a few days earlier:

Grandma enclosed some memories of her Valentine’s Days as a child, which she hoped that we would share with Luke and Anna. Clearly, Grandma is a woman after my own heart; I loved that:).

Greg read it to Luke before his nap, and he loved it. Then, thankfully, Luke fell right asleep. While the kids were asleep, I made Luke’s favorite dessert, pumpkin pie, and then Greg played me some songs that he had discovered and really liked. My favorites were by a guy named Jadon Lavik. He has an album of old hymns that I absolutely love. And I love his traditional yet mellow take on them. I think his songs are the closest I’ve ever heard to a soundtrack for what I want my home to be. You can listen to his “Come Thou Fount” here. In fact, what you need to do is open it in a new tab, start it playing, and then listen to it as you finish this blog. It’s a great accompaniment:).

I listened to it later this afternoon while making Swedish meatballs while Greg took Luke to the doctor and Anna napped. It was wonderful, and it inspired to me to spend the rest of my “free” time in the afternoon with God.

Greg and Luke arrived home with the news that Luke officially has the flu. So…our bad, everyone at Chickfila. Yikes. We had really convinced ourselves that he didn’t have it!

That evening, we made our kids their dream dinner, which consisted of Swedish meatballs and Kraft mac n cheese. Not homemade. Kraft. They turn their noses up at homemade mac n cheese, even though it is sooo much better! But tonight, we went with their consensus. They were both pumped when they heard the menu.

[Cheese alert! Cheesiness ahead!]

We also did something that I had thought of and prepared for the week before. We took the time to write different things we loved about each other and put them in a box that I had wrapped:

See, my kids are three and four, and so they don’t know that that’s cheesy. And my husband is a loving, saintly man, and so he ignores the fact that it is cheesy. And I am cheesy, so four out of four Kirby’s agree that our love box was awesome!

So there you have it. Valentine’s Day, 2011. My eyes are bloodshot, my nose is stuffy, my tired husband looks like he was run over by a bus (still handsome, as always, though:)), my son has the flu, and my daughter’s nose is a spigot of snot…but we love each other very much. And so we celebrated that today.

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!