Halloween 2013

So, I thought I would spread out the Halloween fun by posting this two days late. It has nothing to do with me being too exhausted Halloween night and too frazzled yesterday to post this... nothing at all.
Our Halloween fun started on Wednesday. It was Tobias' first Halloween so we took our traditional baby pumpkin pictures. He was not a fan, but we still got a few cute ones.

Then it was time to carve those giant pumpkins. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, although the skins were so thick that carving the details was a little rough. Gabriel complained that I didn't carve his design perfectly. Sorry, kid. It also took quite a while to clean those giant pumpkins out. They were sitting on the floor on newspapers while I scooped and scraped. At one point, I picked up my hand to find that the word "Help" had been stamped on it. Maybe the universe is trying to tell me something? I need help?

Here are before and afters of all the pumpkins and pumpkin masters.

A note about David John's: there are three gravestones on the top, a boat on the bottom and a small spooky face off to the side. We aren't sure what the boat has to do with Halloween. Maybe it ferries people across the river Styx?

We had bat-shaped pancakes for dinner that night. David John was very excited about this. He had been requesting "mixed-up meal day" for a while. So we had lunch for breakfast (pbjs and applesauce), dinner for lunch (corndogs, salad and fruit) and breakfast for dinner (pancakes). The boys were even impressed with my bats which made me happy.

Finally, here are pictures from Halloween night of all our boys in their Star Wars gear. That's Elijah as Darth Vader, Gabriel as Captain Rex, David John as Anakin, Benjamin as Yoda, and Tobias as an Ewok.

In case you are wondering, yes those light sabers were a very big mistake. We have already had a number of light-saber related injuries in less than 48 hours. If I could do it over, I'd go with cardboard cutouts.

Happy Halloween!

The Zombies Are Coming!

Our boys have long been fans of the game Plants VS Zombies and Zombies in general. So, when the opportunity came to dress up like zombies and scare runners for a good cause our boys were ecstatic! Dickinson's first annual Zombie 5K to benefit special olympics happened on October 18th and conveniently came right through the park behind our house. I was on the committee for the run and Rebecca, Marcus and Kaleb were in town for the occasion. Rebecca ran it, Marcus "ran" it and Kaleb helped scare the runners.

The boys had a blast. David John would yell "Runner alert! Runner alert!" when he saw people coming and then Elijah would yell, "Get them!" when they were close enough to jump out and scare.
Most of the runners at least pretended to be scared, but some couldn't help laughing when they saw four miniature zombies rushing at them yelling "Brains!"
Despite the giggles, our boys were convinced that they were very very scary. They bragged about how many people they had scared, "I scared a whole family at once!"
Gabriel even wrote a song for the occasion. (You can tell it's a song because it has music notes at the top.)

In case you can't read it, here is a transcript:
Brains are so tasty
Zombies like brains and I do too
They are for me and you
Brains
Burp
Yay
By Gabe

Making a Joyful Noise

I briefly mentioned in my post about David John, that he loves to sing the Joy School songs. What I failed to mention is that most of the song recordings are, well, bad. Just bad. I feel guilty even writing that down, because I love the Joy School curriculum and I think the Eyres are amazing but wow, the songs are special. One of the songs in Earth unit has the following lyrics:
"Let's take care of the Earth 'cause it's ours;
And it's so much better than Mars!"
That last line is sung with an ascending run and then a sustained high note. It's very dramatic. I almost choked on the water I was drinking the first time I heard it. Really? That's the best we can come up with? It's better than Mars? That's not hard. We could drop a few atomic bombs on the Earth and it would STILL be better than Mars for sustaining human life.
The most ridiculous song on the CD, though, is the one that all the boys love about what animals give us. My first issue with this song is that it just sounds rude. It goes:
"Oh cow! Oh cow! What use are you?"
If I were a cow and someone sang that to me, I would roll my eyes and stop producing milk on the spot. What USE am I? Really? Oh, I don't know. I only supply the basis for one of five major food groups. You know, provide calcium that you need for your puny skeletons. Ingrates!
Anyway, then the cow sings back in a deep BASS voice. What?!?! Cows, by definition cannot be male. If you try to milk a male bovine, I guarantee you will not get milk. You will probably get a hoof to the face. So, who's singing? My best guess is that it is a bull masquerading as a cow. That's right kids, you are being sung to be a cross-dressing ungulate! Anyway, this confused individual sings:
"I give you milk, that's what I do." and then he/she bellows out a painful sounding moo.
The song continues, asking various animals "What use are you?" and the animals give their answers complete with terrible sound effects. We learn that a hen gives us eggs, a bee gives us honey and a sheep gives us wool. This is all fine. Then, we get to the pig.
"Oh pig! Oh pig! What use are you?"
"I give you bacon, that's what I do!"
When my boys heard this, they were incredulous. "What? Mom! That doesn't make any sense! If the pig gives us bacon he would be dead! He can't just 'give' us bacon!"
Good point, boys. You are right. If the song is trying to teach kids the facts of life, then maybe the pig should sing, "I am slaughtered for bacon! That's what I do!" There are probably Joy School children across the country imagining happy pigs frolicking about and dispensing bacon to the masses without any deleterious side-effects. If they wanted the pigs to be useful in a non-lethal way, they could have always gone with: "I dig for truffles, that's what I do." As it stands, we now have a pig singing from beyond the grave. This song just keeps getting more and more strange.
Moving on. The horse tells us that he gives us rides (Why are ALL of the animals in this song male? Also, note that the horse does NOT say, "I give you glue.") and then the songs asks:
"Oh dog! Oh dog! What use are you?"
The voice that answers is so deep and garbled and weird that what he says is pretty much unintelligible. I *think* he says, "I give you love, that's what I do." but I will never be 100% sure that he isn't saying "I bite your leg, that's what I do." To be honest, he sounds so creepy that I would probably prefer for him to bite my leg than give me love. The bite would heal, but his love might scar me forever.

Benjamin Boy

We have been blessed with children who have big personalities and a stubborn streak. Benjamin is no exception. This kid is cute, quirky and LOUD. He's also two and it shows.
Benjamin is in love with the letter B right now. He's recently learned to recognize it and it has only increased the number of items in his every day life that he claims are his. Anything at all with a capital B on it (i.e. the entire box of Honey Bunches of Oats) must be his. "It says B for Benjamin!" he loudly proclaims and hugs it to his chest. Benjamin also holds a strong belief that anything yellow (his favorite color) is also his. "It's my yellow! Mine!" As a result, I am now hyper-aware of things that are yellow and/or are sporting a letter B. Frankly, I think it's a miracle he hasn't hijacked a school bus yet.

Benjamin's speech continues to grow in complexity and, thankfully, clarity. He is still difficult to understand at times but we are usually able to figure it out. He is experimenting with new vocabulary and parts of speech. One of his favorite words to use right now is "pretty". He seems to think that adding "pretty" in any sentence makes your statement more emphatic. Sometimes this works fine like when he says "It's pretty windy out here." but he also says things like, "That candy is pretty mine." and "Yes, you pretty are!" Another favorite word is "also". He just tacks that on to any sentence. "I don't want to take a nap also!" "It's rainy out there also."
Benjamin has always loved things that are rich in flavor and I am beginning to wonder if he has under-developed taste buds. As a baby, he would eat chili, salsa and curry. Recently he licked the measuring spoon that I had used for cayenne pepper. I waited for the extreme reaction but it never came. He just smacked his lips, smiled at me and went on his merry way. Maybe he's unable to detect capsaicins? Regardless, this kid loves flavor and he loves his condiments. Given his way, he would eat whole bowls of ketchup with a spoon. I recently caught him giving himself a hot-wax style manicure with ranch dressing.

It was buttermilk ranch. Buttermilk is supposed to be good for your skin, right?
This kid is constantly eating and sneaking food out of the kitchen. He has also inherited an insatiable appetite for candy from his Opa. He is always asking if he can have some "eyepatch kids" (sourpatch kids). Unfortunately, he is usually too naughty to earn the "eyepatch kids" (children who unstock entire shelves and then have to be carried over my shoulder kicking and screaming while I push the cart with my other hand because they keep running away and then who try to go surfing on the conveyor belt at the checkout counter don't earn candy) but he keeps trying.
We are pretty sure that Benjamin somehow has some camelid properties because he can go for long periods without drinking. In fact, we sometimes wonder why we even bother pouring him a drink to go with his meals. It usually just ends up going back in the fridge to wait to be rejected at his next repast. Marc was wondering aloud at dinner the other night that Benjamin doesn't exhibit any signs of dehydration. I said, "I think he gets all of his water from fruits and vegetables. He eats a ton of those." We both looked over at Benjamin who had apparently been sneaking pieces of watermelon during our conversation.

We couldn't help but laugh. Yep, he looks plenty hydrated to me.
Oh, Benjamin. Sometimes you are so hard, but we love you so much and you give the best hugs. Thanks for being our Benjamin Boy.

Doozies from David John

David John has an adorable way of mispronouncing words and phrases. Sometimes he adds letters, sometimes he replaces sounds and sometimes he just gets it completely wrong in a totally endearing way. Here are some of his latest:

"Mom, I like smarshmallows." 

"Mom, these are great smashed potatoes."

"Dad, can I have a drink of that sprout?" (He meant Sprite.)

"Can I play a game on the lily pad?" (We recently got an ipad.)

"Mom, in Joy School we learned about being a glitter bug. A glitter bug is someone who puts trash on the ground. Don't be a glitter bug, Mom." This made me imagine a sequined VW beetle.

Speaking of Joy School, David John loves to sing along with the songs on the Joy School CD. This month the unit is "Joy of the Earth" and the songs are about plants and animals. One song tells what various animals do for people. If you listen to David John sing it, you may get very confused about agriculture. According to David John, hens give us legs, bees give us money, horses give us rice, and dogs give us wool. To be fair, some of the lyrics are hard to understand but it still makes for some interesting imagery.

This last David John quip is not a mispronunciation, but I can't help sharing it. At Joy School, David John made an obedience chart. Unfortunately for him, he had a rough week and wasn't getting a lot of stickers on his chart. Instead of improving his behavior to earn more stickers, he just decided to make a new chart. He proudly brought me a piece of paper that he had drawn boxes on and proclaimed, "Look Mom! I made a chart for each day I DON'T read a book. Well, I didn't read a book today so I get a sticker!" He was pretty impressed with himself but he was very disappointed that I didn't want to provide stickers for a chart of that nature. He keeps us on our toes but he sure does make us laugh.

E is for Elijah

I've been thinking I need to post about my friend Elijah. I love this kid. He brings a sense of fun and drama to our family. He loves to be sneaky and play jokes. He loves I-Spy and Where's Waldo books and he often finds things faster than I can. Unfortunately he sometimes tries to recreate these games in real life by hiding things in the house. A few times he has hidden the shoes of our guests so that they have to play "I-Spy a shoe" before they can go home. He loves to dress up and to make silly faces. He has an amazing visual memory- he beats adults at the memory game -and he loves to use patterns in his artwork. He is frequently lost in thought and is always thinking up interesting questions.

This polka-dot zoo was commissioned by David John and drawn by Elijah.

He was the one who asked, "If everyone in the world cried one tear, would it flood our basement?"
More recently, "Mom, if you get frostbite and your fingers fall off, do they go to finger heaven?"
And, "Mom, exactly how many eye-lashes does each person have?"

Who says you can't be fashionable while eating your celery snack?

A few weeks ago, he was waxing philosophical about his corndog and the etymology of its name. "I think the dog part is for the hotdog and the corn part is for the cornbread. I think the corn part comes first because you see and taste the cornbread before you see and taste the hotdog." Of course, later on he had eaten the cornbread off and was dancing his hotdog around singing "I'm a naked hotdog!"

Elijah made these hearts at church. I love the unified color scheme.

It is a good thing Elijah does not live in a family that swears. If he did, he would be a master at cursing. As it is, anytime he gets frustrated in the slightest a string of the naughtiest words he can think of come pouring out of his mouth. I.E. One of his training wheels got loose on his bike and caused him to tip over. "You stupid poo-poo baby bike! Why are you so stupid? Idiot, garbage, blah-blah, naughty bike!" It reminds me of a quote from Jean Shepherd about weaving a tapestry of obscenity that is still hanging in space over Lake Michigan.

This is a typical picture of Elijah. He isn't satisfied unless his tongue is on display.

As mentioned in my last post, Elijah recently got stitches. About a week before that he had another laceration which Marc was able to superglue back together at home. It was a pretty nasty gash, but Elijah's reaction was over-the-top. He started saying things like, "I'm doomed! I'm doomed! I'm dying! I can feel it! There is too much blood! I'm dead!" It might have been more convincing if he didn't make the same exclamations a few days before about having to put away his shoes and jacket. Anyway, Marc and I were trying to be very sympathetic and soothing. I'm sure he was in pain but it was hard to keep a straight face with the theatrics going on. We both almost lost it when Elijah saw the hydrogen peroxide we were about to pour on the injury and shouted, "What!?! Are you crazy?!?"

I love this imaginative monster with a grapevine for a head.

Oh, Elijah we love your creativity both with your crayons and your words. We also love your amazing puzzle skills and the way you see patterns everywhere in your life. We love how easily you make friends and that you love to look good in your "handsome blue shirt". We love that you love school and that you love to ride your bike. We love that you love your name and the letter E. It delights us to see you delight in finding "E" everywhere. E is for Exciting, Emotional, Entertaining, Endearing, Exceptional and, of course, E is for Elijah.

Abundance

It has been a banner month in our household. (Read, we are surprised child protective services hasn't contacted us.) In the past 3 weeks Tobias broke his leg, all the boys had fevers that lasted several days, I was knocked out with a nasty virus for a whole week, David John and Elijah both required stitches on their foreheads, Marc and some of the boys had a stomach bug and Tobias pulled his leg out of his cast and had to get a new one.

Tobias really wanted to eat all the casting materials. They gave him an ace bandage to play with while they put on his orange cast.

It would be easy to see all of this as a curse or at least bad luck, but in response to injury and sickness we have received so much from our friends and neighbors. This fall, we are reaping not only fruits and vegetables but also generosity.

Acorn squash from our neighbor. I made soup with them but had no idea how hard it is to cut into these guys. The knife and I won in the end, but it was a close battle.

Supposedly you cannot reap when you do not sow, but that is how we feel. I don't know what we did to deserve this outpouring of love but we are so grateful.

Three different varieties of apples from the trees of three different friends. I love fall.

Tobias broke his leg on a Thursday night. When I say "Tobias broke his leg" what I mean is that his brothers were fighting over who got to hold him resulting in Tobias being dropped and breaking his femur. After a sleepless night of trying to keep his leg immobilized we got x-rays early Friday morning and then I was told I would need to take him to Bismarck to see an orthopedist. Marc's colleagues were amazing. As soon as they heard the news, they had cleared Marc's afternoon schedule so he could watch the other boys and one of them insisted that she would drive me the 1.5 hours to Bismarck so that I could sleep on the way there. While I went to the appointment with Tobias, she picked up lunch for both of us and then drove us home. I was floored that someone would spend their entire afternoon taking care of me and my baby when we had only chatted a handful of times. She is an amazing woman and the kindnesses just kept coming.

Potatoes and onions from two different gardens. Our friends add flavor and substance to our lives in a very real way.

Shortly after we got home, more of the clinic staff arrived with dinner for that night and the next day. A friend's husband agreed to teach my Sunday School class on short notice so I wouldn't have to go to church or stay home alone with a houseful of sick kids. (While I was sick, I lost my voice which meant that when sound did come out I sounded like Minnie Mouse. Have you ever tried to direct children, break up fights, or send someone to timeout with a Minne Mouse voice? It's less effective. They are more likely to laugh at you than obey.)

These carrots were a huge hit with our boys. They called them "creepy carrots" which also happens to be the title of one of their favorite books.

I received messages, texts and calls to see how our family was doing. More meals arrived from friends later in the week.

One of the meals was Filipino style chicken soup. It had papaya in it which is something I would never have thought to put in chicken soup but it was delicious!

Two of the moms in my Joy School group stayed with me when it was my turn to teach to comfort a very needy Tobias. Other friends babysat my boys last minute so I could go to doctor's appointments.

Farm fresh eggs. I had a hard time eating them because they were so beautiful. I think these were layed by artisan chickens. I couldn't get over the highly individual colors and speckles. It makes we want my own chickens.

Fresh produce from gardens flooded into our kitchen. The kind ward member we hired to do our family pictures let us reschedule again and again and then came and picked up our whole crew 30 minutes after our appointment was supposed to start because when we finally could do it, I lost my van keys. (After tearing our house apart and sorting through the trash later that night we found them on a bookshelf.... sitting in plain sight. It was awesome.)

The last tomatoes of the season. They were harvested early because of the coming frost. We will be enjoying them as they ripen in our windowsill.

Our next door neighbors let all the boys (including Marc) come over and play and watch football so I could catch up on some things. They even bought everyone pizza for dinner.

These giant pumpkins are from our next door neighbor. They boys were blown away when they saw them.

I am tearing up just thinking about everything that has been done for us these past few weeks. I don't know how we will every repay the debt. Right now, all I can say is "Thank You!" Thank you, to all of our dear friends and neighbors. Thank you for your love and your support. Thank you for your unselfish sharing of your time and resources. Thank you for treating us like family since our families are far away. We thank God for all of you every day and we thank Him for bringing us here where our life is so very abundant.