Toddler attitude...

Rand still isn't talking.  Two wonderful ladies from Early Intervention came out to evaluate him, and their conclusion was that... he's the pampered youngest child and has no reason to talk.  We all get him everything he needs without words.  So, one of their suggestions was that when we know he wants, say cheese, offer him cheese and something we know he doesn't want, like a carrot.  We're to try to get him to say the word.  We haven't had much, or well any, success so far.  A few days ago, I went through the rigamarole with him again...

Me:  (cheery, and possibly annoying)  Rand, do you want CHEESE or CARROT?  CHEESE or CARROT?  CHEESE or CARROT?

And Rand, who would have rolled his eyes if he knew how, toddled his way over to the table (which I hadn't cleared from lunch two hours earlier - hardly ever happens, really) and started eating stale pizza crust.  He didn't say it out loud, but I could tell that in his heart he was saying, "Whatever."

Ash Wednesday...

 

This Baptist girl has come a long way since that 1996 tutoring session when I wondered how so many of my students bruised themselves in the same spot on the forehead.

From the service tonight...

A HYMN TO GOD THE FATHER.
by John Donne

I.
WILT Thou forgive that sin where I begun,
    Which was my sin, though it were done before?
Wilt Thou forgive that sin, through which I run,
    And do run still, though still I do deplore?
        When Thou hast done, Thou hast not done,
                    For I have more.

II.
Wilt Thou forgive that sin which I have won
    Others to sin, and made my sin their door?
Wilt Thou forgive that sin which I did shun
    A year or two, but wallowed in a score?
        When Thou hast done, Thou hast not done,
                    For I have more.

III.
I have a sin of fear, that when I have spun
    My last thread, I shall perish on the shore ;
But swear by Thyself, that at my death Thy Son
    Shall shine as he shines now, and heretofore ;
        And having done that, Thou hast done ;
                    I fear no more.

Strategic error...

  

In retrospect, I should have served bagels before revealing the Valentine's treat, or else consigned myself to Reese's for breakfast. I'd like to say that it was out of concern for their health that I threw down the gauntlet, but really it was that I had already spread cream cheese on the bagels and wasted food makes me twitch.

These guys have my heart.

Side note: Doesn't my little Valentine's treat look like something from Pinterest?

Things I learned while skiing...

1. Put your kids in ski school to learn to ski.
2. Do not take your kids down a slope unless the ski school teacher says they're ready for it. No, not even that blue slope that you don't think is as hard as what they've already done. You're wrong. It's going to be ugly.
3. There is an arrangement of the universe where my kids will ask to go to bed at 6:30 without dinner.
4. Little kids are INSANE. Every day after a full day of skiing, they spent another hour playing in the snow. Seriously, that makes me want to cry.
5. When getting on a chair lift, it's more important to ensure that you and your 6 year old are safely on the lift than to wipe the snow off first, so your butts don't freeze. How, you may ask, did I learn this lesson. FROM THE TEN FOOT FALL Jacob and I took from a lift. He didn't get on all the way because I took a crucial second to wipe the seat. I tried to pull him on, but then we both ended up falling. In retrospect, I should have just pushed him all the way off early on before we got so high. But that doesn't play so well in your mom of the year video footage.
6. Above point freaked me out even more because on the previous run I let the boys ride the lift alone. WHAT WAS I THINKING???


But, a ski trip is not complete without a near death experience, right?

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Snowmobiling...

So, given my stance on motorcycles, this snowmobile adventure makes me a shameless hypocrite. But it was SO MUCH FUN - for everyone except Janet who was praying most of the time that her little boys wouldn't end up orphans.











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Skiing...

We're skiing in Montana with the two big boys and some friends. When we got his skis, the rental guy asked Jacob if he was the best skier at his last class.

Jacob: No, I'm not so good at turning.
Rental guy: (crazy hair and surfer voice) Man, turning is totally unnecessary. You just need to know how to go straight down the hill and fall down. I'm giving you the fastest skis we've got. I call these "hot rods".
Jacob: (huge eyes) Thanks!

He loves those skis. He asks to bring them into the cabin so he can look at them.

We're having a great time. The boys are loving it. It's really nice to take a big kid trip.






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A visit with the cousins in pictures...

My brother and his family were here last week. We had a great visit. Here is the visit in pictures...


So Evy speaks in complete sentences and Rand says NOTHING. But he's got a good 5 inches and


4 shoe sizes on her.


I love Layla's sweet hugs. In that way she reminds me so much of Aaron at that age.


This is a good representation of what it's like when we get together with any of our cousins.


Love this.


The girls are definitely the most enthusiastic basketball cheerleaders David and Jacob have ever had.


The cake I made had for us had explosive diarrhea. I'm thinking I should have let the layers cool a bit more before icing it?


Love this


Footy pajamas and backpacks.


And, I promise that my beautiful sister-in-law was here too. We had a great time - talking theology, knitting, playing Dominion. I miss all four of you!

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