Hallelujah!

There are all kinds of unexpected consequences to Daniel being able to read. No longer being able to edit (or even shorten) stories that I read to them. Not being able to spell things out with Suzy (e.a.r.l.y. b.e.d.t.i.m.e.?). One of the strangest unexpected consequences happens on Sunday mornings at church. We do a responsive reading of a passage of scripture during the service. The pastor reads a line, then the congregation reads the next line, you get the picture. Well, Daniel has started to join in when the congregation reads, and he does a great job with it. But he is about a half beat off from everyone else. It is surprisingly hard to deal with. You have 300 people saying something at a particular rhythm, and Daniel is syncopated off of that rhythm.

So this morning, we are doing the responsive reading, and Daniel is just about a second behind everyone else. The last word in the passage was 'Hallelujah!', with the exclamation point. One of the things they have been emphasizing in school is paying attention to punctuation, and how that impacts what is said. So Daniel is very aware that an exclamation point means you stress that word, almost a shout. The nuance of the stressing of the word may be a bit lost on Daniel, so I am sure you all can see where this is going. Everyone else in the congregation had stopped talking, it was quiet and contemplative for about 0.5 seconds, when Daniel lets out with a raucous,

'HALLELUJAH!'

Amen, preach it son!

Dreary Day

Today felt like a winter day. It was cold and grey and drizzling. I actually had to put on pants and a sweater. For dinner I made hot soup and freshly baked focaccia and it fit they day perfectly. At one point I was even tempted to get out a log and make a fire. That is just not right. It is almost June guys. What is going on here? As Dan likes to say, "It must be global warming." I hope the sun comes out tomorrow. I don't know if I can take another dreary day.

One of those days...

Today was one of those days. It started out fine, but by the end of the day both Daniel and Sammy had all privileges revoked and were confined to their room. Not good. Not good at all. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Fireproof

I tend to not proselytize to my extended family. It is probably wrong of me, but it is the truth. Where ever you are in your relationship with God I, for the most part, leave you to it. That being said, I will occasionally interject something in that I think is important, or I feel called to mention.

Consider this one of those times, the price you have to pay to be a part of this family. Sorry.

Last night Suzy and I were able to join about fifteen other families at a showing of the movie Fireproof at our church. We had NetFlixed it a few months ago, and enjoyed it, so we thought we would go last night to support the organizers, and to participate in the discussion. The movie is about a young couple who are going through marital troubles, on the verge of divorce, and how they deal with things.

Some of the folks that read this blog are married, so I definitely would recommend watching it, as it specifically talks about how to improve things there. But, the lessons taught on relationships extend beyond just between spouses. The sacrificial love that is emphasized applies to any relationship that is, or should be, important to you.

I don't want to spoil the movie, and I don't want to give too many details because I think it is important for you all to watch it yourselves and come to your own conclusions. I don't ask a lot of you all, but I am asking this, please watch this movie... twice. Suzy and I decided twice would be better because for about the first thirty minutes you kind of cringe for a few reasons, the acting is not great, and the kid from Growning Pains (Kirk Cameron) is all grown up. The acting became less distracting as the movie goes on, and the second time we watched it (last night) neither of us cringed at all.

Please take a few nights out of your life to watch the movie. If you do watch it and have questions or want to talk about it we would love to do so.

Elbow Alert

When the boys were wee little chunky babies we always knew when they were going through a growth spurt because Dan and I would notice our backs would start to hurt. I guess even a pound or two is enough for our bodies to notice. It has been a while since I've been able to lug either one of the boys around on my hip like I used to, but I now have a new indicator of boy growth. It is my elbow. No, my elbow doesn't get sore are anything like that. It starts to bonk the growing boy on their head. I noticed that every so often it seem like I am whacking a boy left and right with my elbow and at first I just thought they were getting in my way, standing too close or something. But I think it is just that they have grown and I haven't adjusted to their new height. So over the past few days Sammy's rather large noggin' has been the target of my elbow. Must be a growth spurt.

A Sneeze Should do the Trick

I forgot to mention that yesterday, while at the beach, Daniel sneezed out his top front loose tooth. Yep, he sneezed it out. So far he has had one wiggled out, one pulled out, one fallen out while sleeping, one tickled out and now one sneezed out.

While eating pretzels yesterday Daniel pulled his hand from his mouth and his fingers were covered in blood. Now, Daniel does not do well with blood (remember Sammy's split head incident?) and seeing all the blood coming from his very loose tooth made him quite upset. It was just hanging by a thread, but the thought of pulling it out brought tears to Daniel's eyes. He sat whimpering in my lap (can we say dramatic?). Then all of a sudden he sneezed and said "Oh!?" and pulled the offending tooth out of his mouth. Thank goodness.

I wonder how he will lose his next one. Any guesses?

Memorial Day 2009

We spent all morning at a little hidden beach in Point Loma with some friends. The kids loved playing in the sand and water and the adults got to relax in the warm sun. A perfect way to spend a day off.

Den One Rocks The Padres Game

Suzy, Sammy and I got to join Daniel's cub scout den today for a raucous time at the Padres Game. It was Sammy's first Major League Baseball game, and the Padres decided to stay hot and win it for him, 7 to 2 over the dreaded Cubbies. Daniel had fun with his buddies, Sammy enjoyed his cotton candy, and Suzy and I had a nice time enjoying the game, and hanging out with the other parents.

The last time I took Daniel to a Padres game he was very little, and it was an enormous hassle. Everything from worrying about parking (not wanting to carry him for blocks through the city), how he was going to behave, missing his nap. It all conspired together to make me not want to go to games with the boys. Thankfully today as a test run wiped all of those concerns right out. Both boys were great at the game, they no longer require any assistance to hoof it to the parking garage, and missing nap time now only seems to be a problem for my wife, not my children. I can't believe that I am even saying this, but I might even consider taking them to a night game. Nah, that's crazy talk, but day games, that I would do again.


Sammy, at his first game. Yes, our seats were very far away, but perfect anyway.


A beautiful sight, not a cloud in the sky, about 73 degrees, it cooled down a bit once we got in the shade, a perfect San Diego day.


Five Cub Scouts are in this picture, can you name them? I can, there's David, Cameron, Daniel, Alec and Justin. And their respective families. Hey, where's Suzy?

Daniel enjoying his refreshing lemonade and sporting the awesome looking brown 1984 commemorative batting helmet.

Now Daniel is sporting the current incarnation of his goofy smile. And Sammy is hiding. Can you see him?

Mmmm, cotton candy. Suzy remembered to bring baby wipes, so don't worry. She thinks of everything!

Joy.

Go Padres.

Hiking Boys

We took the boys to Mission Trails Park for a hike this morning. It was a beautiful day for a hike. Blue skies and warm, not hot, weather. The boys did great and loved leading the way.

Snail vs. Jet

Why is it that some weeks seem to drag on forever while others just whip along at jet speed? Well, this has been one of those snail pace weeks and I am so glad it is finally Friday. The past week has had it's share of ups and downs, smiles and tears, busyness and idleness. I feel emotionally and physically spent and am looking forward to three days of rest and rejuvenation. Yes, three days should do just fine. I just hope that this weekend resembles a snail more than a jet.

Growing

Sammy and I hung out a Starbucks this morning to kill some time. I got a hot chocolate and chocolate croissant (love, love these) for Sammy, thinking, 'I'll get whatever Sammy doesn't finish." Well, I should have thought about the fact that Sammy and Daniel have been packing away food like it is going out of style. Daniel often eats more than either Dan or I at dinner. Sammy just scarfed down the croissant (sniff, sniff) and all I got was the dregs of the cold hot chocolate. Sigh. Next time I will have to remember to get my own croissant because these boys are growing and there is no stopping it.

Do you believe in miracles?

Tonight Netflix provided Herb Brooks, Mike Eruzione, Lake Placid, 1980, Gold Medal. The Miracle on Ice. A classic moment in sports history. Heck a classic moment in our nation's history. Kurt Russell starred in Miracle, a movie I had been meaning to watch for a while now, but never had gotten around to it.

Suzy and I have a deal. She suffers through my movies, sometimes, and I try to put movies in our Netflix Queue that I think she would like. So tonight we are finishing off Miracle (movie watching in our home is still usually a two night affair) and we have reached the exciting conclusion to the film. Five minutes left in the hockey game, dramatic music, tension dripping from the TV. Suddenly a voice rings out from Suzy's comfy chair,

'I fell asleep, what happened?'

'You fell asleep? It is 9:15! It the climax of the movie! How could you fall asleep?'

Then I remember whom I am talking to. My wife is a napper. She will take any excuse for a nap. Those of you Tolkien fans will get this reference, Suzy takes naps like hobbits take their meals. Often.

It is a constant, daily fear in our home that Suzy will 'rest her eyes' in the afternoon, and not be awake to go get the boys from school. The true miracle wasn't the US Hockey team beating the unbeatable Soviet team, the miracle is that Suzy managed to stay awake after that and finish the movie.

USA, USA, USA!

Pests

The boys have been pestering each other (at least more than normal) lately and I have to say it has been driving me batty-bat. "Daniel poked me." "Sammy grabbed it away from me." "Daniel's being mean to me." "Sammy is bothering me." Come on boys can't we all just get along? Apparently sometimes not.

Today Daniel came up to me half whining and half crying, "Sammy called me a name."

"What did he call you?" I asked exasperated.

"Katydid!" Daniel cried.

"Are you sure he wasn't just saying the word 'katydid'?"

"Yes! He said 'Hi katydid." he complained.

And that has been my life lately. Oh I hope this will end soon or I will be saying some words a lot worse than 'katydid".

Discovery and Creativity

I went with Sammy's class to The New Children's Museum today. I love this museum. Absolutely love it. It is creative and cool and so fun. Oh and the kids liked it too.

As you can tell from the photos Sammy had just a little bit of fun (understatement of the year). Blowing bubbles. Sammy mostly ran around trying to pop them all.

Rock climbing. That kid sure can climb.

Pillow fight room. The kids really loved this. So did the adults.

Making clay sculptures.

Can you guess what Sammy made?

Peek-a-boo! I love that face.

And the piece de resistance, colored goggles. Very, very handsome.

How could you not have a great time here?

4 Weeks

4 more weeks of school and then it will be summer.

I really don't know where this school year has gone. I guess because Dan and I have been so busy with stuff it has just flown by. I fear that the summer will pass just as quickly. But we have so much fun in store. I am dreaming of hot lazy days, dips at the swimming pool, a visit to Oregon, the county fair, wearing pjs all day long, trips to the beach and parks and the highlight - 3 long weeks in Hawaii. Oh yes, I am looking forward to summer. It will be knocking on my door sooner than I know it. I can hardly wait.

One Berry, Two Berry

We have been having the most amazing Spring days. Sunny and warm and perfect. My garden is loving the sunshine and warm weather and is just exploding. The strawberries and blueberries are ripening everyday and the veggies are flowering and starting to grow tiny fruits. And my roses. Obscene with buds and flowers. Once the gardenia, plumeria, pikake and stephanotis start going it will be like a fragrant paradise out there. Don't you just love this time of year?

Date Night

Just got back from a date with Dan. Dinner and a movie (Star Trek - it was good). Nana has taken the boys for the night and will return them in the morning. Thank you, thank you Nana. You are truly the best!

Ladybugs Galore

Sammy loves ladybugs and is always on the lookout for them, so this morning Sammy and I went on a ladybug hunt. We found a grand total of three ladybugs, although one got away. Since our hunt turned out so poorly we decide to head over to the nursery to see if we could buy some. Sure enough there were ladybugs galore to purchase. 1500 of them! Boy was Sammy excited.

We don't have a very big backyard so releasing 1500 ladybugs into our small garden was pretty cool. They were everywhere. On plants, on the ground, flying through the air, crawling on our arms and legs, in the boy's hair, everywhere. I doubt there will be one aphid left alive by tomorrow morning. Thanks little Miss and feel free to stick around as you are always welcome.

Swinging

We have been having beautiful Spring weather here. Sunshine and clear blue skies all the way. Yesterday Sammy and I found ourselves at our park while out hunting for bugs. Sammy jumped on the swing and I couldn't resist either. Sammy is finally old enough to swing himself although he needs an underdog every once and a while. We swang and swang under the beautiful blue sky. Straining to get as high as possible. Lean forward, pull back, lean forward, pull back. Just like when I was a kid. And then I had to stop because I was getting a little nauseous. But what a perfect day for a swing with my little guy.

When was the last time you took a ride on a swing and tried to touch the sky with your toes?