Battle of Hoth

Today's creation is inspired by Stars Wars (what else is there in a 4 year old's world??). According to the boy, "There's an enemy destroyer that has like a lot of rockets (stops to count them, "1-2-3-4-5-6"), and this here is a 'mightastrator' that gives stuff to people that they don't need." (What I was able to translate: the droid with Loki's staff is the one who gives people unneeded things.)

You may also see Ironman in this set-up...we're not discriminating when it comes to fun!

Jan. 6 Build: Loki's Staff

It's been awhile since we've posted anything, but we're still alive! Just busy keeping up with two preschoolers. Nathan is quite the builder these days and I thought it'd be fun to document his ideas, at least several times a week. Todays' build is Loki's staff. Nathan, the builder, says, "There are guns on top and there's a stick for holding the weapon and I guess that's it." Gotta love a 4 year old! His total knowledge of the Avengers and/or Loki is from Lego.com.

Bedtime Giggles

Both kids skipped naps today and were particularly squirrely by 6pm. I was fighting, with all the grace and good cheer I could muster, to herd them through putting on pajamas, reading stories, brushing teeth, and going potty. If you know how wacky over-tired kids get, you can just imagine how this multi-step routine just begs for chaos. At one point, both kids had their toothbrushes but had run, squealing, out of the bathroom and were in the living room, lounging on the couch and brushing. I scooped Nathan up, and laid him back on my lap saying, "It's dentist time! Let me check you teeth!" He thought that was pretty funny and was surprisingly compliant. I'd just about finished his teeth, and he said, with the million-dollar grin that he has, "Excuse me, dentist. Can I have a toy now?" And we both exploded in giggles.

Sweet prayers

Nathan and Abigail almost fight over who gets to pray at meals. "I'm fuhrst!" "No, it's my turn!" (I just realized how ironic it is that they're fighting over praying...) Grandma Ko has been with us this week and it's so sweet the way Abigail always thanks God for "Grandma visit us." She's also very methodical in thanking God for everyone's (fill in the blank)..."Thank you for Mommy's rice, Daddy's rice, Nathan's rice, Abby's rice..." So sweet.

Nathan has had a pattern to his prayers for quite awhile but every now and then he'll surprise me. There's a boy in his preschool class that always takes toys from other kids and is just generally annoying. This boy has been our "prayer pal" all year (a picture of the boy to remind us to pray for him and his family) but Nathan tends to forget, probably because he's not fond of this boy. Nathan's also been particularly "3" this week, and we've been talking ALL.THE.TIME about listening. So last night when I was tucking him in, he was praying, and said, "...and God, please, PLEASE help me to listen. And thank you for (boy's name from school) and that he's in my class." So sweet.

Argh!

I was sitting at the computer this morning for a few mindless minutes while Nathan finished his breakfast. Abigail was playing on the floor behind me with her large Hello Kitty plush doll (aka Big Kitty). I wasn't really listening to her chattering away until I hear her saying, "Ahoy, me hearties!" I turned around to see Big Kitty with Abby's flower headband as an eye patch (pink of course). The endless imagination of this girl!

A Nature Walk with a 2 year old...

...means you're stopping at least every 2 feet to pick up every leaf, stick, rock within arm's reach. Abigail and I hung out this afternoon while gMa worked in Nathan's preschool class. (Ordinarily, Abby naps while Nathan's at school but I figured she needed some extra TLC since Nathan got special gMa time.) After a rousing session of Dance, Dance Dora (and yes, I got up and did all the Dora dances with her), we decided to go out and enjoy the beautiful spring (in February??) day by taking a "nature walk" around the neighborhood. We came home with a bag full of dead leaves, various sticks, and some rocks. I was also able to persuade her that we should bring home some cherry blossoms from a nearby tree (I only picked a few of the branches that were hanging over the sidewalk!). A walk around the block took us nearly 45 minutes because stopping to look at all those "treasures" was a very important job. And the sweet little girl who actually wanted to hold my hand today was definitely my favorite part!

Daddy's Traveling

We had a nice, lazy weekend. John and the kids stayed in their pajamas most of Saturday. Yesterday was another low-key day, napping and hanging out after church. This morning John left early for D.C. where he'll be until late Thursday. The kids and I have a busy week planned with plenty of fun with friends, but it's still not the same without Daddy.