There's No One Like You, Tobin Bear

My dearest Tobin,

"You are so special," I often whisper to you as I kiss you goodnight.  "There's no one like you!"

I wonder if your newly-turned-three-year-old brain ever thinks, "Why does she say that so often?"  :)  Just in case you do have that thought someday, I'll go ahead and answer the question now.

In a nutshell, I hope you never feel lost in the crowd of boys in this Fisher family.  To state the obvious, you are not the oldest, nor the youngest.  You are one of four boys.  When we found out during my pregnancy with you that we would have our third son, we heard the phrase "another boy" a lot (and you can imagine how often we heard that after your little brother Shav was born!).  I've previously written about that term:  in particular, how I dislike the connotation it gives, and how I delight in the uniqueness inherent in each of our sons (even if we had a dozen, they would be so different from each other!).  I won't say all of that again, but I will simply say that in my eyes and in God's, you are not just another Fisher boy.  You are so special.  Truly, there is no one like you!

~ outside, during one of the warmer days this winter...when the winter temps get into the 50s, it's time to go outside and work off some energy! ~

Would you like me to tell you some of the things that are uniquely you at this stage of life?  Some of the things that stand out to me when I think about you?  Some of the things that I've noticed about you that bring a smile to my face?  The things I don't want to forget?

You do?  Good!  I'll tell you then!

~ at the end of the mini photo shoot for your hot chocolate mug ~ 

You were a "late" walker, of course; and your scooting method of getting around drew a lot of attention.  But more subtly, when you started walking and even as a two-year-old, you had such a jaunty walk.  Without saying a word, your walk seemed to communicate, "I'm important, and I have something to do and somewhere to go."  I haven't seen that certain bounce in your step for a while, but I have fond memories of that jaunty little Tobin walk.

~ when I took this picture of Shav the Boy with Shav the Bear, you wanted me to take a picture of you with one of our Christmas teddy bears, too...I was glad to do so...I'm not sure if you even made the connection, but it just so happened that during this picture, in your right hand, you're holding something that {almost} shares your name:  Toby the train from Thomas the Tank Engine! ~

You have a very cute way of being totally serious and earnest as you explain things and make conversation.  You'll pause, tip your head to the side, act as if you're searching for the right word.  You use filler words, like "and" and "um," as if to keep the attention on you so that you don't lose your audience before you've said all that you want to say.  Your speech is getting clearer; but even when I had a difficult time understanding your words, I still felt like you tried very hard to have deep conversations because you were just so serious about the "words" coming out of your mouth!

More linguistic memories:
~ "No" was an easy word for you, of course.  You would draw it out into quite a long word sometimes.
~ For the longest time, when you wanted to communicate "yes," you would say "ah!"  In fact, it's only been within the past few days that you've switched it to "yeah," and when you made that switch, it was sudden.  It almost seemed like one day it was "ah," and the next it was "yeah."
~ You don't hesitate to say a commanding "c-mere" (for "come here") when you want me to come to you or take a look at something, and sometimes you'll do a little gesture with your hand as well.
~ You used to say "oh, dear!" quite often, but have seemed to drop that habit.  What I've noticed you saying a lot recently is "OK?", particularly at the end of sentences.  You might say, "Me do it, OK?" or "Me not eat it, OK?"
~ One of the sweetest phrases that was uniquely a Tobin thing was adding an extra "you" after the verbs in sentences.  For example, "Daddy loves me" was, coming from your lips, "Daddy love you me," and the request "help me" was "help you me!"

~ on Christmas morning, listening to Daddy read the final portion of Bartholomew's Passage ~

You're growing up so fast and so much!  You're the little guy who used to scoot around and "steal" everybody's shoes, even taking them off people's feet!  And then you would put them on your own feet, almost always backwards, right shoe on left foot, and left on right.  Somehow that changed, and these days I rarely catch you stealing shoes.  :)  Also these days, you usually get your shoes on the correct feet!

Speaking of growing up and maturing...you and David, in particular, still have frequent moments of pushing each other's buttons and rubbing each other like sandpaper.  I am looking forward to the growth that I am sure will be happening this year in this area!  :)  But one little technique I've used to help you in this is the phrase, "After you're done with it, may I please have it?"  When one of your brothers (most often, David) has something that you think you need right then(!), you are slowly but surely learning to resist the temptation to reach out and snatch it from him, but instead to say, "After you're done with it, may I please have it?"  Of course, in your adorable pronunciation in which you frequently leave off the initial consonant sounds, it doesn't come out quite like that; but we know what you mean, and that question goes a long way to preserve peace and harmony between you and your brothers!

~ showing off your new hot chocolate mug on Christmas morning ~

You LOVE to pray!  When we sit down to eat lunch and I call on Josiah to pray, your voice pipes up first.  Or when we're doing school and read Window on the World and start to pray for whatever country we just read about, you always want to pray first, and I usually have to shush you gently so that your brothers can have their turns to go first!  Your prayers are usually very specific, sometimes lengthy, and always full of gratitude.  For example, at lunch you might say, "Thank You, God, for food.  Thank You, God, for milk.  Thank You, God, for cheese.  Thank You, God, for apples.  Thank You, God, for cups.  Amen!"  Or at night, you might thank God for your bunk bed, your Bible, your blankets, "Oddy" (your pronunciation of Shavi), me, and other assorted things that come to your mind.  One night recently, as you were praying before I tucked you in, David and Josiah were both in the room with us because they had listened to me read a bedtime story to you and were waiting their turn for me to tuck them into their beds.  You started praying, and you happened to still be holding your new-to-you-but-really-passed-down-from-your-big-brothers Bible.  You started thanking God for "this page," and then as you turned the page, you thanked Him for the next page, and then another page turn and another prayer of gratitude for that page.  David said out loud what I was only thinking inside when he exclaimed, "This is going to take all night!"  :)

~ eating snow back in December:  your favorite part of being out in the snow was eating it, so when we had to come in because I was concerned you were getting too cold, I decided to scoop up a bowl and let you eat it at the table!  :)

You are very good at falling asleep, and sometimes you even do it in your bed!!  ;-)  Other times, you end up sleeping on the floor, and that doesn't seem to bother you.  Even when you do fall asleep in bed, it's not unusual to find a book or toy on top of you; you don't seem to mind!

Now as a three-year-old, you've almost given up naps (except recently when you've been sick; the past few days you haven't felt well, and you have taken a nap without any protest).  That's earlier than I planned for you to make that transition, but not all three-year-old boys go by their mother's plan books.  :)  The way it happened was like this:  I would tuck you in after lunch for a nap, but you would not fall asleep, so you would look at books in bed for a while (you always seem to accumulate quite a stack in your bed!) and then pop out of bed.  I finally decided that I wasn't going to fight it so I didn't try to force you to get back in bed.  I simply required you to stay in your room and play quietly (although we're still working on training you to do that because you get so tempted to get into the hallway to see what's going on downstairs or to peek into Josiah and David's room to see how the Lego project is going, etc.).  I knew at some point, you would transition from having an afternoon nap to having quiet time just like Josiah and David do; I just didn't know it would be this soon!  However, I've discovered two significant advantages to this.  First, it makes it so much easier for you to go to sleep at night when you haven't had a nap.  Bedtime used to be somewhat challenging because you would call out, need a drink, or invent some excuse for continued people contact when you really should have been quietly falling asleep in your bed!  But without an afternoon nap, you almost always fall asleep at night very quickly, and that's wonderful.  Second, now that you're on the verge of being completely potty-trained, having you awake in the afternoon makes it easy for you to go to the bathroom during those hours if you need to.  You have been in underwear during some naps and stayed dry, but of course it's easier to stay dry if you're awake and can go to the bathroom when necessary!

Speaking of potty training...you were the easiest child we've potty trained so far!  Some months ago, when I was still in the stress of adjusting to four young children in the house, I started the potty training process with you; but I quickly realized that stressing out about it and rushing you was just not worth it.  So I backed off!  In this area, I let you take the lead; and it was such a peaceful, enjoyable process (of course, you had accidents occasionally, but overall you really did great).  I could hardly believe it.  :)    Back in mid-September, we wanted to encourage you along a little bit since the process seemed to be lagging, so we brought out the big guns:  M&Ms for incentive.  :)  One if you peed in the potty, and two if you pooped in the potty.  The results were dramatic:  the very next day, you had your first really successful day.  No accidents at all, and you even wore underwear on an outing to play mini golf, and you stayed dry.  Fantastic!  And totally worth the M&Ms we've given you during the past four months.  :)  These days, I only put you in a diaper for nighttime which I don't mind doing.  I did notice on the morning of January 9 that your diaper was dry, so maybe I'll get brave and try you in underwear all night long fairly soon.  We'll see...I'm not in a rush...I'm just proud of you for how you've taken responsibility in this area and done so well!!  :)

~ one of your favorite after-dinner activities is listening to Grandma read you a story (the other one is tickling/wrestling with Daddy!) ~

Here are a few videos to capture the essence of you:  you take brushing your teeth very seriously (after you do it a while, I finish up)  :)...

...and you have a blast playing with your brothers.  You're especially quick to learn from and imitate Josiah and David, and you try to keep up with them in their games and activities.

Finally, here's one more oh-so-precious thing about you.  When I ask, "What's your name?", your response is always, "Tobin Bear!"  The way you pronounce "Tobin" is more like "Bobin," but you always add "Bear" at the end.  :)

Ah, yes, you are my Tobin Bear.  One of a kind, formed by God from the top of your head to the tips of your toes, infinitely valuable in His sight and in ours, you are indeed a unique creation.

I love you more and more as each day passes and as you grow and develop and change and show your personality.  I will never stop thanking God for giving me the privilege of being your mommy.  You are an amazing gift that God gave me on your birthday!

Tobin Bear, I adore you!

With a heart full of love,
Mommy

Will Stand for Applause

With only a few weeks to go until Shav hits the 18 month mark (the age at which my boys "normally" take their first steps), he's progressing right along, perfectly on schedule.  Who cares that all the child development books say he's late?!  :)  He's an expert at cruising, but his big, new accomplishment recently is standing up by himself, without pulling up on something.  See?

It's amazing what a person Shav will do for a little public acclamation!

And speaking of Shav, I was really hoping that this would be the year in which his sleep habits would show marked improvement.  I was looking forward to many nights of peaceful, all-night-long sleep.

So far, we're 0 for 3.

Sigh.

I love him anyway.  ;-)

With a Bang and a Song

It's a good way to start a year:  staying up until midnight and enjoying the excitement that fact--midnight!--brings to the two oldest boys (the two youngest are sound asleep in their beds), playing a game of Skip-Bo with them during the last minutes of 2010, waking up Daddy who's sleeping on the couch, so that we can go outside on the patio and...

...celebrate with firecrackers and sparklers...

...and bang pots and pans!  

Even our rooster got into the act and started crowing.

Silly rooster.  ;-)

And then, after some hours of sleep, a day of being at home as a family, working together on various projects (Jeff did garden stuff, the big boys helped to carry wood, Tobin climbed the tall mulch pile behind our woodshed, I helped my mother organize her new kitchen).  Then quiet time in the afternoon, for most of the members of the family.  I spent my quiet time with my hands in the dishpan, which was lovely since not only did I bring order and cleanliness to my kitchen, I also got the chance to mull over my one resolution for this year.  After that, I sat on the living room floor with Shav; and, as he climbed around me and on me, I finished organizing my file box.  To completely finish a project is such a wonderful feeling!

Supper this evening was provided by Jeff:  ground bear and deer meat, given to us by one of Jeff's customers.  Jeff formed it into hamburger patties and grilled them, and I didn't have to do much for dinner!  But that leads to a question:  if they're made out of bear and deer meat, are they still called hamburgers?  ;-)

The crowning touch (and, oh, what a crown!) on this superb day was the annual Harmonia Sacra singing at Weavers Mennonite Church.  I've written before about these wonderful sings, but I know there's no way to adequately portray in words the joy I gain from participating in one of these.  I can't help but beam as I sing, I smile as I get up to take a turn in leading, I float home in a cloud of happiness, I gush about it to Jeff (who kindly stays home with the boys so I can go...although tonight, one of my sons chose to go with me...at the end of the video below, you'll see his face and know which one it was)...I'm energized by the whole experience, and it always takes me a while to unwind after it.  :)  New Year's Day wouldn't be the same without the delightful tradition of attending that sing.

Amidst the singing tonight, I paused briefly to snatch a little video of it.  It goes without saying that the video doesn't do it justice.  I really think you'd have to be there to experience the beauty and the majesty and the glory of the voices lifted in praise, using the same words and tunes that have been used since 1832.  But here's a snippet of "Hosanna."  I wish I was still there, singing it again and again...

Hello, 2011; you are most welcome.  I'm so glad you're here!

The Year Gone By

In my very first post of this year, I reflected back on 2009 and included the header pictures I used each month.  I've enjoyed looking back on that post so much that it wasn't hard to decide to do it again for 2010.  (And a big THANK YOU to my uber talented friend Lisa who originally inspired me to change my header and blog look monthly!)  :)

~ Wild and Sweet Christmas by The Cutest Blog on the Block

~ Fresh Fall by The Cutest Blog on the Block

~ Classic Candies by The Cutest Blog on the Block

~ Back to School Primitive Fall Background by Daisy Gray Design

~ from Hot Bliggity Blog: (which apparently doesn't name their designs, so I can't link to it directly, but as of this writing, the 7th background down when using the search word "paisley")

~ Red, White, and Blue (the top one) by Aqua Poppy Designs

~ Hot Bliggity Blog (again, I can't link to this background exactly; but this link brings up only a few options, and it's obvious which one I used)

~ Watermelon and Ants! by Daisy Gray Design

~ Bubbles n Daises by The Cutest Blog on the Block

~ Valentine's Gift by Blog Designs by Dani

~ Sweetheart by The Cutest Blog on the Block

~ Keeping Warm! by Simply Blog It Backgrounds

I'm trying to decide which one is my favorite, but I just can't.  ;-)

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Another way to recap the year is to scan back through the year's posts and make a list of some of my favorite posts--and maybe these are some of yours too, judging by the feedback I received!  I was originally going to make a Top Ten list, but then I got on a roll and couldn't stop and had to stretch it to 25.  *sheepish grin*

Not Your Average Midlife Crisis 
I Kinda Sorta Did a Photo Shoot 
I'm Going to Have to Fire My Sous Chef 
The Power of Prayer
I Love a Husband Who...
You Might Be a Mother of Boys If...
And Then My Bubble Went POP!
Just a Piece of Blue Cotton
This Is Crazy, Ridiculous, Horrible...
Living in the Lap of Luxury
TTT - Women, Eggs, Mammals, Oh My!
I Try Not to Let Schooling Get in the Way of Learning
13 Years Ago... 
Second Grade - Somehow
TTT - Z's, Bless-You Boxes, and Milk Supply - Oh, My!
The Kind of Mom Who...
The Gum-Chewer
You Just Never Know
The Professor
What Shav Thinks of Grass
The Nicest Compliment
TTT - Christians in the Bible?
You Wasted a Perfectly Good Cake...
Little Trying to Be Big
The Cat and His Boy(s)

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As the year ends, here is a bit of history that I've been pondering through the past month and a half...and that I hope to continue to keep in mind as 2011 begins.  To me, the over-arching lesson of this is NEVER DOUBT THAT GOD IS INVOLVED.  Even though I'm proud of my Southern heritage and have been known to occasionally joke that "the South will rise again!", I'm truly grateful, of course, that the North won the Civil War.  :)  Only God knows how the outcome might have been different, if that rifle had not been stolen.  Without a doubt, God works in matters large and small to accomplish His purposes.

From The Shenandoah Journal, November 16-22, 2010...

The Gun That Could Have Changed History
by Alan Cramer

One of the first repeating rifles ever built in the United States was created near Stokesville.  William Sheffer (or Shaffer, as it is sometimes spelled) was a German-speaking early settler of North River Gap.  he was a respected blacksmith and gunsmith.  Both he and his brother Abraham were exempted from fighting in the Civil War to build wagons and guns for the Confederacy.

Around 1860, Sheffer invented the rifle that would later become known as the "Virginia Pacificator."  One of the first of its kind, the 48-shot repeating rifle had eight magazine tubes that held six rounds each.

As the story goes, the rifle was stolen as Sheffer was on his way to the patent office in Washington, DC.  A patent was eventually secured, but curiously, the rifle was never mass-produced.

If the rifle had been used during the war, it could have changed the course of history.  The gun is now in the Virginia Historical Society Museum in Richmond.

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This morning, I read this prayer by Amy Carmichael in a devotional by Elisabeth Elliot.  Today and every day in the new year, I'll cling to the knowledge that God knows my children better than I do, is more powerful than me to guide and protect them, and loves them with a bigger, stronger love than I can even imagine.

Father, hear us, we are praying,
Hear the words our hearts are saying,
We are praying for our children.

Keep them from the powers of evil,
From the secret, hidden peril,
From the whirlpool that would suck them,
From the treacherous quicksand pluck them,
Holy Father, save our children.

From the worldling's hollow gladness,
From the sting of faithless sadness,
Through life's troubled waters steer them,
Through life's bitter battle cheer them,
Father, Father, be Thou near them.

Read the language of our longing,
Read the wordless pleadings thronging,
Holy Father, for our children.

And wherever they may bide,
Lead them Home at eventide.
~ Amy Carmichael

She, the giver of hope to India's children, had quite a way with words.  Those phrases - "the sting of faithless sadness" - "read the language of our longing" - oh, they're powerful.  I'm always grateful to discover a thinker and writer who expresses better than I can what I'm feeling in my heart.

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To end beautiful 2010, here is one of the sweetest sights and sounds on earth to my blinded-by-mother-love eyes and ears:  my two youngest sons, clad in snuggly sleepers, playing happily together this morning in a Bumper Chair game they invented.  If I can ignore the baskets of laundry to be folded that appear in the video and focus instead on their bubbly laughter and infectious smiles, I'll have grasped what's really important.  I am blessed beyond words...

Oil on My Head

Did you ever read Psalm 133 (about unity between brothers being like oil poured over the head and beard and to the edges of the robe) and think, "Ewwww.  Who would want that?"  ;-)

While it may be true that culturally, we can't quite relate to the significance of oil on the head or the desire to be anointed in such a way, think of how we do use oil.  How about the way it keeps machines going and helps gears mesh without too much friction or overheating?  

In our family, the oil of brotherly unity keeps our wheels turning, and that oil is made up in large part of fun and laughter.  The family that laughs together stays together, right?  

When I watch Tobin playing "chase me" and "peekaboo" with Shav around the couch, I feel the oil refreshing me.

When I see an impromptu concert with my three oldest sons, and no one gets mad at each other or tells their brothers to stop interrupting them, it's oil on my head.

When Tobin wants the stage and I see an older brother hovering in the background, but the older brother doesn't demand attention or do anything to antagonize Tobin, I think, "Well, we're making progress!"  The oil washes over me.

When I watch them, on another occasion, having so much fun together, instead of being The Sandpaper Boys who rub each other the wrong way, I sense more oil being poured out.

When Josiah and David decide to empty the block box so they can both fit inside and I hear their joy, the oil flows again.

Off-topic here, but did you notice in that last video how Shav was cruising around so well with his walker?  Isn't he amazing?  :)

He is doing GREAT with walking when holding on to something, but do you think that boy likes to be enticed and encouraged to take a step alone?

Not at all.

But it will happen.  One of these days, he'll let go and launch out and discover that he possesses the power to walk.  And the delight which will flow from my little band of boys to their littlest brother will be like oil on my head, like oil in the cogs as our life as a family swirls around.

Who's With Me?

Have you heard of Random Acts of Culture?  Have you seen this video?

I love it!  Seriously, how cool is that?!

And ya know, I'm thinking that, even though my neck of the woods might not be the big city of Philly, we could pull off some impromptu culture of our own.  Maybe not with the largest pipe organ in the world...maybe not 650 voices in Macy's...but something.  Something!  My wheels are turning...

Any Rockingham County-ites or Harrisonburgonians want to join me???

;-)

Look Who's Walking!! (Well, Sort Of)

Jeff called to me in the kitchen today:  "Did you know Shav can walk with the chair?"

Uh, no.  I didn't know that.

Now I know it.  :)

The ending is classic.  It's a miracle any of us survive to adulthood, what with all the bumps and bruises and falls and tumbles we endure as children.  Shav was not, by the way, hurt at all.  He cried a tiny bit, just from the indignity of it all, but quickly recovered to cruise some more.  :)

Airport. Waiting. Boys. Entertaining.

I've just about used up my quota of words for today.  I hope these pictures and videos from yesterday are self-explanatory.

See Josiah at the bottom right of the picture?  He was crawling under there so he could surprise Tobin.  It worked.  :)

I couldn't help taking a lot of pictures of Jeff and Shav.  Whew...something about the man you love holding the baby you love...melts me every time.

What does your family do when you're waiting in an airport?  Us?  We do...well...we do some of this:

The moment we were waiting for.  Who can stay completely dry-eyed at that first cry of "Grandma!" and the headlong dash towards her?

Not me, folks.  Not me.

When Time Is Short...

...and words are few,

a video will have to do!

We've been having more issues with our internet connection (or rather, our lack of internet connection), so my blogging has been enduring an enforced rest.  With the few minutes of time I'm allowing myself to blog tonight before I take my weary self to bed, I simply want to record another example of the creative way Jeff cares for our boys.  This isn't the first time Jeff has figured out an out-of-the-box way to bathe--and entertain--them.

These boys are so blessed to have such a fun daddy!

Flashbacks...or, David as a Two-Year-Old

Recently I've been trying to find some extra minutes to spend on a never-ending project:  organizing our pictures on our computer.  Our regular computer plods along like a donkey with too-heavy burdens swinging from its sides:  it eventually gets where it needs to go, but the slowness of the ride is apt to drive a person crazy.  Jeff tells me what percentage of our computer's storage space is used up by my pictures; and although I can't remember the amount, I know it's astonishing.  And so I resolve to organize, delete, label, do everything I want to do before Jeff transfers the picture folders into other storage options.  Being a perfectionist in this area, I can't bring myself to say, "OK, have at it.  Just transfer the pictures to a disk and be done with it.  I'll sort through them later."  No, I must have them in perfect order before this occurs.  It takes a while, but Jeff is patient with me.  And our old computer plods along...

The good thing about this is that it is incredibly fun to look through old pictures and be reminded of how things were even a few years ago.  The boys have changed so much.  That isn't profound or original or surprising, but it is oh-so-true.  They've changed SO MUCH, to the point of it being a little bittersweet to even see the old pictures and watch the old movies.  I'm so glad we captured those moments, but could we please just go back and relive them?

I've finished the 2007 folder, and found some videos of David that made me smile...and made my heart ache...and made me laugh...and made me sigh.

First, this is David in January 2007; he was one year and nine months old.  Of course, I think he had impressive rhythm skills for being so young!  :)

This was taken two days before David turned two years old.  I'm so grateful that we have a record of how he {so cutely} said the name of each family member.

I thought David would never get around to talking.  His "everything" word was "ah-dah," and he used it for...well...everything.  But finally, just before he turned two, his tongue was loosed, and speech began to pour forth.  This video of him talking was taken on May 5, a few weeks after his second birthday.

David knew his letters at a very young age.  Even though he didn't say much, he was very good with all the letters; and we even joked that he would be reading and writing before he would be talking.  :)  In this video, he was two years and one month; and he had no trouble matching the letters to their appropriate place on the chart.  He's so smart...

...and cute...
...adorable...
...huggable...
...lovable.

A sugarlump of sweetness!

Josiah Is My Son Who...

...tends to be a little bit grumpy during the morning after an evening in which we hold a potluck here. The visual mess and clutter that lingers after such a gathering really bothers him, and he is eager for me to start cleaning it up. :)

He is also my son who notices when I do begin to bring order to the house again, and he says, "Thanks, Mom, for cleaning up the living room."

It's nice to be appreciated. :)

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Josiah is also my son who got out of bed this evening, came over to my room where I was sitting in my rocking chair, looked at my laptop, and said with a dreamy smile on his face, "Can you play that again? And can I turn off the fan in the hall so I can hear it better? I like that music; it makes me sleepy."

This is what I was listening to:

The Funnies

I'm not feeling so hot today. The fever & cold junk that my boys have oh-so-lovingly shared with each other during the past week has come to rest upon me now. I don't feel horrible--just "not very good." Since my goal is an early bedtime tonight (and the thought of that is sustaining me during these daylight hours), I'm just going to do a quick post today. If anybody sees me up blogging near midnight tonight, please go unplug my laptop and make me go to bed, OK? :)

Every once in a while, as I meander through Blogland, I run into something worth saving--so I save it so I can run into it again someday! Here are some things I found recently and enjoyed:

Delicious Words for Lexophiles - things like "I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me." and "When the smog lifts in Los Angeles, U.C.L.A." If you're a fellow lexophile, you'll like this.

And then there's Tim Hawkins' look at "A Homeschool Family."

This has been around for a little while, and I'm sure some of you have seen it before. But it still makes me laugh, probably because (as with all great humor) there's an element of truth to it. Sure, Tim exaggerates and generalizes and stereotypes; but hmmm, I can recognize my family a little bit in it.

Especially the part about the van. Yep, we wish we had one of those. :)

The Next Pavarotti...

...lives in my house, sits on my lap, eats at my table, and sings on my couch.

Want proof?

We're just waiting for all the best music schools to start calling. ;-)

Actually, when I hear him, I can't help but think of the Muslim prayers that blare from the tops of minarets multiple times a day, which we heard often when we lived in Israel. ;-)

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Hannah, this one's for you. I read that you told your mommy Sally that you're going to marry Tobin. I thought you'd be happy to know that he's already practicing how to say, "I do."

And just so you know, I had made this video of him before I read your sweet statement, Hannah. It just so happened that one day, in response to some question, I had answered, "I do." Tobin, being the parrot that he is these days, immediately repeated that. I, being the sentimental woman who remembers just how Tobin's daddy said "I do" on that most glorious day, grabbed the camera to make a video of Tobin's first "I do's." I thought at the time that someday, Tobin's wife would have fun watching how her husband first pronounced those words. I had no idea his future wife would see it so soon. ;-)

Disclaimer: Sally included one on her blog when she wrote about Hannah calling Tobin her husband, and I feel the need for one, too. We do not go around asking the boys, "Oh, who's your little girlfriend?" or any of that nonsense. I feel fine writing here on my blog the cute comments that they make about marriage because they'll never read it until they're old men. :) But let me be clear: we do not push them, even teasingly, to have a girlfriend or think about who they're going to marry. Anything that comes up along these lines (like David's repeated announcements that he's going to marry Joelle) is straight from their own minds!

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Tobin is truly at the parroting stage. I'll say, "We're going to the swimming pool," and he'll cock his little head and say, "Imming ool?" Or I'll tell him, "Grandma's getting corn on the cob for us," and he'll say, "Orn ob?" Of course, after all of his questions, I have to say again, "Yes, swimming pool," or "Yes, corn on the cob." It's no wonder toddlers learn new words at such an explosive rate; they figure out how to get them repeated fifty thousand times a day. I'd be able to learn Spanish or Swahili or Chinese with no problem if I heard it that often. :)

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Another linguistic thing Tobin does is to holler, nearly at the top of his voice, "Mom?" It's exactly what Josiah and David do when they need something and I'm not nearby, or when they don't know where I am and they're trying to find me. When they call me, I just answer back, "What?" and then they know where I am and how loud they really need to make their voice. (Sometimes they think I'm far away, but I'm really just around the corner, so they don't have to talk so loudly!) When Tobin does it, I answer, "What?" but then there's silence. He doesn't really know what to say next. If it's Josiah, he can answer, "I was just wondering where you were," which he often does; or if it's David, he can say, "I can't get the dishwasher open," which he often does. But with Tobin, I'll call, "What?" forgetting that he can't express everything he's thinking. When Tobin addresses me, he normally calls me Mommy; but when he calls out like this, he's learned from his big brothers to just say MOM!

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Tobin has started praying. Sometimes I'll have him repeat after me, something like, "Dear God, thank you for this food. I love you. Amen." But other times, one of us will be praying; and he will start mumbling, too. I can't make out all of his words, but his "Amen" is usually clear. And sometimes, if Jeff is praying and Tobin either thinks he's taking too long or Tobin senses that Jeff is getting close to the end of his prayer, Tobin will say "Amen!" even if Jeff isn't quite done. :)

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I needed to change and wash Tobin's sheets today. First, I needed to find the sheet. Here's what I found on top of it:

~ lamb puppet

~ Baby Bible Devotions book

~ handle of a makeup brush (unused - the boys like to pretend to paint with it)

~ green tractor

~ green truck

~ I Can Go Potty book

~ stuffed puppy from Jenny Sacra

~ squishy ball

~ police car with Hebrew writing on it

~ "Daddy's Jeep" - not the real one, fortunately

~ Harold the Helicopter

~ doctor's kit

~ telephone from another doctor's kit

~ Cows in the House book

~ teddy bear that my kindergarten teacher gave him when he was born

~ Tootle book

~ My Little Bible book

After that, I looked behind and to the side of the bed. Between the bed and the walls, I found these items that had at some point been taken into the bed with Tobin and had then fallen or been pushed off:

~ pink pig that "oinks" when you push its stomach

~ Goodnight Moon book

~ Pinocchio puzzle book in Hebrew

~ My Pal Al stuffed animal

~ Colors book

~ I Love You As Much book

~ unidentified strange animal (toy from a kids' meal at a fast-food restaurant)

~ stuffed monkey

~ old glow bracelet that doesn't glow anymore

~ dust jacket to Papa, Do You Love Me?

~ board book in Hebrew

~ My Little Book of Love

~ Rescue Heroes board book

~ another board book in Hebrew

~ house from his train set

~ bridge support from his train set

~ milk can from his train set

~ Curious George Visits a Toy Store book

~ All I Am book

~ Mama, Do You Love Me? book

~ Hermie the caterpillar stuffed animal

I'm not kidding or exaggerating or making this up.

Clearly, I need to clean between his bed and the walls more often.

And clearly, the boy LOVES to take stuff into bed with him. Before I tuck him in for naps or at night, he goes around and grabs things to take with him. He'll go to the train table, choose an engine, hold it up, and say, "Beb?" "Yes," I'll reply, "you can have that in bed with you." I guess I started it all when I put books in his crib with him to help along his love of reading. I think it worked, but now it's extended to a love of books...and tractors...and numerous stuffed animals...and trains...and plastic dinosaurs...and one time, I went in to check on him in the night and found several pieces of train track attached to a BIG piece from the Thomas set. It was a bridge that made sound when trains would go under it or trucks would go over top. He's proven that he doesn't mind sleeping with/next to/underneath various hard, noisy objects so I shouldn't have been surprised, I guess.

One Sunday afternoon recently, Jeff laid down in Tobin's bed to snuggle with him and get some sleep. I asked him later, "Did you have a nice nap?" His honest reply was to shrug and say, "Well, he has about a hundred toys in his bed." In other words, not really.

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Oh, Tobin Bear. There is no one like you, and we are so glad God has put you into our family so we can watch you grow and see your personality unfold. You are a treasure, and I love you so much it hurts.

It even hurts worse than sleeping on a wooden block or a metal train. ;-)

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One more thing...my latest recipe for The Foodie Spot is here. Well, it's a recipe AND a bit of a rant; but the recipe is good, even if the rant isn't.

The Second Law of Thermodynamics...

...is true. My house proves it. If I do not regularly go around and straighten up, putting things away, and bringing order to it, it quickly degenerates into chaos. Twenty-four hours without "redding up" can bring disorder to every single room of the house, it seems. It's amazing, in a very disheartening sort of way. Sigh.

My observation of this Second Law of Thermodynamics at work in my house came into clear focus this evening when we got a phone call about 6:00 PM from some friends asking if they could come over around 9:00 PM. Of course, they could; we'd be delighted to have them! At that point, as I looked around at our stuff scattered every which way, I had two choices: stick with Plan A and go to our local lawn party with the family as planned and then do a quick (extremely quick) clean-up of the living areas when we got home or switch to Plan B and stay home from the lawn party to clean up the house. I went with Plan A. To paraphrase something Jeff said tonight, "No one ever gets to the end of their life and says, 'I wish I would have cleaned more'."

Anyway, I'm not going to post pictures tonight of the messes that suddenly spring up every time I turn my back. Instead, here's a video I took yesterday afternoon while Tobin was having his nap.

The noise in the video is coming from the train, a battery-operated one that rolls along by itself. In this case, Tobin had turned it on and was holding it in his hand when he fell asleep. The noise and vibration obviously didn't bother him...and neither did the fact that he had a hard plastic dinosaur resting on his face. I'm not at all sure I could sleep like that; but what can I say, he's a boy of many talents.

The next time I think to myself that I'd like to sleep like a baby, I'll change the phrase to...

..."sleep like a Tobin!" :)

A Whole Lotta...

...movies! Home movies, that is. My boys love watching these things, especially when we go back in the archives a few years and dig up some old ones. It's fun to say, "Look, David, that's you! Look how small you were!" And he says, "That looks like Shav!" :)

Maybe in 2015, we'll be sitting around watching these movies and laughing together--all because I took the time to post them on a lazy Saturday night.

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Typical Tobin talk...Jeff taught me to just stop and listen to Tobin when he starts talking like this. I used to try to figure out exactly what he was saying, and I would repeat to him the words I thought I heard. But then I saw how Jeff just listened attentively to Tobin and how that encouraged Tobin to continue to talk, so now I imitate Jeff and have a lot of fun listening...even if I can't understand a word. ;) At least in this video, I can understand "bird" and "two!"

Josiah and David "conducting" a song they've heard only once (at the most recent SVCC concert). I particularly like what happens right at the end of this video, when I zoom in to see what Tobin is up to. ;)

More Tobin talk...he's especially interested in telling me something about a fire truck. :)

Even more Tobin talk...just for me to remember how he says certain words at this stage of his life.

Tobin riding the tricycle.

One day, Tobin was so tired that he fell asleep at the table, sitting up. Well, mostly up, that is. Except for when he started to lean to the side. :)

David getting a "roller coaster" ride on the swing last evening. He sits on the swing, I twist him up, then pull him back so that he's doing a combination of swinging and twisting. And that is a roller coaster, according to my boys. Excuse the first few seconds of crazy camera motion; I pressed "record" but then had to use my hands to hold the twisted swing to swing it, and I couldn't pick up and hold the camera steady until after I'd let David go.

Josiah's turn for a roller coaster.

I love my boys. And I love capturing little snippets of their lives in this way!

A 1st for My 1st & a 1st for My 4th

My first son had a big first today: his first solo violin recital! He played "Allegro" (as did 3 other students in the recital...that's how it goes with early beginner recitals, I suppose), and I got to accompany him on piano. He played excellently. Could I be any more proud?? :)

Later this afternoon, my fourth son had a first as well: his first time sitting up playing with toys! Up until now, he's always been in the Bumbo or the farm-toy-exersaucer-thingie or lying down on his playmat or in the playpen or in the johnny jump-up (in his opinion, the best invention ever made). But today, I decided to see how he would do with sitting up (to be clear, he didn't get himself into a sitting position; I put him in it). Last time I tried, he promptly fell over; but that has been quite a while ago, and it was obvious today how much he has progressed. I could see him start to lean and then regain his balance. Only occasionally did he do a slow descent to the side, too far for him to recover by himself; and only once did he do a real fall (landing on a pillow I had placed beside him for such a time). It was really fun to see him in this position, and it reinforced to me how far he's come from the infant stage. My boys typically develop their large-motor skills so slowly that they seem to take forever to leave babyhood behind and move on to being toddlers. Babies born after them are running circles around them while they tentatively take their first steps. But I really don't mind. Immobility has its advantages. :) Nevertheless, it's always exciting to see the development of my little sweethearts.

A violinist and a sitter-upper! Hooray for my boys! :)

No, David!

Jeff got home a little on the late side tonight; spending 11 and a half hours cutting hair can be draining. Not only that, but he met a friend for prayer and Bible study at 6:00 AM which made for a nice early morning...and then when he got home from work, he headed to the garden to take care of his babies (AKA onion plants), fertilizing and watering them before coming inside for his own supper. Then he zonked on the couch, and I don't blame him. Sometimes I think I have such a busy schedule with so many demands for my time; but then I think about the weight of the burdens he carries on his shoulders, and my job seems easier!

What I wanted to say though is that during the late afternoon, knowing that Jeff wouldn't be home for a while, I took some time to sit with David and Tobin, click on the "Grab the Popcorn..." category here on my blog, and watch the videos that I've previously posted. It was so much fun! I laughed until the tears rolled down my cheeks, prompting David to look over at me and ask in amazement, "Are you CRYING?" I also made a decision: I should post more videos of our daily life. There's nothing like a video to sweep you back in time. Seeing the clothes my boys wore in those videos, seeing items in the house, hearing their young voices, observing their body language, being reminded of the uniqueness that is THEM, etc. - all of that makes those videos almost unbearably precious to me.

So here are videos - lots of them - that show this stage in our lives and the triumph of David being able to read A Real Book, a first for him. The first day he read this book, I took a video of him reading it straight through; but when I tried to post it, I realized it was far too big of a file. Today, I finally got around to having him read it again for me so I could film it in little snippets that were small enough to post.

When I originally filmed David reading it, Josiah then wanted a turn with reading it for the camera; he did it as fast as he could since it's such an easy book for him. But the real value of that video for me is the brotherly interaction that is captured, with various interjections from David and Tobin and even a little jab that Josiah throws towards one of David's interruptions. :) And then the thing that really cracked us up: Tobin "learning to read" from David's example. Tobin recognizes this book; and whenever he sees it, he's quick to blurt out a "no, Day-dee!" He likes to do that on every single page. :)

These boys! What treasures they are! And these days! How precious!!

* By the way, today's my day to post on The Foodie Spot, so for my own memory's sake, I want to mention here that posted a recipe for Sour Cream Cornbread. Someday when I get this portion of my blog printed out in book form (when I have gobs of free time to use for projects like that!), I'd like to include the recipes I've posted there. I'm sure that free time will be coming along any day now, right? Right?? :)

The Power of Wheels

The theme of this week - at least, here on my blog - seems to be power. And so, here is another example:

I'm not sure that I, even if I thought long and hard, could come up with a better (simpler, more practical) example than this to show the scientific principle of how wheels make loads lighter. Imagine - our little Tobin can, all by himself, push not only the weight of the tricycle but also the weight of his big brother David. Impossible without wheels!

I was glad to catch this impromptu "science experiment" on video so that someday, I'll be able to remind Tobin of how STRONG he was as a 2 year-old. :) Oh, and there's another science principle demonstrated in the video, too - the law of gravity, as Josiah gets tickle-wrestled off the couch and lands on the floor. That's how Daddy & Sons tickling matches usually end up around here.

A Little Child Will Lead Them

Josiah is fairly determined to finish his second grade work by the end of April, so tonight after the boys were in bed, I used my "me time" to plan out a tentative schedule for his school work so that we can meet his goal. That ate up my blogging time, but I didn't mind because it was time well spent. Josiah will be pleased tomorrow to see my plans and to have a visual reminder of what we need to accomplish during the next eleven or so weeks, and the thought of the gorgeous month of May with no official school to be done makes me a little giddy.

So, with only a few minutes until I turn into a pumpkin at midnight, I'll just post this short video and call it a night. I actually didn't intend for the video to be quite this short, but the camera battery was too low to take any more video so the movie production came to a screeching halt. Regardless, it still shows Tobin's new form of dance. He goes to our toy electric keyboard, pushes the button to make a song play, raises both hands in the air, starts to march, keeps the left hand raised, and then lifts and lowers his right hand. Why he came up with this particular dance, I have no idea. But it amuses me--and does my heart good--to see how David and Josiah imitate him. So many times, the younger boys follow the older ones; but it's refreshing to see the pattern occasionally reversed. It makes me think of Isaiah 11:6. You think we'll be dancing like this in heaven? :)

Have You Seen This?

My Aunt Elaine sent me a link to this video. I can't watch it without getting all choked up. The incredible musical gifts this young man has are amazing! And to think that the vast majority of people in the US would say a baby in utero with those defects should be aborted. Shameful! And then to see the loving relationship between this father and his son...well, I just can't help but get teary-eyed. Whew, let me go grab a tissue...