Convictions

Todd got off for MLK Jr Day on Monday.  He was going to take Henry out for some special one-on-one time while I did school with Josiah.  He took him to the movie theater to see Paddington.  However, before they even got out of the car Henry told Todd that he didn't want to see Paddington because he (Paddington) makes bad decisions so he did not want to watch it.  (He had seen the preview for Paddington last summer when they went to see Planes Fire & Rescue.)  Then when they drove back home, Henry says, "Daddy, I didn't like your fun thing."  At least he has convictions.  Meanwhile Josiah had a FIT when he learned what they were doing.  We were going to take him this weekend by himself as a special one-on-one time.  What we've learned is that the boys prefer to do things together.  Parent fail.  And still no one has seen it.

Although we were told that we would need winter coats here, we don't believe it.  This week has been gorgeous and has been in the high 60s/low 70s.  We've gotten to play outside most every day.  Tuesday we played outside a little longer than anticipated when we discovered that we were locked out of our house.  I distinctly remember checking the door to make sure it was unlocked (several times).  However, we do have an unnamed child who likes to go back inside for various reasons by himself/herself without telling anybody.  I am thinking that is how we got locked out.  Fortunately, I had my phone on me and could text Todd to please come save us.  He had convocation that day, so instead of going to that, he came and let us back in.

one of the many faces of Henry

This is a very popular car with all 3

Josiah did well at CC this week.  He wanted to give his presentation on helicopters.  He had taken apart his Lego airplane (the one that took 3.5 hours to build) and rebuilt it as a helicopter (only taking 2 hours to build).  We decided to check out a bunch of books from the library about helicopters and he used one of them during his presentation to describe how they were made.  It went pretty well.  I asked him what he likes best about CC and he said, "art and snack."  Right now they are studying painters for their fine arts and then trying to do a painting in a similar fashion as the artist.  This week was Georgia O'Keefe and Josiah painted a huge rose.  Last week was Norman Rockwell and since his pictures/paintings tell a story, they had to have their painting tell a story as well.  He painted planes flying and putting out fires.  Unfortunately it had rained the night before so there was no playground time.

Caroline got an early birthday present from Grandad & Nana.  A backpack of her very own.  (She is always putting on the boys' backpacks.)  Of course, she loves it and wears it around the house.  When we got ready to go to CC on Friday, she grabbed her backpack and put it on.  It was very cute to see her grab it, but it also sort of ended an era for us.  I cleaned out her diaper bag and put a few diapers in her backpack.  Now we are diaper bag-less.

Her reaction when she first got the backpack

Ready for CC on Friday (her hat was an accessory put on by her, not necessary for weather)

Caroline's prayers have gotten more sophisticated.  Now she says, "I pay. I pay. Uhhhhhh. Daddy. Uhhhhhh. Mommy.  Uhhhhhh. Siah. Uhhhhhhh. DaDa (Henry). Uhhhhhhh. Amen."  Henry likes to tell me during all of her prayers that he can't understand what she's saying.  I just say, "God does.  He understands her."
She also let us know that she no longer needs to wear zipper pajamas.  Todd went to get her after she woke up Saturday morning and she was naked in her crib.  Fortunately she had only gone pee in her diaper, but just the thought of what could have happened is enough to not use those pajamas again!

For some reason last night she didn't want to go to bed and was up until 10pm with me. At first I tried to keep her in bed and just snuggle, but after an hour of her not going to sleep, I gave up and had her come clean up the kitchen with me. She was playing with her stroller, and ended up strapping herself in to it. She used her feet to roll herself around the kitchen.

standing up, strapped in the stroller

Strolling around at o'dark thirty

We've gone to Second Baptist Church the past two Sundays.  It is a little further away than we'd like, but the boys really liked it the first Sunday we went.  So today we got there early enough for us to try both Sunday school & the service.  The boys started off their morning in a big room and they sing and dance in there and do puppets and lots of fun stuff.  Josiah had a good time.  Henry told us that he did not like it and that he cried louder and louder so that we would hear him.  "Did you hear me?" he asked us.  When the other children were singing and dancing around, Henry said he sat on the floor.  When we asked him if he would participate next week, he said matter-of-fact that, no, he was not going to sing and dance.  This kid sticks to his guns.  It helped that Josiah was in there with him, but not enough to get him off the floor.  They both like the classroom time afterwards.
This week, the church had Dr. Ben Carson at the service.  He gave his life story and he was amazing.  He spoke about Joseph and how no matter the circumstances he was in, he always did his best, always made the best of the situation.  We left wanting to work a little (lot) harder at being better parents, spouses, and followers of Jesus.