Oaten Cake

We have a new family tradition of eating oaten cake for breakfast. It is a healthy whole wheat oat cake. Most of us love it. Or maybe most accurately, we all like it except Theo. Jack is by far the biggest fan. Even to the point that Theo was overhead the othe morning saying, "Jack, you know my life would have been a lot better off if you had never liked oaten cake!" #firstworldproblems

How can Jesus be everywhere?

The other day I was talking to Eliot and he asked me how Jesus could be in his heart and everywhere at the same time. I was getting ready to explain this concept to Eliot (somehow) when he quickly said, "There must be a hole he can get out (pause) like your ear!"

73 Degrees in Mid-March

After Bible Study today, we decided we should have a fun lunch. We headed to Chik-Fil-A and then took it as a picnic to the park. Later that day someone asked us if we met anyone there. I paused and then said, 'yes, four of our best friends!' What better way to spend a 73 degree day in mid-March?

Six Years Old and No Teeth

A New Way to Fall Asleep: Count Elements

Theo just came out of his room and asked me if I knew of any way that he could get to sleep faster. I told him that I thought not walking out to the kitchen would help. I then suggested he count sheep to which he said, 'yeah or elements'. Sure why not? #thelifeofTheo

Let Them Eat Cake!

When your sixth birthday and studying the French Revolution fall in the same week the only solution is to 'Let Them Eat Cake!" We had a great at Classical Conversations today!

Theo and Chili

Theo was having a particularly hard time eating his dinner tonight. Long after dinner had finished, he wanted to try again. We told him he had to eat five bites of chili and then that could serve as his no thank you portion, which means he could move to another dish/side. Well, Charles and I left the room, and he came in and told us that he had eaten five bites. It was immediately obvious that he had eaten the five smallest bites possible - not five normal-sized bites. We didn't fall for it, and things started to spiral downward.

After about five minutes in his room sobbing, Theo got it together to walk back out to the kitchen to call Charles back to the bedroom. He got back in bed and said, his voice choked with emotion, 'Dad, I worked really hard to eat those five bites, and I don't think you are appreciating it.' Charles acknowledged that it was hard for him, but that five bites wasn't unreasonable. Theo remained despondent (it's the chili beans in particular that he finds hard), and finally concluded that he would just have to eat in the morning.

It's a tough life with parents like this.

He's not a baby anymore

One of our family's favorite games is the Skittle Game where we yell Skittle any time we see a yellow car. Yesterday I was driving in the car with only Eliot, and I saw a skittle and instinctively yelled 'Skittle'. From the backseat I heard this little voice say, "Hey. Good one Mom."

I chuckled and we headed onto the gym. He went to the playplace at the gym while I went to spinning class. When I picked him up I asked him how his time was. Did he have a good time? Who did he play with? What did he play? Thinking he would tell me loads about his time as he normally does. Yet this time was different. This time he very clearly told me, "I was kind of tired of people Mom so I went and sat by myself."

He isn't a baby anymore. He doesn't miss a beat.

Welcome Mayu

So next week our family is welcoming a Japanese foreign exchange student for a week. As a way to welcome her, we made short videos so that she could get a feel for us. I thought the videos actually were fairly insightful into each kid's personality. Here they are: 

My little organizer

One of our friends just had a baby and a meal schedule has been organized for her. Addie is very interested in this meal schedule. She has had loads of questions:

How do you sign up?
How do you know who to invite?
Do people write down what they are bringing so you don't bring the same thing?
What if they don't like the food?

Literally it was like non-stop question asking over this idea. This is a great insight into Addie's personality. After answering these questions, I commented to Addie 'You really like organizing, don't you?'

Without missing a beat she said, 'Well, I don't really like organizing my stuff, like cleaning my room, but I love organizing other people.'


Well said my lady. Well said. What a cute (and sobering) insight into lots of our own hearts!

Eliot and Ice cream

The other night Eliot had a little bit of ice cream left. You could really tell that he was getting full, but he also was having trouble parting with the ice cream. That is when we heard him very inquisitively ask, 'If you go to sleep with ice cream, does it get in your hair?'

Not his wisest idea. The answer: Yes, my son, yes.

Happy 10th Birthday!

I cannot belive Jack is 10. Time really has flown. We celebrated with some friends by playing dodge ball at the church's gym. We capped it off with pizza and cookie cake. Here is Jack's birthday interview:

Jack's first job - and a costing lesson

Through a weird sequence of events (involving Jack's bike sitting outside), Jack accepted his first job as a doormail deliverer. The gig involves walking to 100 houses and getting paid $.15 per each doormail delivered. Jack did the math and realized that he would make $15. He thought this sounded like a good deal. The first time went well.

When the second round came (roughly every six weeks), the doormail guy asked Jack if he would consider doing 300 houses. Jack quickly did the math and with $45 in his mind he quickly said 'yes'.
Although after some brief reflection, he asked if I would help him. I told him that I would drive him to the right neighborhood but that I thought he should do the bulk of the work by himself. I told him that if he thought he wanted help he could consider hiring Theo to help. He very quickly said, 'Yah, but he is going to want to get paid too!'

After I explained that it was only appropriate that Jack pay anyone who helped him with his deliveries, Jack did decided to ask Theo to help. He went downstairs to negotiate. He came back up and said that Theo would help. I was pleased with this result and asked what they had agreed. Jack said he had told Theo he would pay him $10 to help for an hour.

I then gently told Jack that paying someone by the hour when you are getting paid per item is a dangerous agreement. I asked Jack what he would do if Theo only delivered 20 things in that hour. His eyes got really big when he realized that he may have just struck a bad deal. He then said, 'I don't think Theo would do that, do you?'  I laughed to myself. And then Jack went and agreed to split the route with Theo. Jack would do one side of the road and Theo would do the other and each would get 50% of the pay. Deal done!

Eliot gets even

We were really excited today when Grandad called and asked us to go to lunch with him. It was a fun surprise because we didn't even know he was in town. We decided to meet at Culvers. It was a great time. The kids enjoyed their fizzy drinks, their cheese curds, and their custard. What's not to like?

Well after Grandad had to leave, we were getting ready to leave when Addie did something that made Eliot mad. In his retaliation, he very angrily said, 'Stop it Addie unless I am never gonna play house with you again!'

Too funny. Although in Eliot's defense, this would be a really sad consequence for Addie because she loves it when Eliot goes along with her house shenanigans!

Second Banana

A few days ago we had quite a few things scheduled for the day so we wanted to get a good start on school work. The kids really woke up with some drive. Charles returned home from the gym to find them sitting around the kitchen working. Here is the conversation that transpired:

Addie: Dad, I'm already on my third subject.
Theo: Yeah, I'm already on my second subject.
Eliot (without missing a beat): I'm on my second banana.

Addie's Baseball Knowledge

The other day I was impressed by Addie's knowledge of baseball so I decided I would kind of quiz her on more. So I asked, 'Addie how many innings are in a baseball game?'

She answered, 'I don't know.' I was prepared to be underwhelmed and admit that she didn't know much when she piped up with more...

'You see it depends. There are nine innings but if the score is 5-5 at the end then you keep going until the score is 6-5. It the score is 6-5 at the end of nine innings you stop. If the scored is 6-5 at the end of eight innings you keep going because you have to play at least nine innings.'

Well said Addie. Well said.

Addie, the DH

Addie has really gotten into baseball because she has quickly learned that it is something that allows her to play with her brothers and be fully included. The other day I heard Addie and Theo making up baseball line-ups.

And this is what I overheard:

Theo: Addie you can be DH.
Addie: What is DH?
Theo: It stands for Designated Hitter.
Addie: Okay, I'll be DH.
Theo: Yes, Addie I think you are well suited for it. You don't have to have great speed or anything you just have to hit the ball.

Hilarious - a great backhanded compliment.

Eliot Sayings....

Last night at Bible Time we had two Eliot moments:

• First he told me that he wanted to sit on my wap. Thinking that his lack of saying the letter L correctly, was really cute, I said, 'you want to sit on my wap?'. He was clearly annoyed that I didn't say lap, but incorrectly imitated him by saying wap. He cleverly tried to change his wording, and said 'No I want to sit on your wegs.' 
• Second, he told me that he 'had a mom, a dad, a brother, a sister, and a Jack.' Too cute. 

Who is Always With You?

Tonight Addie woke up from a nightmare. Charles and I went running to her to give comfort. After we had held her for a minute and it was clear she was ready to go back to sleep,  I thought it was worth reminding her that 'It was just a dream. It isn't real, and that Jesus is always with her.'

I started to tell her these things and then prompted her, 'who is always with you?'

She responded without hesitation, 'Eliot'.

Not the answer I was looking for, but fairly true. Charles and I looked over and saw Eliot sleeping across the room from her and smiled. They are really good friends when one is asleep!

Ice Cream with Blueberries

So today we had some friends come over for a play date. I confidently offered all the kids a Popsicle and then realized I didn't have but two Popsicles and collectively we had 7 kids with us. Eliot was still in bed so I thought I would leave him there until I sorted this play date debacle out.

I decided that two kids could have Popsicles and I then enticed the older 4 kids to have vanilla ice cream with blueberries on top as a consolation dish. They were satisfied, more than satisfied.

After they all finished and I had cleaned the kitchen I went to get Eliot up. I walked in and greeted him and then said you want to get up and have a snack. He immediately said, 'Yes. Ice Cream with Blueberries.'

Three observations -

1. Our walls are thinner than I think. 
2. You cannot pass anything by this kid. 
3. He's not a baby anymore.