Theo - Officially On The Bike

I think Theo has been learning to ride his bike for about a year. He shows a bit of interest and then none so it has taken a long time, but over spring break we cracked the nut. Here is a video of him succeeding:

Right after this, he started to be braver and attempted to go down the hill of our cul de sac and try to make the turn. The first time he tried he went straight into the curb and over the handle bars. He landed in the grass and to his credit he got up and wanted to try straight away again.

On his second attempt it became clear to him that the same outcome was coming true again - instead of trying to correct it and turn, he just started yelling 'Oh no! Not Again!' as he soared over the handle bars and into the grass again. It was priceless. A neighbor boy was standing around and was polite enough to not start laughing until he knew Theo was okay. I am afraid I cannot say the same for the rest of us. I so wish I had it on video!

Night Away At Grandmother's and Grandad's

This past week Charles and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary with a night away in a bed and breakfast. My parents very graciously had all four kids. Here is a picture of them with back packs packed ready to go.

They had a great time. Spending the night at Grandmother's and Grandad's always means elaborate breakfast which to four small kids just means lots of bacon!

The funniest story was one that my mom texted us that night. Here is what it said:

'All is well. The children are in bed. Dad and I are sitting in a room watching TV. The monitor all of a sudden says grandmother grandmother we can't get our light off. I went downstairs to solve the problem but Jack had already unplugged the light. I said glad you solved the problem I thought God was speaking to me when I heard the monitor go off. Theo said God would have called you Julie. God doesn't have a grandmother.'

Too funny.

Pre-School Cool

Today when I went to pick Eliot up from his Seeds of Promise Class (childcare during women's Bible study at church) he had two mints that he was intent on getting out of his cubby hole. This is an unusual occurrence so I asked the helper where he got these two mints - clearly they had told him that he couldn't eat them until his class was over.

The helper said 'I am not really sure. Two boys came by and leaned in over the half-door and gave them to Eliot'. I then looked at Eliot and said 'were they your brothers?'

He very proudly replied, 'Yes, Jack gave me a high-five and Theo gave me two mints.' Evidently, the homeschooling class had walked by and Jack and Theo had sought Eliot out. That takes 'cool' in the pre-school class to a whole new level. So funny and Eliot was so proud. I think the teachers were a little confused which made the whole thing more comical.

Lesson Learned From Mr. Popper's Penguin

Today we were reading a fun book called Mr. Popper's Penguin. We were reading about how the main penguin was near death and the only diagnosis they could come up with was 'loneliness'. I stopped to ask the boys if they thought that could be the legitimate problem. They thought for a minute and they said yes they thought it could be. Then Theo followed up really quickly, 'I don't have to worry about that sickness because I've got Jack'.

Very thankful for moments like this one. Recording it so I won't forget and also to remind them when they are fighting some day in the future!

Right-handed vs. left-handed

Upon studying genes today, we were talking about whether each person in our family was right- handed or left-handed. Theo very confidently said, 'I'm both. I throw with my right hand and wear my glove on my left hand.' So funny.