Fire Truck Restaurant

The boys have a new favorite game with Dan....second only to "zestling" as Jack says "wrestling." The couch transforms into a fire truck with Calvin driving, Jack manning the rear, and Dan directing traffic from the middle.  Pillows serve the role of doors, and Hot Wheels race tracks are used as fire hoses.  The best part is what happens when the boys get to the fire and dismount the truck. Suddenly, instead of putting out a fire, the boys start filling Dan's order at the nearest drive up window....aka. the front door.  Jack seems to stay focused on the fire in between orders, but Calvin and Dan forget the fire all together.  This game has inspired a lot of creative names like certain locations for the fire (the "Days" is a favorite) and equipment like the "dess."  I am still not quite sure what a "dess" is, but it seems to be some type of intercom system to communicate locations of fires.  

It has been fun watching the boys play together with and without Dan's help. Today Calvin and Jack raked together and played with leaves at the park.  Thankfully there were plenty to share! 

Luke loves watching Jack and Calvin, but he's perfectly content to hang out with Grandma for now! 

Cow, Robot, and Spider-Man

Jack getting his hands dirty

We carved a pumpkin tonight, and by "we" I mean Jack and (a little of) me.
 That little guy immediately started digging out pulp and seeds with his bare hands, and he protested whenever I tried to offer help with a spoon. I loved Jack's face when digging in the sliminess, but even when the pumpkin was empty he went to the trash bag for more!

 Calvin played the role of commander and chief, and did a nice job doling out responsibility and playing the encourager so that everyone else did the work he was so excited about. At one point he was giddy talking about showing the pumpkin to Daddy and Hockey. In the next breath he told me I would have to carry it though. Little goober was even getting out of that work!

 I already know what this whole interaction said about #1 (could his costume have been more aptly chosen...Optimus Prime)? In his defense, all he knows it to be is a robot.

I'm not sure what this says about our work horse, Jack, but I do know I love that little guy!

The whole project was complete in under 30 minutes due to our sweet alarm clock...

Both boys were eager to "help Luke" when he started getting fussy before the face was complete. So sweet!

Blow!

Jack just started speech therapy this past week. He talks all the time, and his articulation is improving, but he is really difficult to understand. The speech pathologist says that he is having trouble physically manipulating his lips, tongue, etc. to make the sounds. So, they have recommended some exercises to try at home to help him develop control of his mouth and facial muscles. One of these exercises is blowing out a candle, bubbles, etc. Though speech therapy was not the goal of this interaction between Dan and the boys a couple days ago, I think Jack earned an A+ for his speech therapy homework!

So naturally, Jack wanted to try, too. The only thing Jack wants to be more than Calvin is Daddy, so here was his attempt.

Dan then started blowing in Luke's face....yes, normally, I would say, "How cruel!" But, Luke loved it! 

I love seeing Luke's little hair standing on end just before his look of elation!

I have no excuses

Jack held still and quiet for the whole hair cut. I'm still learning, but thankfully jack is cute enough to cover over a number of hair cutting mistakes!

Construction site

I hate that they had to tear out a ton of pine trees, but the construction site on the way to the office park is sure going to be fun! This morning we trespassed for the first time...

Seeing Clearly

Yesterday Calvin had a check-up ophthalmologist appointment.  The resident was assessing his vision with the picture test. Basically, they flash pictures of varying sizes on a screen across the room and ask Calvin to either say (ummm, fat chance) or point to the matching picture on a card he is holding.  The doctor started by covering his right (good) eye, and Calvin could not see anything. Actually, I thought he was picking the pictures wrongly on purpose, so I started to getting a little stern with him.  He was not correctly picking the pictures that correstpond to even 20/300 vision.

Until we took the patch off to check his right eye.... He immediately started calling out names of pictures, not even bothering with the pointing, all the way down to the smallest ones that were hard for me to see. If felt so bad for being hard with Calvin!  It was not defiance.   He really could not see anything in his left eye! I had to ask him to forgive me later. 

Turns out, Cal needs a new contact. The one he has is cloudy, and that apparently makes a big difference. Poor guy. I am not sure how long I have been patching him making him this blind. He has not complained a bit. Thank you, Lord, for giving him such patience with the process of patching/contacts/glasses. 

I have realized lately that God has also given me patience with things that would have bothered me before, and it has been such a joy to experience our daily "stuff" without being annoyed or frustrated when things don't go as I planned. 

It has been just beautiful outside these last few days, and Luke has been awake while Cal and Jack are napping. Usually, I do all in my power to make sure all three boys sleep at the same time, but I was able to just enjoy this little guy all by himself for an hour outside. 

And I have been staying away from our neighborhood park since Jack's fall. I've been to other parks, be it much more protective-like, but not back to the "scene of the fall." Staying away from the park for a month after we had been going 3 or 4 times a week....a bit ridiculous.  My new friend Zoe initiated helping me return, so we went together on Wednesday....and she brought me a caramel macchiato from Starbucks to really help make it a pleasant experience for me!  It was great. I did not have the anxiety I thought I would, and we all had a great (and safe) time.  I am thankful to get to see the park as a happy place again!

This is Jack with Jake, Zoe's little guy who is 12 days older than Jack.

And finally, dinner.  These last couple years have effectively simplified my food preparation. I have always liked and taken pride in making good food. However, I have been embracing more "allowances" since Luke was born and I started tutoring again. Starting to embrace the Kraft Mac and Cheese instead insisting on my home-made version, I was really proud of this meal that only took 15 minutes to make! Grilled Chicken, Swiss Chard, and Kraft Mac and Cheese. And because it was finished quickly, I didn't cook during naptime, we were able to eat outside during daylight, and we had time to meet some friends for frozen yogurt afterward. A win-win situation.  What took me so long to see it this way?