Wain

The weather in our neck of the woods has been a balmy 34 the last few days so the snow and ice (remnants from the previous few snow storms) that has coated our driveway has finally started to melt. I was out there Saturday, plastic shovel in hand, trying to chip away at the 1/2 inch thick sheet of ice near the top of the driveway. The boys thought it was great - Mama was playing in the snow! They both grabbed shovels and began racing around the driveway. A little too fast for Wes, however. Remember that sheet of ice I mentioned? He ran across it, wiped out and was lying on his back under the eave of the garage. And remember how I said it was 34? Above freezing? So the snow is melting? As the drips from the melting snow on the roof plummeted down, Wes began waiving his hands in front of his face saying "Wain, wain. No wain."

Juggling

This morning I brought the children to church by myself. Once I'm there it's almost like a break as I drop off the little ones in the nursery and the bigger one at Sunday school then head off for my own Sunday morning class. The struggle lies in getting there and then getting back home.

One of the many things Jack has learned at preschool is how to put on his own coat, hat and mittens, a feat worthy of the cost of tuition right there. Wes and Elise still need A LOT of help, however. In a busy narthex with a myriad of adults and children milling around, it is a juggling act to bundle up the little kids while keeping track of all three of them, ensuring one doesn't wander away with some other family. We can usually successfully leave with our three children fully bundled. I don't think this morning was a particularly good performance, however, because Elise licked Wesley's face a couple times and her hair got stuck in Wesley's zipper. In the chaos all I could do was laugh. We did manage to get to the car (all of us) and home in one piece, it just took a little longer than normal.

Hooked on Phonics

Have you ever had your name pronounced incorrectly? I know my husband is answering with a resounding "yes."

Both Rebecca and Beckie are pretty straight forward, but I have had my fair share of people take liberty with my nickname. I don't mean the endearing kind. I mean the Andrew to Andy or Thomas to Tom kind. At work, I am strictly Rebecca. I always introduce myself as Rebecca, the name by my office door says Rebecca and my business cards (all of them, I checked) say, you guessed it, Rebecca. Yet, I still get Beckie (not so unusual since outside of work that's how I'm known) or Becca (although a beautiful alternative, I am not a Becca) on a pretty regular basis. While not exactly my preference, the nicknames are usually pronounced correctly.

In situations where the mispronunciation is obvious or happens so frequently you start spelling your name phonetically, the solution is obvious, right? Just correctly restate your name, ensure the mispronouncing culprit gets it and moves on. But what about when it's subtle?

I know a lot of Andreas that have this problem. Is the emphasis on the "An" or the "drea"? I think our daughter is going to struggle with this her whole life. Her name is Elise. Pronounced "ee-leese." People call her "uh-leese" all the time. I think both names are beautiful. It's just that, well, we named our daughter "ee-leese." So what do you do when it's subtle? Do you simply pronounce it correctly in hopes that the subtlety will not be lost? Or do you emphasise the subtle difference and risk complete annihilation the next time? And what do I do for my daughter before she can say anything herself? Or am I just being too picky?

Either Way I Think We're Safe

Since I don't have any siblings I don't really understand the incessant need siblings have to press each others buttons, though I did expect it at some point with my own children. I just didn't think it would be so early.

For the last couple months, Jack and Wes have been arguing about what sound a fire truck makes. You can hear both versions below:



Both boys love to "rescue" people so when there is an emergency help is promptly on the way. We just don't know what it will sound like when it's coming.

A Girl and her Doll Ball

The night after Elise was born I was scouring the internet for the perfect welcome-to-the-world gift. You see, all of our children get a gift from us (besides life, I mean) when they're born. Jack got a big softer-than-anything-in-the-world bear before we even knew he existed. Wes's Rodney reindeer was sitting comfortably in the crib weeks before he arrived. But no special toy had been acquired for our sweet baby girl. Not for lack of effort. We just hadn't found that one perfect gift yet.

Then I happened upon a well known blog and on said blog a little doll was being given away. The doll was ADORABLE and the absolute perfect most special gift we could have ever found for our little Elise. Well, almost. It was way out of the never-specifically-determined-but-intuitively-known price range. But, oh...I, I mean, she needed one of those dolls. To make a long story not quite so long, we ended up getting her one of the dolls as a combined gift for her birth and first birthday.

We were so excited to give her her first baby doll. I imagined her snuggling it, dragging it with her as she scooted all over the house, sleeping with it, never letting it leave her side.

Instead, the baby doll is often left lying alone on the floor after I've tired of forcing Elise to play with it,

while Elise "snuggles" with her blue spikey ball.

Sigh. I guess that's one of the dangers of having two big brothers.

Jumping Jack

To say that Jack has a lot of energy would be an understatement. Though I'm sure the same thing could be said about most four-year-old boys. In an effort to burn off some of his energy so he'd take a nap (words cannot express how precious nap time is), I thought maybe he could do some jumping jacks. It never ceases to make me pause in wonder at just how many things one must teach a child. I don't remember anyone ever teaching me how to do jumping jacks, but surely someone did because physically innovative and gifted I am not so I know I didn't just make them up.

Here is Jack's first attempt at jumping jacks:

The Best Things About Yesterday

1. The shouts of joyful excitement coming from the back seat when we saw three snowmobilers in the ditch (don't worry, that's where they were supposed to be)
2. Hearing Elise giggle and seeing her eyes light up as she caught on to a "game" I started while playing doll house with her
3. This from Wesley: "Hehe, bu-bow" as he pointed to the enormous snot bubble coming from his left nostril
4. Seeing Jack spinning in circles as Abba's Dancing Queen was playing