Road Trip!!

So every good Warrior Poet needs an induction into the Road Trip experience...especially if he is to be prepared for college. So that's what we did - hit the open road, with one destination in mind and open eyes to rest of our discoveries as they come.

I know what you're thinking: "Road Trips must have a soundtrack!" Of course. I explained and they loved the concept. Here's the playlist we wailed out to:

1. Jump Around (House of Pain) - this was our "Primary" (played everytime you get back in the car...or need a charge up.)
2. Walk This Way (Run DMC) - Taatjes asked for this to be elected, so we made this "Secondary".
3. Mrs. Robinson (Simon & Garfunkel), Free Fallin' (Tom Petty) - yes, I taught them to sing it Jerry McGuire style, Total Eclipse of the Heart (Bonnie Tyler), Rock Me Gently (Ron Dante), & Jesus is Alright (DC Talk remake).

• Wisconsin - a totally different state. This seemed huge. :)

• Where else, but to the cheese mecca - the Mars Cheese Castle. All the best Wisconsin has to offer. Super fresh. Few things make me more proud than my sons' penchant for free samples...every last one. Even fewer things are funnier than a 4 year old boy telling the worker, "this one tastes aged." on a 5 yr old cheddar. The hype was probably bigger than reality, but it's all in how you sell it. They're pretty sure it was the coolest place ever.

• We asked people at the Cheese Castle something else fun to do...and they said they Jelly Belly Tour. "To the car, gentlemen." (I had heard about this and that it wasn't actually that fun, but we were here and Road Trips don't discriminate.) Turns out you could put a kid in a jail cell and as long as you talk about, show them, and give them jelly beans - it's the best place ever. I almost fell asleep as they drove us around the warehouse (yeah) and we watched videos on how they made them, but they end it with your own bag of free samples - so awesome. We then hit up the store and challenged each other to guess flavors (all free samples). booger, ear wax, and pencil shavings were the favorites. Everything is harder now that Trey can read - never thought I'd be barking at my son "stop reading".

• Pouring rain - Michelle probably would have thought to bring an umbrella on a day that called for all rain. Nothing the football hold, dragging, and yelling about being melting jelly beans can't solve. Teague also points out to me that "Mom puts on my puffy coat because it has a hood."
• While I'm on the topic: Michelle also reminds me about bringing diapers - that probably would have pre-empted a 6/7 hour road trip without a new diaper for Teague. No issues occurred, but I did make the note about 5 hours in. (Have I ever told you about the hiking incident and large leaves....another time.)
• Last stop - a quick 2 lane change to get off an exit (safely) after we see a whole yard of military helicopters. Turns out it's a military museum - jeeps, hummers, tanks, helis, planes. Does it get any more Warrior than this? Hilarious to watch and "older" gentleman try to explain advanced military concepts, when they just want to tell him about their friend, Aidan's dad going back to fight the bad guys (in iraq).

What a great day! Best road trip ever - no one got pulled over, no break downs, plenty of adventure, great soundtrack, great wingmen, full bags of jelly beans. We ended with a stop at the hobby shop in preparation for thursday's endeavor.

Lamenting that it's already Tuesday. Have I said what an incredible life I have?!

Another Day...Another Adventure

Well...the day started out as usual - the boys coming in at 6:30 asking if they can eat some candy and Trey asking to play the Wii. (Dad - "No.") Individual boxes of sugar cereal (Froot Loops), which previously has been unthinkable, and coffee.

• We headed to the Children's Museum with some friends (Aidan & Charlotte). Lot's of play, lots of water, lots of kids. Boys wanted "gel" hair, which was pretty hilarious.

• Current dishes scenario - could be worse:

• Cold and rainy - it's supposed to stay this way. Need one nice day for the zoo. We spent rest of afternoon coloring, Wii-ing, boxing, wrestling, and playing basketball. Teague stops the game at every injustice and tells the offender "it's a foul on you. penalty. some players don't take the ball, Trey."

• Meat - It was homemade ribs night! It's a slightly barbaric feast, so the boys love it. Here's an action shot before we dig in. They are actually doing our "Braveheart"cheer. And, look closely...that's right, those are potatoes on the plate...vegetables are on the board. :)

Hair - so the great Warrior Poets have awesome hairdo's (reference the sweet locks in Braveheart). When watching March Madness, the boys noticed some cool designs shaved into some heads and wanted to replicate. That seemed like way too cool of an idea to dismiss....so here's how we capped off haircut night. They were actually coaching me through designs, which I clearly got them back to my level of ability. Taatjes reassured me he didn't want the spider and web design, anymore.

























Couldn't be left out, either.








Last thoughts:

• Tomorrow might be a bath day, need it or not.
• I wish I could claim that any of this is really unique to boy craziness....but the truth is, I haven't done anything yet that Michelle wouldn't be totally up for. These boys happen to have the coolest Mom ever!!!
• I don't know how Michelle keeps things straight, especially in a world that doesn't use Microsoft Outlook. Dad to 6,4, & 2 yr old: "Are you guys sure Mom said we were supposed to go there afterward? What did she actually say?" boys: "Yes. She really did. She said to go." Dad: "okay. let's go." The mental organization required is beyond anything required in the "business world".
• Michelle & team are good and in their 2nd locale, the school for orphans.

Have I said how incredible my life is?!

Sunday - The Right Way

After church, we hit up Costco for more stocking up.

• You know you're with Dad when lunch is hitting up all the free samples at CostCo. (I'd like to claim this is a special occurrence, but we do this way more than we should.)
• Bought fruit, hoping this may appease the vegetable vow. Bought steak, ribs, and ground beef - now we're talking.
• Saw a sign for a Pet Expo and did that....totally lame. Boys just wanted to see pets and find "free stuff", which there was little of to their dismay. Too many sad dog rescue booths mixed with a hard to fathom collection of pet paraphernalia. Finally found a couple snakes and a dog obstacle thing. Strange crowd...like couples wearing matching "got huskies?" t-shirts (like "got milk") and yes, a grown man did ask my boys if they'd like to see a picture of his dog, which he had in his wallet. Hard to hold off explaining the concept of dork to them - they'll learn in time.
• More casting practice - they want to do this for hours. getting pretty good. more Star Wars.
• America's Funniest Home Videos has become a favorite in our house. We all giggled a lot.
• Have you ever seen a Peep grow? Microwave it for 15 sec. and you can. The boys love this!
  
• Hoping you will all support me in reclassifying bananas as a vegetable. That would be a big help. "Wow! We've never had bananas at dinner before!"

Noticeable Changes:

• Michelle must have canceled our chef service when she left. We usually have veggies and awesome dinners....but those take time and I don't have that while I'm watching the boys. They occupy all your time. Must be easier when she has that gourmet chef service every night.
  
• Also - Michelle has stacked the deck against me. She must have canceled our laundry service when she left, too. I went in to get new clothes for the boys and they were all dirty...hasn't changed in 2 days. How am I supposed to find time to do laundry?! It's much easier when it just shows up in their drawers for me. Must be nice when she has that laundry service.

Have I said how incredible my life is?!

Pray for Michelle's endurance and leadership. Boys are praying that she "serves like Jesus and keeps the kids safe." I'm sure the emotional and physical demands are taking their toll. I know she is doing awesome, though.

Mornings

So on Saturday we made "Monkey Bread" together - they love this messy process and the reward. Ever since camping last year, the boys understand coffee drinking as a very manly thing to do. (One of the best parts of Saturdays for me is sitting around with Michelle, drinking coffee, and talking in the morning - total bummer she's not here.)
So, we've decided the Warrior Poets drink coffee together in the morning...with their own mugs. Every morning of Braveheart week they get to choose their mug. For those of you freaking out about the health factor - don't worry....it's not decaf, either. It's Heaven's brew....it couldn't harm us. And we're Warrior Poets - our goal is bravery, not safety.
They absolutely love this and call it their "cup of Joe".


Again, is there anything cooler than this?! Telling them we'll be doing this the rest of our lives together.

Have I said how incredible my life is?!

Quite the Start

We got off to quite the start on Friday.

• Parent teacher conferences. Trey is a stud. Michelle has done such an amazing job with him. (brag alert) Trey is reading at a 2nd grade level, has moved on to understanding concepts, and has really improved his focus. Michelle works really hard with him and fights the battles to get him to stick with the frustrating stuff...totally showing results. Even better though, his teacher says he is really loving, a good friend, obedient (for the most part...he's 6), is extremely responsive to correction, and is becoming very independent. Now that's the stuff you want to hear. Considering he is with Michelle 8x more than he is with me, it's totally unfair I get to hear all that in person.
• Library: all about the globe and South Africa. Reading books and kickin' it. Hockey and fishing books become the obsession. (more on this later....)
• To the park - after reviewing everything fly-fishing - going through all my flies, the reel, my vest and every pocket, we hit the park for some tuning. Fewer things are more important than a good fly cast for a boy/Warrior Poet. :) Other kids at the park thought they were "so cool". Trey actually got some good casts by himself. I didn't think to take pics until they were on their own spinning rods, but still pretty cool.

• Star War Battle - swords and light sabers at the park. Hilarious! Teague continues to save me from his brothers by running around me putting up a "forrrrcefield". That's my guy.
• New rule - sword fights on the ground only. The only thing worse than watching your 2 year old fall off the 2 foot ledge he was battling on...was watching him fall head first the next 5 feet off of the entire play structure. Scraped head, remarkably quick recovery, wants his light saber back....will not count as a "major" injury in the books.
• Movie Night - what better way to kick off Braveheart Week than with a boys pajama movie night. Well, I guess we'll count this towards the Poet part. Taatjes begged to get this movie at the library...and they loved it. They were also amazed at how Dad could know the words to "Part of Your World." (I don't take the Poet part lightly, either.) What are you gonna do?
  

Before bed, we pray for Michelle, since she's about to wake up for her day.
Have I said how incredible my life is?!

Warrior Poets

Well....since I have attempted to imitate Michelle's life for a week (minus the responsibility) - I've decided to take over the blog, too. That's right...this is Justin...making my first foray into the ominous world of cataloging life for the planet to see. I prefer to think that only you intimate few are reading. I have had these entries running in my head since Thursday, when Michelle left, but it has taken me a few days to crack the login code for the blog, so I have some catching up to do. Here it goes:

The boys have been pumped for "Boys Week" and were slap-happy when I got home on Thursday. We dropped Michelle off at the airport around 4pm and took off for our week of adventure. I'd been thinking that Boys Week was a bit simple for what we are setting out to accomplish, so embarked on a more emblematic name. At dinner, I walked them through the concept of the Warrior Poet - describing the travails of William Wallace and the bravery he displayed in the fight for justice, as well as the development of his mind and heart as the embodiment of a true leader....thus we are now living out "Braveheart Week", complete with a manly battle cry as we seek to become Warrior Poets. (still selling them on the "Yawp"... source anyone?)

A few goals I will try to keep you updated on:

• Keep the house in some reasonable order of cleanliness (using new dishes for meals will be one measure of how I do)
• No "major" injuries...key word is "major".
• Follow through on a promise to give them "vegetables" - whatever those are...sounds different than meat, though.
  
• Change everyone's clothes a couple times (including mine). I try to think WWMD on letting them be seen in public with that stain.

Other Goals:

• Build tons of memories - Have the best week ever!!
• Play way more than we should. Eat more sugar than we should.
  
• Develop the Warrior - have battles, rockets, zoos, fishing, hiking, wrestling....
  
• Develop the Poet - Read lots of books (we have a 100 book limit at the library)
  
• Develop a mindfulness of praying for Mom - what else, other than safety?
• Love on each other like crazy - love on others like crazy.

A couple starting notes:

• We almost made it an hour before for the boys decided it's more fun to be naked. Teague following suit, dancing with glee, asking "dad, can you take my diaper off so i can be naked?" It is hilarious how funny they find doing anything with no clothes on.
  
• You know you're with Dad when they come up actually asking for my t-shirt to wipe their nose. (I have always found the effort for tissue a bit unnecessary.)
• First order of business was to go junk food shopping. YoGos are the pinnacle of this food for them.
• Nothing cooler than sitting with your 3 sons, eating pizza on a blanket, watching March Madness. What did I ever do to deserve such a ridiculously awesome life!?!? (nothing)
  
• We've set a world clock to South Africa and are monitoring what Mom is doing. They can't believe how long she flew for. I have yet to remind them to pray, since Taatjes asks to pray for Mom about every 2 hours and everyone does. Love their hearts.

So clearly, I haven't mastered the art of the short blog (rookie). More to come, hopefully in smaller junkets. Also, Michelle is safely there and the team is doing well. I've only received that update so far.

Trey's 6th Birthday Party....

What a whirl wind of a party! 11 six year olds plus his brothers - wacky, crazy, really? We all had so much fun at Trey's party. Instead of stressing out, I spent the whole party laughing at all the kids running around playing games and eating cup cakes:) We played a number of games that left these kids sweating and completely exhausted by the time their parents came to get them.
Balloon pop - hilarious...they could have played this for hours. They just kept running in circles giggling not remembering the point of the game is to pop some one's balloon. After about 10 mins of this Dad strapped a balloon on and jumped in!
Potato Sack Race - no pictures of this because I was too worried that someone would fall or crash into each other to take any. We split them up into teams and they had fun laughing and racing against each other!
Pin the Tail on the Donkey - A classic! One that they loved! Each kid did so well, Justin and I were amazed at their blind accuracies! Until one honest boy told us he could see under the blind fold:)
Parachute - A huge hit for this age group too! They did not want to stop! Great team work moment:)
Duck/Duck/Goose - or rather hamburger/hamburger/hot dog....or the one we had to keep stopping, dirty poop/dirty poop/fill in the blank! We did not think they would want to play but they did! This was the game that they were cracking up so much they could barely run to catch one another. Again Dad jumped in and he quickly became the focus of the game. "Pick Trey's Dad and see if you can beat him!"
Cup Cake decorating - This is my favorite! You really get to see each kids personality. From the crazy cup cakes to well thought out designs! What 6 yr old doesn't want a bunch of toppings and the full control to create their own cup cake!

Side Note - Dad totally rocked out this Birthday Party!!! He played all the games which was so fun for the kids to gang up on him:)

Check - one 6 yr old boys party! Glad it came and it is over:)

Busy...

The mad dash is on...
Trey will be 6 yrs old in 9 days!!! We will be having his party for all his friends next Saturday. I am on the move to get ready for that.
Next I will be leaving for South Africa in 16 days! I am on the move getting all my medications, meetings, and packing for that as well. March is going to fly by!
If you want you can check out one of the organizations we will be working with during our trip. www.thriveafrica.org beautiful! They have Zebras on their propriety wow!

"Friends" Birthday Party

It's finally all over!!!! Parachute/Dig for Goodies in the Pool/ Paint T-shirts/ Decorate Cupcakes! CHECK!

Taatjes said it was his "best day ever"! Yes, it was all worth it:) I think all the kids had a blast. The parachute was a huge hit. They played with it for a long time. Thank you to Dad for being the best parachute instructor/motivator ever!!! Digging for goodies in the pool was also a huge hit. I filled it with candy, reptiles, balls, kazoos, etc. They all went to town and it took longer than I expected which was great. T-shirt painting...um probably not again! As you can see I have no pictures of this activity because it was far to stressful to even think of walking away to grab the camera. They loved it and walked out with some fun T-shirts. I have to say a huge thank you to the moms who helped make sure my cabinets/fridge/stove were not covered in paint (I did put a tarp on the floor)! Cupcake decorating was hilarious. We had all kinds of sprinkles, marshmallows, chocolate chips, candy stars, and of course lots of frosting. Everyone had tons of frosting and even more stuff on top. Many of the kids could not finish the bottom of the cupcake once they finally ate through the top! I have about 20 cupcakes left...I was thinking they would all want at least 3 but there 1st frosting applications left little room in their stomachs for more:)

I am so glad it was fun for Taatjes and he loved it! Now I have a little break until Trey's...yikes, his friends are bigger!

You have 4 year old muscles now and they are huge!

Taatjes is 4!!!!

When he woke up in the morning his favorite thing was his new 4 year old muscles!!! His dad told him they were "huge" 4 yr old muscles! Taatjes had a great day filled with cake and presents. We had a little get together for him with our neighbors and the Cubba's. He just loved all the attention.

We have been so blessed to have Taatjes in our family. He is a free spirit for sure and we love that about him. He is a quiet thinker with a splash of reckless abandon. He is very generous with his brothers and loves deeply. He has a real flare for the wild things in life and has very little fear of anything. We love him like crazy and can't wait to see what the year of 4 holds for him.

I live for these moments...

We read every day but usually they are fighting to read louder than the other or wrestling over a certain book. Not today!!! I had to take a picture of a great moment. Brothers sharing/teaching/helping. I live for peaceful moments like this these days. (sigh)

Sledding

It was a beautiful day for sledding! Lots of screams and giggles. Of course a few wipe outs and roll overs, it's bound to happen. All in all we had a lot of fun and mom and dad got a great work out carrying boys/sleds up the hill several times:)

"I've got it all under control."

Trey was getting ready to go to a friends house the other day and I was going through my usual check-list with him.
Say please and thank you
no wrestling
no running around their house like crazy
share
get along
be a friend
He did not seem to be listening so I asked him; "did you hear me?"
To which he responded; "yes mom, I've got it all under control."
Me: "Ok, I just want you to know how I expect you to behave at friends houses."
Trey: "I know, I will."

Trey is growing up. A cool, smooth response like having it under control lets me know that he is growing up. I can hardly believe he will be 6 soon.

Attack!

This was how I am welcomed into my house! How bout you?
Just ran out the door to warm up the car for my precious children so that they will not be cold on our way to pick up their brother from school. And look at what I walked back into. "Attack, get her!!!" This is what they shouted when I came in. No there is no smile on their innocent faces. But, all the seriousness of a real warrior! Lucky for me the camera was right on the ledge next to the door so I could capture this moment:) To which I received great objection because I was being engaged in a battle and needed to "fight back" to regain entrance into the home!

"Reunited and It Feels So Good..."

Oh the places I have had to go back to to get Taatjes Kitty!
So I think in all the excitement and awe of mom receiving shots Taatjes left his beloved Kitty at the Passport Health office! When we realized that Kitty was missing the office was already closed and would not be open for another week! Well this did not go over well w/Taatjes, but, he understood that it was his fault (and not moms) that Kitty had to "sleep at the doctor's office":( So every night before bed Taatjes prayed that his Kitty would stay safe at the office and that they would call mommy soon to tell her to come pick him up!
Well his prayers were answered when 1 week later they called me and told me they had Kitty and are waiting for me to come get him! Of course I had to document this memory:) This is Taatjes without Kitty:( Really every night he gave us this face and some crying that he did not have Kitty at bed time. Next the wonderful man who kept Kitty safe (he told me he is a grandpa and knows how important this worn little Kitty was to someone) until Taatjes came for him. And, finally the face Taatjes normally goes to bed with as he snuggles his Kitty! Look at the joy! Reunited and I am thankful for that...now we can sleep again!
Taatjes has also vowed never to take Kitty out of the house again as to not lose him again!
We'll see how long that lasts. Kitty has been left at the park twice, Target, and now the doctor's office! I am usually good about making sure Kitty is not taken anywhere with us but my quite little Taatjes has manged to sneak him past me in the chaos of leaving the house at times!

Brrrrr!

Mom has to have shots!!!!

The other day I had to get 5 shots at the doctors - ouch! I had Taatjes and Teague with me for this appointment and what I saw on my boys face when I received the shots was priceless!
As the nurse placed each needle on the table Taatjes' face slowly began to rise into the biggest smile! The nurse asked him if his mom was going to be brave and he shook his head so fast up in down, huge smile, and said "YES"! I asked him; "why Taatjes you look so happy, what for"? Taatjes burst out with, "because mom you have to get shoots"!!! It hit me that I am the one who has dragged him into a doctors office for the last 4 years of his life to receive these highly unpleasant and painful shots; and now it was finally my turn! I saw his eyes widen as each needle (5) was placed in my arm! I think his main joy was at seeing that mom had to be treated the same way in which he has been, it just left him amazed. He did tell me after it was done that I was very brave!

Mom when I'm an adult...

Trey has recently been informing me of the things he will do as an adult. More specifically when he is 30.
Yesterday - Trey tells me; "Mom, when I am 30 and I have a family, I am going to buy them a Wii and they will only be allowed to play it when I am home from work on a play day"!!!
"Mom, when I am 30 I am going to buy myself a lot of candy and only give you some of it!!!"
2 things that Trey currently feels wronged by! He is only allowed to play the Wii on Saturdays (which is what we call a play day because no school and Dad is home) which he is sooo upset about and must feel that others should have to live with the injustice he has had to. The candy...I recently purchased a lot of candy to make goodie bags for some girls I know and only allowed the boys to have one thing. Again, clearly Trey feels that I one day will have to experience the unjust treatment he has received! I try to tell him all the time that I have already been a kid like him with rules but no go in this situation. He wants to have a chance to dish out the "unfair" treatment!

Bowling

Good Times! Everyone enjoyed it and no one sent a ball backwards!

Party Until 2009!

Christmas Morning

Merry Christmas

We wish you a Merry Christams and a Happy New Year!!!

Remeber that 2 year old voice I was talking about?

This is a glimpse of it. Here is Teague running after me, in my face, letting me know of his disapproval with a request I thought I had just filled for him. "NO MOMMY NO! LIGHT GREEN CUP, LIGHT GREEN!" In my head...really, really can anything be simple around here!

Let me go back just minutes before this face. Teague came over and asked me for a drink. Ok let me get you a drink sweet boy. He makes a request to have his drink in a light green cup. Ok we only have a green cup so I get it and show him and begin to fill it up. Teague tells me, "no, no mommy light green cup"! (There is no light green cup. It does not exist and never has) Ok Teague do you mean the yellow cup? I take it out and hold it up while I fill it up as well. Teague again tells me, "no, no mommy light green cup"! Ok this is something I will not be able to fix. So I place both cups down tell him he can choose which one he would like to drink from because we do not have any light green cups, just green and yellow, and walk away!

Thus the pictures with the hand out, face tight with concern! Mom I know what I want and you are not getting it right! I will just yell at you in your face until you see things my way! Really can anything, like a drink, be simple around here! The joys of the whims of a 2 year old:)

Fill your tummy with lots of cookies...fa la la la la...

Oh the joys of cookies! Mix, roll, cut...but please don't keep eating the dough before we bake them! I was taking the pictures, Dad was helping Teague, Trey was following the rule of cut remove and place on the sheet, and Taatjes was cut and eat! Good times and good eats!

And no cookie cutting is not so strenuous that the boys needed to remove their shirts. Bare chested is just the way to go now a days. Gotta let the muscles breathe:)

OH GROSS!

ya think this is how kids get so sick!!! This is Taatjes sleeping buddy. Good thing I found him before he was returned to the bed. I grabbed him and washed him this time. But, who knows how many other times he has been placed here to rest for a minute and then picked up to snuggle with...yuck!

"Oh No Wrinkles"

Have I mentioned how funny kids are?!
Tonight during Teague's bath he for the first time truly noticed the wrinkles on his hands (from the water). He became so concerned that he climbed out of the tub and ran to his dad to show him. Apparently he is used to me brushing things like that off:) He looked distressed and was holding up his hands saying"oh no wrinkles, oh no wrinkles, fix daddy, fix"! He then kept asking dad for a "paper towel" to wipe the wrinkles off! When dad told him the paper towel would not fix the problem he was even more distressed! Finally we were able to convince him to get dressed and read a book. After the story he looked at his hands (which by then we had forgotten about) and said "yea, all fixed"! Priceless laughs right there!