Front Door Scripture Study

The boys were arguing the other day about who got to walk in the house from outside first.  It usually goes something like this:

"Daniel, I go first into house."

"No Matthew, I'm going to go first.  You go last."

"NO! I go first, YOU go last!"

"No, I'm going first!"

(insert crying)

You can see a pattern forming...

Since this argument occurs most days, and sensing a teachable moment, I decided to bring in some scripture to settle this once and for all.  So, feeling very wise and fatherly, I said:

Chris: "And Jesus said, 'the first shall be last, and the last shall be first!" (Matthew 20:16)

Daniel didn't skip a beat, and as I opened the door he scoffed, "Uh Dad, how does that make any sense at all?"

And he pushed his brother aside and walked in first.

We'll try again tomorrow.

Le Premier Sera le Dernier

James Tissot, French, 1836-1902

Saturday Morning, Part 2

I posted a video a few Saturdays ago of the boys jumping on the couch. Going through some photos I found another video from that morning and thought I'd post it. My favorite parts? Matthew's pants issues and Aaron's acrobatics. I'm also pretty impressed with Daniel's jump roping skills using a short fire hose.

The good old days

Daniel came home from school today with a bit of a history lesson to share.

D: I learned about cell phones from when you were a little girl today.

Me: Oh really? And what were those like?

D: They were pretty terrible. They had to be hooked up to a telephone pole with a wire.

After laughing for a minute, I asked Daniel who told him about these "cell phones." His response?

"Ms. Blair's mom. She knows a lot about everything. I think she must be 35."

I don't know if I should be excited or disappointed that I'm only 5 years away from the age of such complete wisdom.

Look at my face

Matthew is really enjoying his terrific twos. We're really needing to work hard with his listening and following directions. Part of that is using the phrases "Where is my nose?" or "Do you see my eyes?" in order to get him to look at us and focus on what we're asking him to do. Matthew's a quick learner, for better or worse. For the past week now, when trying to get our attention he yells "Look at my face!"

With such a cute face, how can we not?

Matthew's motorcycle

Matthew likes motorcycles. So much that he's turned a bus into one. He even has a helmet. Safety first!

Prepared for anything

Daniel has recently been interested in different "ranger" type play. He's always discovering something, rescuing something, hunting something, or doing some general exploring. This is his usual get-up for this kind of play. He likes to be prepared.

Happy Birthday, Baby!

Aaron's birthday was Friday--what a year it has been! Aaron is currently sporting the "ultimate fighting champion" look...he falls at least 20 times a day and his face is pretty banged up. He climbs on EVERYTHING, and is so fast that we can barely keep up with him. He is really working hard on his babbling, and can say "mama," "dada," and a few phrases that sound like "all done," "bye-bye," and "nigh-night."  He has seven teeth, four on top and three on the bottom. He enjoys feeding himself, but is still learning to not throw food over the side of his tray. He adores his big brothers (the feeling is mutual) and we can't wait to see him start to play more with them as he gets bigger!

Aaron celebrated his birthday all week with a visit from Grandma before his birthday, cupcakes on his birthday, and a small family party today:

 Aaron's first birthday present. Matthew supervises.

 Thanks for all the clothes, Grandma!

 Bath time! Everybody loves a clean birthday boy!

 Today I am one year old!

 Aaron loves to clap, and will show off his clapping skills anytime he hears somebody say "Yay!" or "Good job!"

 Birthday bruise on his left cheek. He danced himself right off a chair. :(

 Oooh...cupcake!

 For a minute it looked like he might actually blow out the candle.

 Birthday party day!

 Awesome new football!

 Cake time! Thanks, godparents!

 Our baby is growing up!

Problem solving with Daniel

Matthew decided he wanted to try using the potty seat today. The only problem was that he wanted privacy. Knowing Matthew, I hesitated leaving him in there by himself, but decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and give him his privacy. After a couple (quiet) minutes, I went in to check on him. Nothing. And he still wanted privacy. So I left again and mentioned to Daniel that I wish I could see what Matthew was doing in there. Daniel's response?

"I know just what we need...a hatchet and a periscope!"

Hmmm.

Just another Saturday morning

Fall Fun Recap

We visited Schilter Family Farm a couple weekends ago with our good friends the Eusterman and Simmons families. Despite the rain and the rotting pumpkins, we had a pretty good time! As much fun as it was, though, I think we'll try to go earlier in the season next year.

 The mamas with the three littlest ones.

 Petting a chicken.

 Keeping a safe distance from the piggie.

 Aaron just hanging out.

 This is what happens when we ask Matthew and Daniel to smile for the camera...

All the kiddos (minus the babies) take a minute to please the parents with a cute picture.

 Daniel makes his way through the hay maze.

 Hay jump!

 Matthew gets a little help from Dad.

 Finally! On to the pumpkins! Daniel certainly has grown...he pushed the wheelbarrow quite a ways by himself.

 Matthew checks out the pumpkins. 

[The pumpkin pictures stop here because after this picture was taken Daniel's boot became stuck in mud, and we had quite a muddy mess to clean up. If you know Daniel, you know this was just about the worst thing that could happen on this trip.]

 Back at the Eusterman house the kiddos try on their Halloween costumes. The fireman and astronaut are joined by Susan and Lucy from the Chronicles of Narnia.

Aaron gets a few military tips from his godfather.