Sunday Pictures: week 47

Asher: “Mum, I have a question.”

Chancery: “Did you see him raise his hand to ask a question? That was funny!”

Asher: “Mum, do we really have to do these pictures week after week?”

“We do it so that Grandma & Grandpa can see you every week.”

Chancery: “Wouldn’t it be easier if they just came for more visits?”

Asher: “I suppose taking pictures isn’t such an ordeal, since we can pretty much do whatever we want while Mum snaps away.”

Chancery: “In that case, let’s read your book!”

I’m Goin’ Back!

Dear Reader,

Thank you so much for making the switch w/ me from blogger to wordpress.  However, after a few weeks, & multiple posts, I have discovered that I prefer blogger & since my comments are working over there again, I’m headed back.  Please, won’t you come & follow me?  Poll results show that most of you are ambilvalent as to where I write, so hopefully that means you’ll find your way over there again.  About 30% said they’d prefer to see me back on my old stomping grounds, & no one was especially committed to WordPress.  I wasn’t sure I’d switch back, but since no one begged me to stay & I discovered the grass isn’t greener over here, I’m packing up & headed home!

*Please update your subscription feeds & those of you with blogrolls, if you could switch them back to http://csvan.blogspot.com/

Joseph’s Coat

On Tuesdays we go to coffee break at church & Asher gets to go to “Little Lambs” which teaches him about some people in the Bible. He takes the papers home, but I have a really hard time getting him to tell me anything about what they did other than that they do puzzles, have a snack, & sing songs.

He never tells me waht songs they sing. He always tells me “Deep & Wide” which I am pretty sure isn’t what they sing every week. On the way out to the truck this week I caught him singing, “The more we get together,” he then paused, realized he was singing in my presence, & said, “No, we didn’t sing THAT song!” I don’t know WHY he won’t tell me, it’s not like I make him sing the songs over & over at home, he just wants to keep the songs to himself & I suppose that’s ok.

Over lunch I usually ask who they learned about that day & he’ll tell me their names, but not much more than that. Well, this week it was a bit different. He told me all about Jesus & how he got a coat from his brothers, but his brothers didn’t have one.

I know, he was a bit mixed up in the names department, so I straightened him out a bit & then asked if the brothers were jealous. He said, “No, they were sad,” then he decided that didn’t cover all the emotions, & procalimed, “they were MAD!“

Later he was telling P Chad over dinner all about Joseph (he got the name right this time) & his brothers & the coat. He got to the part that the brothers didn’t have one & added, “Just like Jesus & Zaccheus, they didn’t have a coat EITHER!”

I suppose it’s true, but someday we’re going to have to make sure he gets all those Bible stories straightened out.

A Shocking Discovery!

Last night I discovered something terrible…..  I simply do not have enough time to do all the tings that I want to do!  This will probably come as a surprise to most of you, but there simply don’t seem to be enough hours in the day!

I have a really good book I’m reading, blogs to read, blogs to write, emails to answer, Christmas cards to address, a Christmas letter to write, the newspaper to read & the daily Sudoku to finish (to maintain mental agility).

I think I would have time to do those things if it wasn’t for all the other things I have to do.  Get kids up in the morning, prepare breakfast (pour milk on cereal), change numerous pants throughout the day, get lunch ready, figure out what to have & prepare dinner…….

So I’m having to choose!  It’s awful!  I made the decision awhile ago that I didn’t have to read the newspaper everyday, that was liberating.  Then yesterday I decided that I didn’t have to do the Sudoku either b/c I was trying to get it done, but wishing I could be doing something else instead.  I figured that was kinda silly.

I think the main issue is that I have limited time w/o kids around to get things done, & if they don’t sleep at the same time, everything gets a little crazy!  I know, it’s just a season of life & it’ll be over before I know it, but I think that’ll be ok w/ me.  I’ll be fine when the kids can entertain themselves a bit more (or even sit by themselves w/o needing to be held all the time).  I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve made a latte in the last month & at lunch time discoved that I only had a few sips out of it.  I just don’t have time to sit & drink it right now.  Maybe I should buy a beer hat so I could drink it throughout the morning!

A Poll

Well, apparently my comments on blogger are working again, so I need some reader input. Would you prefer I move back to blogger, or should I just stay put here on wordpress There is a poll in the sidebar, so please visit either site & let me know your preference!

First Baptism

Sunday was a special day for Pastor Chad.  He got to perform his first baptism.

I wonder why they call it performing…  Sounds like he did a bit of singing & dancing…. which he did not.

Here are the pictures.  I relied on the family to take them rather than taking them myself.  I figured if I took my camera to church again people would start to think it was a regular occurrence & that I was going to be taking pictures every week.  They might think that I think I’m a professional photographer or something, which I am clearly not.  Sammy is 3 weeks younger than Chancery, & his parents waited especially so that Pastor Chad could baptise him.

Reading the form

Baptising

Rit handing Sammy over for the blessing

Pastor Chad blessing Sammy

Sammy was really good & only cried once he knew he was close enough to the mic that we would all be able to hear it.  He was then presented to the congregation & encored his earlier yunking performance by quietly belching!  We were glad to be a part of his special day.

Today’s Sunday Pics

Without further ado……….

A: “I have an evil plan to thwart Mum’s Sunday picture-taking.”

C: “I know what you are planning, & I think it would just be easier if we just co-operate w/ her.”

A: “You’re right, maybe I should rethink this.”

A: “Here’s my smile, Mum, & I’m off!”

C: “What, you let HIM go & I’m still here?”

C: “I’m simply too tired to do anymore pictures.”

Sunday Pictures, Take 3

Sorry about last Sunday’s lack of photos.  Here’s the ones I managed to get:

“Smile, kids!“

Asher: “Buuurp!”

Chancery: “I can’t believe he did that!  How uncouth!”

A: “It wasn’t me, Mum!”

C: “One should cover one’s mouth, like so, if one is going to belch!”

C: “These stripes are mesmerising!”

“Just give a good smile, then you can go.”

A: “See you next week!”

Dinnertime Conversations

Last night we had pasta for dinner & we have a 7 vegetable primavera sauce.  Asher picked one of the veggies out & asked what it was.  P Chad told him it was a Zuchinni.  Asher said, “Zuchinni went WAAAY up in a tree for Jesus.”

Then we explained that was ZACHEUS, not Zucchini.  We said that Zacheus was a MAN & Zucchini was a vegetable.  He proceeded to eat more pasta & we thought the matter was finished, until he blurted out, “Zacheus is a vegetable!”

After dinner I was cleaning up the dishes & Asher told me that he doesn’t like the hiccups.  I said it was a good thing he didn’t have them then.  He informed me quite passionately, “Yes I DO have hiccups IN MY MOUTH!”  I suppose that’s better than them being in some other part of his body.

Laws of Nature

Pastor Chad was gone to a meeting last night, so I figured that since I had an evening to myself, once the kids were down for the night I’d have a nice luxurious soak in the tub.  I got the kids in bed, waited about 1/2 an hour to make sure they were totally settled, filled the tub, got in, NOT 5 MINUTES LATER Asher was crying for something.  I figured he’d eventually give it up & left him to it for awhile (I was trying to finish my Sudoku puzzle).  After about 10 minutes I thought I’d better go check on him, so I got out of the tub, & went dripping to his room.

What did he want?  “Please, Mummy, I’d like the cow blanket back tied around me & then I will have a happy face!  Remember?”  No, I did not remember, & it took awhile for me to work out exactly what he wanted.  He apparently wanted me to tie his cow blanket around his neck like we had done that morning.  I expalined that having a blanket tied around your neck while you sleep is not safe, so I couldn’t do it, but we’d do it first thing in the morning.  He sniffed a bit, said ok, & off I went back to my nice warm tub……. For a few minutes.

Once again, he’s crying, this time a bit more passionately.  He wants that cow blanket on, & a drink of water, & for me to come back into his room.  So, out of the tub, drip drip drip back to his room w/ a drink of water (luckily we had a sippy cup in the washroom).  At this point he’s practically hyperventilating b/c he’s gotten himself so worked up.  So, I try to calm him down w/ his drink of water (no luck), telling him his bedtime story again (not working), promises of tying the cow blanket on his shoulders FIRST thing in the morning (not good enough).  I even tried telling him that we’d be going out to dinner tomorrow night & that he’d need to sleep b/c otherwise he’d be too tired & we’d have to stay home. Well, that perked him up.

Asher:  “We can go to McDonald’s!”

Me: “Well, I don’t know if we’ll go to McDonald’s, but we’ll go to a restaurant for dinner.”

A:  “McDonald’s is a restaurant.”

Me: “Yes, McDonald’s is a restaurant, but maybe we’ll go to Boston Pizza, or somewhere else.”

A:  “I want to stay home.” (And the crying begins again)

Know what finally worked to calm him down?  He realized I was wet & I told him that I had to go wash my hair.  Apparently my having clean hair was enough to settle him down so he could drift off to sleep.

So, I quickly washed my hair, worried that things might escalate again.  All was quiet, so I slipped downstairs to watch a little CSI & THE OFFICE!  I look forward to Thursday night ALL WEEK!  Precisely 5 minutes into “The Office” Chancery wakes up!  Of all the nights!…………  So I went up, nursed her, put her back down, prayed she’d stay asleep & went back to finish watching the show.

This morning Chancery woke up at 6am & decided she’d had enopugh of this sleeping lark.  Asher normally gets up around 6:30, so I tried to get her back to sleep for awhile (in vain) & then when I realized it wasn’t going to happen, just sat up w/ her.  And of course, since Chancery woke up so early, Asher decided to sleep-in ’til 7 *sigh* sometimes life just isn’t fair.