ZOOM!

Owen zips across our house at the speed of light, over and over and over again. He's almost worn a race track into our carpet.

After an especially taxing race (against himself), he collapsed into a heap and declared while examining his belly,

"My tummy is tired of running. It needs a drink of noise (smoothie)."

A drink seemed to do the trick, as he was off and running again before I knew it!

My No-Nos Is Broken!

Nosy and the DVD tower (picture heavy wrought iron) really got into it this afternoon. I think the DVD tower won this round.

Injuries:

Bloody nose, bruised line across nose where one of the shelves hit him, black swollen eye and cheek, cut above eye and cut on forehead

Nosy pulled up on the tower, something he's done millions of times, but today he started rocking it...until he fell flat on his back and the tower fell on top of him. I just couldn't get there in time...

Poor battered Baby!

Irrational Fit of the Day

"MOMMY!! I DO NOT LIKE THE SUNSHINE IN OUR HOUSE!!!"

Screamed, whined, yelled over and over again.

Eventually, I sat him in his dim closet (all doors open, of course) until he could be grateful to God for His beautiful sunshine. He was welcome to come out to play as soon as he "felt better."

It didn't take long for him to venture out of his room and decide sunshine might be a blessing after all.

Owie, what am I going to do with you? I can't help but love you completely to pieces...even while you are driving me crazy!

Life Lesson

Consequence:

Something that logically or naturally follows from an action or condition.

We at The House of Halpin have learned a bit about consequences.

O received an educational LeapFrog DVD for his birthday. Oh, how he treasured this movie. Viewing time was while I hurriedly showered and got ready in the mornings. He could hardly wait until Nosy went down for his morning nap and I made the announcement: "Well, I think I'll go get clean in the shower now." "MOMMY! May I please watch my LeapFrog show now?" asked in a high, squeaky voice, accompanied by jumping around. One day, O decided he was big enough to remove the DVD from the DVD player and replace it in its case all by himself. The next time we went to watch the movie, the beloved disc was cracked, able to be played no more. Whatever were we to do?

I was not planning on replacing the movie. O should learn the finality of a broken toy. But then I was at Costco and found the coveted DVD at such a reasonable price...and O had been learning so much about letters from it. And so, weak Mommy that I am, I bought it.

It was decided that O would have to earn the DVD back through doing various chores around the house. We made a sticker chart together, topped by the verse

Eph 6:7 "Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men."

I explained the three jobs (accompanied by pictures so Owen could "read" himself what was expected of him) O would have to complete to earn the movie back. I have never seen the child so motivated! He checked off those chores in no time flat and had earned the privilege of watching the DVD by my morning shower!

I see a responsibility chart in our near future!

Calling All Superheroes

My youngest nephew, Will, celebrated his 1st birthday recently. His savvy, party-throwing Mommy did a super job throwing him a party worthy of the superman Will is quickly becoming.

All the cousins donned superhero capes, monogrammed just for them! O was Spiderman and Nosy was Bat Boy. (Of course, my kids have no idea who these superheroes are, but a cape is super-fun, and Julianne did a great job making each kid feel so special!)

Baby Will loves his Daddy!! What a great smile that boy has!

O was not too sure about his Superman tattoo at first. Of course, when it came time to wash it off for church, he was sad to see it go.

I have never seen a baby dive (literally) in to his cake in just this fashion. Will had us all laughing as we watched his hands-free approach to cake consumption!

The eight squirmy cousins.

Thanks, Julianne, for a great time! Will, you are a wonderful boy and we are so blessed to have you in our Fam!

Observation

Owen, while seriously studying Noah's face:
"What is that funny thing on Nosy's chin?"

Mommy, not quite sure what O is referring to:
"That dent in his chin, O?"

Owen:
"Yes. What is that?"

Mommy, laughing:
"It's a little dent. That's how God made No-nos."

Owen, with a very puzzled look on his face:
"Like the dent in his bottom, Mommy?"

Mommy, really laughing now:

"Well, kind of like that O..."

Glad Somebody's Getting Some Use Out of It!

...because I'm sure not!

A Reasonable Question

After nap today, Owen observed that I had adjusted the position of his tricycle.

"Were you riding my tricycle while I was sleeping, Mommy?!"

Flattered that he assumed my large bum could still fit on a child's trike, I assured him that no, Mommy would not ride his precious tricycle without his permission.

Straight Up

Several of you other blogger Mamas have made mention of something in passing that greatly humbles me because it is so untrue: what a great mom I appear to be. I am not trying to be boastful here, I just want to set the record straight. Just like anybody else, I am muddling through, hoping I am doing the right thing for my Boys. I read all of your blogs and see just how far short I fall in comparison. (As a wise friend so sweetly reminded me today, the comparison and jealousy trap is far too easy to fall into!) Honestly, I am really struggling right now with balancing all the joys of motherhood with my other responsibilities like keeping the house clean, exercising this increasingly flabby body of mine, being faithful in my time alone with God and my time alone with Jeremy. There just do not seem to be enough hours in my day!

I do, however, love to talk to Owie about God things, and if I can just get this one thing right, fostering in my Boys a right relationship with their Creator, then everything else, that is only temporal anyway, will pale in comparison. Somehow, although it greatly intimidates me to discuss spiritual matters with my peers, talking to O about it flows quite naturally. He loves to discuss matters of the heart, and that is a trait I so want to encourage in him. In fact, he greatly challenges me to keep up with answers to his questions and fodder for him to digest. And so, we talk about God stuff all the time...like the Bible says in Deut 11:

18 Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 19 Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up (or when we are in the car or in the bath or at the grocery store or during play time). 20 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates (or on our bulletin board, adorned with decoration!), 21 so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the LORD swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth. (comments in parentheses added by me!)

My main goal as Mom to O and Nosy is to instill in them a passion for God, hearts that only desire to follow His lead. I want their first inclination to be to turn to God, both when problems arise and when they are greatly blessed. (O's fave phrase already: "Say a prayer about it, Mommy!) I want Bible verses to constantly be on the tips of their tongues to get them through tough times and to be at the ready when discussing God with the people He brings into their lives. May it be completely second nature to them to pray things through prior to reacting and to check things against God's Word.

All this rambling just to say: I am not that great of a Mom. I know this to be true, especially when the whining wears me down to my very last nerve, but I am trying. And whether our day is great or horrible, O and I often stop what we are doing and commit the day back to Him who gave us the day to begin with. And really, directing my kids to a relationship with God is all that matters.

37+14 (months, that is)=?

A full heart and a happy home!

Time is passing too quickly! I can't believe how big they are!

We Survived

For any of you out there wondering how we did at our new nursery today, let me tell you:

We all did surprisingly well!

O walked right into his new class with new kids and new teachers without even a backward glance! When I came to pick him up, he was excited to see me and came running over to the door, full of smiles and stories. I am so proud of you, Owie! Big brave Boy!

No-nos, on the other hand, wailed as I handed him over to the grandmotherly nursery worker. I explained to her that he had major separation issues and was likely to put up a good fuss. "Please come get me if he is inconsolable," I said. She just nodded her head with a knowing smile and shooed me on my way. When it was time to fetch him, he was happily playing in a ball pit, having the time of his life. As soon as he saw me, he turned on the tears, for dramatic effect, I am sure. I loved on him a minute and then stepped out into the hallway where Noah proceeded to give me resounding BITE on the arm! What is that about?! Punishment for abandoning him to strangers? Please, do not let him be turning into a dreaded, dare I even say the word, biter! He's never bit before, outside of a couple of times while teething and nursing. I scolded him, at which point he dissolved into a puddle of remorseful tears. Sweet Nosy. What am I going to do with you?

I loved going to my Bible Study. Learned a lot and ran into quite a few old friends. This is going to work out just great!

Expedition

Today was my very favorite kind of day: nothing on the calendar, lots of energy and a crisp, sunny day dawning outside. After Nosy's morning nap, we packed up sandwiches and headed for the park. I dubbed our outing, The Expedition! Just the title of the day provoked excitement!

The Boys devoured their sandwiches. I made Scooter his first cashew butter sandwich and, as is evidenced by the photo, he had no complaints!

I taught O a bit about tracking. I only know a bit about tracking, so unless I brush up on the topic, the tracking lessons will probably end here. This, I explained to O, is more than likely a big dog paw print. Lesson complete. But we had fun following the big dog paw prints until eventually they faded away.

Owen declared himself to be the "stick collector." He did a very thorough job of collecting sticks!

All three of us hiked down an embankment to get closer to the creek. There we had a great time tossing O's many sticks in the water and watching them float away.

Other expeditious activities included: running very, very fast; pretending we were airplanes, eagles, helicopters, hawks, all which required running very, very fast; racing, which also meant running very, very fast while one tired Mommy pushed the stroller through the grass. After all that, we had travelled quite a distance, and so we began the true expedition of attempting to find where Mommy had parked the car. Eventually we found it and headed home for long naps!

Another thing that made this day my fave kind of day: We had packages on our doorstep when we got home! Just some clothes I had ordered on-line for the Boys, but packages none-the-less. What is more fun than a box of surprises to open with my Boys?!

Write It on Our Hearts

It is time to change out our Bible memory verse again. I love learning Scripture with my O!

The new verse:

"When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust. I will not be afraid." Psalm 56:3-4

O and I had a great conversation about just what the verse means. I explained how whenever he is afraid he can trust that God is always with him, keeping him safe. I specifically chose this verse to equip O for a new, potentially scary, situation that is coming up this week. He will be left at a new nursery during my Bible Study, a place where he doesn't know anyone. (I've been building up the experience for a week now!) I told him that saying this verse will help him if he feels scared. He replied back that it would not be scary. It would only be fun. So grown up!

I asked him what things did make him afraid:

"Nosy-Posy, because he gets me. He messes up my pat-rens (patterns he makes with his lacing beads)."

"When you go to lunch with your friends and leave me with Daddy." (Funny, especially since he always has a blast with Daddy!)

"Nosy gets my hair." (Noah truly is not all that intimidating.)

The fears of a small boy.

"Are you afraid of anything else, O?"

Thought for a minute...

"No. Just those three things."

Then came the more difficult part of the conversation. O decided that he would trust Noah and me and Daddy too. I tried to convey in simplistic terms how, although I try my very best to be trustworthy, I will still make mistakes sometimes. (I sited an example of a time when I yelled at O and then had to ask his forgiveness). All people will make mistakes but God never makes a mistake. He is perfect and will never let Owie down. O pondered this for a minute and then seriously nodded. Who knows how much of it he actually grasped, but I am sure this is just the first of many conversations we will have as we write this verse on our hearts together. I am just so grateful that O loves to discuss matters of the heart and wants so much to know God. May I always feed O's hunger for Christ, and may I learn from the example of my little Son.

Decorating our verse poster

All hung up and ready to memorize!

Sweetness

Not a Great Idea

Before all the sickness struck the House of Halpin, I took the Boys to a nearby creek for a photo shoot. Maybe taking a 13 month old near tempting, beautiful, flowing water is not the best idea...especially when I am a ways off with camera in hand attempting to capture the perfect picture! We almost lost him a couple times and left quite a bit damper than we arrived. Oh well. He had a great time! It will be even more fun as the days warm up!

Splish! Splash!

Whoo-hoo! This is a blast!

Am I really allowed to be doing this?

Whoops! Almost tumbled in that time!

Looking for fish

Walking Shoes

These shoes are made for walking...

or so we've told No-nos.

After he wore actual holes in his soft leather shoes from crawling, we decided it was time he got some big boy shoes, walking shoes.

The Little Man still prefers to get around like this:

He's lightening quick at crawling, that's for sure!

He will take up to five or six steps at a time, but he definitely prefers to crawl! After taking a step or two, he will fall down and say, "Eeeh? Eeeeeeeh?" He is waiting to be praised. We all comply with applause and, "Yay, Nosy-Posy!!" at which time he happily crawls off, very proud of himself.

Doesn't he look so grown up? Hardly a baby any more. (Both of my kids have an aversion to making eye contact with the camera!)

Sweet Baby. You will be a toddler any day now!

On Star

O has the memory of an elephant. His thing lately is to name every place of business that we pass while riding in the car. I must admit that his list of places he recognizes is a little convicting:

"McDonald's, Mommy! Taco Bueno! Can I get a bucket of beans and dippy cheese? Oh and there's Taco Bell. Is that Starbuck's? Target. Walmart. Sam's! I like Sam's. They have samples! Chick Fil A. Babies R Us. Where's Toys R Us? There is Chuck E Cheese! When can we go back there to play? And OTB! Steak and Shake. They put cherries on the big shakes they have there." I could list on and on. The pattern that develops is remarkably full of fast food joints. Hmmm. Maybe some dietary modifications are called for here.

O also has an uncanny sense of direction, which he definitely did not inherit from me!! I still get lost...a lot...in the very city I grew up in! He can tell me the way home from almost anywhere these days. "Turn that way, Mommy. Home is that way," while pointing his sweet finger adamantly. He works much better than a compass! I have my very own On Star strapped into a car seat in the back. Things he has over the On Star: He's much cuter and comes free of charge, with a delightful sense of humor!

Lullaby and Goodnight

Precious sleepy Baby

Cured

We have emerged from our cave...and there is life out there! After almost two weeks of being sequestered in our house, leaving only to visit the doctor or the pharmacy, we are finally free to roam about the city again. Fevers have broken and crabby Halpins are returning to their normal happy selves, although with the added pleasures of nagging coughs and lingering drippy noses. Today we ventured out to the library and it was like we had never been on an outing before. The whole world was more colorful and lovely after being viewed only through a window for so many days. So play dates, here we come! Watch out, world, the Halpins are back in circulation!

Be Mine

Happy Valentine's Day!

Diagnosis

We are still muy sicko.

Saturday morning dawned with fevers all around, even Jeremy had succumbed. Within a few hours, poor O's temp spiked to 104.5. A little panicky, I tossed him into a tepid bath and dosed him with Motrin, all while on hold with the on-call pediatrician. She suggested we hurry right in. Of course, by the time we had waited for nearly two hours in the waiting room, barely propped up in our chairs, breathing germ-infested air, O's temp had dropped to 100. Based on his symptoms and the course of my illness, the pedi decided to check O for the flu by stuffing a very long q-tip incredibly far up into his brain via his nostril to look for "germs." The test came back positive almost immediately.

So we have the flu. All four of us. (O also has double ear infections.) What a bummer...especially after getting a painful flu shot! The only consolation in getting the shot is that we will be spared from the much worse evil, the actual flu! All three of my guys were able to start the miracle drug, Tamiflu. I was too far gone, however. This medicine is amazing! It is supposed to lessen the effects of the flu and make the whole thing a bit more bearable. Sure enough, after just one dose last night, O and J had no fever at all today. Nosy is running a low grade temp. We still are experiencing a plenitude of snot, whining, coughing, crabbiness, diarrhea, clinginess, headache and nausea but at least the high temps are under control.

Even pitiful and sick, O still says the funniest things!

"My nose sure is busy today!" he said after the 1,000th nose wipe of the day.

In our Tinker Toys set, there are a couple of wrecking balls. He picked one up and announced, "Here's another 'recognize ball'!"

Funny Guy. We can sure use the comic relief!

103

That's been an all too common number seen on our digital thermometer this week. Both O and I topped out above 103 in our battle with a nasty virus. I'm sad to say that I think the virus is winning. It's been 4 days and counting for me, still with a fever of 101; O started running a fever last night. I have a sinking feeling No-nos is next. He's been awfully fussy today.

Singing the sickie blues

Needing some sunshine and a distracting outing, not to mention a yummy treat, J and I loaded the kids up for a trip to Sonic for "happy hour." While getting in the car O had a revelation: "Wait! We forgot to change my clothes today! I still have on my pajamies!" Pajama-ed is a good way to be when you don't feel well, sweet sick Boy. Heal up!

On Your Mark

I was in the kitchen feeding Scooter breakfast, when I hear:

"READY, SET, 1-2-3,

GO!"

A pause, and then, said with great genuine disappointment:

"They are not racing, Mommy. They are just standing there."

Capturing a photo finish

Cleanliness

If it's next to godliness, then we at The House of Halpin are in great shape! These Boys love to wash their hands...over and over and over!

My Ace of Cakes

Owie has announced that his chef's hat is much more specific than I once thought. Contrary to popular belief, one cannot cook just any old food while donning a blue chef's hat. It is specifically for baking cakes, and cakes only, I have been informed. Pictured is O busily creating cupcakes for Cousin Oliver's birthday, and just today, he whipped up a most delicious fish cake for me in his kitchen!