Pupils

Shhhh. Quiet please.

School is in session.

Following the Leader

Following the leader, the leader, the leader

Noah's following the leader wherever he may go.

Tee dum, tee dee

A teedle ee do tee day

Out to Pasture

We have a wonderful acreage not far from our house, all grassy knolls and fish ponds complete with peacefully grazing cows...and this time of year, the sweetest baby calves. Since the cows have so much land on which to roam, their location is not very consistent, but for the last week or so, they have been spotted quite a few times in the corner of the property closest to our house. After naps today, the Boys and I ventured out on an expedition to see if we could find a few calves to moo at. Owie was convinced they needed him to pat them.

After a bit longer stroll than I had estimated, we sadly saw nary a cow. We did however discover some very ripe cow patties, evidence that they might not be too far off. We abandoned the stroller and set off on foot to continue our cow hunt.

After walking another thirty minutes, we finally spied a solitary cow way far off in the distance. We hollered at it for awhile, but it could not be bothered with a crew of sweaty, needy humans.

And so we trekked back to our stroller and then back to the house sorely disappointed. It ended up being a very long walk for one particular little Boy who is a tad too big to carry and yet whose legs get so very tired.

Not ones to give up easily, we have decided we will continue our cow hunt tomorrow, especially since those calves do so need to be patted by O.

A Night at the Races

Let me preface with an apology for the horrible photography, but this is such a fun memory for me that it needed to be posted.

We found ourselves with an evening free of activity, so we set up a night at the races.

We started off with pushcart races in Rubbermaid storage tubs: Daddy pushed Owie while I scooted Nosy along. Super fun, but alas, no photos.

Next I explained the concept of the egg race to Owen. He thought it sounded like great fun! The scene was hilarious...all of us attempting to balance Easter eggs on different sized spoons: a baby spoon for Daddy up to huge serving spoons for O and Nosy.

Eventually, we secured O's and No-nos' eggs to their spoons with tape, thus leveling the playing field quite a bit.

Scooter was more interested in licking his egg!

Other races we competed in: frog-jumping races, side-stepping races, spinning races, falcon-flying races.

We all went to bed tired and thoroughly exercised. What fun!

In Jesus' Name

I never tire of hearing my O talk to God.

(If you do tire of it, which is completely understandable, please skip this post.)

Prayers of late:

Right before being dropped off at Watermark nursery:
"Dear Jesus, I want to stay by Mommy. I want to cry. Help me to be not crying. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

He is helping me!"

Praying with Noah at bedtime:

"Jesus, please stay in my heart. If you go away, I will miss you."

Praying with Gramps and Yaya when sending them off on a missions trip to Columbia:

"Jesus, please go in peoples' hearts and play music."

Changing of the Verse

I play a little game sometimes. (Remember, I don't get a whole lot of intellectual stimulation.) I look for hidden words in off-the-wall places: on license plates, in the letters of O's ABC puzzles, scrambled up in billboards on the highway. I was picking up the remnants of O's machine when I came across these letters:

Right there is the word "kind," right in the middle of my living room floor. Kindness is something O and I are working hard on displaying consistently right now. I was thus led to hunt for a new memory verse involving kindness.

Drum roll, please...

Ephesians 4:32 "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."

I showed the new verse to Owie just now and he said, "Hmmm. Sounds like a good one. Okay!" We'll get right down to writing this on our hearts...and prayerfully displaying it in our attitudes and actions!

Birthday Ba-cation

My 32nd (Seriously?! Am I already 32?!) birthday was on Sunday. My sweet family has been celebrating since last Friday, and the partying will continue until next Sunday! I'm having a blast!

Friday night, we gathered at my parent's house to celebrate both my Mom and me with my fave OTB. Jeremy indulged my insatiable desire for queso, and Mom and Dad pleased my sweet tooth with another fave, carrot cake from Central Market. Yummo!

At some point during the evening, Yaya and O slipped outside and secretly snipped a few sweet flowers to cheer my kitchen table. Owie was so proud to present me with such a wonderful gift.

Saturday night, Gigi and Papa offered to stay with the Boys so we could go on a date. A WHAT? A date? Actual alone time with my darling husband? How fun!

Here we are all dolled up.

As we were walking out the door after hugs and kisses with the Boys, we heard a tiny send-off from O: "Bye! I hope you enjoy your ba-cation!" Oh, he sounds way too grown up!

We had so much fun walking around the Shops at Legacy, listening to the live bands and watching the street artists. I have a weird interest in prom-goers (always have since way back when my parents would park in the high school parking lot on prom night so we could gawk at all the finery), and it just happened to be prom night! We were surrounded by giggling teens in way too skimpy dresses. We ate delish pizza at Fireside Pies and had such a romantic time. Being back home by 9:30 for a tub of ice cream and a comedy in our own bed finished off a perfect evening.

Sunday, my actual B-day, was crazy-busy with church, a luncheon afterwards, and Awana's that night. No time for celebrating, but we made up for it on Monday! Jeremy took the day off to play with me and the kids...and play we did! After a relaxed morning at home, we picnicked at Founders Park and then stopped at Sonic for cold yummy drinks on the way home. One of my favorite gifts: J did the Walmart shopping while the Boys napped so I could work out!

Tuesday night, the girls on the Halpin side took me to P.F. Changs for such a wonderful dinner! We chased down way too much Chinese food with mini desserts in shot glasses. What a fun night out with the girls! (I so wish I'd taken my camera and gotten a pic!)

I feel thoroughly celebrated and so completely blessed to be surrounded by the amazing people God has placed in my life. He is so good to me! (Anyone want to bet on how much weight I have gained with all this indulgence? B-days are bad for the figure!)

Machine

"M is for mmmmm-achine!" Owie proclaimed from the playroom. "Come see, Mommy!"

Well, you couldn't keep me away! This is what I found:

Every letter from every ABC puzzle we own lined up in formation, thus creating O's "machine that makes foods."

After he "read" me what his machine said, he agreed to have his picture taken with his masterpiece. I am working on having different focal points in my pictures, so I snapped quite a few shots.

Bedtime Update

As I have blogged before, we have been having some problems getting O to fall asleep at night. He is filled with anxiety and sadness all of a sudden, after months of going to sleep peacefully. We have tried so many things to help him, and yet he was still screaming and pounding on the walls and his door for several hours after being put to bed each night.

This week, we had a long-prayed for breakthrough, praise the Lord! Nothing really changed in our routine, so I am not sure what finally helped Owie to get beyond the fit throwing. All I know is that we prayed hard with him specifically about it many nights in a row.

Listen in on our conversation the morning after his first peaceful night

(and when I say peaceful, I mean we said our good-nights, shut the door, and heard not one more peep from his room...just like the good ol' days):

O: "I didn't cry or bang or scream or ask you any questions...or break your heart!" so proud of himself!

Me: "I am SO PROUD of you, Owie! What helped you?"

O: "I talked to Jesus!"
Me: "What did you tell Him?"

O: "I telled Him, 'Good-night!' I didn't have to tell you I hoped I have good dreams...I telled Jesus!"

Me: "Did Jesus help you go to sleep?"

O: "Oh, yes! He used my heart to help me sleep. I was a good boy and sleeped and sleeped and sleeped. Sometimes I am not a good boy."

I guess he threw that in for honesty's sake?!

I am so thankful we are beyond this struggle. Next, we have to get rid of his paci. Oh dread! (And I can almost hear the collective appalled gasps of readers everywhere. Yes, our three year old still sucks his paci in his bed. No excuses for that at all, except that he is a wonderful sleeper with it and I am worried he will no longer be a wonderful sleeper without it. The day is quickly approaching though...I'll keep you posted!)

Kazoo

My grandparents in Oregon sent the Boys this wonderful music kit for Christmas. They love it, and band practice is one of our favorite games at The House of Halpin...especially marching band practice...strict formation and all.

The kit has so many things in it: shakers, clackers, a xylophone, and a funny looking instrument we could only assume was a kazoo. No one in our family could figure out how to coax any sort of sound from this instrument. Owie, Daddy and I all blew into it until we were popping blood vessels in our foreheads to no avail. Only silence. For obvious reasons, this lonely instrument was always left discarded when we marched off to our homemade tunes.One day, Nosy-Posy wandered over to the kazoo. He plopped down next to it, examined it for a minute and put it in his mouth. Next, he puffed out his cheeks and let go a good, solid blow.

Lo and behold, a wonderful sound filled the air! Noah figured out just how to play that kazoo, no problem, when none of the rest of us could! It has now become a family favorite, but Noah always gets first dibs on playing the kazoo in our marching band.

Out of the Mouth of O

"My favorite color is yellow today."

Me: "I thought green was your favorite color?!"

"Act-ully, I decided to give other peoples a turn having green as their favorite color today."

Makes sense.

Bedtime prayer:

"You are wonderful, Lord, and I bless you!"

Spontaneous praise from a small Boy.

"You crack me out!"

After I told an amazingly funny joke about monkeys jumping on the bed.

After O chose to obey and I praised him:

"I make a good choice! That makes God so happy by-cuz I obey Him. I am a good obeyer. (Shrugs.) Sometimes I obey; sometimes I don't."

Nobody knows this fact better than Mommy!

Finally Found It!

During preparation for my Bible Study this week, I stumbled across the verse I have been searching for for so long! Thank You, Lord! It has been bugging me for a couple of weeks. I have felt incredibly convicted of this concept lately, so not being able to locate the verse to support what I knew to be true and biblical was very frustrating!

I Thessalonians 4:11-12

"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders."

For awhile there, I kept the Boys and myself super busy: play dates, library time, lunches out with friends, children's classes, etc, often a couple of things each day. I thought this was the best way to make maximum use of my time each day, to fill it with fun activities out and about. There is absolutely nothing wrong with any of these things (in fact, we were having a great time!), but I felt that this was not how God would have me use the day He gave me. I was definitely not leading the "quiet life" I feel He is calling me to lead. I have been given the blessing of raising two amazing Boys. I have no idea how long I will be able to spend entire days with them, ingraining on their sweet hearts the things of God, good character traits, love for His people. I want to teach my children these things, and that takes lots of time being quiet together. And so we have slowed our pace a bit. Of course we still love play dates and library time is a must, but we don't over-schedule anymore. We spend quite a bit of time in our playroom at home, minding our own business, learning life lessons by living life together.

Thoughts on Permanence, by O

"Jesus is in my heart, just like the marker."

??????

"He is there forever...like the marker."

Still not getting it.

"The marker in the kitchen. It's there forever (exasperated now)!"

Oh! I get it! We were having a valuable life lesson about the meaning of permanent markers earlier this evening.

"Yes, Owie. Once Jesus is in your heart, He is there forever, just like the permanent marker makes a mark that lasts forever."

Training Camp

I Cor 9: 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

Owen and I are both in training, for something very important, I am sure. It seems we are both being pruned, the sharp edges of our characters are being softened and molded into traits more pleasing to the Lord. I am learning patience, understanding, perseverance, while O learns obedience, immediate and cheerful obedience.

What a hard, exhausting past few days it has been. I love this little man more than I could ever say. He fills my heart to overflowing, and I treasure the time we spend together. And so these days when we clash all day long hurt my heart so much. I can't stand reflecting on my day and all that really sticks out is disciplining O, over and over again. It breaks my heart. I wish I could take a break, just let him get away with it for a little while, but I know it would be so much harder to correct the issues later on. I wonder: Is this how God feels about me sometimes? He just wants me to obey, to rest in Him, to stop struggling against Him. I am so thankful He loves me enough to keep on shaping me. And I love O enough to stick with it too.

The funny thing is, the rules have not changed. It is the Boy who has changed and grown and no longer obeys without thinking and without question. He is pushing, pushing, pushing back the boundaries, and it is my job to remain firm. I just am so tired!

I love this new Bigger Boy. He thinks things through and reasons with me. He tells the best jokes and has the best smile I've ever seen, all teeth and twinkling eyes. We will both emerge from this with stronger characters and a deeper love for God and for each other. And I can't wait to spend some quality time getting to know my bigger O.

Two in One NIght!

And Episode 3!

I'm Far Behind!

Episode 2 is done!

My Brother's Keeper

Sweet Brothers.

Although they often aggravate each other to pieces,

when it comes right down to it,

they have a whole heart full of love for each other!

Owie keeps Nosy safe as they romp around in the great outdoors.

Ritual

Our bedtime routine with Owen keeps getting extended. I want to remember the run-down (for times when he doesn't need me to tuck him anymore), so here it is:

We read a book.

We say a prayer.

Then we sing.

First, "The Lord Bless You and Keep You," a blessing upon our son.

O has recently added "Oh How I Love Jesus" and "Jesus Loves Me."

(He has recommended we also add "Jingle Bells," but we told him enough is enough.)

Next, the zillions of repeated questions/ announcements start.

Here are just a few:

"I hope I don't get thirsty!"

"I hope I have some dreams."

"I am not tired. What can I do?"

We list: Say some prayers ("Jesus loves to have me talk to Him!"), sing some songs, play with his babies (John and Jeremiah), say his verses...then he always adds "SLEEP!" Great idea, O!

The past few nights, he has been having so much difficulty settling down. He screams and screams in his room for almost an hour, often slamming himself against the door or the wall. It is all very disturbing, breaks my heart just listening to him, and we can't figure out the root of the problem. One night I went in to try to calm him down with big hugs and kisses. This is what he said, all snuggled in and damp with tears, when I asked him what was wrong:

"I am having lots of trouble, Mommy. I keep having so many things to ask you. It makes me sad. But I am your treasure. That makes me so happy!"

You are my precious treasure, O. How I love, love you!

Antics

Nosy-Posy.

What are we going to do with you?

Here are just a few of your latest antics:

Today we had our first battle over fashion. FASHION? Yes, fashion. Noah has a pair of delightful, hand-me-down sandals. Sandal weather is upon us, so I put his sandals on him to go outside to play. He refused to stand up. I checked for sore spots or something poky. There was nothing. I set him up on his feet again. He went all limp and plopped back down on the floor, this time gesturing at his new Crocs. "They are too big, No-nos. You are going to wear these sandals today." The crying started as he was clinging to his Crocs for dear life, but I remained strong. He would wear these sandals! And wear them he finally did...until I discovered that he could walk out of them too easily and leave them behind on the sidewalk.

When I even subtly mention getting out of the bath tub, Scooter flops down flat on his tummy in the farthest possible corner of our rather large tub...and holds tight to his toothbrush as if it will save him from Mommy's reaching hands.

Today he signed, "All done milk." I love that he is putting words together!

Scooter also has said "Mam" repeatedly today when requiring my attention. Have I been renamed? I will answer to anything that sweet Baby wants to call me!

Another new development: When I call, "Come here, Noah!" the little stinker starts walking backwards to escape me. If I pursue him, he twirls around, teeters on one foot, and then runs the other direction, all done with the hugest grin imaginable!

Noah has a very important job to do...and he is all business about it. When I am doing laundry, he stands by the dryer and tosses the wet clothes in. And when the clothes are dry, he sticks his head in the dryer, fishes around for something he fancies, and then totes it out to be tossed upon Laundry Mountain to await being folded. What a good helper!

So back to our question:

Just what am I going to do with you?

All I can do is love you absolutely to pieces!!

Brotherly Generosity

Sweet Owen. Sensitive, tender-hearted, sacrificial Owen.

Here are my Boys hunting eggs. Jeremy is helping No-nos, while Owen does a terrific job on his own. Soon we noticed a trend. Every second or third time O found an egg, he would head for Nosy's Easter basket and plop the egg right in. Jeremy and I didn't say anything, just observed this for a bit. Sure enough...quite a few of Owie's eggs were ending up in Scooter's basket. This continued until all the eggs were found and both kiddos had baskets that were full to the brim.

So now the much-anticipated time had come to discover what was hidden inside each egg: a single, pastel, delicious M&M. This is the next scene that played out:

As I took a few pictures, taking advantage of the fact that the Boys were sitting still with their candy, I noticed something through the lens of my camera. Owie would open an egg and then feed every other M&M to Noah, sharing half his candy with Baby Brother. Nosy was thrilled with this development!

Deuteronomy 15:10 "You shall generously give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all your undertakings. "

May I follow O's sweet example and be as generous with my time, belongings, affections...and my candy!