Snow!

It wasn't in the weather forecast, but it's snowing anyway. Today right before naptime Luke asked me, "When is it going to snow?" I sadly told him that where we live, it doesn't snow every year. About a half hour before he woke up, it started to snow rather earnestly here. In the past hour we've accumulated probably an inch and a half of snow. It's beautiful. The weather man says it will all be gone by 8pm. I'm not sure that I believe him. Regardless, it's lovely and fun. The boys went out for a few minutes already. We live in a rather windy area, so they spent most of that time wiping snow out of their eyes. Perhaps if the stuff is still around in the morning, they can enjoy it again.

Looking out the playroom window at the snow.

Luke is ready to go. His clothes all clash, but he's warm.

No, I haven't gained sixty pounds. I'm bundled!

Paul attempting to catch a snowflake or two on his tongue instead of in his eyes.

"We like to eat this stuff."

More Christmas Cuteness

The last two days have been rather laid back, despite a minor plumbing incident that has rendered my dishwasher and garbage disposal inoperable for a time. That's not a fun story, so I will skip it. There will be a plumber here tomorrow hopefully. Back to the laid back part of these past two days...Yesterday I never managed to get out of my pajama pants. Today I put on jeans, but never changed out of my pajama top. Perhaps tomorrow I will manage to dress myself fully. I did finish Sense and Sensibility today. I've been on a bit of a Jane Austen kick since about May. It all started with Pride and Prejudice. Then came Emma and I figured I was through it, but then one of my former students told me that Mansfield Park was her personal favorite. It might be mine as well. I'm thinking that 2010 will need to include Persuasion and Northanger Abbey. I'm not sure why I often feel the need to read an author's entire canon, especially if s/he is dead. William Faulkner is the exception. I could go on, but that's not a particularly fun story either.
The boys have been spending time with their new train bits. They both received a new engine and new track accessories that include a coal chute and a magnetic crane. I thought I would share a few more pictures from the Christmas festivities and post holiday fun.

Luke and Paul opening Aunt Krista's present: miniature wooden replicas of London (for Luke) and Paris (for Paul). So fun!

The Daddy-Man has the entire week between Christmas and New Year's off. It's a gift from his employer, Takeda, every year. I love this company. And we love having Daddy home.

Trains. Trains. Trains. Trains. Trains.

And more trains. Such fun!

Merry Christmas!

What a great morning! We started with birthday cake and going around the table saying what is special about Jesus. Luke began by telling how Jesus turned water into wine. Paul was next. I asked him, "Paul, what makes Jesus special?" Paul replied, "Jesus baked waffle." So hard not to laugh. Erik jumped right in and reminded Paul how Jesus fed the five thousand. Not sure if that is what Paul meant, but he smiled and nodded.
After cake (and yogurt because we need a little protein in our lives) we read from Luke's picture Bible and sang "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" and Luke asked us what herald meant. That's hilarious because I think that up until now both he and Paul have thought it was Harold the Helicopter from the Thomas stories, hence the popularity of this song in our family.
Next we brought out the stockings. Each boy got his very own package of freeze-dried strawberries. I know. That doesn't seem like a big deal, but it's a huge luxury in our world. There were other dried fruits and yummies also. The Chocolate Brownie Clif Z Bars went really fast. Definitely a favorite.
Following stockings, the "real" presents emerged. The Elmo puppets from Aunt Nikki and Uncle Ed were a HUGE hit, especially with Paul. In fact, for the rest of the present opening either Erik or I needed to be working Elmo. Whenever we attempted to set him aside, Paul would say, "Do Elmo puppet." So we did! Here are a few pictures of the morning's sweetness.

Saying "Happy Birthday, Jesus!" as loudly as possible!!

Happy Boys eating Chocolate Brownie Z Bars

Love at first sight!

Big Hug!

Paul spent the morning sharing his presents with Elmo. It was super adorable.

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Advent Goodness

What a busy time of year! I want to start by writing about something fun that I did last night. Our church has a partnership with a public school. Odd sounding, isn't it? This is an urban school where over 80% of the students are at or below the poverty level. Mosaic believes in serving the community in Jesus' name with no strings attached. So last night, I went to a craft fair at a K-8 public school that was planned, funded, and staffed entirely by a church. I served free cups of hot cocoa for two hours to a diverse group of students and parents. It was SO MUCH FUN! It reminded me of what I loved about being a public educator. The people! Watching these folks come in from the bitter cold and enjoy themselves as a community was simply a huge blessing. The kids were able to make free, quality gifts for the adults in their lives while the same adults enjoyed a hot cup of coffee and tasty seasonal goodies. I look forward to the next event at the school and hope to take the entire family eventually.

In Bangsund-Land, we have enjoyed the beginning of Advent in so many ways. I began pulling out decorations the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Luke looked at me in surprise and said, "Is it Christmas?" I told him it was indeed Christmas time. His next question was, "Where is our tree?" We found our Christmas tree at a local u-cut tree farm the next day. The boys enjoyed the free mini candy canes and the big machine that wraps the trees. I enjoyed the $13.50 price. :-) The tree is precious and sweet standing in our living room. We also put up the Christmas train for the first time this year. I received this battery powered train as a gift my senior year in high school with much delight, but this train had not known love until it met Luke and Paul. They adore it. Paul is still a bit young, but Luke does an awesome job of realigning the wheels and getting it back on the track when needed. It's amazing to me the things he can do without help now. Time. It flies.

Looking toward Christmas morning, we are excited about focusing our celebration on the person and birth of Jesus Christ. There will be birthday cake and singing. Presents will be given. Just this morning during school time I was telling Luke the BSF story for the week from John 7. (We had to miss BSF today because Paul had a fever...he's doing better now.) Anyway, in John 7, Jesus goes to Jerusalem for a Feast and people everywhere are talking about Him. Some believe He is the Messiah. Others do not. There is LOTS of controversy. (Not unlike today, eh?) I shared with Luke that when people hear about the Lord Jesus, some believe He is the Christ and some do not. He processed this and said, "I know that Jesus is the Christ." I actually had to take a moment to appreciate childlike faith. Unable to say anything in reply, I silently thanked God for His Word and how clear these matters can be if we allow faith to blossom. That is what we will be celebrating this year. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, born in Bethlehem to save and redeem on Calvary.

Some pics of the peeps:

Luke checks out the tree and approves.

Paul supervises the cutting.

A Fat Rat

You might be thinking, "Gross!" Let me explain. Luke read his first book all by himself this week on Wednesday. It's title is A Fat Rat. He was SO thrilled! I was pretty excited myself. My favorite moment was on the page with the words "a fat mat" when Luke looked at the picture and said, "A fat piece of cheese." I burst out laughing and he joined in. We belly laughed for at least a minute before I explained the importance of looking at the words and not just the pictures. He finished the book and was ready to read it again. Erik was even able to come home from work in the middle of the day to have Luke read to him for the first time. Pretty special day.

In other news, I am at the beach right now. My friend Liza and I have run away from home for the weekend. We are watching movies, enjoying the amazing view from the windows of this beach front house (a huge thank you to neighbors John and Nancy for letting us stay here!), and scrapbooking. The weather is stormy and fun. There are some brave souls out on the beach at this moment. Liza and I are making cinnamon rolls, drinking coffee and wearing pajamas. I love it.
And now for the pictures!

Daddy and Luke made this rainbow using his cars last week. Super cute.

Luke helping Paul to "read" A Fat Rat. Adorable.

Other learning fun...we have been reading about levers in The Berenstain Bears Big Book of Science. On Thursday Luke looked at our long, black tube (used for zooming matchbox cars) and said, "Mommy, it's like a lever. I push here and it goes up on the other end." Nice application of learning, buddy!

Not what you would expect

It happened today! The Nordstrom's Holiday catalog arrived at our house. I immediately dropped everything and made this poster for my husband.

"Another 2 Reasons You Love Me: Neither the most expensive NOR the least expensive bags (nor anything in between) from the Nordstrom's Tossmas Catalog appeal to me! Happy Advent Conspiracy!!" Under the picture on the left: "$2695 = the cost of 28 farm animals that could save 10 families from starvation in the third world." On the right: "$450 would provide 9 families with tools, training, and seed to begin subsistence farming drought-resistant vegetables and grains."

I think I'll keep the sign up for awhile. It's a great reminder for me and those I love. We will celebrate differently. This is our new tradition. Catalogs will be tossed. Gifts will be relational. The ones who need it the most will get the food, water, shelter, clothing, medical supplies, and education for Christmas. I'm so excited to teach my boys the story of Jesus' birth again this year. And I can't wait to live it for them through sacrificial giving. What will you teach? What will you give?

New Birth

One of my closest friends on the planet gave birth Sunday morning to a beautiful baby boy. It was my honor and privilege to care for her other children during this time. God timed the birth perfectly so that Erik was home with our boys and I could head over to their house at 2am. :-) Visiting her at the birth center later that day, I was astounded again by the newness of birth. The soft skin. The sleepiness of a newborn. I held a baby who was four hours old and introduced myself, telling him how much I love his family and that we are bonded not by a blood relationship, but through the blood of Jesus Christ. I prayed over him, that he would trust in the Lord with all his heart and lean not on his own understanding; that in all his ways He would acknowledge God and He would make his path straight. (Proverbs 3:5,6) Pretty amazing moment.

My boys are good. Erik has been at a business meeting since Monday, so we are all looking forward to his return this afternoon. I realize I haven't blogged since Halloween...it didn't go down like I thought it would. The boys tried on their costumes and decided they didn't want to wear them. At the same time, the Oregon vs. USC game started at 5pm and I really didn't have a desire to take the boys out. So we all stayed in and watched the Ducks TROUNCE the Trojans. It was a good night. :-) Here's a pic of the Ducks fans.

Thanks for the t-shirts, Grandma! The boys wore them to BSF on Wednesday and were a big hit, even with the Beaver fans. :-)

Luke and Paul with Luke's lion costume. Sorry, folks.

Sorting Beans, Doing Dishes and Answered Prayer

Does God answer prayer? Shortly after getting him up this morning, I discovered that Paul had a low-grade fever. His mild fussiness confirmed the fact that he's not feeling well. To make matters more interesting, I mistakenly took my vitamins on an empty stomach. Have I ever wanted to throw up more? Nope. So, it's time for our school day to start. Paul has escalated the fussiness to downright irritable. My stomach hates me. And Luke has decided this is the day he wants to dictate how school happens. The script ran something like this.

Luke: I wanna do my Feel Box first. I'm gonna do my Feel Box first.
(Note: The Feel Box has an item hidden inside that begins with the letter we are learning which Luke must discern using only his hands. I use it about halfway through our school time to keep him interested.)
Me: (Setting up our school table to begin the day) We can start with our letter time and do the Feel Box early today. (I'm trying to be flexible, while still getting in the "hard" learning and using the fun stuff as the carrot.)
Luke: I'M GONNA DO MY FEEL BOX FIRST!!
Me: Mommy needs to pray right now. (Getting down on my knees right by our school table) Dear Jesus, I'm so tired and I don't feel well. I'm broken and empty. I need your help today. A lot. Amen.

I got up and told Luke that Mommy is the teacher and she decides what we do first. I had absolutely NO conviction that Luke would buy this line, but I proceeded to sit down and start our day like normal. He followed along. Jesus answers prayer. After school time was over we moved almost immediately to snack time, during which I remembered how much Luke loves helping me sort beans. The menu for tonight is a black bean recipe and I knew that I needed to get the beans soaking. I grabbed a couple bowls and Luke proceeded to amiably help me sort through them while Paul sat contently in his booster seat. Jesus answers prayer. After snack, Paul asked if he could do the dishes. I'm totally serious. It's his excuse to stand on a chair and play in the sink. Glancing at the oatmeal-encrusted breakfast dishes and the yogurt covered snack bowls, I agreed. The boys stood on chairs together at the sink and rinsed every last bit of oatmeal and yogurt from those bowls. Jesus answers prayer above and beyond our expectations. The boys spent the rest of the morning playing quietly together. The love has continued on into the afternoon. They are in the playroom right now as I finish this post. Paul still has a low-grade fever. My stomach, while feeling better, has not fully recovered from my blunder. But Jesus answers prayer and I'm so very thankful to Him.

The Brothers Bangsund at the sink

I love Sundays

We are attending the evening service at our church these days, and it makes Sundays very mellow. I slept until 8:22am this morning. That is definitely a record for me. The boys were already up and fed by that time. I picked clothes, Daddy dressed them, and we all headed to the park for the morning. The closest park is a little sketchy, but we went anyway. My boys can't read the graffiti yet, so it doesn't matter as much. I like this park because it has two play areas separated by long walking paths AND it is right next to an elementary school with an additional two play areas. It is perfect for the two-year old with very little attention span. We started in one area and eventually worked our way to the final "ultimate" play structure from which one can see the MAX trains as they pass by. Very cool. The boys had a great time and the parents were able to carry on conversations while pretending to ride on the MAX. Also very cool.
I almost forgot! I wanted to send a shout out to my fabulous father-in-law who is currently traveling in Europe and missing the opening games of NCAA college football. The Ducks thumped Cal yesterday 42-3!!!! Wish you were here. The boys are enjoying their football time each Saturday and we can hardly wait to have you and Grandma over. :-)
And now the pictures!

In completely unrelated events, Paul LOVES to wear his blanket around the house. It's actually pretty convenient for him. He came to me with it about a week ago, saying, "I wanna wear it." I decided the Pacific Islander look would be easiest.

Do you ever watch your kids do something and realize they are growing up?

Really angry Paul screaming NO because he doesn't want his picture taken. We think he looks like the MGM lion in this shot.

This is the MAX train. And the Daddy-Man sitting in the fake tire swing. That's right, folks. They don't use real tires anymore.

First Day of BSF

Today was our first class day for BSF (Bible Study Fellowship). I rave about this organization often enough that y'all should know of which I speak, but if you're confused, just click. :-) Anyway, today was momentous because for the first time ever, all four members of our family were registered, attending members of BSF. Luke, Paul, and I headed out the door together for class this morning. The church our classes uses is only about ten minutes away, so I don't really worry about being late, but there was a moment this morning when I wasn't sure if I would make it. See below.
Let me explain what you are viewing. This picture was taken about five minutes before we needed to be in the car, leaving our house. Notice the shoes in a neat line just beside our back door. Notice the barefooted four-year-old who HAS to finish "reading" (reciting from memory) Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel before we leave. Also notice the completely despondent two-year-old, laying prone in the dining room. All I could was take this picture and pray. Luke finished his book and was happy to put on his shoes and socks. Paul screamed the entire time as I wrestled him into appropriate foot wear. Fortunately the garage door opener saved the day. Paul got to push the button to open the garage door. Then, of course, Luke wanted to push the button, so we closed the garage door and went through the process again, allowing Luke to perform this sacred duty. Who cares? It got us in the car. We will do it every Wednesday if it means driving away from the house with two happy boys! My neighbors have to think I'm insane.
This was the only moment of chaos. We got to the church, set up the chairs for my discussion group in the foyer, which has no less than four exits, during which time Paul sat happily in a chair and watched all the action. There's a LOT of action when around 300 women are all showing up for a Bible study at the same time! I took the boys down to the room where they get to play while I pray with the other leaders. Then it was GO time! Luke and Paul headed to their class and I headed to mine.
I forgot how much I love this! As a discussion leader, I get assigned a new group of 10-15 ladies each fall. Meeting them today was so much fun. We were able to share a little about ourselves and get to know each other and I feel so blessed to have these women in my life already. We are studying John this year. I can hardly wait to get going on my questions tomorrow morning!!! I shared with the group today that I get my study done by getting up early and that my programmable coffee pot is a HUGE incentive for me. I'm just guessing though, that the excitement of getting back into a hardcore Bible study is going to be plenty to get me out of bed tomorrow.
How goes the home schooling, you ask? Answer: Awesome! It is Luke's favorite part of each day. He has been dressing himself the last few mornings and eating breakfast rather quickly. I have a bell that I ring to begin our school day. (Former students will remember my bell fetish.) Luke literally RUNS to our school room when he hears the bell. It's adorable. He's got the schedule memorized and can be heard chanting parts of it to himself during transitions. My favorite version so far is, "Science on the couch. Science on the couch." No, this is not a lab science on the couch. It's Berenstain Bears science on the couch. Very fun. Here are a few pictures of this last Sunday when we did school because we could. :-)

Luke completing a visual memory activity. The items on the tray were removed one at a time and he had to color the picture of the missing item. Cake for this guy.

Luke is practicing the letter "L" on his rough work surface during visual review for "Go Phonics." He definitely struggles with the hand writing portion of this curriculum, but loves this fancy board that Grandpa made for him. We will continue with the handwriting, but I'm not being a stickler about anything at this point. He's four. :-)

Luke uses his Feel Box for the first time, trying to figure out what /l/ sound word is hidden inside. It took him a few guesses and some hints to discover it was a leaf. He was delighted! This week is /t/ and I'm open to suggestions!

First Day of School

Today was the day! Luke and I started our home school experience together. He was up early, as usual. We ate some oatmeal together around 6:45 am and I realized that things were going to be starting up much earlier than I had planned. Sure enough, by 7:27 am Luke was dressed and checking out the additions to our school table. Last night after he went to bed, we prepped the area with all his curriculum and supplies, with the help of our good friend Ashli, a product of home schooling herself! I digress.
Our first activity was Family Bible Time. Our verse is Proverbs 4:20: "Pay attention my child to what I say. Listen carefully." Good verse, huh? We used hand motions to help us remember it. Then we talked about the attribute of attentiveness. "I listen with my ears, my eyes, and my heart." By the way, all of this stuff came with the curriculum I bought from Sonlight. It's fabulous stuff.
After Family Bible Time, we moved onto Language Arts. I am using a combination of perceptual growth workbooks from Sonlight and a phonics program called "Go Phonics!" that was written by a wonderful woman, Sylvia Davison. Luke used his new pencil to draw a line between Mr. Rabbit and his carrots. He also started learning to write his letters. Today's letter was L. Luke did a great job of forming his L's with his fingers on the rough work surface that my dad-in-law made for him. We also did a trace-copy-write activity with his pencil. He hasn't quite decided which hand to use to hold the pencil. He switches each time he puts it down. I figure eventually one of them will win out. Or he'll be ambidextrous. Whatever.
After Language Arts, we did Music and Motion! We have a great CD with some super fun songs. Today's song was "Drivin' in My Car." It's a fun one with motions and the opportunity to say beep a lot. Luke will happily sing it for you if asked. Eventually I want to start bringing in my guitar for Music and Motion, but it needs new strings and they didn't make the priority list for back-to-school preparation.
Science came next. We are reading "The Berenstain Bears' Big Book of Science and Nature" as our first venture. Today was pretty much just about introducing Luke to the idea of an Almanac and reading about the four seasons. We will get more into it tomorrow.
Art was so fast it almost doesn't count. I gave Luke a piece of his Color Wonder paper and his two recently acquired Color Wonder paint brushes. He swirled a few times with the blue and then got more focused with the yellow, making a great sun up at the top of his paper. And then he was done with that.
Our last activity is called Reflection and Prayer. I asked Luke what he liked most about his first day of school. He said, "The l's." :-) Then I asked him what he wants to do better tomorrow. He was pretty quiet at first. Then he said, "Maybe making the l's even better." Adorable. We closed our school day in prayer, thanking God for the opportunity to learn and asking Him for help to make our l's even better. I looked down at my watch and it was 8:14 am. So, I used the rest of the morning to do housework, play with the boys, and plan for tomorrow's school day. MUCH different from my first day ten years ago (!!!) as an 8th grade English teacher at Stahl Junior High. I know that if we continue with home schooling, the days will grow longer, with more subjects and more complex curriculum. At the moment, I am going to enjoy the absolute fun of teaching my son to read and write, knowing that God will equip me for whatever He has for our family, be it home school, or something else.
Here are the pics!

A complete throw back to my classroom teaching days - the whiteboard with the Daily Agenda! Notice the time estimates - WAY OFF!! :-)

7:27 am - He's ready to go, folks!

Ready to hit the books barefooted! Home school is so much fun.

Home Again

We drove home yesterday and were able to make it in record time despite the holiday. The boys did okay. Paul was only able to nap for an hour because Luke was almost completely unable to nap at all. Below are pictures of Paul's limited success and Luke's hilariously sad attempt.

This dude can still sleep anywhere. Lucky guy.

This dude did this to himself somewhere around Madras. It was sadly unsuccessful. But really funny.

In other news Erik earned the Best Husband Ever Award today for making it possible for me to park my car in our garage for the first time ever. This involved a trip to the dump and some seriously hard work moving stuff up into the attic above the garage. Yes, we've lived in this house for three years. This is actually the first time in my entire life that a car that I drive has a garage to come home to. We even found the clicker. I can hardly wait for it to rain!

Never had a winter when I didn't have to scrape ice. Woot!

Best Husband Ever: Erik Bangsund

Oh Deer!

Sorry for the cheesy title, but I couldn't resist. This morning after breakfast Paul was playing with the blinds, so I decided to remove the temptation by opening them. Paul looked out the window and said, "Wook. Deer." Sure enough, there were four deer, a doe, two fawns and a stag. I got a few pictures as they grazed past us. We were even able to go out on the deck without them running away. Pretty neato.

The two fawns munching some breakfast.

We took the boys to the park this morning. The weather here has been a little chilly, but we all put on sweatshirts and life was good. The boys enjoyed the ginormous merry-go-round and the tether ball the most.

Cutie Paul in the Tunnel

Love it.

Daddy and the boys on the coolest Merry-Go-Round ever.

Sleep has been going okay. We discovered that Paul is the problem, not Luke! The two year old is just way too in love with his older brother and is simply delighted to be sharing a room with him. We solved this by putting Paul down first, giving him a good half hour to fall asleep. Once he is asleep, Luke is able to get into bed and fall asleep without waking his little brother. For naps we just move the port-a-crib into our room so they can go down at about the same time. Today is actually the first day that Luke has napped here. I'm so thankful for the break.
The massage is not going to happen. Maybe next time. I was able to go for a wonderful bike ride all by myself yesterday morning. I rode up to the river and along it, stopping at this really cool bridge to enjoy the water and the view. Almost as relaxing as a massage and much easier on the budget. :-)
All the boys have been enjoying time with Mr. Mark, especially playing video games. Paul has started saying, "Wets watch Mario Tart." Oh dear.

Yep.

Slightly Crazy Sunriver Day

We arrived at the cabin in Sunriver yesterday evening at about 8:30 pm. It would have been sooner had we not been waylaid by the playplace at the Madras McDonald's and a twenty minute construction zone wait outside Terrabonne. Crazy. The boys did okay. It was only during the last twenty-five minutes from Bend to Sunriver that Paul began to ask to be excused from his carseat. Cute and sad at the same time. The real crazy started when we attempted to put both boys in the same room to go to sleep. The giggling and bouncing commenced. Who knows when it stopped. I put in earplugs at 10pm and went to sleep. Around 6:45 am I rolled out of bed, removed my earplugs and was immediately met by Paul's chipper voice from the confines of the port-a-crib. The door to their room was already opened, so I knew Luke was already up. I left Paul where he was and headed to the coffee pot. After pouring myself a cup, I returned to the front room to find Luke asleep in the recliner. Picture below.

Later when I asked him what time he came out: Afternoon 3. (3 am) He sometimes gets confused between naptime and bedtime. I told him that if it is dark outside, it's NOT afternoon 3 and he needs to go back to bed.

The day itself was filled with a little more whining than usual, but nobody died. Paul and I took excellent naps. Luke skipped his entirely and Erik played video games. We did slip into the Village Mall to get Paul a bike helmet of his very own. We haven't been allowing him to actually ride the balance bike he recently acquired from Luke because he didn't own a helmet yet. So Paul has been dutifully walking that bike all over the place. Sadly, he has formed a habit. Even after we got his helmet and placed it on his head, he refused to get on the bike! Pictures below.

Happy to be walking his bike alongside Mommy.

It's 8pm exactly. Paul is asleep. Luke is quietly sitting in bed. Perhaps tonight will be a bit better. Our good friend Mark is arriving this evening and ALL the boys are terribly excited to spend time with him. I'm going to finish my book and maybe look into getting a massage at the lodge. It's my vacation and I start teaching part-time preschool next week. I think I deserve a massage. :-)

Other cute pictures:

He's cute despite being really tired and mildly cranky.

Paul on the deck with the tricycle. This was earlier in the morning before it was warm enough for shorts. Paul didn't seem to mind the nippy air.

Last Days of Summer

I was working diligently in the kitchen this morning, wiping counters and putting away dishes when I happened to glance outside. The boys were both playing at the sand and water table. I immediately left my work and grabbed my camera. I only got one shot of the two of them together, but it was worth it. The fact is that our lives are changing very soon. Luke and I will be doing preschool together in our home three days a week during the morning. While the preschool schedule definitely allows for free play and exploration, there will be more schedule than our lazy summer mornings have held. Part of me is extremely excited to be returning to a structured schedule. And part of me will miss watching the boys spend their morning inventing a new way to play with the Brio trains. But all of me rejoices that both Luke and Paul will be starting the BSF preschool program together in a few weeks. It's going to be great!

Before the picture, a quick quote from Luke. He was showing me his money, an odd assortment of change acquired mostly from grandparents. When I asked him which coins were his favorite, he pointed to the dimes and said, "I like the diamonds the best." Who doesn't? :-)

Brothers

Luke's New Song

Luke has taken to making up new songs. Today while we were driving to a friend's house he sang these words from the backseat. As soon as I got to a stoplight I started writing them down because I loved them so much. I double checked them with Luke and he confirmed them, so here they are for your enjoyment. The tune is completely nebulous and changes every time, so just make up your own.

One time Jesus and His disciples
were riding in a boat.
Suddenly a big storm came.
Jesus woke up
and made the storm stop.

Jesus is powerful.
Jesus is powerful.
Only He can make a storm stop.

I love it. He told a story about Jesus and shared a principle truth that he learned from the story. He's such a BSFer!
Speaking of which, classes start soon. Are you interested in studying the Bible? Are you available either one evening a week or one morning a week? Visit www.bsfinternational.org and find a class near you! :-)

Four Years Old

Luke turned four years old today. Yesterday evening after having finished all the preparations for today's celebration, Erik and I had so much fun reminiscing about where we were four years ago. In some ways it really hasn't been that long and God has brought us so far. When Luke was born we were living in a little tiny house, Erik was underemployed, and we were about to take huge leaps of faith. It's incredible to me how far the Lord has brought us in just four years. As for Luke, that guy just seems big and mature to me. His long legs can't possibly belong to my first-born! And at this very moment, he is quietly playing with the wooden "build it yourself" cars he received for his birthday, using skills I didn't realize he had. Love it.
The celebration itself was held at a train park about an hour from our house, way out in the country. The drive itself is fun and entertaining, with many sights of farm machinery and farm animals. There was the slight hiccup in that the party was supposed to start at 11am and the park doesn't open until noon. A few phone calls and most people realized they were no longer going to be fashionably late, but right on time. :-) As for us, we drove into the little town and enjoyed french fries. Luke was completely delighted!
Upon our arrival at the train park, I was once again completely thrilled with this venue. Picnic tables, wide open spaces, and trains. A mother's dream come true! The last time we visited Luke was only two years old and wasn't willing to ride. Today was completely different. As soon as we had settled our stuff and a few guests had arrived, Luke was ready to ride! Paul was close behind. We all waited patiently in line and hopped aboard. We waved to everyone and thoroughly enjoyed every moment. Here are the pics to prove it!

The boys watching the trains. It is so fun to have friends with kids that are Luke's age!

Luke and Mommy riding, followed by Grandma and guest.

Opening presents in the special red chair.

What a spread! Hot dogs, chips, strawberries, carrots, and water! Luke ate mostly chips. It's his birthday, so I let the nutritionist part of my job description take a backseat.