The Smith Family Adventures

This is what it looks like when you let your 4 and 1 year olds help you fold and put away the laundry:

The boys really love to help me fold and put away the laundry. It’s fun to give them a sense of pride and accomplishment. They love helping out. Plus it lets me get a few things done around the house without worrying what they are up to.

I guess I need to spend a bit more time teaching them how to exactly put the towels away, though. I handed Elias two folded towels and told him to put them in the closet. When I opened the linen closet a few hours later, that is what found. I guess it’s the thought that counts when he is still so young.

Don’t worry. I fixed them promptly. Towels are a little bit big for him to do alone I think.

Anyone who really knows me knows that I can hardly pass up a chance to acquire new children’s books. So…a few years ago when I came across Neil Gaiman’s idea of “All Hallows Read” on the internet, I jumped on the bandwagon. The last three Halloweens or so I’ve given the boys a book for Halloween.

This year I may have let my self control slip a little bit. I got each of the boys three books. I don’t know what happened other than I kept finding good bargains. We had six new fall/Halloween books to read this evening.

Elias was very excited about the presents, and as soon as Daddy was through the door, he declared it present opening time.

Simon is getting really good at saying ‘cheese’ for me these days.

They dug in and enjoyed the books themselves for a few minutes. Of course…they each chose a book I had given to the other one.

But this is what it’s really all about, folks! Reading books with the boys! Celebrating stories. Remembering any time is good for reading time.

What is it with children and walking the line? You know the line I’m talking about. The line between obedience and disobedience. My children have been exhibiting this characteristic lately, and sometimes I don’t know whether to smile and inwardly laugh at their little brains developing, or sit them down for a long, stern talk.

Elias:

This little one has been leaving his room after bed time in the recent evenings. He wants a drink of water. He needs to go to the bathroom. He wants me or Nathan to come keep him company. Any excuse will do. I spent a long time explaining to him what an “emergency” was. (I basically said it meant he was hurt or needed to use the bathroom). He knew that the only reason he should come out would be for an “emergency.”

So…I put him to bed. A few minutes later…out he comes. He used the bathroom. Back in his room he went. A few minutes later…out he comes. I stared at him from the bottom of the stairs and asked, “What are you doing?”

Pause…pause…pause…

“My toe hurts.”

Simon:

I constantly am on Simon about playing the piano safely. He is constantly using his toys to play the keys. One thing I say often while we are playing downstairs is, “Fingers only! We only play the keys with our fingers!”

This morning I was washing up the breakfast dishes, and came out to find this scene:

He totally knew he was walking that line, too. Well…he certainly wasn’t playing the keys….but still.

Tonight was hilarious hair night at AWANA. Earlier in the day I was discussing this with Elias as we went out to purchase some hair gel. He got more than a little anxious when I mentioned I was going to make his hair spiky. There were even a couple of tears involved. So…I backed way off telling him that nothing bad was going to happen, and didn’t mention it again.

After dinner, I attacked his hair with a gel-filled comb, and went to town. He was nervous at first, and kept trying to wipe his head on the couch, but once I explained it to him, and let him see himself in the mirror, he was all for it.

When we got to AWANA, we saw that many people really went all out. There were a lot of mohawks, so I’m glad we went with something different. It was fun to try out something new!

Well….it’s happened. The dreaded hair cut. I’ve been holding on to Simon’s curls for as long as I can, but even I had to admit that his hair was getting a little too long and ratty. It was time to get the little boy hair cut.

The funny part is, that I had no plans to get the hair cut, but last Tuesday after we dropped Elias off at preschool, Simon and I had about an hour to kill before his tiny jumpers class. It all of a sudden occurred to me that I could get his hair cut, and surprise Nathan. We went to Pig Tails and Crew Cuts because I’ve heard from other moms that it’s a fun place to go. They even have a little first hair cut package with a picture and a little baggy for his locks of hair.

Simon got to sit in and drive a taxi, and watch part of Toy Story as he lost the curls. I didn’t get emotional or anything….but he does look a lot older now. The lighting in the pictures is horrible and hard to see, but I’m sure there will be better pictures coming up in future posts about other family adventures. Here he is with his new “do.” The hair is still curly, but not really long enough to form real ringlets as it was doing. It’s ok. It’s all about the phases when they are this age. The phase of the ringlets is over. We’re moving on.

A picture may say 1000 words, but sometimes written word just does the trick in preserving memories. Occasionally I just like to write about small moments or snapshots of our days, because I may not remember them in the years to come, but those small moments are really the fabric of our lives right now.

Here are a few snapshots from our week:

Going on a Leaf Hunt

Nathan always tells me I’m not allowed to purchase books from the preschool book orders because we already have too many books. It’s true. We do have a lot of books. But I don’t think you can ever have too many. It’s one of the few areas where I go against his wishes. In September, I ordered a few dollars worth of books, one of which was Going on a Leaf Hunt.

One afternoon this week, I was reading this book to the boys (who love it by the way), and Elias exclaimed, “Let’s go on a leaf hunt!” We got on our boots and our rain coats and we started tromping down the street looking at all of the leaves. Elias and I definitely have different tastes in leaves. He picked up a lot of brown crumpled up leaves on big long sticks. I tended to pick bright yellows and reds. As we headed up a hill in our neighborhood, Elias yelled, “we’re going up a mountain!”

As we were returning to our house, arms full of leaves (and sticks) I watched some of the passengers in the cars driving by. They were all looking at my boys, wide smiles on their faces. I felt so lucky to be their mommy, and I really cherished the time with them. While having young boys is tough sometimes, they won’t want to go on leaf hunts with me forever.

Since that day we have been on a number of leaf hunts, but none stick in my mind quite as much as that first.

The Blessing

We say a blessing before (or at least at the beginning of) dinner each evening. Usually we let Elias choose who says the blessing. Sometimes he chooses Nathan or myself, but sometimes he chooses himself.

One of Elias’ blessings this week:

“Heavenly Father, I don’t know Lord…..(something I couldn’t understand)…..and please bless help Nana to come here tomorrow and bless Ama and Baba and Uncle Jared and Audrey. Amen.

I thanked Elias for his blessing and told him how nice it was that he was thinking about family members. I also told him that I think about family members a lot too.

His response:

“Actually. I’m thinking about the government and the Dodgers.”

Bedtime Antics

Some nights Elias goes through his bed time routine and lays down, closes his eyes, and falls asleep. Many nights however, he has entered the phase of the bed time antics. He gets up and wants a drink of water or lays in the hallway. This evening he had to go to the bathroom. He did his business, and before he left the room said, “I love you toilet.”