What do I remember?

An old guy I know recently asked in his blog, "What do you remember? What is the earliest memory?" Apparently his kids have traumatized him and now he cannot remember anything from before he was in his early twenties. (Sorry Dad)

I posted some of this in the comments there, but I got to thinking and decided to not take up all the space on his blog, when I could be plagiarising myself and updating all my wonderful, loyal listeners here as well.

I remember a lot from when I was 5 to 8 or so. And these are what I believe are "real" memories. Not family legends that get told at every gathering and therefore become part of the collective memory, whether we actually remember them or not.*

• Yelling across the highway out my bedroom window at the grain elevators to hear an echo.
  
  
• Climbing the walls in the hallway by jamming myself in a narrow spot and climbing up like a star.
  
  
• Laying on the bottom bunk with my brother trying to make the top mattress pop off. Hmmm... that seems unlikely at 5 and 3, it must have been laying under the bottom bunk.
  
  
• Watching the first episode of The Cosby Show and calling Dad at work to tell him about it.
  
  
• Watching The Lone Ranger on some weird machine we rented from the movie rental place. The movie was in a big square plastic disk about the size of an LP case. The way I remember it, you put the edge of the case into the machine and it sucked out a laser disc of sorts, but you still had the case.
  
  
• Getting our first computer - a good old Commodore Vic20. My iPod Nano has 419,430 times the memory in 1/250th of the space. And yes, I did the math.
  
  
• Mom used to do something with Lysol to clean the house and determined that it must be toxic to kids and made us go outside while the smell was in the air. Now that I'm a parent, I think it may have just been to get us out of her hair so she could clean (and/or watch Another World).
  
  
• I apparently was bitten by the neighbours' German shepherd when I was about 6. I don't remember the event, but I do remember being at a friend's house that same afternoon, looking out the front window for the dog and Mom told me not to worry and that he was going to be "destroyed". Parenting Tip - Don't tell a 6 year-old that he has caused a dog to be destroyed. I was imagining something involving dynamite.
  
  
• Going to the principal's office in grade 1. Not because I was bad, but I think my teacher had the same idea as my mom - get me out of her hair for a while.
  
  She had given me a crossword puzzle to do and I was stuck on a few words, so she said, "Go see Dr. Garvie". He was actually teaching a grade 6 or 7 class and his secretary sent me in to see him. He took my half-done crossword puzzle, made an overhead and put it up on the screen and had his class help me finish it.
  
  
• I vividly remember sitting in a band class when I was 6, surrounded by 11 year-olds. I had a trumpet and the girl beside me was trying to get me to play the right notes.
  
  
• I remember my first Beavers "camp out". I must have been 5 or 6. We were in the "Combatives Room" at the local high school in our sleeping bags watching "The Littles" and eating raw hot dogs.
  
  
• I also remember the goal I scored in hockey. It was my third year and we were playing against Marengo. I happened to be out in front of the net and Quinn Uzelman passed the puck to me. Somehow I caught the pass and fired it into the net. We won the game, due in part to me, 13 - 0.
  

*Examples that only my family will get: The Mud Puddle Story, The Recess/Lunch Argument, The Baby Lion, etc.

He's like me

Josh loves his baby brother soooo much. He comes over and gives him kisses and hugs all the time and never wants to be separated. Whenever Andrew gives any sort of reaction that is not screaming or crying, Josh says, "He's like me!"

We're pretty sure he means, "He likes me!" but as Amber mentioned last night, that is one of the world's greatest understatements. Andrew, Josh, and Daniel are very much alike, and they are also a lot like me. We have the same big round heads, the same thin short hair, the same eyes, same round bellies, etc. It's going to be tough telling apart the baby pictures in few years. Good thing Amber has done a pretty good job of labeling them.

School Starting

Amber and I were talking about how Daniel is doing at preschool and how much he loves it. I think it's really great for him. It helps him learn social skills and how to listen to other adults. And it gives Mommy almost 5 hours a week with Josh and Andrew alone. ;)

Anyway, I was browsing through the web the other day and realized that Daniel will be starting Kindergarten in just over a year. And grade one in 2008. We need to start looking I guess. I've got a few schools in mind - Calgary has so many options with two "public" school boards and publicly funded charter schools in addition to private schools.

It all happens so fast. I remember so clearly when Daniel was Andrew's age. Pretty soon they'll all be grown and out of the house. And then back, and then gone again. ;)

A very special Friday's Feast

Appetizer
How many pillows and blankets do you sleep with?

I have one pillow and whatever blankets I can steal from Amber and Andrew.

Soup
What are you currently "addicted" to?

Reality TV. New seasons of Apprentice, American Idol, Survivor, Amazing Race all at once - it's too much.

Salad
If you could make a small change to your current routine or schedule that would make you just a little bit happier, what would it be?

Since I've been working late nights, I'd love to switch to sleeping in until 9:00 - but the boys don't seem to want to go for it.

Main Course
Which adjective do you find yourself using often?

Is "annoying" an adjective?

Dessert
Have you ever picked up a hitchhiker?

I was with a group from Bible College doing a week of service in the Kootenays. We saw someone on the side of the road and one of the other students said we should stop. He had a "plan". Let me quote this as well as I remember, though it was probably 8 years ago.

"We'll stop and let him in. He will sit here in the front. You always want the hitch hiker riding shotgun. Then I'll sit right behind him. You always have to have the guy with the knife sitting right behind the hitch hiker in case he tries something."

This is the same guy who earlier that year almost had me arrested. Same guy, different group, different road trip. Inappropriate comments were made to the border guard and we came "this close" to having a cavity search. The hitch-hiking trip also included our friend wearing a miniskirt (belonging to another student in our group) and going commando under it. You just never run out of stories with him around.

The thing is, he's a pastor now - and a good one at that. We love you man.

Sorry, what was the question?

Watch where you are going

So, I've been reading a new online devotional this past week:

Experiencing God Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional feed provided by Broadman & Holman Publishers

Anyways, today's thought was on the story in Numbers chapter 21 where Moses made a bronze serpent and put it on a pole. When anyone was bitten by a serpent, God told them to look to this gift from Him and not think about their situation and they would live.

This spoke so clearly to my life. My job situation has been a real mess for the past year. I've switched careers a few times, moved across the country and back and now I'm in the midst of a corporate restructuring and I'm unsure how I'll come out of it. If I focused on my snake bites, I know I would curl up in my tent and moan and cry and die.

But if I look to God and the gifts He showers me with, I will live. If I follow His plan, the bites won't go away - but neither will they poison the rest of my body. I see that so clearly but it is still hard. It is easier to suffer and try to go my own direction, but the harder choice is the better one. I know He will bless me and my family - He never stops.

In closing, I wanted to share the prayer for the day from this devotional:

King of My Life, no longer will I look where my wants direct me. I will look to see what You want and will adjust my life to be what You want. Amen.

Tough prayer. Tough to mean that. But I will do it.

Friday's Feast - again!

Appetizer
Choose one: moving to another state, having triplets, or never being able to eat chocolate again.

Holy cow! Those are all so perfect for me. I have no idea. I'll have to say the chocolate. I really don't want to move and if I had 3 more kids, we'd have to move.

Soup
Name a news story that truly shocked you.

Canada doesn't make the medal round in men's hockey.

Salad
What was your very first job?

Painting parking blocks at my dad's car dealership when I was 12.

Main Course
If you had the chance to read the diary of someone you're really close to, would you? Why or why not?

I read blogs as often as I can. I love to know what people are thinking.

Dessert
What's something you're looking forward to?

Finding out what's going on with my job. :|

Friday's Feast

Appetizer
If you were a color, which color would you be, and why?

Red. But like those dresses that were popular about 5 years ago where you could only see the colours at certain angles. I am full of passion, rage, love, emotion, etc. but it can only be seen at certain times.

Soup
When was the last time you went to the doctor, and what was your reason for going?

I went to the doctor with Andrew last week to get his boy-operation. For myself, I last saw the doctor just before we left Nakusp to confirm that my breathing problems were all better once I avoided cedar dust.

Salad
What do you collect?

Movies, I guess. But not just any movies - I like sets. Like all of the Lord of the Rings movies, I also just bought the complete Star Trek movie series on DVD. I like having all of something.

Main Course
What were you like in high school? Name one thing you miss and one thing you don't miss about those days.

I was cocky, arrogant, and pretty much a jerk in high school - standard lead trumpet syndrome. I miss band. I wish I could play more often - maybe now that things seem to be slowing down, I can look into a community band. I don't miss exams.

Dessert
Pretend you're standing in front of your home, with your back towards your home. Describe the view - what can you see? Trees? Cars? A zoo? Wal-Mart?

I see a large green hill leading up to a couple of baseball diamonds and a community centre. And a bus stop.

Friday's Feast

Appetizer
What was a class or course you took while in school that you realize now was a total waste of time?

Just one? I don't think any of them were a TOTAL waste of time. They helped me get where I am today, but I use close to zero percent of the school knowledge I gained from grade 9 through university in my daily life.

Soup
Who is the tallest person you know?

Hmmm. Uncle Dukie? My family is pretty short.

Salad
What's your favorite midnight snack?

Nachos and cheese.

Main Course
Have you ever found money somewhere? If so, where did you find it, and how much was it?

I just found a five dollar bill in my pants when I was doing laundry last week.

Andrew's story

Amber has done up a Birth Story for Andrew in her pregnancy journal. If you want to know all the medical details of what went on, click here. The pictures from that first week can be found here.

Andrew speaks

It is so cute. Andrew can talk. People talk about recognizing their baby's specific cries as hungry or wet or cuddly. Andrew has made it easy for us by telling us what he wants since the first day.

His "I want food" cry sounds almost exactly like he's saying, "Hung-Gee". It is so cute. It's almost without fail that he does this. The first time he did it in the hospital, I turned to Amber and she said, "Did he just say, 'Hungry' ?"

The other thing he says is yawnk. Well, he doesn't say it but I still think it's cute and hilarious. Daniel and Josh did it too. After a big yawn, he will close with a KKKKH sound. A yawn with a K is a yawnk and it makes me smile.

Maybe I'm just sleep deprived, but it seems cute to me. ;)

Gentle Josh

We were worried that Josh was going to be jealous and rough with the new baby. He started getting clingy and a little bit regressive in the last months of Amber's pregnancy. We had this feeling that he would be so difficult. He had always been far more emotional, verbal, and needy than Daniel.

But once Baby Andrew came home, Josh was great. He has been so gentle and good. He goes to bed well on his own. He gives Andrew gentle kisses and brings him toys. He colored pictures for him.

It has been great.

Daniel, on the other hand is in a stage of rebellion and independence. He doesn't listen or obey anymore and makes things more difficult. He is still very much in love with his little brothers and gentle with Andrew, but he's pushing against us pretty hard. Hopefully he'll get through this stage quickly and turn back into the sweet little angel we've always had.

Not alone

It's good to remember that we are not alone. People are always watching us - kids especially, but others as well. I had two interesting incidents yesterday that reminded me of that.

1) When I was riding the bus to work, I noticed a young woman sitting in her seat reading a book. Not unusual at all, but her book was a Bible. It made me remember that I'm not the only Christian working in this downtown corporate jungle.

2) While I was having lunch, a group of new hires came and sat down at the table by me. They were talking about their day and about how their first week was going. I encouraged them and told them that I was pretty new myself and it gets easier. One person looked at me and said, "Do you go to Bow Valley?" When I said I did, she replied, "I thought I recognized you," and went on talking with her new friends.

I don't remember seeing her at church before but she saw me and remembered. After observing two weeks of political bashing and piracy discussions, it was nice to know I am not the only person in my building who is trying to live life as a Christ-follower.

Things I've called Andrew this week

I just can't get his name straight. It's been almost a week and I have called him Austin, Alexander, Peanut, Pumpkin, and sometimes Andrew.

Still about a quarter to a third of the time I call him, or refer to him as, Joshie.

Nights Two and Three

Andrew is still only waking up once between midnight and 9am. He gets a clean diaper and has a snack from mom and goes right back to sleep. How am I supposed to watch my middle-of-the-night movies with him if he's such a good sleeper?

Daniel the Bear

I just heard Daniel go into the bathroom and turn on the water. This is never a good sign. I went in and asked, "Daniel, what are you doing?"

"Washing my hands. Washing my hands cause they were all messy from the applesauce."

I got him a bowl of applesauce a few hours ago for breakfast but he ate it all.

"Did you get some more applesauce?"

"Yup"

"By yourself?"

"Yup, with my hands. They got messy."

"You got applesauce by yourself with your hands."

"Yes, I ate it out of the jar with my hands. And now I am washing them."

"Umm..."

I love my boys.

February's First Friday Feast

Appetizer
On a scale of 1 to 10 (10=highest), how sociable are you?

Ouch! Maybe like a 3. I like my wife and kids and those friends that are closest to me, but I'm not much of a "party guy". I have to force myself to go to social events - but I usually end up really enjoying myself once I get there.

Soup
Name 3 DVDs you currently own.
I just got the Survivor All-Stars set for my birthday. The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and the Lord of the Beans.

Salad
If you were to win a superlative award now (such as most talented, class clown, most likely to succeed), what would it be?
Most likely to keep the McInnis "boys-only" streak alive.

Main Course
What is your favorite radio station?

Depends. If I'm in the mood for music, 88.9 ShineFM - Contemporary Christian, otherwise usually in the car, QR77 - News, Talk, Traffic.

Dessert
Complete this sentence: I believe __________ because __________.

I believe that Jesus is coming soon because I see the labour pains of the earth, and because He tells me so.

Do the right thing

I want to teach my boys to do the right thing.

The world is getting bad. In the last week at my work I have heard coworkers and managers talking publicly about:

* Downloading movies and TV shows
* Burning CDs and DVDs
* Burning video games
* Hacking/cracking software
* Sharing paid software
* Cracking user names and passwords
* Buying drugs
* Doing drugs
* Adjusting scheduling program to give free time off
* Coming back and "blowing this place up"

Now, the last two might have been jokes, but still, it's so sad when I hear people talking about things like this with absolutely no sign of guilt or wrongdoing. I'm going to have to fill the boys up with morals and ethics because by the time they get older it's only gonna be way harder to resist the relativism and situational ethics.

What a job.

Delurker Update

It looks like we had 8 unique delurkers before Baby Andrew arrived. That's a fairly good rate of return. Once my Ralph cheque arrives, I'll pick a worthy cause and send the $40 off and I'll let you know what I did with it.

Thanks for making this Delurking Day a success.

First Night

Yesterday Amber and Andrew came home and spent their first night in our bedroom. Grandma and Grandpa had taken the older boys for the night, so this was to be an easier test.

Andrew had a rough time sleeping at the hospital. He's a cuddler and loves to be touched. The hospital has a big problem with babies and mommies sleeping in the same bed. We do not have the same problem. Both Daniel and Josh slept between us for several months. It makes it so much easier to feed at night.

Anyway, we went to bed around 10:00 and Andrew didn't settle until about 11:30. Amber finally convinced him that eating would be a good thing. He had a big meal and then slept. The next time I heard him was at 4:15 when he woke up for another feast. Then I slept through my 6:00am alarm and when I raced out of the house at 7:40, he was still sleeping soundly - back in his bassinette.

I'm not crazy enough to think that this will last, but waking up once our first night was a very nice treat.

Welcome Andrew Elijah

At 7:55 am this morning, our beautiful new baby was born.

Andrew Elijah McInnis was 8lbs 6 oz and 22 inches. He and Amber are getting some well-deserved rest and will be staying at the hospital for another 2-3 days.

I'm sure we'll have a better update later, but I wanted to get something up tonight.

Jon (and Amber and Daniel and Josh and Andrew)

Trying to be patient

It's so hard to wait.

I want this baby to come now. We are totally not ready for it and I
know it will shake up our household, but Amber is so uncomfortable and
I want to make her feel better.

She had another doctor appointment today and her blood pressure is
starting to go up. She's lying in bed now trying to get some rest. And
I'm trying to not smack the other kids. They seem to know when we need
quiet time, because that's when they are at their rowdiest.

We've received 3 calls from my parents, a visit from Amber's mom, and
a call from my brother today (that I know of). Everyone is as anxious
as we are. With Daniel and Josh, we were 1400 km away, so calling
every 2 hours wasn't an option.

If the baby comes tonight or this weekend, I probably won't even miss
any work. I was kind of looking forward to running out of the office
to go pick her up at home - or meet her at the hospital.

These are my thoughts today. Hopefully the next post will be our birth
announcement.

Update on Compulsively Clean

I saw a guy today wash his hands with soap before he did his business. What's up with this place???

Hello lurkers!

I learned recently that a friend of mine has been reading this blog regularly and it gave me an idea.

I don't know how many people are lurking here and reading without telling me. I have a plan to root you out. This is our official De-lurking Message. I want everyone who reads this to leave a comment. For every unique reader that leaves a comment on this message before Sunday morning (Jan 29), I will donate $5 of my Alberta Prosperity cheque to a worthy cause. That counts for Amber and Heather too (the only ones I know who are actually reading) - but you still need to leave a comment.

Let the comments begin!

Friday's Feast

Appetizer
Choose one: Popcorn, Pizza, Pretzels, Peanuts, or Pasta.

Definitely pizza. Pizza is fantastic and even when it's not that great, it's still good because it's pizza.

Soup
Describe your personality in terms of a particular vehicle.

Something small but has power when it needs it. Like a Suzuki Swift with a ferrari engine. I miss Bronwyn.

Salad
If you won a shopping spree, from which store would you want it to be?

If I'm thinking practically - I can get my free stuff and then sell it for the cash, I'd go for a jewelry store - expensive small stuff. But if I keep the spreed stuff, maybe Future Shop - no something like Sears where I can get my big TV but also couches and power tools and clothes and stuff.

Main Course
Which television show re-runs do you enjoy watching?

I always thought I couldn't get sick of watching The Simpsons

Dessert
If you could look into the future, how far down the road would you like to see? 10 years? 100 years? A million?

Oooh, this is the toughest one. Dessert is supposed to be easy.

As much as I'd like to see how the boys turn out, I've seen enough Back to the Future and Star Trek to know that knowledge of yourself in the future is dangerous. I'd like to pick something like 100 years, but if I found out that Christ hasn't come back yet, I'd be so depressed. I don't want to know the future.

Compulsively Clean

The place I work must have had a seminar on Hand Washing and the Flu shortly before I started. It's really weird. I've never seen guys wash their hands so consistently and conscientiously in the bathroom.

In public bathrooms I've noticed that most guys will barely wipe the urinal splashes off their hands onto their pant legs before leaving the facilities. But here, these guys use soap and lather up for at least a "Happy Birthday to You".

Just an observation.

Jekyll and Hyde

I don't know what to do with these kids. One night they'll go to bed nicely, have some cuddles and fall asleep until morning. The next day they'll scream and fight and throw things around their room for hours like chimpanzees on mochaccinos.

It doesn't seem to matter how much they napped during the day, or how well we wind them down at the end of the night, I never know how it's gonna go until I step out of their room.

Last night started out very Mr. Hyde. Daniel was unreasonable and the more angry I got, the more he fought back. I finally went in at 8:30 and laid down with Josh (because he was being pretty good) to try to get them to stop talking to each other. Daniel brought his pillow and blanket over to the floor beside Josh's bed (a twin mattress on the floor) and cuddled up to us. The three of us fell asleep.

I woke up at almost 10:00pm and had wasted the whole evening. We had plans to do stuff and get ready for the new baby last night. :( But I was out for the night. I found Amber and gave her a kiss and crashed in our bed. So, needless to say, I was up at 4:30 this morning, ready for work - looks like it'll be another Large Coffee Day at work today.

Tech boy

Daniel is such a bright kid. Reminds me of the stories I heard about me when I was 3 or 4 that I never really believed. He reads pretty much anything that doesn't have any weird silent letters (and if he knows the word he'll sometimes work it out anyway).

I was in the living room the other day and I hear Daniel call from down the hall, "What comes after Grandpa?"

I go down the hall and see that one of Amber's friends had sent her an instant message and the window was open. Daniel remembered that Grandpa Bob always used to send him messages when we were in Nakusp and assumed this was Grandpa writing to him.

I look on the screen and he had typed, "daniel, grampa".

He knew what he wanted to say and sounded it out and typed it.

He did the same thing to me a couple days later. I was on break at work and fired up msn on the break room computer to see how things were going at home. I wrote Hi or something and after a few minutes I get back the reply, "daniel, daddy." He saw my name in the address and knew it was me.

Now that I'm writing it, I'm realizing that he used commas to separate the names. What's up with that? Who taught him about commas??!!

We're gonna need a better lock on our computer. He'll have that screensaver password cracked before he's 4.

Twins?

For the last 2 years people have looked at our boys and asked, "Are they twins?" Even when Josh was 3 months old and Daniel was over double his size. Now that they are much closer in height - and look more similar - we get fewer questions. Maybe people feel they don't need to ask because it's so obvious.

Christmas morning we had got them matching pajamas. Bad idea. Now that they both need a haircut it's nearly impossible for me to yell the right name based on the back of the head I see playing with something he shouldn't be.

Last week at church I think the boys (possibly subconsciously) played into this. A little background: For some reason, whenever you ask Josh his name, he always says something other than, "Joshie". For a while, he would have to point at and identify everyone else in the room in turn before giving his own name. Very unselfish. Now, he will often just point and say, "Daniel". When you say, "No, who are YOU?" he'll say, "Joshie Jon McInnis".

Anyway, I dropped them off at their 2-3 year old Sunday school class and signed them in. Josh ran to the sand table and I took Daniel to the bathroom before he got too excited and forgot. When we came back, the teacher of the week - who knows the boys fairly well - had assembled the kids at a table to work on crafts. The last thing I heard as I was slipping out and Daniel was sitting down was the teacher saying, "Here Josh, I have your nametag for you." And Daniel didn't say anything when she pinned it on him."

I can only assume that she knew they were both the crazy McInnis boys and while Daniel was in the bathroom she had the two nametags in her hand and asked Josh his name. When he gestured in the general area of the bathroom and said, "Daniel," she clipped the matching tag to him.

When I got back to pick them up at the end of the class, they had their right names again. I didn't say anything to the teacher, but I wonder how long my little imps let this go.

First Friday's Feast

Appetizer
Have you ever seen a ghost or an angel?
Nope, not that I know of, but the Bible says we may entertain angels unaware.


Soup
What is your favorite board game?
Amber and I have started playing games in the evenings again. I think my favorite so far is Cranium - but it's not really a 2 person game.

Salad
What was the last movie you saw that made you cry?
I don't usually cry at movies. The only one I remember crying at was The Passion of the Christ last year.

Main Course
What would you do if you had 3 months off from your job?
What DID I do? Spent a lot of time with Amber and the kids. Watched a lot of Game Show Network. Applied for jobs. If I did it again, I don't think I could find a more relaxing, pretty place than Nakusp.


Dessert
What kind of shoes are you wearing today?
I'm not going in to work until 4 today, so I just woke up. No shoes.

Supersized Wednesday's Feast

Amber posted her answers to this recently, so I'll do mine too. :)


1. What did you do in 2005 that you'd never done before?
Moved 4 times, quit 2 jobs, applied for EI, took a job with a major corporation, discovered an allergy to cedar

2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for this year?
Not even close. With all the changes, my willpower was shot

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Not this year

4. Did anyone close to you die?
My Grandma lost 3 sisters

5. What countries did you visit?
Stayed in Canada, but managed to visit 4 provinces.

6. What would you like to have in 2006 that you lacked in 2005?
Stability

7. What date from 2005 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Nov. 28 - The day I started my new career

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I'm proud of making it through the year. I've grown so much. Like the milk commercials. Grow. All. Ways.

9. What was your biggest failure?
I don't see any of this as failures. Everything I could call a failure has led me to where I am, and that's closer to God's Will than before.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Oh my! I was in the hopsital more in September than any other time in my life. Tests and drugs all confirmed for me that I was allergic to my job.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Our piano and our van.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Amber for taking care of 2 toddlers and a sick hobo husband for 2 months.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Some former employers

14. Where did most of your money go?
U-Haul and damage deposits

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
baby mcbean

16. What song will always remind you of 2005?
Lead Us Lord - Brian Doerksen

17. Compared to this time last year, are you

i. happier or sadder? happier
ii. thinner or fatter? fatter:(
iii. richer or poorer? richer

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Listening to those I love when they told me to do what I love

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Packing

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
Very busy

21. Did you fall in love in 2005?
All over again

22. What was your favorite TV program?
Survivor, Mythbusters

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Nope

24. What was the best book you read?
Half-Blood Prince

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I can play the piano

26. What did you want and get?
New shoes, a house in NW Calgary, a job that might last

27. What did you want and not get?
A church job, Star Wars 6 movie box set

28. What was your favorite film of this year?
Revenge of the Sith

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old?
I think I was getting ready to move. We had some family over at my parents' place. 28

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
I am so happy with how my year turned out. I wouldn't trade the trials for anything.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2005?
Business casual with a 2 month period of jeans and workboots

32. What kept you sane?
Amber

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Amber made fun of me for liking Erin on Apprentice 3. I don't know if I "fancied" her.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
I'm starting to get into the new election - just for the chance of change

35. Who did you miss?
I missed my family and bible study when we moved. Now, not really anyone.

36. Who was the best new person you met?
Ron, and yeah I kind of miss him now. He was a good guy.

God's Plans

My devotional today from Promise Keepers is very suitable for me these days.

"We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps" (Proverbs 16:9)

God has taken us on such a journey this last year. And though it seems tempting to see this as a final destination, I know it's just another port in the voyage. No matter how much we try to plan our lives out, God determines our steps.

The "Prayer for the Week" is something we can all try to keep in mind:

"Lord, decrease my preoccupation with my destination and increase my concern for the process You are using to shape my character."

A Year in Review

Amber is usually the one who sends out updates and that kind of stuff, but she’s so busy and not feeling well these days, so I’ll post a Christmas Card Letter of sorts here. This is how I remember this year:

In January, we were living with my parents in the basement and feeling kind of squished. We started looking for a place of our own and found a cute little 4-plex right by our old high school. It had a basement and a yard so the thoughts of the boys having a space to play were very tempting.

At the end of the month Amber and I took a weekend trip to Edmonton for a worship conference. It was a nice refreshing time but Downtown Edmonton closes for the weekend, so we were stuck walking in -20C snowy weather trying to find a place that was open and without a huge lineup for our mealtimes. I wouldn't recommend Edmonton in the winter.

In February, we signed a 6-month lease and moved into our second place of the year. We bought some new furniture and a digital piano and were settling in for a new five-year plan. We’d stay there until our two boys were in school and then move on. Unfortunately, God had different plans.

In May we found out that Amber was pregnant with our third child. This was a bit of a surprise, but only a few months ahead of our plan. The spring brought many opportunities for church work as I sent out more than a dozen resumes over a month’s time.

We took a vacation to Winnipeg for over two weeks in June. When we left for Calgary two years earlier, we had promised ourselves that we wouldn't be making that 14 hour trip again, but as we've come to learn, nothing is forever and we cannot plan on anything. My June blog entries seemed to be focused on sleep and Star Wars.

We ended up accepting a bi-vocational position in beautiful Nakusp, BC in July to start in September. I was able to lead worship at the small Alliance church and work 4 days a week at a lumber mill making fence posts and rails. We had a new 10-year plan. We’d stay until Daniel was about 13 and then decide if we want to move on to a bigger centre. After about a week at the mill I developed a severe allergy to the cedar dust and ended up in emergency. I spent a lot of time in this small town hospital and the doctor advised me to quit my job.

We celebrated Josh and Amber’s birthday as well as Thanksgiving while we were there, but ended up moving back to Calgary in the middle of November – to house number four of 2005. It was so nice being able to spend time with Amber and the boys. It was somewhat stressful not having a job, but God was good and He provided in His own way.

We had a nice housewarming party and a birthday party for my brother in December. It gave us a chance to have a bunch of our family and friends over in a few days. Christmas was a busy weekend with a steady stream of people coming through our house, but it was great.

Now we’re back in Calgary. I have started a new job with a great company that offers me plenty of opportunities for growth and advancement. We are renting a duplex with a huge basement, and enough room to host several large family gatherings in the last few weeks. The boys are happy, sleeping better, and are acting like normal boys.

I'd like to say we have a multi-year plan, but I'm scared to even buy green bananas these days. Opportunities are still open for change and by next Christmas we may have moved 8 more times, or (hopefully) we will be settled and enjoying life teh way it is for a while.

Happy New Year and God Bless You from
Jon, Amber, Daniel, Josh, and baby mcbean

Mardi Gras in December

Our two boys are still having a hard time understanding girls. We had some friends over for dinner this week. They have 2 girls, one a few months older than Daniel and the other a little younger than Josh.

They are definitely a strange breed to our boys. With all their long pullable hair and pretty outfits, the boys were fascinated. They tried to play with them the way they do with their boy buddies, but apparently little girls don't like smashing cars and running into walls.

The one thing they have in common though is a need to get out of their clothes. After dinner, the younger girl was in the living room with the boys and she had pulled her shirt off. I went in to help this 20-month-old redress herself and Daniel and Josh both started yelling, "Nipples! Nipples! And boobies! Boobies and Nipples!"

I tried to tell them not to say that. But Daniel asked a very good question, "Is nipples a bad word?" I couldn't come up with an answer that made sense to me and to him. What do you say to something like that?

Security Guard

The other day, I left for work at 7:00am, as I have been doing for the last month. Amber was awake, but still in bed and the boys were sleeping.

Daniel woke up and heard me closing the door. Our three-year-old security guard got out of his bed in his pajamas and walked down the hall, down the stairs to the front door. He unlocked and opened it and looked outside.

He then came down the hall to our room and told Amber, "I thought I heard someone outside, so I went to go see who it was. There isn't anybody there."

The best part is that he left the door open.

Christmas Thoughts

I’ve been so sporadic in my blogging, I thought I’d put together some of my random thoughts and observations from the last few days. Amber will have pictures posted on Yahoo – check her blog for a link.

Christmas Eve was a very busy day – two church services and a family dinner, followed by presents and a bit of fight to get two little guys to bed.

A 18-month old girl will be totally overwhelmed, frightened, and at the same time fascinated by five older boys – all under 6 years old.

Apparently the job of McInnis Clan Chief has been open for hundreds of years – my Dad has decided to apply and try to get the ancestral castle.

We got our latest custom art piece on Saturday. A pencil drawing of Josh to go with the matching one of Daniel. Soooo cute.

Josh loves our neighbours’ big dog on the other side of the fence. Every time we go outside he goes and yells, “Hi Kudo! Good morning Kudo! Merry Christmas Kudo!” He also loves Grandma and Grandpa’s little Bijou. However, he was quite frightened of the little Bichon Frise that joined us for our Christmas Eve dinner.

We had family coming over at 7:30 Christmas morning to open presents, but the boys slept through the night and we had to wake them up at 7:20.

Daniel got a huge stuffed polar bear that was “wrapped” in a white garbage bag. He ripped a little hole and saw the long white hair and called out, “Bijou!” When we told him it wasn’t Bijou he was confused but kept ripping. The way it was stuffed in the bag and the way he was ripping caused the bear to kind of jump out of the bag. Daniel screamed and ran to hide behind Grandma. I don’t know what trauma he’s been through that had led him to believe we would stuff a vicious live animal in a bag and give it to him for a present.

The boys got pretty blue and gold Chinese pajamas that they changed into early Christmas morning. They lasted almost 6 hours. Josh laid down for a nap after lunch and when he woke up the crotch was shredded from knee to knee. Polyester doesn’t stretch as well as his normal comfy cotton pajamas.

The boys got a pink Dora tent, green high heels, and a blue feather boa.

Daniel ate about 5 pounds of candy Christmas morning, but still managed to do very well with his turkey, jello salad, and broccoli for supper

Josh ate marshmallows.

Going to the zoo on Boxing Day was a great idea. There were very few people and the boys could run.

Josh is afraid of imaginary bugs or snakes or something. We were at the zoo in the tropical rainforest area. The first time was hilarious when he pointed at nothing and screamed and grabbed Amber’s leg. She jumped just as much as him. It got weird when he kept doing it though.

This was our first Christmas in our own place since we got married almost 7 years ago. Loved it.

Friday's Feast

Well, at least this gives me something to write every week. Not terribly parenty, but my life is mixed up right now, and I'll hopefully start posting again soon.

Appetizer
When was the last time you did something you would consider courteous, what was it, and who was it for?

I actually had to look up "courteous" at dictionary.com. (exhibiting courtesy and politeness; "a nice gesture"). It's one of those words that seems to have lost meaning in society. Like pH-balanced. Okay, enough stalling. Josh and I bought some chocolates from a hockey team raising money at Wal-Mart this morning. Does that count?

Salad
If you were to have a painting done of you alone, what would you want the background to be?

Hmmm. I did the pose a couple weeks ago. Background... One of the best things about the time we spent in BC was the mountains. I think I'd like mountains in the background, but through a big picture window. I'm imagining a big open room with a fantastic view of snow-covered mountains. I love the view, but I'm totally an indoors kind of guy.

Soup
Describe your voice.

Rather high. Annoyingly so on recordings.

Main Course
What is something you would like to do, but you're afraid of the risk(s)?

Now that's a main course question. I'd like to commit to something. My life has been a series of changes and moves over the past 10 years, with Amber being the only contant. I'd love to commit to a job and a house and a future plan. Oh, how I want that. But I guess I'm afraid I'd be missing something.

Dessert
What was the last television show you watched?

We just caught the last 30 seconds of the Oilers game after watching a movie. The last thing I watched straight through would have been our Thursday night reality TV ritual of Survivor and The Apprentice.

Laments

Well, I guess I'm up so I should write something to get these frustrations off my heart.

Everyone is sick right now. Amber was up all night coughing and aching and being pregnant. Josh and Daniel each woke up throwing up early this morning. I guess I'm the only one who is feeling okay.

I was supposed to work today and tomorrow, and then start a new job on Monday. I hope everyone's better by then.

Our plumbing is a mess in this new house. Our 8 month old dryer seems to have not survived the trips through the mountains, so we can't do laundry until Monday when the repair guy comes. Our landlord replaced the bathtub in our only bathroom but is doing the work himself and can only come over after work, so it's been 12 days and the tub is still unusable. Oh, and it appears that the people who were here before us must have tried to stuff a sheet of drywall down the bathroom sink because it's now backed up and if I try to plunge it, little rotten bits of gyprock and plaster come out. Fantastic.

But God is still good. And I will praise him always. My Saviour and my Lord.

Friday's Feast

Appetizer
What did you look like when you were a teenager?

Really dorky. In grade 9 I had glasses with blue plastic frames. I got pounded a whole lot in junior high. :(

Salad
Whose advice do you listen to?

Amber. For sure. I listen to a lot of other people, but I don't know if I consistently take anyone else's advice.

Soup
Name a book you would like to memorize.

The Bible. Man, that would come in handy ALL THE TIME. I should really make more of an effort to memorize even small parts of it.

Main Course
How often are you sick?

I'm not sick much at all. I often get a cold in January after the business of Christmas, but not usually too serious. I also apparently get very sick very often when I'm around cedar dust.

For more sick stuff, see my next post.

Dessert
Do you like or dislike change?

I thought the dessert question was supposed to be more of an easy one. I guess I like change more than dislike it. For someone that has moved 11 times in the past 7 years (4 times between Valentine's and Halloween this year), I have to like change or I'd go insane.

Predicting the Future

My two boys have both been exhibiting behaviour lately that I think gives us a glimpse into how they will be around the new baby in 11 weeks.

===

Josh has become even more of a velcro-baby than he was when he was just weeks old. He has started clinging to Amber and cries and pouts quite a bit. The last few nights he's come into our bed around 1:00 AM and rolled around and kicked us until the morning. Last night he came into our room and I put up with about 3 minutes of this and decided it was time for a change.

I took him back to his bed and tried to put him down. I lay beside him for a few seconds but he's screaming and kicking and pointing at my room yelling, "This way! This way! NO!! This way!!"

This eventually wakes up Daniel (who's sharing a room with him again) and he covers his ears with his pillow and yells back, "Too loud!"

So, I take Josh back to our room and set him up on the floor with a big body pillow as a mattress and his pillow and blanket. This just aggravated him even more. So, for the next hour or so, I had a two year old screaming in my face and trying to climb up on my bed. Man, it's tough being tough. He eventually wore himself out and fell asleep.

I was pretty happy, but a few hours later, I hear a soft, sweet voice next to my ear say, "Daddy? Help up please?" He'd had a very rough night and I think he learned his lesson, so I pulled him up and cuddled him to sleep - no kicking.

This would have just been a fairly normal night, barely worthy of comment, but then we had naptime.

Amber put Josh down in his own bed this afternoon for a nap. He seemed to be cuddled up "nice and cozy" and ready for a few hours of dreamytime under his Nemo blanket. Amber went into the spare room next to his to do some computer work while Daniel and I were down the hall watching TV or something.

I came down a while later to see how the naptime was going and peeked in. I couldn't see Josh. I went to ask Amber, "Where's Joshie?"

"In his bed."

I go and take a better look in his room. "Nope, not in his bed or Daniel's."

We both have the same idea and go to our room. We crack the door open a bit and see a little turkey sleeping quietly on our bed. What's it going to take to keep him in his own bed?

===

Daniel's story is short but just as telling.

Yesterday we were trying to set up our bedroom and found that we had room for the bassinet. We set it up in the corner and it fit just perfectly. Daniel came in and said, "Is that the baby's bed? Is that the baby's crib? The blue and white crib with polka-dots?"

"Yes it is."

Later that day he came to me and said, "Daddy, I gave the baby all my toys to share." We peeked in the bassinet and he had put in his pillow and flashlight and his blue bedtime bear - all his favorite things, his most necessary bedtime stuff.

It seems like Daniel is going to do very well with the new baby. He's great at sharing. He's so loving and caring and thoughtful.

Josh, on the other hand may be the jealous, regressive type. I can imagine him trying to jump up on Amber's lap when she's holding or feeding the new little one.

We'll see how this works out

Friday's Feast

Appetizer
If someone made a statue of you, in which pose would you like to be?

I would like it to be like this: \o/
But if the sculptor was around lately it would be more like o-<-<

Salad
What perfume/cologne does your best friend wear?

I think Amber sometimes wears Imari something from Avon. Very nice.

Soup
Name something satisfying about your work.

Hahahahaha! No, seriously. Well, I guess I'm a stay-at-home dad now, so every day has satisfying moments. I love it when the boys learn new things.

Main Course
What was the last excuse you made, and why did you need to make it?

I tried to make an excuse to get out of getting help for our move from strangers. I don't know why I didn't want them, but I was cranky and my excuse was something like, "Our house is going to be full and we won't have anywhere for people to sleep and we don't need... Aaaaarrgh!"

Dessert
Complete this sentence: I wonder why _________________.

I wonder why God keeps leading us around the country.

Friday's Feast

Appetizer
What was the last game you purchased?

Star Wars Risk - for my brother-in-law's birthday in the hope I would get to play it with him. Now that we are going to live in the same city again, maybe I can. :)

Soup
Name something in which you don't believe.

Horoscopes

Salad
If you could choose a television personality to be your boss, who would you pick?

Steve Dotto. A jolly Canadian computer tech expert. He just looks like a fun guy to work with. I bet the Christmas parties are a blast.

Main Course
What was a lesson you had to learn the hard way?

I apparently don't like living in a small town.

Dessert
Describe your idea of the perfect relaxation room.

Big comfy couch. Nice warm blanket. Nice big cold Coke. Big TV. And a DVD player that holds all 6 Lord of the Rings discs.

Prayers

4 posts in one day? I must be unemployed or something. ;)

I've had the chance to put Josh to bed a few nights this week. Usually Amber and I split up at bedtime and I do Daniel and she takes care of Josh, but I think it's a good idea to switch it up sometimes.

Josh is such the pray-er. He loves to thank God for everything. He always remembers his grandparents' puppy, Bijou. Josh loves Bijou and loves giving him cookies. While we were visiting Josh started giving him hugs and letting Bijou kiss his hands.

Anyway, this was quite the long intro for one of his recent prayers:

"Dear God. Thank you today. Thank you Daniel. And Mommy. And Grandma, Grandpa, Bijou kisses. And for Bijou cookies. And Bijou's Grandpa. And my Grandpa. And Bijou kisses and grandpa. And umm... Bijou cookies... and ummm...."

"Thank you for Daddy?"

"Yeah, thank you Daddy, Mommy, Daniel, Bijou cookies"

"In Jesus' name"

"Amen"

I wish my prayers could be like that more often. Just an open connection with God to share all the exciting things in my life. I learn so much from the boys.

Dwell in the Father

A couple of great reminders from God this early morning:

Psalm 91

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
  will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the LORD,
  "He is my refuge and my fortress,
  my God, in whom I trust."

If you make the Most High your dwelling—
   even the LORD, who is my refuge-
   then no harm will befall you,
   no disaster will come near your tent.

"Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him;
   I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
   I will be with him in trouble,
   I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life will I satisfy him
   and show him my salvation."

=============

Matthew 6:25-34

I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

What Daniel Likes

I seem to write more about Daniel than Josh. Maybe that's because I spend more time with him. Josh has sort of become Mommy's boy and Daniel is mine. Maybe as he grows up a little more and when the baby comes, he'll come over to the "boys' side" ;) I'll try to think of a Josh story to tell next time.

Anyway, I was putting Daniel to bed last night and I asked, "Are you having a good time in Calgary? Do you like visiting Grandma and Grandpa's?"

"Yeah, I like Calgary. And Nakusp too."

Grrr... The first time he says he likes Nakusp is the day we are looking for a house to move back to Calgary to. "What do you like about Nakusp?"

"Our TV, and our movies, and my Madagascar bed..."

"What about things that aren't in our house?"

"Ummm... our couches, and our big black chair"

"No, what do you like about Nakusp that ISN'T our house?"

"Hmmm... our van? My sandbox?"

"What do you like to do in Nakusp? Where do you like to go?"

"Ummm... I like to go... I like to go to visit Calgary."

"Okay, sweetie. Have a good sleep."

I don't know what to think of that. Either he couldn't understand the question, or he doesn't like anything about Nakusp on its own. Or, possibly and perhaps more frighteningly, he sensed that he shouldn't have said he likes Nakusp and was trying to backpedal. This kid is so mature at times, I wouldn't be totally surprised if that was part of it.

Abandoned

We are in Calgary visiting and making preparations to move back. All this change is really getting to Daniel. We were out driving around looking for a house quite a bit yesterday. As we were on our way back to the place we were staying the boys were getting quite rowdy. Screaming like little girls rowdy. I became the father I didn't want to be and yelled,

"Do you want me to stop and you can get out and walk the rest of the way to Grandma's"

Poor Daniel, who is already a bit clingy, tried to process this idea along with other things we've told him about running off on his own and going into the street.

"Then you and Mom and Josh will drive to Grandma's? And I will have no family? And then I'll get hurted in the street? And runned over from the cars? And then I'll get all bleedy?"

Oh my! I'm glad we were only a block from Grandma's because I could barely contain myself enough to drive. I look over at Amber and her heart is breaking just the same.

"No, buddy. I would never leave you. I would never put you in the street by yourself. You will always have your family. Just please stop screaming."

Hopefully one of these days our lives will get settled and normal. I won't hold my breath.

An extra hour

I think this is the first time in my life that I've missed the daylight-savings change. The Fall-Back one is such a great bonus, I usually go around and change all the clocks before bedtime.

I guess living in a small town, they either don't care or maybe they have a phoning list. I didn't see it in the paper (which only comes out weekly) or hear it on the radio (which is CBC One reruns). I didn't notice until I got up with the boys to get ready for church and my handy-dandy faithful computer told me that it was 6:00 and not 7:00.

Now, what to do with an extra hour... I guess I'll use it to pack the van. We're making another trip out to Calgary this week and we're leaving right after church. So, I guess this means it will be an hour darker when we get there. Sigh, I guess good news only lasts for about 5 minutes around here.

Jon needs

Well, the latest thing going around in the blogosphere is googling your needs. I typed "Jon needs" into Google and it was interesting to find I need so many things. I am seriously not making any of these up. These are all found in the first 40 webpages (of over 600) that Google pulled up with the phrase "Jon needs".

Jon needs Help
Jon needs a new name!
Jon needs to change his classroom management practices
Jon needs to be more introspective about his teaching style
Jon needs to hold a mirror up
Jon needs to answer some questions.
That is what Jon needs to be telling us now.
Jon needs to unwind the wire from the chicken coop
Jon needs to move on
Jon needs to realize it for himself. I'm attracted to another man
Jon needs experienced adoptive parents
Jon needs a consequence for misbehavior
Jon needs to be a member of the Administrator's group
Jon Needs to Touch his Roots
Jon needs to learn how to spell "allowed" before he ridicules other people's work
The Jon needs to release and share his information.
Jon needs lots of support on the home front and elsewhere
Jon needs change for the bus
Jon needs a break today... a coffee break
Jon needs everyone's thoughts
Jon needs to learn that his actions can ultimately destroy the very cause he seeks to protect
Jon needs someone 1 on 1 most of the time.
Jon needs to be put in prison and locked up for life.
Jon needs a wider forum?
Jon needs the extra mic and stand for his 2nd banjo.
Jon needs a real paint sample from Shannon.
Jon needs to eat anything!
Jon needs help to implement this Certificate proposal
Jon needs to write proposal by December
Jon needs something cute to wear besides those homemaker dresses.
But that's not what Jon needs right now; he needs someone to talk to.

I swear these are all true. Well, not true for me - but true cut-and-pastes from the internet. I like the one that calls me "The Jon".

I love Google. Even on a day like this, when everything is messed up and I don't know what's coming next, it can make me smile. And that's really what Jon needs.

What's Up?

It's been quite a while since I posted. Our lives are in a big time of transition and we don't know from day to day what's coming next. We've tried to shelter our little ones from this but Daniel seems to be picking things up.

He seems to be extra clingy and kind of sad lately. He has been talking about Calgary and the "big orange truck" quite a bit lately. (See Amber's blog for details.) Last night I tucked him into bed and cuddled with him for a bit. A few hours later I went to check on him before heading to bed myself. He wasn't there. I checked Josh's room - he had been talking about sleeping with Josh earlier - but he wasn't there. The little monkey had quietly snuck down the hall while we were in the living room and curled up in the middle of our bed and fallen asleep waiting for us.

The only thing that gets me through this is the fact that I remember nearly nothing of my life before I was like 7. This may seem like a big deal to him now, but if we can get settled in the next couple years, hopefully it won't scar him for life.

Daniel the Comforter

I've discovered that Daniel has more empathy than I do. Two recent examples.

1) I was laying on the couch, watching TV. I wasn't feeling great - still recovering from my cedar sickness. Daniel came over and hopped up and gave me a hug and a kiss and asked, "Do you need anything? Any medicines?"

"No, sweetie. That's very nice of you though."

"I'm supposed to be a doctor when I get big. Then I will take care of everybody."

2) This morning, Daniel woke up before anyone and dragged me out to help him get some breakfast. I gave him a bowl of cereal and when he was done, he went to play on the computer for a bit. I was (again) resting on the couch and Josh woke up. They had this conversation:

J: "Hi, Daniel!"

D: "Good morning Joshie! Did you have a good sleep? Oh, you still have your soother. I'll put that away for you."

J: "Uhh.. uhh.. umm.." starting to get upset

D: Returning from Josh's room, "Oh, don't cry. Are you sad cause you miss your soother?"

J: "Sniff, yeah"

D: Patting him on the head, "Oh, you are growing to such a big boy."

This is my three year old. He's such a big boy too.

Josh the Shovel

We went for our usual Saturday morning trip to the little farmers' market here in town this weekend. The farmers and products are starting to get few and far between now that the days are getting cooler and wetter. We didn't find anything to buy, so we kept on going til we got to the park.

Man, the boys love the park. It's an old Kinsmen-built park that reminds me of the Kinsmen park in the small Saskatchewan town where I grew up. The same steel swings, teeter-totters and tall slides. Even the old merry-go-round.

There is a swing set with three steel horses. These are obviously for the little ones, but the horses are over 3 feet from the ground. Kinda scary, but Josh loved it. "Yee-Ha! Cowboy! Yee-Ha! Cowboy!"

Well, we had been there close to an hour and we were on our way out. The boys were playing on the one modern play structure with a variety of slides and tubes in a sandy gravel pit. I helped Daniel slide down one of the tubes on his tummy and he flipped over and came out feet first. Of course, Joshie has to do everything his brother does.

The thing is that Josh always slides way faster than Daniel. He doesn't plant his shoes on the sides for brakes like his bigger brother. I put him in on his tummy and ran around to catch him at the bottom. He flew down like a torpedo and dove out face first into the sand. I picked him up and wiped him off. The guy wasn't even crying. Then he started spitting and wiping his tongue. His mouth and nose were full of sand. He had hit the dirt and plowed a good sized furrough.

We got him mostly cleaned out and headed back towards home to get him some juice to rinse his mouth and I heard a grinding and crunching. He was chewing on the last bit of sand in his mouth to get it out of his teeth. But still not even a hint of crying. He really would make a great yee-ha cowboy.

Holy %$#@!

This post has been rated PG for language

We were outside this afternoon before supper. I was barbecuing, the boys were running around and Amber was trying to organize some of our larger yard toys so the yard is more usable. Daniel comes around the corner saying, "Mommy needs you."

So I come and she's standing over our uninflated inflatable wading pool and said, shockingly calmly, "There are stinkbugs all over the shed, the sprinkler is covered with slugs, and I found a tarantula." Well, Amber despises bugs and has a tendency to overreact and exaggerate when she sees them. I've been called to take care of "tarantulas" before that were just fairly big brown house spiders. I came over, expecting to see a somewhat large bug.

In the rain water collected in the corner of the rubber pool there was a spider. It was completely underwater and not moving, but its body was a light green, and it looked like a very large peeled grape with long, thick, hairy legs. Seriously, if this bug was on Survivor, the castaways would have sat down with a carving knife, hats with buckles, and given thanks for such a bountiful feast.

In my surprise, I blurted out, "Holy crap!" before I realized that Daniel had followed me and was standing right behind me, almost attached to my leg. He of course saw the bug and with perfect pronunciation, inflection, and emotion, repeated my exclamation in a somewhat higher octave.

Amber says, "Daniel, don't say that." He does again.

I've heard stories of small children who learn to swear and when the adults laugh, they are encouraged to do it again and again, in increasingly more inappropriate places and situations.

I calmly turn and say "Daniel, that's not a nice word. You shouldn't say that."

And he didn't. Maybe he got distracted by something else. Maybe he's saving it for a better time. But maybe he understood and will try not to say bad words. He hears everything we say and stores it away to bring out later. I hope I can fill him with more good things than bad from now on.

Cold Turkey

Daniel had one of his hardest nights ever tonight. He's had a soother every night since he was born. Well, almost every night. Once, when he was a few months old we decided to let him cry himself to sleep. He cried hard after we put him to bed for about half an hour, then fell asleep. We felt so bad when we went in to get him in the morning and his soother was on the dresser - we'd somehow forgotten to give it to him on this traumatic night. But that's a totally different story.

Anyways, Amber and I have decided that it's getting to be about time for him to give up the soother. He's three years old and we don't want him to be one of those 6 year olds with a pacifier at the mall. Daniel and I had a conversation earlier in the day and worked out a "deal". After some negotiation we decided that if he could sleep a whole night without his soother, he could have 4 little candies the next day. Yeah, I know bribing him with morning sugar isn't the best thing, but oh well. It worked with potty training, we'll give it a shot.

So, we talked about it a few times over the day and Daniel seemed very excited at the prospect of candies. When he went to bed, we didn't get his soother. We read stories for a while and then he went to brush his teeth and get one more kiss from Mommy. On the way back, he asked for his soother.

"Remember the deal? Did you want to try to go without it tonight?"

"Yeah! Then I get jujubes."

So, I lay down with him for a while. He rolled around and was more antsy than normal. Finally, he turned to me and said, "I can't fall asleep."

"Do you want me to get your soother?"

"Yeah, no, yeah, no... ummm..."

"I'll go get it and you can decide."

So I went and brought it and he didn't want it so I held it. He played with it in my hand for a bit, closing my fingers around it. He'd roll away and then back and feel for it again.

Once, he took the soother and put it up to his lips and looked at me. I felt so bad for him. This was so hard but he wanted to do it.

"It's okay buddy. You can have it if you need it. We can try again tomorrow."

He started crying hard and gave it back to me. Put it in my hand and rolled away. His hand kept feeling for it but he still couldn't fall asleep.

"Do you want me to put it away so you don't have to think about it?"

"Yeah"

So, I stuck it in my pocket and he calmed down for a bit and then started rolling around in his bed again. Kind of nervously. He told me there were monsters in his closet and under his bed. We checked and found no monsters. He was kind of jittery. It's like he was going through de-tox but his will was so strong.

Finally, he was fishing around in the bed. I asked what he was looking for.

Smiling innocently he said, "Something blue..."

"Is it this?" I took out the soother. He smiled and took it. He rolled over towards the wall and fell asleep. Poor guy, he tried so hard. Tomorrow will be easier.

I guess I fell asleep too, cause Amber came in and woke me up some time later. I peeked over at Daniel before I left. He was still facing the wall. The soother was on the bed by his open hand. He didn't suck on it, he just needed to hold it. I snuck it away and counted this as a marvelous success. I think it counts.

Daniel has always been this way. Sleeping through the night, eating solid food, walking, potty training - all the same way. When he felt he was ready, he just did it. No messing around. No taking his time. He is such a determined little guy. I'm so proud.

Not so much

I hate to say it, but this job isn't so much fun anymore. I've been sick every day since I started. I came home from work yesterday hacking and coughing so hard I burst a blood vessel in my eye and threw up at home. My eyes have started feeling like I have sandpaper under my lids and my forearms and neck are starting to get a rash. I also have been stuffed up and coughing at night so it's hard to sleep.

It started off pretty light so I thought it was just a cold, but this morning I went to the hospital and the doctor says it's a combination of bronchitis and likely a cedar allergy. He gave me a prescription for some antibiotics and antihistamines. I'll take them for the next few weeks and see how that works. I'll try wearing long-sleeved shirts and a mask at work on Monday too.

I can't even start to think about the idea that I am allergic to my job. I moved my family 8 hours from everyone we know and love to the middle of nowhere and now I may not be able to go to work. The church has really stepped out in faith to bring me here and I bet they are wondering what they got themselves into.

Speaking of the church, it's taking a while to get going too. I have led worship by myself the last 2 weeks and it looks like I'll be on my own again this weekend. I really wanted to put together a repertoire and a band, but all I've been able to do when I get home from work is cough and fall asleep. Hopefully next week will be more productive.

A friend of mine often signs off her blogs with the word "einop" for "ever in need of prayer". I am so einop right now. I know that most of our friends and family who are reading this are Christians and likely praying for us occasionally, but if you think of me, I could use some prayer for guidance in this time of confusion and change for our family. I may need to find a new job or a new way to do this job and that freaks me out.

I know this isn't really a "Dad's view" post, but it's what's on my mind, so that's what you get. We'll return you to your regularly scheduled cute kid stories shortly.

Phew!

I just completed my first day of work at the mill and I am exhausted. I worked 8 hours working with an air nailer and stapler (my brothers must be so proud). I get to make, package and wrap big skids of fence parts for most of the day. I actually got to stack big pieces of wood for the last hour. I came home with a pretty nasty looking cut on my forehead from the first 2x4 I touched that fell and split me open.

I am beat and sore, but I definitely thank God for this job. It is real work that will help me get in shape. It is so loud that everyone wears earplugs, so there's not a lot of talking - except during breaks - so I have time alone with my thoughts and can pray as much as I want. Working with wood makes me feel closer to Jesus than sitting in front of a laptop ever could.

And there's not much better after a hard day's work than hugs from my family. Amber and Daniel and Josh all came running when I got home. That made everything melt away.

Please excuse any weird grammar or spelling. I just wanted to get this down.

Forever

Well, we've finally moved. You can see Amber's blog for details about the move.

The boys are growing up so fast. Sometimes it feels like I'm gonna blink and it will all be over. I was putting Daniel to bed tonight after a long, but good day. I was reading him some poems from a Shel Silverstein book while cuddled up with him in his twin bed. I didn't want to stop. I didn't want that moment to stop.

We talked about our day and I gave him a kiss good night. He asked me to lay with him for "just a little bit" - as he's done every night since we moved here. I laid with him for a while and was about to get up and he said, "No Daddy, don't go yet."

"I have to go buddy. I have to go help mommy."

"No, stay for a little bit longer"

"I wish I could stay here with you forever."

With childlike wonder, "Forever?"

"Yeah, buddy. I'd love to stay here with you but I have to go. I'll see you in the morning. Maybe you could have a dream about me."

"Yeah, I could do that"

"Okay, I'll see you in your dreams. Good night."

It's moments like this that I'm glad I have. Once I start my new job, I'll be leaving around 6:45am four days a week so the evenings will be even more precious.

Boy, I sure love my boys.

First Date

Yesterday was Family Day. Perhaps our last real Thursday Family Day before we move, so we wanted to do something special. Amber suggested taking the boys to a movie. This idea frightened me quite a bit. The last time we tried anything like this was when we took Daniel to a hockey game when he was about 6 months old, and the last time we went out to a "sit-down restaurant" Josh threw a fit and a glass bottle of juice across the room.

We decided on "Madagascar". Daniel had been seeing the commercials all summer and seemed pretty excited by it. We told both of them we were going to the movie theatre with a huge TV and popcorn and everything, but I'm pretty sure Daniel was thinking it was going to be like Blockbuster.

The boys were good all morning. No crying, no temper tantrums - well, almost none. We got to the movie theatre and as we were walking up, we saw a school bus full of 9-year olds pull up. We rushed in to get in line before them and bought our tickets. The boys both got in free - BONUS!

Then we went to the concession to get our snacks. There were no customers there until we got in line. As I ordered our popcorn and drinks, I had this creepy feeling that I was being watched. I turn around and see an endless sea of little heads with a couple of frazzled-looking leaders trying to get the kids into Coke and non-Coke lines. As I pick up our food, I hear the head wrangler say, "OK, I need 27 Kiddie Combos, 13 with Coke, 5 with..." Poor popcorn dude didn't know what hit him.

By this point Daniel is in sensory overload. He's running from the candy dispensers to the arcade games and back to the lighted posters. Amber and I are weighed down with 3 arm loads of refreshments and a wiggly 22-month old and our loud commands of "Daniel! Red stop!" are making as much of an effect as a bicycle cop in a war zone. I finally get him herded towards the right door. He helps by grabbing a couple booster seats and we head in.

We are the first people in the theatre. Maybe this will be good. Maybe it will just be us. Maybe the pre-teen mob will go see "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". We climb the mountain of stadium-like seating to the summit so we can sit right at the back. (When we were at the hockey game almost 3 years ago we were also in the Mt. Everest of nosebleed seats.) We got the boys set up with their boosters and their little boxes of popcorn. Josh was transfixed. He quickly figured out how to lay back in his chair and watch the ads while absent-mindedly popping popcorn into his mouth and sipping on his juice without looking away.

We realized that unfortunately we were about 20 minutes early. The boys have a hard time focusing on anything other than Veggie Tales for more than 20 minutes, so I took Daniel to the bathroom to give him a little change of scenery, and to avoid any need to get up during the movie. As we were leaving we saw a neon swarm entering the theatre doors. It was a day camp and the leaders and 15 or so preschoolers were all wearing matching yellow shirts (so cute!). This actually made me feel quite a bit better. These adults were outnumbered about 5-7 to 1 and their kids weren't much older than Daniel, so I figured we'd not be the only ones there with sugar-crazed movie viewers.

When we got back, we still had about 15 minutes, so I took Daniel for a walk around the theatre. This was one of the new style theatres with the very steep seating arrangements so you don't have to watch the movie between two heads. We tried out the front row - "That's the biggest TV I've ever seen!" and then kept on moving and we climbed back to the top where Josh was still munching away on his snacks, transfixed by the ads for candy bigger than his house.

The Yellow Pages Daycamp sat a few rows down from us and by the time the show started, only a few other people had come in. I guess the 27 Kiddie Combos went somewhere else. The lights went down and the boys loved it. After about 15 more minutes of ads (our 86 minute experiment is quickly turning into a 2 hour adventure), the movie started. When the Dreamworks studio logo came on, Josh broke his trance and called out "Shrek!"

About 30 minutes in, Daniel decided he had to pee again. Amber took him but no luck. All was good for about another half an hour. Josh and I were eating from his little popcorn box, regularly refilled from Mommy's large bag and I was sipping away on my BladderBuster large Coke. I was actually happy to take Daniel to the bathroom at the one hour mark. We both needed it pretty bad.

They made it to the end of the movie. Josh moved from his booster onto a couple laps for a while. He was actually dancing in the aisle during the credits. He yelled "Bye movie!" when we left, and the two boys fell asleep in the car on the way home.

I was incredibly and pleasantly surprised at how well this went. It looks like there's a theatre in Nakusp. Maybe we'll try this again some time.

Phew!

Everyone is fine. Amber's blood pressure came down and the ultra-sound tech found our baby in perfect health. Now we just need to get ready to move in 17 days! Aaaargh!

Please let them be okay

I took Amber in for her 15 week appointment yesterday. It should be our last time seeing the doctor before we move. Unfortunately, things are not going well.

The doctor couldn't find the baby's heartbeat, Amber's blood pressure is up where it was when Daniel was born, she's having headaches, back problems, nausea, and a variety of other problems.

Dr. gave Amber a requisition for an ulrasound and told her to stop by the lab to see if they could get her in today. When we got there, the cow at the counter told her that she couldn't make an appointment, she couldn't get in that day, and she had to call some "Bookings" number.

Well, we went home upset, frustrated, and a little scared. Amber is going in this afternoon for the ultrasound. I'm way more scared than I let on. This move is very stressful for all of us and I don't want the pressure to hury Amber or the baby. I'm trying to help out as much as I can, but if Amber gets put on bedrest because of the blood pressure, I don't know what we'll do. I can quit a couple weeks early, but someone is moving into our apartment in 19 days, so we need to get out. And once we get to Nakusp, I have a couple days off, but then Amber will be all alone with 2.5 clingy, needy kids.

I just pray that everyone will be okay. That the baby is fine. That Amber will get better. That the boys will be more calm and easier for her. That everything will be alright.

Now I wait.

Daniel's Sad Ice Cream Cone Story

This is another one of those "break your heart" moments where I realize that my boys are growing up.

Tonight Amber has a "girls' night out" with the ladies from our Bible study. It may be the last time she gets to hang out with them as a group before we move, so it was pretty important that she went.

The boys and I drove her to meet the girls and on the way home we were singing together in the car. I remembered a song my Grandma used to sing to me and without thinking I decided to sing it for the boys.

"Daniel, Josh, do you guys want to hear a new song? This is a song that Daddy's grandma used to sing to him when he was a little boy."

Here it is:

==========================

Chocolate Ice Cream Cone
Author Unknown

My mama said if I'd be good,
She'd send me to the store
She said she'd bake some gingerbread
If I would sweep the floor.

She said if I would make the bed
And watch the telephone
That she would send me out to get
A chocolate ice cream cone.

And so I did the things she said
And then she made me some gingerbread
Then I went out, just me alone
And got my chocolate ice cream cone.

While coming back I stubbed my toe
Upon a big old stone
Now need I tell you that I dropped
My chocolate ice cream cone.

A little puppy came along
And he took a great big lick
And so I hit that mean old dog
With just a little stick.

Then he bit me where I sit down
And he chased me all over town
So, now I'm lost, I can't find my home
And all because of that chocolate ice cream cone

==========================

Now, I know this is a sad song and I've often wondered why my Grandma would sing this song to her kids and grandkids, but she sang about dogs who died, orphans, and mean old neighbourhood men getting stuffed in a meat grinder, so this one seemed pretty tame and safe.

As soon as I was finished, Daniel said, "Daddy, that's so sad!"

"What's sad buddy?"

"Umm... when Grandma, when Daddy, when Daddy's grandma, ummm... when I was a little boy, when I was Jon, I went to the store and got a ice cream cone and I dropped it and a puppy licked it."

"Then what happened?"

"I hit him and he chased me."

Awwww... :( The poor guy. I'm amazed that he was able to follow the story and personalize it. He placed himself in the song, but he couldn't verbalize it any way but to say "when I was Jon".

I had to make up a new verse about getting a new ice cream cone and going home to share it with Mommy. Daniel thought that was much happier.

Joshua's Sad Ice Cream Cone Story

In a weird turn of events, each of my boys had a very sad situation involving ice cream cones in the past 36 hours.

Thursday has been family day since we moved back to Calgary. This is something that we started in Winnipeg on my day off from the church and we try not to schedule other things on Family Day so we can spend it together going to the zoo, or the park, or shopping. This week it was 32 degrees outside so we decided to take advantage of the wonderful air conditioned mall playground.

After a good time at the playground we stopped in at the food court for lunch. After lunch, Amber and Daniel went to Dairy Queen to pick up an ice cream cone for us to share. Josh had been asking for one all through lunch so I told him that we were all going to share a yummy ice cream cone.

"Daddy will have some"

"Yup!"

"And Daniel will have some"

"Yup!"

"And Mommy will have some"

"Yup!"

"And Joshie will have some"

"Yes please!"

So when Amber and Daniel came back with the biggest DQ cone I've ever seen, Josh was ecstatic. He was squirming to get out of his high chair. We passed it around and everyone had a little lick. When it was Josh's turn, I held it for him and he started to cry. He wanted to hold it. Well, I was pretty sure if he got his hands on this extra-large ice cream, it would be on the floor. So we ended up fighting for control of the cone.

He put up such a fuss that I let him hold it with my hands real close by to guard against any sudden droppage. When his turn was over and I had to take it away, you'd think I had pulled off a couple fingers with it. He screamed and screamed and cried. I realized that usually when we go for ice cream, the boys each get their own cone and Josh wasn't understanding this whole "sharing" thing. We tried a spoon and a litte dish but that wasn't good enough - this was his ice cream and no one should take it.

When it made its way back to Josh again, he started screaming and pushing my hands away. I tried to calm him down using logic.

"Joshie, do you want the ice cream?"

"YEEEAAAAAAAH! Waaaaah!"

"What do you say?"

"PLEEEEEEEASE!!!!! Waaaaah"

Okay, here you go

Through tears, a hoarse voice, full of emotion says, "Thank you. Gracias."

Well, this put me over the edge. I am laughing out loud at this situation. Josh is going through the worst trauma he could imagine and still managed to remember his manners. In two languages.

The dozens of people around us are all smiling and laughing but I know I need to get the cone away from Josh so Daniel, who has been very patient and accomodating through this whole ordeal, can have his turn. I reach for the cone and with goalie reflexes, Josh bats my hand away. I try again and he grabs my wrist and gives me this "Don't you even think about it" look. I burst out laughing again.

We eventually finish the cone but each time I had to take it away was like a whole new betrayal for Josh.

From now on we'll each get our own.

Toilet Talk

People without little kids don't talk about toilets as much as those of us with babies. I can't say I remember ever having a conversation about poop with one of my friends before Daniel was born. Perhaps this is a good thing.

Daniel is officially potty trained now. He's been wearing "big boy underwear" during the day for months and pull-ups at night. Every morning that he wakes up and his "bed time underwear" is dry, he gets to put a star sticker on the calendar. If he's dry this morning, that means he's completed a whole week of stars, so that means he gets to sleep in his "regular big boy underwear" for the first time tonight. A scary thought but I'm so proud of him. Even if I have to change a few sheets in the next weeks, I'm really proud of him.

Josh is starting to get excited about the potty too. Once a day or more, he will run to us and say, through grunting teeth, "Poop! Potty! Poop!" So, we'll take him to the bathroom and put him down on his little potty. The times he actually goes, he is so proud of himself. Everyone in the house will clap for him and say "Yay Joshie!" and he loves it. I don't think we'll push the full-on potty training until after we move. He'll be two in a few months and once we're settled in our new house, I think he might be ready.

Our little McBean is a hungry little guy too. Amber is constantly eating now. She is normally a very slow eater and doesn't eat much at all, but now she's keeping up to me. She wants the baby to be as healthy as possible, so she's trying to eat good food, drink lots of water, and take her multitude of vitamins. I know he'll be a terrific, wonderful little guy - even if he's a she.

Hi Everybody!

So, people are actually reading this.

It's kind of strange. I started writing this for myself and for Amber, but knowing that we would likely make it public eventually. Now that everyone knows about the whole pregnancy thing, Amber has been telling her friends and linking to me in various websites, forums, boards, and email lists.

Recently I've heard from people I know, and people I don't know (through Amber) that they enjoy my blog and appreciate hearing "A Dad's View" on some of these topics. The strange part is that I've never considered myself a writer. I was always very good in school and loved to read, but English was one of my least favorite (and most skipped) subjects in high school. I actually almost got kicked out of school in my grade 12 year because I stopped going to my English class.

Most of these posts are made in the wee hours of the morning, when I can't sleep. Maybe this adds to the more open and casual nature.

I don't know what's going on, but Blogger has cut the last paragraph of this entry twice now. Maybe it's a sign that 4:30 is no time to be up and I should be going back to bed.

Have to Get Away

Sometimes, no matter how much I love the boys and how wonderful and cute they are, I need to get away.

I know Amber spends far more time with them than I do and probably needs more of a break, but we have really learned to appreciate the weekly break we've been getting. Amber's parents have been taking the boys overnight once a week for nearly a year now. This allowed us to go to choir rehearsal and not have to pick them up at 10 or 11pm. It also gave us a full night of sleep, which made us appreciate our little ones even more when they came back.

Yesterday, I came home from a long, boring day alone at work. I was feeling quite sick and not in the mood for wrestling and yelling. Daniel had been in one of his "bad boy" moods all day and wanted to jump on me the minute I got in the door. We ended up calling Grandma and Grandpa and they took the boys overnight. I went to bed at 9:00 and slept right through until almost 8:00.

We are going to be moving in just over a month. 7 hours from Grandma and Grandpa's house. So, we need to get all the breaks we can now. And both sets of grandparents are happy to get a little more time in with the boys before we leave, so this should make for an interesting next 5 weeks.

We Finally Did It

Last night we took both sets of grandparents out for dinner and shared all of our news. We told them that we had been offered the job we had been waiting on in BC and that we were buying a van. We were trying to think of a clever way to share the news of our growing family

We ordered our food and when it came, I prayed for the meal. I ended the prayer with something like "And keep us all safe over the next months - especially Amber and the baby. In Jesus name, Amen."

They took it okay. I think my mom smacked me and said, "You are so clever."

It's a lot of news at once. It even seems like a lot to me and I've learned it all gradually.

It's going to be exciting and scary moving away from our families and having the baby, but we've done it before. Daniel and Josh were each born in Winnipeg - 14 hours away from the grandparents - and we survived. We have loved being back and having our familes close by and convenient, but we really enjoyed our time on our own in Winnipeg. We grew as a couple and as a family and learned to rely on each other a lot more.

Now I'm starting to tell other people. I told a couple of friends last night. Work is next I guess. I need to tell them that I'll be leaving at the end of the summer. Unfortunately, at this small business with about 15-20 employees, two other full-time staff and three part-time have decided to quit this summer too. I'm torn between giving them lots of notice and trying to wait for the "right time" to tell so as to not go in on the same day as someone else. I guess it should be sooner than later.

When to Tell

We still haven't told anyone about the new baby yet. Therefore, we haven't told anyone about this blog - so it's still just Amber reading it. :)

We are planning on doing it in the next few days. We are waiting for news about a new job opportunity and were hoping to hear by now. We wanted to tell our parents at the same time and also break the news about the new job too. But it's been a longer process than we had imagined and we're getting a little impatient.

Daniel's birthday party is on Sunday and we are thinking about telling the grandparents after that. We've had so many events in our life that might be overshadowed by this news, that the baby might get here before we finally decide to tell.

The grandmothers are starting to act suspicious. Amber's mom has touched her belly and Amber thinks she caught my mom looking at her stomach last weekend. We've been so adamant about not having any more for a while, I think people have stopped asking.

I'm excited about this whole prospect. We've picked out our first set of names for the baby. If history has taught us anything, it's that these names will change several times over the next 7 months, someone will "steal" at least one of them, and 10 minutes before the baby is born, I will be 100% positive that it's going to be a girl. We'll see...

Aaaaaaaaaaargh!

I'm about to freak out. Amber went for a girls' night out with the ladies from our couples Bible study tonight leaving me to put the boys to bed.

We put on a LarryBoy movie and let them relax and I got them into their jammies and Josh's eye drops in. I put him to bed and then stayed up with Daniel about another hour watching TV and reading and stuff. Then we came upstairs to go to bed and Josh was waiting at the gate, so I took both of them to read one more story and put them to bed. It's been about an hour and I've had to go in about 10 times. They just won't stay in bed. Nothing is working.

I don't know what to do with them. Apparently Amber had a really bad day with them - a usual occurence the day after we've spent time apart from them. I'm calming down and realizing it's not that big a deal. I think they are being quiet now so I'm going to go down and relax on the couch. And if I hear anything, I'll pretend I didn't. ;)

Growth and Fluids

It's amazing how fast little kids grow and develop - even over a long weekend.

Amber and I were out in BC on a job interview this weekend and left the boys with the grandparentses. They weren't home Monday morning when I left for work, so I didn't get to see them until I got home. I didn't realize how much I missed them until I got in the door and they both rushed to give me a hug.

Josh seems to have learned a bunch of words and is copying Daniel every chance he can get. Daniel learned about "Knock-knock" jokes from his 3.5 year old cousin in Winnipeg and now he's taught Josh. He's using longer sentences and his pronunciation is so much clearer than even just 4 days ago. He's even starting to exert a little independence and is not quite as clingy as usual.

Daniel has been amazing me lately too. He turned 3 on Wednesday but he acts like he's about 7. We got him a computer game for his birthday and he's figured out how to use it by himself. Mousing, clicking, typing, as well as matching, counting, and problem solving, he does it all. I know what it's like trying to live up to one's "potential", (I hated the p-word growing up) so I won't push him too hard, but he's such a sponge for knowledge we have to keep feeding him.

We're all still pretty sick around here these days. Daniel got a bad cough in Winnipeg that is taking forever to go away. He threw up for the first time in over two years last night at supper before he even had a bite. Josh has an eye infection so he's got all sorts of goop and ooze and as of last night seemed to be starting on the same cough. I've been coughing and stuffy as long as Daniel and I'm not sure how I made it through this candidating weekend. And Amber, of course is feeling 10 weeks pregnant.

So we're all pretty leaky and miserable this week - and my brother's wedding is on Saturday - and I'm performing the ceremony. I should really be trying to get some extra sleep, but thinking about that is what kept me from falling back asleep. It's 6:10 and I've been up since 4:00. I'll go see who's in the family bed and see if I can squeeze in another hour or so.