Brothers

Political and social Commentary

Not really...

"Except for ending slavery, fascism, nazism and communism war has NEVER solved anything." Rateitall.com

Noah and I saw that on a bumper sticker and our conservative, libertarian, cynical and witty sides liked it :)

More and more we are being compelled to get on our knees and pray for our country, our world, our church and our family. I know this is supposed to be a light hearted blog about the kids, but every once in awhile I will get to thinking about something that may SEEM not to be about the kids.

I have worked adult medical intensive care for a few years now and in the MICU we see a lot of drug and alcohol abuse as well as dysfunctional family situations. We also see death. Fast deaths, unexpected death, slow deaths, chronic deaths. Another nurse and I were talking about the "dark deaths". I was taking care of a young man in Indiana whose short life had been greatly abused by drugs etc. He was dying despite medical intervention and our best efforts. I was in the room with him as the decision by his family was made to withdraw heroic measures. I have never felt such a darkness, an evilness in a room before. You know me...I am about as cynical as they come and I am not an emotional or "feelings oriented" kind of person...maybe that is why it freaked me out so much. (and it is probably why I can say this next sentence).

I pray that for my family members and I that death will be a positive time where we are certain that we will soon be in Heaven with the Lord where there will be no more tears or sickness. I am compelled to pray that for my family there will be no "dark deaths" where we are concerned about where the very souls of those we love are going. "Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift (salvation)".

Peacocks

I have never given a lot of thought to peacocks, but now I think I have said "Peacock" more times in the last 24 hours than I have in my entire life.

At 3 this morning Deacon (who had come into our room at some point) sat straight up in bed and started screaming about there being a peacock in our house. It woke Roman up and scared Noah and I. He was just frantic and was insisting that there was a peacock. We turned the light on and showed him that there wasn't a peacock there or in his room. I ended up spending the rest of the night in their room because he was scared out of his little 3 year old mind. I expected this to happen sometime regarding monsters or dinosaurs or good old Lions, Tigers and Bears...but Peacocks!?

All day today he has been talking about peacocks (never before have I heard him discuss them). I wasn't sure if he knew what they were so I asked him to describe a peacock for me. He said, "well, they are kind of like an ostrich". I guess he does know what they are. He saw a picture of a peacock in a book he got at the library today and I said, "there is a peacock". He said, "yes, he is just like the one that was in our house."

I am going to work tonight...for everyones sake I hope no more peacocks visit!

"I am so drinky!" and other stories

The dragon cake was for my friend Becki's birthday party. Deacon had wanted to get her a "cake with flowers" on it, but when he saw the dragon, suddenly flowers were not so desirable...

Yesterday Deacon was drinking something and suddenly went into a "ta-da" pose and said, as if on a commercial, "I am so drinky!" We have no idea what that is supposed to mean.

My sister Karla was over today and Deacon was getting a little aggressive with Lincoln. I heard Karla say, "Deacon, you are a little close to Lincoln with your mouth open -he doesn't need continuous CPR, you know". I had to laugh because the comment falls squarely under the catergory of "things you never thought you would say" (stuff like, "take your fork out of your nose and why is your diaper on your brothers head?")

Anyone have any ideas how to make the vertical picture vertical?

sleepover

Deacon and Roman had a sleepover at Grandma Pam's last night. Erica asked where they were going to sleep and G.P said, "Karlas bed of course" Karla had a fun suprise to arrive home late and find two little squirmy boys in her bed. She probably got more sleep on the floor anyway. We did learn that even though Roman can get out of his crib, it is still the best place for him because he is quite a roller!

First Time?

I think that this is the first time in a month that all three are sleeping at the same time during the day! Yahoo! Of course we had to go through a toddler breakdown at Target to get here, but it may have been worth it!

What a disappointment :)

We went to a lovely wedding today and once again Lincoln was passed around so much that no one knew who he belonged to! Everyone got their baby fixes and he loved all the attention!

We also got a chance to watch a little of the triathalon that we are going to do next summer - just to see how it worked etc.

Noah and I finished the day by playing Settlers of Catan, Cities and Knights and Seafarers all together with our solid and worthy opponent, my sister Karla. She is still waiting for her visa from Brazil and so we are really trying to get as many games in as possible before she leaves! Noah won both games and that is where the title of this post comes into play.

Once again a Saturday with no yard work accomplished...

How ironic...

It was as I finished the blog entry last evening about "our cute little middle child" that he came to the realization that he could get out of his crib whenever he wants to.

It was a rough rest of the evening as we tried to put a stop to that nonsense!

We will see how tonight goes...

Roman

Our cute little middle child :)

Roman will be 2 in a month and he is officially (at least according to him- I guess that is what counts in this situation) done with naps. That means an early bedtime! We are working on potty training and he is doing pretty well. I will be so glad when that project will be completed!

He is saying a lot of words and really likes to play and keep up with Deacon... most of all though he loves snacks... (and orange).

Lincoln

I love this pose couple with this expression!

I thought I would try some sitting up and he did great!

Here are some pictures of Lincoln! He will be 3 months in a couple of weeks. He sleeps 8-10 hours at a stretch at night, then eats and sleeps some more! He is kind of cranky during the day, I think because he can't see what is going on all the time. Deacon and Roman's play is constantly changing locations. Pretty soon he will be sitting up and participating more!

Home Again

Here is a picture of Roman and his orange crocs (from Grandpa Rog and Grandma Pam). For those of you who know Roman, you know that orange is far and away his favorite color. It seems appropriate since the hospital disaster codes are orange... :-) We love you Roman! He is a hard one to take a picture of since he is always on the move!

Deacon and Noah had a great time canoeing and camping. Deacon even managed to catch a 3 hour nap in the bottom of the canoe! Maybe Noah will write a little bit sometime about the trip...

My sister called the other day and asked to talk with Deacon. I didn't tell Deacon who was on the phone, I just told him that it was for him. He takes the phone and instead of Hello says, "what do you want to say to me?" Maybe we will adopt it as the new greeting in our home...

Anyway, my sister had wanted to see if Deacon would bring her a pretty rock from his camping trip (mostly to see if he would remember and give him something to do). He forgot to bring one home and when he remembered he tried to come up with a solution for her. After thinking a while he said, "Mom, I know! Maybe Erica can find her own rock!" He seemed to think she wanted one that was painted, much like one that apparently Genna had painted for Grandpa Chris??!!

Only 2 for a day...

Deacon and Noah went camping and canoeing with some of Noah's friends and their preschoolers. We are all looking foward to hearing how everything went tomorrow night! Grandpa Chris will be joining them tomorrow for the canoeing- hopefully the forecast will change and they will have nice weather.

Roman, Lincoln and I have just been hanging out. It is weird because the whole "brothers dynamic" shifts when one of them is gone. With Deacon gone Roman tends to annoy Lincoln more because he has no one to try to keep up with.

It has been strange for me because I suddenly realized how our little CEO (that would be Deacon, he will be running the world by the time he is 5) dictates what we do. Since he is the only one who talks much he is always asking if he can do this or that or if we can go here or there or he's hungry or thirsty or a thousand other things. Roman just does what I suggest! It is disconcerting because I feel like I almost don't know what to suggest...

Real Power

Deacon's comment when he saw a picture of the collapsed bridge was, "that looks like a ramp!" Unfortunantly, that was a really accurate statement.

We know that it is hard to understand why things happen and we know that when something like this happens there is an immediate need by people to point fingers. As we start to hear about people that we know of who are missing, Noah and I take comfort in the fact that our God is bigger and more powerful than any bridge and that he loves us and wants what is best for us. Noah often commutes on that road during rush hour and I told him, "I am glad you are not dead, I would be so sad..." And he said, "I would be sad too...oh wait, I wouldn't be sad- I would be so happy because I would be in Heaven." It is just a weird thing to think about. It comforts us to know that for those of us who love God and choose him, death is not the end.

So we are thankful today- first and foremost that Noah is alive and secondly that he was home when I started getting calls saying, "the bridge collapsed, where is Noah?" :) I would seriously have been freaking out if I had heard before he was home!