Tag: fatherhood

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Prayers before pizza

This morning as Jake was peering into the boys’ toy room, he overheard Nolan ask Lincoln if he wanted some pizza.  Lincoln responded emphatically with a “yes!”   The two proceeded to the “table” where they sat down by the pretend pizza.  Nolan then reminded Lincoln, “We need to say prayers first!”  They made the sign of the cross, Nolan recited the entire “Bless Us Oh Lord” prayer, and then reminded Lincoln to “make the sign of the cross again.”  Then they dug in.

Yet another moment that makes me smile and reminds me just how much the two of them are soaking in at this age.  I love that Nolan knows that prayers before meals (real or not) are an important part of thanking God for what He has given us.

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Elements 1-10

Jake has been teaching Nolan the elements of the periodic table.  The little man has the first ten memorized.  Why not take advantage of his amazing memory, right?!?

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Oreo faces & baby belly

Jake took the boys to the pool with Auntie Larissa and on the way home they stopped to pick up Oreo ice cream sandwiches.  I’m pretty sure the boys enjoyed them.

Earlier in the day, Lincoln stuffed a washcloth under his shirt and told me there was a baby in his tummy.  He he he.

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OTW – friends, volleyball, and little helpers

Friday morning we ventured out into the below zero wind chill to spend a few hours at my friend Brooke’s house.  The four of our kiddos had fun playing with little people and cars, munching on Chex Mix, and eating sticky buns.  Good times!  I love it when we have a chance to hang out with friends.  It’s great for the kids to play with other kids and I welcome the conversation with another mom.  I came home refreshed.  Thanks, Brooke!

Jake and the boys hung out on Saturday while I played in a day-long volleyball tournament.  This particular tourney has become an annual event for me.  It’s my one non-stop (almost) day of being on the court and is a fantastic workout.  The only downside are the aftereffects.  My muscles scream at me for a couple of days, but eventually I recover 🙂  Good news is, we took second!  Not bad for a team that hasn’t played together as a group of 6 before Saturday morning.  During my absence, the boys apparently had fun using the containers on wheels from the toy room to store “stuff” and themselves.

After a full day on Saturday, Sunday was much more low-key.  After we returned home from mass, we had an early lunch, and Lincoln and I crashed.  Nolan and Jake ran a few errands and returned home with a new bird feeder.  Nolan was SO excited to show it to us from the living room window.  Jake hung it in one of the Linden trees out front.  It’s bright red, so you can’t miss it.  Now we just need bird visitors.  N & L decided they would “pick up” the toy room later in the day.  Lately this entails moving everything that was previously organized on one side of the room to the other.  Sunday’s migration of toys ended with everything being placed in front of the doors to the porch.  I walked into the toy room to check on my little helpers and found them sitting in chairs overlooking their accomplishment.  Too funny!

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Phones and footballs

Jake called this afternoon and asked to talk to the boys.  Nolan talked for a while and then handed the phone to Lincoln.  I took a few pictures so Jake could see Lincoln in action.  It was pretty cute seeing him jabber to his daddy – it was like he was having a regular conversation.

And on a completely unrelated note, my kids enjoyed wearing football helmets today.  Who knew an empty popcorn tin could be so fun?

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Dinner and buckets

After working out at the gym, we went to my parents’ house to have lunch with Nana (my mom.)  The boys have a special “fort” area under the steps leading to the lower level of the house.  The room used to be my mom’s “stash closet.”  She kept presents and snacks under lock and key while we were growing up; as teenagers, we had a habit of eating anything that was left out.  Now the space has been cleared out to make room for the kids’ toys. There’s even a funky green silicone-covered light bulb that they can turn on and off with a string (not just a switch) – this was a new discovery today and they loved it!

This evening, Nolan’s preschool invited all of the kids to bring their dads to St. John’s for the 2nd annual “Dinner with Dad” event.  The group had hot dogs, chips & carrots for dinner and floats for dessert.  Such a fun way for the kids to spend one-on-one time with their dads!

Here are the guys before they headed out.  After they returned, things got a little silly at our house.  I’m not sure who started this, but we ended up with buckets on our heads.  Nolan and Lincoln thought it was pretty funny.  Actually, I did too 🙂

It’s times like these that make me forget how stressed or frustrated I can get when the boys are having a meltdown or I can’t figure out what they want.  Note to self: make prints of these and put them where I can see them when I need a reminder of why I love being a stay-at-home mom.