Look What I Can Do!

Just hanging out on the floor...



Hugging the blanket?



Nope, making a move...



Almost over!



I did it!!

All in a Days Parenting

For the last few days we have had trying days with Joel and Kezia. Ever get the sense that your kids are tag teaming you? Trying to wear down your parenting strategies? Oh boy. A few days ago Joel was angry with Kezia because she wouldn’t give him a toy he wanted. So he came storming home to tattle. Carl told him that he can’t just take toys away and Joel became so enraged that he threw a lawn dart at the screen door towards Carl. Then the next day, Kezia was being very disrespectful and when Carl scolded her, she said, “You’re not my Daddy”. And yesterday the boys here filled up holes with water and when Joel tried to sneak home and change his wet shoes, Carl caught him and questioned him. So Joel went ballistic and screamed and hollered. And of course each night we have a new battle to fight with the bedtime routine. I’m sure the timeout corner has wear patterns just from this week.

Well, after lunch today at the school, Joel, Kezia, Asha, and I decided since it was so nice outside, we would go for a walk. We went walking along the pathways on FPU campus and stopped at the teeter totter for a while. Then we continued off campus along the side street. Joel and Kezia were chattering away and actually getting along, when Joel said to me, “Mom, there’s sure a lot of garbage on the side here. We should pick it up”. I was a bit surprised, but I said to him if he wanted to he could. He started off with a cup, then he encouraged Kezia to pick up some too. Soon their hands were full of garbage and so they started dumping it in the bottom of the stroller. They were proud as punch to help clean up. All along the street they picked up garbage until we got back to our place. That melted my heart and I was so proud of them. Some days I want the kids to grow up faster, to grow out of the temper tantrums, the messes, but days like today, I wish that time would stand still.

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Fresno in Fall

A few days ago I was walking with the kids through the neighbourhood and decided to take some pictures. The leaves of some of the trees are changing and some of the fruit is ripening. Thanks to Laura, I have become more knowledgeable on the vegetation here in the Valley. Autumn here is not quite the same as in Canada, but I think it's beautiful nonetheless. Enjoy!


From left to right, top to bottom:

Pistachio Tree, Pistachio Berries, Pomegranate Tree

Orange Tree, Various Trees in the Fog, Japanese Maple

Liquid Lemon Tree, Rose (still blooming!), Cedar

Express Yourself

I thought I would include another video to a blog post. Some of you have said you really enjoy them. These days Asha is starting to enjoy her bouncer more. There are times though that she gets into a heated argument with Missus Bear or the Ring Family. It can be quite entertaining!

Conspiracy?

Yesterday we had a full and interesting day. In the morning we put the finish touches on a 20lb trifle and served it after lunch to the courtyard family. It was a little birthday party for Carl as well as our way of saying thank you to our neighbours for being so welcoming to us. As it turned out we had lots left over and so I was thinking we'd take it for our homegroup supper later that evening.

At three o'clock we went over to Fresno Pacific University (which is next door to the seminary campus) to watch the ladies volleyball game. Kelly, who is in our homegroup, is one of the coaches and got us free tickets. The entire homegroup (pre-multiplied size) was planning to attend the game and then head to Marty and Tamara's place for pizza and dessert. The game was very, VERY loud. I already had a bit of a headache to begin with and let me tell you I could feel my skull pulsating afterwards. But a few minutes of silence on the walk home and a couple of tylenols helped!

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We arrived at Marty and Tamara's shortly before 5. There were already a lot of people there, plus a herd of children. Once we all arrived, there were 12 or 13 families (I lost count), at least 19 children under 12, and three nursing babies. Thankfully Tamara has a huge house and large yard (and it's California where you can be outside in your tee shirt in Nov., sorry MB folks). My headache came back in full force, but it didn't keep me from visiting with all these new families that I hadn't met before. I was overwhelmed at the thought that this was the original size of the homegroup before they split into two groups.

Since I had so much trifle left over, I brought it along. I was a bit shocked that I had to explain what trifle was. No one there had heard of it before. What do you mean you haven't heard of trifle before? It's like one of tastiest, easiest, fool proof desserts out there. I mean, let's say you plan to bake a cake and your oven doesn't heat evenly. Oops, you burnt some of your cake, what are you going to do? Let's cut up the salvageable parts and make trifle! (That's not what happened to me, I purposely wanted to make trifle!).

So I got to thinking, is it a Canadian thing? Technically English I guess. Then it hit me, maybe there's this huge conspiracy in Canada to keep all the good things a secret. Maybe we don't want our friends to the south to know about trifle and Robeez and Cuddly Wraps and Smarties (the real chocolate ones). What if I just blew one of our biggest secrets?! I guess I shouldn't have given out the recipe for trifle. Maybe you think I'm crazy, but I don't think so. See, just on Wednesday I was going through the kids candy, I mean sorting and dividing the candy when I came across this. Don't tell me there isn't a conspiracy!

Halloween

This year was the first year that we've done something Halloween-ish with the kids. We've always done something for Carl's birthday and last year on Oct. 31st we were driving home from Calgary. Our plan was to attend our church's carnival, but when it was cancelled last week, we were wondering what we would do. Joel and Kezia really wanted to dress up, since all the kids at school were talking about their costumes. So on Tuesday night, I packed up all three kids and headed to Target. (I normally wouldn't do something that crazy, but since we all had long afternoon sleeps, I knew that spirits would be good).

When we arrived at Target, we first picked out some cards and birthday presents for Carl. Looking back, I think the card selection greatly influenced the costume preference. The costume aisle was packed with frantic parents and whiney kids. But thankfully, Joel saw his costume right away and so I grabbed it and headed out of the chaos. Picking Kezia's outfit was a bit more of a challenge. She was overwhelmed with all the princess dresses and I was trying not to insist on a costume that I wanted, but let her pick her own. After a few minutes, I picked out three and let her choose. Of course, she picked the one that was a dress, the cheetah dress. Oh good, I said to myself, let's get out of here. But then the kids said, What about Asha? Who ever thought a 3 month old kid would need a costume? Well, Joel found a very pretty angel outfit and said his baby sister would look so nice in it. I had to agree, it was much cuter than an orange sleeper. So I bought my baby a costume.

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That evening once we got home, the kids really wanted to try on their costumes. I got them all dressed and then Carl came home from class. The kids just about went into orbit with excitement. It was pretty hard to get them to go to bed. It was probably 11 p.m. before the whispers quit.

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The next day after our afternoon nap, I got the kids ready. Carl had spent time the evening before making Kezia her kitty ears. Joel and Kezia were proud as punch in their new dress up clothes. We took a few pictures and drove out to Reedley. We had a nice simple supper with Danny and Beth and their kids Elijah and Sara. After supper we went to their church's Halloween carnival.

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There were many people there at this free event. The kids enjoyed jumping in the bounce house, checking out the police car and the fire engine too. We stopped in to decorate treat bags and play a few games of football toss. The highlight of the evening was probably the train ride. Carl stayed behind with Asha and the rest of us had a fun ride around the church grounds.

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The carnival ended at 8 p.m. and then we headed back to Danny and Beth's for pie. Around 8:30 we headed home and decided to knock on a few doors in the courtyard. Joel and Kezia had no idea that on Halloween you knock, say trick or treat, and expect candy. They just wanted to show everyone their costumes. So when they got more sweets, Joel said to me, "I think we have too much, we probably should give some away". What a kid! Once we got home, we changed into pajamas, washed off faces and sent the kids to bed. I think the kids enjoyed themselves.

Carl's 35!

October 31st was a pretty special day! Carl had a birthday. He had already many received cards and money in the mail all throughout the week. That day he had classes and during his morning break came home to open his birthday presents. Joel and Kezia had each picked out a card for their dad. Joel picked out a pirate card, Kezia picked out a kitty cat card, and Asha and I gave him a homemade card. Carl wanted a pepper mill for his birthday and was thrilled with the one we found, plus the Tootsie Rolls and underwear that was part of the gift. Then after his class, he spoke in chapel. He's the first student this year to preach. I went with the kids to hear his sermon on sainthood and running the good race. A few days ago, Joel had said he missed hearing his dad speak in the front of the church. After chapel was common meal in the Ontario lounge and at 1:30 Carl headed back to class. The kids and I went home and had a sleep. As soon as Carl came home at 4:30, we dressed up the kids, packed up some food and headed out to Reedley, which is about 30 minutes from Fresno. Unfortunately there was a large accident on the freeway and the drive took almost an hour. We had been invited by Danny and Beth to come to their place for supper and then join them at their church's Carnival. (Since the carnival was part of the Halloween activities, I'll blog about that later). After the carnival we headed back to Danny and Beth's and had some coconut cream pie. Carl had received the pie from Derek and Laura as a gift. What a great gift! On the drive home we were all pretty quiet. Carl was tired, it's hard to be 35! Tonight I plan to take Carl out for Ethiopian food. A new restaurant opened in Fresno just a few weeks ago. I'm really thankful for Carl and am so glad that God has blessed him with another happy healthy year!