Advent: A Time to Reset (Week of Dec 1, 2014)

After a busy week/weekend, it was nice to just stay home on Monday and enjoy some time together. The boys made collages and Henry really took to using the crayons.

Daddy is starting to feel a bit claustrophobic with all the artsy craftsy mess, but Mommy loves to decorate with the boys' treasures!

We started making new Advent traditions - something that Mommy didn't really have time for in previous years when she was working. To help us countdown to Christmas, we made a paper chain. On each link we wrote names of people we love. The plan was to remove one per day and pray for the people listed on that link.

Micah decided to write about our plans... basically using the letter "M". He thought it was pretty cool that he could make all those letters on the screen!

Henry, meanwhile, took a coffee break with his "coffee cup" - full of water. He thinks he's hot stuff, drinking without a top on his "big boy" cup.

Next, it was time to open the special packages Mommy found in the Christmas box.

Four red candles!

We put the candles into the log. This week, we just lit one candle, adding one each week until Christmas. Of course, it was very important to figure out WHO got to blow out the candle! We had to come up with a way to remember who did it one day so we would know whose turn was next (so much easier in week 2 when Mommy lit 2 candles!). Eventually, Mommy made a paper that hangs in our kitchen with both boys' names on it. A clothespin indicates whose turn it is to blow out the first candle that day, and we move the clothespin each day (months later, we still use candles - and the clothespin schedule - for our devotions... though the red Advent candles are long since burned down). While the candle was lit, we read a short story that corresponded with the Advent calendar Micah had received from Sunday School.

Helen doesn't care too much about the candles yet, but she spent some time this week amused by the baby in the mirror. She's quite fascinated, really.

On Tuesday, we were back at the library where Micah learned about the letter H (for "horse") in his class.

Henry likes going into Micah's class after his own class is finished. Miss Jane always brings out cool (and educational) things to play with during the free play time after their "lesson" is done. We had so much fun and were in such good spirits that Mommy decided to try to make a quick stop to the Dollar Tree after the library. It was a major fail. We had played a long time at the library, so it was really lunch time. The shopping carts there aren't even big enough for Helen's car seat, let alone more than one kid. So Mommy brought Helen's stroller in and the boys had to walk. It was awful - there were just too many things to tempt a 2 year old (and even a 4 year old) to pick up. Completely frustrated, Mommy decided never to try to combine two outings at one time - and to look for a double stroller.

Back at home, thankfully, the boys amused themselves while Mommy regrouped.

They figured out how to use the tennis balls and downspout extension with the bunk beds, which kept them busy for a while. First, they dropped the balls from the top of the bottom bunk to the floor. Then, they realized it was even more exciting to climb to the top bunk and drop them down.

After a while, the day seemed to be redeemed in Mommy's eyes when we had our Advent devotions. The Advent Devotions from church were basically short poems. Sometimes, they could be connected to a specific part of the Christmas story that we would find and read in their Children's Bible. But, other times, Mommy struggled to find a way to make that poem meaningful if it wasn't in any of the kids Bibles we own. One example was the song that Mary sang after the angel told her she would have a baby - Baby Jesus. Her song just wasn't in any of the children's bibles. So, to make it for their level, Mommy decided we would also sing a song to praise God, like Mary did. When she asked what song they wanted to sing, she assumed they would pick something like "Jesus loves me." Instead, they insisted on singing Mary's song. Of course, Mommy didn't have a tune for it, so she had to make it up, using the words in the poem. But we couldn't just sing it... we had to march around the house, playing cymbals, maracas, and a funnel/trumpet singing:

"My heart gives praise to God today
For God has chosen me.
I am God's servant let it be
As God said it would be. "

And we had to do this not just on the day we read about Mary's song... but for several weeks after!
Then, we did our prayer time for the people on our Advent chain, as the video below indicates.

In the afternoon, the boys helped Mommy make a spinach artichoke dip for dinner. They love to be helpers in the kitchen!

(Probably because they love to be the ones to taste-test and lick off the spoons.)

Wednesday morning, we went to the "Dinosaur Library" (where Miss Mary plays the dinosaur game... "Dinosaur, dinosaur, are you in the blue house?").

Henry helped with making ham salad (Great-Grandma Moldy's recipe).

The food processor is exciting!

Micah wanted his own version of a kitchen. Daddy isn't interested in getting one for the boys, so Mommy made one (yea - more crafted treasures in the house, ha ha!). The stove/oven.

The fridge, with ice and water dispenser.

On Wed, Dec 3, Helen became 3 months old. Mommy was so grateful that this time around, she wasn't going back to work at the 3 month mark!

Helen has become very chatty and is quick to smile. Recently, Mommy told her she's the most beautiful baby in the world. However, Micah disagreed. "Mom, every baby in the world is beautiful. We just think she's the most beautiful baby in the world because she's ours." Yes, we are blessed that she is ours!

A little demonstration of 3 month old Helen's chatter...

Henry is into taking selfies now...

More chatty Helen!

And Chef Micah displayed his culinary skills in his pizza kitchen.

Homemade pepperoni, green peppers, ham, and cheese pizza.

Meanwhile, Henry served the coffee.

Thursday morning was a rough morning. Mommy sent this email to Daddy about how 5 minutes of her day went...
 "All I wanted was to go to the bathroom before we went grocery shopping. While the door was shut, Henry reorganized the diaper bag (contents spread all over the floor), meanwhile, Micah found a bag of chalk and decided to channel his inner artist, getting chalk dust all over him and Helen. While I changed Helen's chalky clothes, she peed on the changing table. After cleaning her up, I walked by the bathroom to find Henry with water all over the counter and floor. So I lay down a screaming Helen (she hates getting her clothes changed) to clean up Henry. Micah, always interested to know why someone else is in trouble, comes over to see... Making everything in his path chalky because he still hasn't washed his hands. Needless to say, all of us had opportunities to practice saying sorry. 
We still haven't left."

Some how, we made it to the grocery store and home again. Later, our Advent devotion time was a good chance to reset. The day still wasn't easy, but Mommy had a better attitude at least. 

And we were back in the kitchen for some baking therapy. Instead of a traditional cake, Henry requested a big cookie for his next birthday celebration on Saturday.

So on Friday, the boys helped to bake the giant cookie - and lick off the spatulas.

All on their own, the boys came up with a pizza drop game - using the pizza toppings we had made, they tried to toss them down onto the pizza while sitting on the coffee table.

They also came up with another game, dropping the spoon through the back of the fridge. Of course, it's all fun and games, until someone gets hurt...

Later that afternoon, we enjoyed watching the Detroit Symphony Orchestra online and eating snacks. Love that these two boys are getting along and playing well together!