$5,000 to $100,000 in 6 seconds

It is the Christmas season and therefore a local radio station is playing continuous Holiday music. With that they are giving away $5000 to a certain caller after playing Jingle Bell Rock (i think) twice in a row. Being of the oblivious persuasion, I know bits and pieces of the needed info to win the so-called $5000, as seen above not even too sure about the song much less the phone number to call etc. Not realizing that the boys were paying close attention to the talk on the radio, assuming they were more into the music, my ears perked up after we picked up Dax yesterday. Colton heard the song begin and immediately exclaimed, "Brother, we could win $100,000 if we hear this lots of times!!!" Dax responded with the fact that he knew this already (that is his usual answer to most things these days --he is soooo knowledgeable). I explained that it wasn't $100,000 but that it was $5000. Dax excitedly and emphatically stated that we needed to listen closely because he "REALLY needed that 5,000". When I questioned him as to why he said matter- of- factly, "because I'm tired of having just ten." Needless to say, as we all held our breath, our faces did not turn blue because moments later the first notes of Silent Night began. Sorry buddy, no five grand today!

Sword fights

I am in the kitchen. The boys and David are in their room fighting with those cheap-o foam swords and this is what I hear:

"Ah! Take that!" and such from David over and over.

Lots of giggles and laughter. So far Dax is on his 600th time out and he keeps saying, "Dad, now you have to fight with one arm because I cut that one off....now one leg...now your on your knees, etc."

Then you hear Cole, "Dad, I killed you."

Then I hear David ask, "Well what about y'all? What about all the times I have gotten you?"

Dax replies with, "I am made of armor. (not just wearing it) You can't kill me!!"

Mother-Son Hike 2009

Dax's School P.T.A. held a mother-son hike today. We made our own trail mix, painted a fish and then pressed it with a cloth to make a cool work of art, went on a nature hunt, played in the park's big treehouse and got a T-Shirt. The T-shirt reads, "In Case of Grizzly Bear I Brought My Mom" The high school lacrosse team was also their with their equipment and allowed the boys to score goals. Dax saw two friends from his class within the first minutes there. Although it was a mother-son event, the hike turned into more of a guy hang out time with groups of moms following behind up the trail!!:) It was fun to watch them all being so big!!

Our four-yr.-old

Anticipation. Go ball...go ball....go ball.. will it make it?... how many pins?????

"Yessss!!!"

"Yessss!!!"

Opening presents.

We had a delightful birthday experience celebrating Cole-train! The day included "camping food" doughnuts, cupcakes at preschool, lunch with Mom and Dad at "the Chick", bowling and putt-putt after picking up brother, Johnny's Pizza for supper with Uncle Bryan and Aunt Karen, Hot Wheels cake/cupcakes with some candle blowing, and some "yupi track" action with a Pokemon ball, and some Bozo-punching!

Halloween

We went with the Torchia family to trick-or-treat and dressed up with a family theme of Star Wars. We had the "throw backs" of Han Solo and Princess Leia, along with Anakin Skywalker, and a Storm Trooper. We were hosted by Rocky (Chris Torchia), Wendy Witch (Stacie Torchia), a Bounty Hunter (Nic Torchia), and a Dinosaur (Henry Torchia).

Dax had Red Ribbon week at school and the last day was Career Day. Right now, he wants to be a firefighter when he grows up.

Tuesday were Fall Centers rather than a party for Dax's class. We made paper plate owls, dough pumpkins, egg carton spiders, and marble spider webs along with owl snacks. It was quite a busy hour and a half!!

Colton Hallelujah party

Colton's "Hallelujah Party" at preschool included trip to the "patch" in the courtyard, fall snacks, decorating their pumpkins, and his second "goody bag!!!!!" for the year. He had choices between all sorts of stickers and feathers and such for his pumpkin but made an "ayien guy like on Chicken Yittle with all the eyes." He was a storm trooper which he calls "men" and talks about how they get killed (all this from the Lego Star Wars video game).

A Housefull of Go-ers and one Tag-a-long

One of the risks involved in marrying a "go-er" (one who wants to go and do and not stay at home too much) is that he will produce more "go-ers". I am a 50-50 go-er/stay-er (when I go too much I spring back into defese mode and get in a 10-90 ratio) but David is mostly go-er. Dax is probably 75-25 go-er/ stay-er. Cole is all go-er! That boy would rather be out enjoying the world all the time! This week I have gone and done more than usual (with something 3 out of 5 nights) and it is still not enough for him! So we went and watched Daddy ref today in the cold and the mud of the "playground" by the field (it consisted of swings over mud puddles and a merry-go-round on its last leg settled in the middle of a mud "moat")! Colton still swears it was not a playground because it did not have a slide:) He still liked being out even with the 45 minutes of just being out of the house and playing in the "back-back" of the Pilot. I have wondered the past few weeks why he has been less aggrivated with life since he started school -- assuming that he was learning social skills etc. I am beginning to think it may just have to do with going!! This week I thought I would try going a little more and see if my hypothesis was correct. I did have to get creative with funds and gas and self-sacrifice but all in all I think I will be tagging-a-long a little more(not all the time, mind you, they need to learn to be home too)!

The Journey

Tonight, over dinner, the boys and I were discussing God. It went something like this:

Dax: "He is so big. He is everywhere."

Cole: " He is in us."

Dax: "We are inside Him too, huh?" (with that "light bulb" face that shows a new connection with his previous statement of "everywhere")

(More discussion followed about Him, about how we love those He loves, how they get toys we give to other countries and to kids who need stuff as well as processing what it is like to live somewhere that doesn't have all that we have.)

As our evening faded to night and they lay in bed, I wonder at my role in "evangelizing" these fellas. For me, it is different from working in ministry and "being His arms and hands" to students who do not know Him. I wonder at these Truths that my children were discussing: how they know this right now (and what portion is merely a regurgitation of sorts), is it a result of childlike faith, what age is it that they will be held accountable, and what to do as well as what to hold back in order to connect these two that I love to this One that I love.