Sincerely Sweet

Vanessa and one of her best buddies Penny had a wonderful holiday band performance this week. Their director had a procedure on her chin the day before and spoke about how hard it was going to be for her to be wearing a bandage on her face while conducting them in front of an audience. So these girls were eager to show their care and support by wearing colorful band aids on their face so Mrs. Davoll didn't feel alone. 

Bro Work

 Zane really did all the big work. But Hendrix was excited to help with the little things.

Rigidly Creative

 Technology can be so cool. My children learn so much from the technology in their lives. It's quite different from when I was a kid and I had to search and hunt for books that interested me, often losing interest in various topics because I couldn't get to the library in the moment. But my kids have an idea and they can quickly look up related information.

If I hold too strictly to specific time slots and exact minutes they can be on an electronic device, then I risk losing their curiosity or interest on certain particulars, so we try to operate with flexibility. However, we still aim to control our balance of time on electronic devices with reasonable decisions in the moment and with other priorities that have to be considered.

Out of the blue a couple of Saturdays ago, when we didn't have any obligations and could remain at home to play catch up on things here, Vanessa was feeling creative and wanted to practice making fake wounds and injuries with ingredients she could find in the kitchen and in her own room.

Certainly Purposeful

This desk . . . not sure how old it is because I never thought to ask my great aunt before she passed. As a child I remember it always being in my great aunt's spare bedroom by her garage entry. It was usually a spot for piling things like mail, things for running errands, and every now and again there was a plant on it. It was treated as a junk desk with a natural wood stain and the original veneer top peeling up from water damage. It didn't have special glass cut for it to protect the top, as several other furniture pieces of my aunt's, grandparents', and great grandparents' had.

When Vanessa was a baby, I painted the stained desk black and placed it in her room. When Zane came along and Vanessa was ready for a different hand-me-down desk, I painted this desk white and placed it in Zane's room. He actually used it a lot in that tiny funky bedroom of his.  Now it's Hendrix's turn and once again it needs a touch of love, so I'm painting it black again to fit into their new room space. 

Some believe the Bible might imply that those who have gone on before us may be aware of some events and things happening on Earth. I can't help but wonder if my great grandparents, grandparents and great aunt are impressed by the blessing this once neglected desk is. I'm sure that really they're not very concerned with it because it is a material item, but if they glance at the happenings of those they held close, I have to believe they chuckle at how long it has lasted.

Mega Fun

When planning our trip to Barren River Lake this last summer, we stumbled across Louisville Mega Caverns. It's the world's only fully underground zip line. Adam knew we had to do it but felt that it needed its own special adventurous day committed to it, so he took the Vanessa and Zane on a road trip in October to do it.

I was concerned whether or not it would be worth a 7-8 hour round trip drive time. Upon their return they raved about it. Vanessa said it's one of the best times she's ever had. Zane said he got nervous but really loved it.

It warms my heart greatly to know these three had a blast together and I just know the kids will always hold the special time close to their hearts.

Brotherly Love

Zane is such a wonderful big brother. I can't say it enough. And Hendrix shows his appreciation by trying to reciprocate helpfulness, like helping to wash Zane with a "loofah!"

Last Sunday, Hendrix wanted to stay upstairs when I went down to make breakfast before church. I took Hendrix's outfit for church downstairs with me, knowing he would be down eventually and I would get him dressed then.

After about 15 minutes or so, I heard Zane walking Hendrix downstairs. To my surprise Zane helped Hendrix get dressed, even putting on his socks and shoes. I was so touched by his kindness and interest in being a wonderful big brother. Hendrix wore random clothes from his drawers, that I didn't pick out for church, and I was thrilled.

Head Bowed and Eyes Closed

I keep meaning to capture a picture of Hendrix praying at dinner, especially when he's sneaking bites to eat with his head bowed and eyes closed and repeating his prayer over and over. He's good about praying for everyone in the family each time, but last night he also included a prayer for the chairs we were sitting in. When I told him that was nice of him, he had to explain why it was important.

Last week when saying bedtime prayers with Hendrix, after each request for each family member, I added "And I pray Mommy can have a successful week painting Zane's and Hendrix's bedroom so they get into their new space . . ."

But I was interrupted by H saying "Space?! What?! I'll have to take a spaceship and go up high to the moon and find the treasure and fly back down to my room . . . want to play that game?!"

Although prayers might seem like a bit of a game to H right now, I love the foundation he's forming for recognizing the importance in the details.

Zane's Year of Tackle Football

Zane begged to play tackle football. I tried to persuade him to consider flag football, like so many of his friends, but he insisted that wasn't the real thing. So with a great hesitation, I signed him up for tackle. One of the biggest challenges for Zane was changing his habits and patterns for being gentle to tapping into using just the right amount of aggressiveness. Even so, he did pretty well and persevered through a season in which he decided he doesn't really care for this type of contact sport. :-)

Other challenges had to do with getting used to running and training in heavy equipment. By the end of the season, though, he was running hard and fast.

Zane loved the new friendships and the direction he received. We learned more about the kind of person we want to be and the person we don't want to be.

The season was long, beginning practises at end of July and wrapping up his championship party just this last weekend. The league is going through major transformations, so there were a lot of growing pains. Even so, the Cowboys ended up the best team in the league. They lost one game by 1 point and questionable refereeing, but they redeemed themselves against that team for their last game, in which the Cowboys won 38-8. The last game was in a high school stadium and oh so fun, even in the cold.

The Cowboys also volunteered with cleaning up the local high school stadiums and fields the mornings after high school football. It was a great reminder to clean up after ourselves and put our trash in the trash can. The recommendation to use leaf blowers to help push the trash to one spot is so brilliant and made the process go pretty quickly.

Hendrix was a great little brother and tagged along for all the games.

The championship party was also great. The boys loved their surprise of Buckeye Game Room set up in our hosting family's garage. The boys were thrilled and felt all of their hard work rewarded.

It's a Top 10!

This boy will eat bacon nonstop. I always hate when I have to tell him that there's no more bacon. A plate full on the kitchen counter makes a perfect grab-to-go snack. We even wrap up slices in paper towels to take for a snack in the car. It's a super food. :-)

Snowy Day Adventures

 Can you see Hendrix's version of Script Ohio? :-)

"He told his mother all about his adventures while she took off his wet socks. And he thought and thought and thought about them." ~ Ezra Jack Keats

Fiery and Scary Pumpkins

Traditional pumpkin carving. V and Z liked exploring their ideas and freedom to do as they wished. 

Vanessa made a free floating pumpkin inside of a bigger pumpkin-shaped hole. She was critical of her final results but I loved it! It was a great opportunity for her to be flexible with perfectionism. Zane drew template designs all over the pumpkin and realized some parts would be hard to carve while keeping the pumpkin intact. With help from Daddy, cause Hendrix insisted he "can't do it", Hendrix wanted a scary pumpkin, so he directed and observed his daddy in the process. "I make scary pumpkin. Good job, Dad."

Hendrix didn't want to use his hands to pull out the guts this year. And Vanessa still gets extra excited when she does it. She and Zane worked really hard to get out as much as they could, but after noting my helping with Hendrix's, they requested I do the last step of scraping the sides. When I returned to porch from inside, they proclaimed "Mom wins the Cleanest Pumpkin Cleaner Outter!" I'll take that title since Daddy gets "Best User Of a Knife!"

Aside from carving a scary pumpkin, Hendrix most wanted to "Light fire in them. Make them glow. I light the candle!" And for several nights after, Hendrix would announce when it was dark out and time to light the candles.