Howard & Co.

Monday, January 22, 2007

Spending Time at Ft. Howard

The entrance to the fort. You can see we have our trusty dog "Sitamin Guy" (yeah, Asa came up with that name). Our dog keeps us safe from all the "animals" in the forest.

A photo if the inside and the killer static electricity. I guess thats what we get for using fleece blankets.

Mmmm freezie snacks. Good for fort time.

Our fort has levels! Zeke is hanging out on the upper level bed. Even though he he looks cranky he is having a great time palying with toys and cuddling up.

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Knight in Training

Just like all little brothers Zeke hopes to be just like his big brother Asa when he grows up.

Ahhh Boys...

Yeah they are already starting to figure out wrestling. You can't tell by the pictures but Zeke was having a blast and giggling up a storm!

Well just like last year at this time our house has been hit hard with the stomach flu. It started on Monday morning with Zeke doing his best impression of a fountian right after eating breakfast. I joined the ranks of Zeke that afternoon. Then Tuesday at about 2am I heard the sound of Grace in the bathroom. And Wednesday evening I start round two. So far Asa and Barnabas have been spared, although Barnabas is looking a little green around the edges tonight. So Since I am well enough to vertical I am going to post some pictures and video. Enjoy!

Monday, January 08, 2007

I Love That Face!

Now he can multi-task!

This is the face he gives me when he wants to be picked up. How can I resist?

The Royal Hair Salon

I made up the "royal hair salon" a while back so I could convince the kids (mainly Asa) that hair cuts are fun and that they didn't hurt. The kids still love the idea and will now ask to go to the royal salon.

My Boys!

Random Photos

Milk break!

Tantrum caught on film. He was sitting nicely until he saw me pouring him a cup of milk. Then he threw himself backwards, started kicking the dishwasher and screaming at the top of his lungs. It still makes me laugh that he thinks I am going to prepare him something and not give it to him to just to mess with his head!

Mmmm dinner with a spatula and straight out of the pan. Another photo of great parenting in action!

Sunday, January 07, 2007

Look Mom No Hands!


Oh yes, the clicking you are hearing is from the camera focusing so don't worry Mom and Dad it's not your computer ;)

Zeke Makes a Phone Call


Hey here is my first attempt to post a video.

Whatever Works Best for You

Zeke says "What. You have never eaten your food with no hands?"

A Woman's Work is Never Done

Grace has decided that washing dishes is a great time. So here she is working hard along with a little "attachment" on her bum. And she has Asa for entertainment.

The Sweater

Here is Zeke posing in his new sweater my mom made him.

If the translation is correct I believe he is trying to call Nonna to thank her.

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Pizza love!

Raise your hand if you like Papa Johns!

Action shot

Daydreaming about pizza

Seeing the Sparks Fly

My parents were down for a visit this weekend. They were helping clean up after Grace's tea party. My dad was vacuuming when it suddenly stopped and we heard a loud popping sound followed by a "WHOA!" from Asa who was in the living room where it was plugged in. We all stopped and looked at each other for a millisecond then went into the room and saw smoke coming from the outlet. Asa said "I saw the fire try to escape!" Yeah, I think we are in need of an electrician!

"Thank You Uncle Jed & Auntie Molly!"

She adores it! Thank you!

Happy Birthday to You!

The tea Prty in action!

Tea Time!

Here are pictures of the party!

Friday, December 29, 2006

Take a moment...

This Blog was written by a friend of mine and Barnabas' from church. Please take a moment to look at it. Derek (our friend) worked with Andrei in Turkmenistan while he was in the Peace Corps. Check out the blog and pray for Andrei. If you feel led you can take further action listed on the blog. Thanks for you time on this.

Derek's Blog about his friend Andrei

Thursday, December 28, 2006

So I don't Bore You to Death

I have decided to start another blog. Its about this simplicity thing we are trying to flesh out. So if you are interested and you want to keep up on the journey you can go to:

http://thenotsosimpleroadtosimplicity.blogspot.com/

Friday, December 22, 2006

The Simple Life

Yes more about the lack of TV in our lives. A friend of mine commeted on the last post as to the where abouts of our television. We are starting a voyage into "simplicity". Barn and I haven't been real fans of the marketing to our kids on the television (and truth be told the marketing to us either). So we decided to "unplug" the marketing. We use barn's monitor as a screen to watch DVD's and such but thats it. We will still netflix and watch some of our favorite shows and get movies for the kids.

I am reading a book called "Living Simply With Children". Its a good read but hard. I can see how I have been sold to get things that I really don't need. It's also hard to kinda go against the "flow" of typical American life too. I'm not real good at that, heres hoping I get better! ;)

There are many "layers" to simplifying or downshifting as it has been called. Some people take it as far as not buying anything new except for food and toiletries and not using cell phones and internet and such. I don't think we will go that far. So for the past few days we have been playing board games and reading. Its been fun. But I do realize how much I miss my friend the TV. He was company. But the silence is nice too.

I will keep you updated on how it all goes!

Here are some links if you are in the mood to check it out more. Oh and yeah some of it is kinda out there but we are going to do like we do with water mellon. Eat the good stuff and spit out the seeds.

www.simpleliving.net

www.newdream.org

living simply with children (the book I'm reading)

Cute Stuff

Well we are living life with out a TV. I miss my good friend Mr. Television. He helped me keep my sanity during the witching hour in which I make dinner and wish Barnabas home. Its like kids know "Hey! Mom is stressed and cooking, it will be a bit before Dad gets home lets get crazy!" So my friend Mr. "T" would mellow the children by telling them stories of Curious George. But now they chase each other about running into the kitchen doing laps around the kitchen island screaming while Zeke squeezes him self into small spaces and gets stuck.

Long intro to say we have started family games. I was sitting with the kids this morning and we were playing "Memory" when the questions started. Here is a brief snippet:

Asa: "Mom?"

"Yes Asa?"

Asa: Will there be toys in heaven?"

"Yeah, I'm sure there will be."

Asa: "Oh. Will there be coffee in heaven?"

"Yeah, I think so."

Asa: "How about food? Will there be food?"

"Yep. The good stuff too. In heaven you will get to eat pizza with cheese on it."

Asa: "Cool. Will there be toys in heaven?"

"Yep."

Asa: "Do you think they will have games there too?"

"Yeah, I think they will."

Asa: : Ok. Hey look 2 air planes!" He says as he decides to continue with the game.

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Stories...

Our batteries have died on our camera and my next big shopping trip to Target is tomorrow. But I do have some funny stories to tell! Here you go...

Just Say No...
So I got my hair cut. Its not too crazy just got the back trimmed up a bit. It kinda has a 1930's look to it. I like it. I think it's cute. Anyway, Barnabas gets home from his work meeting and I ask him what he thinks. Here is how the conversation went (about an hour after he gets home):

Me: "So, what do you think of my hair?"

(10-15 second pause while he looks at my hair)

Barnabas: "Well...it's. (pause) It's not styled right?"

Me: "Well, no. But this is close to how it's going to look." (I am grinning internally because I think its kinda funny to watch him flounder).

Barnabas: "It's...yeah. Yeah. I mean, It's....it's not fixed right? I mean this isn't how it's going to look, right?"

(I just sit there and look at him, waiting.)

Barnabas: "I like it. Yeah because....yeah. It will be styled and yeah, it will be cute."

First Steps
Zeke has finally taken his first steps! He had been playing on our rocking chair and would stand up on it trying to get it to rock. He doesn't walk but man he can climb! So I had told him "no" and to sit down and all he does is grin and try shaking the rocking chair. So I go get him place him standing in the middle of the floor as I turn the rocker around. I take a step back and with out even thinking he takes 2 steps then falls! We all cheer and set him up to walk again. It takes a couple tries but he takes 4 in a row then drops to the floor. We all cheer. He is pretty impressed with himself. We stand him up and he stands there looking at us. He gets that little mischievous twinkle in his eye and drops to the floor! He slaps both hands on the floor throws his head back and lets out a huge belly laugh! He is laughing so hard that his eyes begin to water! He thinks he is so funny. We try to stand him up and again he drops to the floor and rolls on the floor laughing! Where did I get this boy from?

Christmas Countdown
So now that we have the Christmas Tree up which leads to this question every morning and after every nap "Mom is it Christmas today?". After about a week of this it got a bit old. So I decided to make and "Advent Chain". The kids and I cut red and green strips of paper and wrote fun activities on them. Then we glued them in circles linked to each other (hence "chain"). So now everyday there is a wee activity for the kids to do. Like today it was a dance party so the turned on the tunes and boogied down Zeke even joined in! I wish I knew how to post video! He is quite the rump shaker!