Travelling

This past weekend we took a road trip to Syracuse, NY. We left at 11:00am thinking that we would get to John and Joann's around 3:30, play a little bit and then head to the church for supper and the evenings' activities. Well, at 3:30, we were just pulling up to the booth at the border! There were some major accidents on the 403 and the QEW that really chewed up our time. Thankfully, the boys were sooo good about it, probably because they didn't really realize how long our trip was really taking. We had Ellie with us for the trip and she did such a marvelous job of entertaining the boys, being silly with them, helping them pick up every dropped item, etc. I wish she could come with us on every trip we take! On the way home, the boys were starting to get really cranky and even though we did a quick stop at Niagara Falls (so that I could feed Christopher and they could get out for a bit to stretch), they were nearing the end of their patience. I was trying to explain to them that Monday was a holiday in Canada and that on holidays, we sleep in. We don't have to get up early, but we are allowed to sleep longer since no one has to go to work or school on that day. Well, that got Stephen pretty upset! He started insisting that "The Bible says that we are supposed to get up when the clock says 7! We are NOT supposed to keep sleeping! The Bible says!!!" We were laughing so hard at his insistence that he started giggling, too, and then it just started to be a laughing party. Sure enough, Monday morning, when his clock turned 7:00, he was up and out of bed. He obeyed the Bible! If only he would be that obedient to the things that are really written in there!

I forgot to mention the other day that after Stephen's birthday party when I was putting him to bed, I told him that I was going to say "good night" to a three year old and "good morning" to a four year old. He just lay there in his bed grinning, but then got serious. "Mommy, do we need to tell all the people that it's my birthday tomorrow? How will the bus driver know that he has to stop at my house and pick me up for school?" Oh dear. I guess I forgot to make it clear to him that he doesn't get to go to school on the day that he turns four! He just has to be four years old when school starts again in September! Even this morning he asked me if he should get dressed in his clothes for school. Can you tell he's excited about going?!

And Timothy today! Oh, I wish I could attach a video clip to this blog somehow! Today at lunch we finished off the birthday cake and ice cream with our friends Victoria, Ashley and Candace and Aunt Corina. Timothy had managed to drool his ice cream down the front of himself, onto his leg and down onto the chair in a nice, white, sticky river. I stripped him down to his shirt, diaper and socks and let him keep playing outside on the deck where we were eating. He finished his dessert and got onto his tricycle and started pedaling around the deck singing Jesus Loves Me in his own little world. What a cute sight that was! He didn't care what he looked or sounded like! He was having the time of his life!

Christopher has been practising his first word: mama!!! Well, actually, it seems to be more of something that he says when he wants something to eat, but I'm going to take it for what I hear: Mama! What a little cutie! He has now been introduced to cake and ice cream (thank you, Auntie Claudia) and creamed spinach with green onion and garlic (thank you, Oma) and just about anything else that he can grab while he's sitting on someone's lap at the table! He loves a variety of food and still gets the most excited when he sees the Cheerios and saltines boxes come out of the cupboard! He prefers to feed himself, especially with things like cheese cubes, chunks of sweet potatoes, pieces of banana (when he can finally catch one), broccoli pieces, etc. He is also very accepting of any spoon offered to him, no matter what it is holding. I don't think he's going to be a picky eater!

The house is quiet now at nap time. I enjoy taking advantage of this time to write, but I must get some work done, too!