The Owen Home

Per Requests, here's a picture of the new house. We are really enjoying it! Of course, it will be a bit before we are truly settled...and maybe ages before I figure out how to decorate the place! We all love the house, though the boys are already tired of unpacking. Jonathan said today that he wished all houses were the same so you wouldn't have to figure out where to put things when you moved.

Who Won?

Last night the boys were really loud in the house. Truth be told, we have a lot of loudness in our house all the time. Our new house has high ceilings and it seems the noise is magnified. After dinner, Seth sent the boys outside because they were yelling.

Daddy: "Out, Out-- Boys, go outside! You cannot be that loud in the house!"
Jonathan: "Awww..."
Daddy: "Outside, Now."
Jonathan: "Alright!"
Jonathan and David run outside with Thomas following behind. Momma smiles because she sees what's coming.
Jonathan and David begin screaming as loud as they can. (After all, they are outside and screaming is for outside.)
Momma to Daddy: "I wonder how long this will last."

Daddy's face shows a mix of being amazed and frustrated. Not much doubt he is thinking about our new neighbors listening to the extremely loud screaming.

The screaming continues...and continues...(Momma keeps checking out Daddy's reaction.) The boys are clearly having a great time.

Jonathan bounds inside--
Jonathan: "DADDY!? Do YOU give up?!?!"

Momma erupts in laughter. Daddy tries to hold it in but gives up.

Daddy: "Yes, Jonathan, you guys can come in."

Clothes for the New Job

Seth started his new job on Monday. On Monday night he had to drive back to Washington from Oregon because he needed to get his Social Security card or birth certificate. Once home he said he needed to leave early enough to go by the hotel before work. He didn't bring his work clothes for the next day. I asked him why he left his clothes there.

Seth said something close to the following: "I couldn't figure out what I needed to wear. I can't stand it! I NEED A UNIFORM!!"

Not much I could say to that

Jonathan's appt yesterday at the doctor went really well. His arm setting was good: the bones had not moved. He received an additional outer casting, in glow-in-the-dark white. Jonathan is constantly talking about his broken arm and figuring out what he can and cannot do. There wasn't much I could say yesterday in response to this comment.

Jonathan:

"Momma, maybe my broken arm was a reminder you should be praying for me to be safe on the stairs."

Jonathan's Broken Arm

Jonathan broke his arm on Wednesday night. He spent that night and much of Thursday in tremendous pain. Thursday afternoon the doctor split open the hard layers of the cast and wrapped it because the cast was too tight. After that, Jonathan has been doing much better. He will go in again on Monday for additional X-rays and to have his arm re-casted.

Jonathan's First Impression of Oregon

Not long after we crossed the state line into Oregon, Jonathan exclaimed very excitedly, "They have McDonalds in Oregon, too!!"

No more booster seats for David

Tonight we ate out at a local restaurant here in DuPont. About 3/4 the way through dinner David said his eye was hurting. Last night he had an eye lash in his eye, which caused him a lot of discomfort. I first thought that is what it was. Seth checked out his eye and found nothing so he chalked it up to seasonal allergies. The allergens have been high lately. By the time we were getting close to being done David was complaining more about his eye. It was getting quite red. I had this fleeting thought that seasonal allergies symptoms make me really nervous with David because of his peanut allergy.
This restaurant lets kids pick out a toy when they leave. David and Thomas picked out theirs pretty quickly so Seth took them on out. Jonathan and I went out and went around to the car a different way (we were parked around back). When I saw David's face, I felt panic. He had this big read mark on his forehead. Seth quickly said that he had been looking at his toy and ran right into the building. Sweet relief... until I was buckling David in his seat and noticed that the eyelid for the eye that was red was beginning to swell up. He also had this white junk coming out of it. As we are starting the car, he began sneezing. It is suddenly pretty obvious to Seth and I that you don't get seasonal allergies in ONE eye. His body was fighting off an allergic reaction.

David had been sitting in a booster seat. All we can figure is that the child that sat in the booster seat before him had eaten a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (which the restaurant serves but I didn't think would be a danger because David was getting a cheese burger).

I felt so overwhelmed with emotion after giving David Benadryl and allergy Visine. I felt this feeling of hopelessness that I just cannot protect my child every where we go. I don't know what amount of peanut butter it took to make his body react that way but it had to be small. I am trying to remember to count my blessings that he didn't get it in his mouth. This allergy creates such fear in my heart-- I guess this is just a reminder to constantly pray for safety and health for my kids.

Seth's comment: In the long run, this is going to save us money... once stop eating out all together.

Knives and Swords

Last night at dinner, right after I sat down to eat, I began cutting up my food.

Thomas asked, "Where's MY sword? Where's my sword? My sword?!"
Momma, "Do you mean knife?"
Thomas, "Es"

T-Ball

The boys are playing T-ball. This is a first for all of us. Jonathan and David are on the same team. Daddy ended up being the coach (except, of course, when the Army sends him out of town!). There are 9 players on the team. We haven't had a game yet. We are in a beginner league that is very, very relaxed. We are having a blast with it!

Boys Notice Everything

Yesterday, I was lightly ironing a loose fitting pregnancy tank shirt on the floor. (It was almost 90 degrees outside, which is quite unusual for Western Washington this time of the year, and we don't have air conditioning.) I was wearing a non-pregnancy tank top at the time. Jonathan came into the room and asked me what I was doing.

Jonathan: What are you doing mom?
Momma: I am trying to iron this shirt really quickly.
Jonathan: Why?
Momma: I didn't want to get the ironing board out because it is so hot. I just pulled this pregnancy shirt out of a box and it is very wrinkled.
Jonathan: Oh... Hey, Ma? (probably never mentioned that Jonathan often calls me "Ma"- short for Momma)
Momma:Yes?
Jonathan: When your pregnant and your belly gets bigger... your boobies get bigger, too.
Momma: yes, yes, they do...

Getting David to Eat

We have to work really hard to get David to eat sometimes. He would much, much rather drink during mealtime than eat. He is most always the last one eating and it seems he has only taken a few bites when we are all finihed. One morning recently, Daddy was telling David to eat his breakfast.

Daddy: "David, you need to eat now."
David: "But, Daddy, I cannot eat."
Daddy: "You need to eat your breakfast NOW. We have to leave soon."
David: "I caaan noooot eat because my stomach is growling at me."

Grass Needs Cutting

This little conversation totally cracked me up. It was a little over a week ago. It was such a pleasantly funny way to remind Daddy to cut the grass!

The boys and Seth were in the backyard.

Jonathan: "Daddy, you look a lot younger than you normally do."
Daddy: "How young do I look?"
Jonathan: "You look like you are about 10!"
Daddy: "Wow- why's that?"
Jonathan: "Well... the grass is so long that it makes you look a lot shorter."

Thomas is 2

Thomas turned 2 today. His birthday had a Curious George theme. Thomas's own Curious George doll, which he has had for a while, was his guest of honor. It was a lot of fun watching him open presents. We spread out the present opening off and on all day. He was so excited about everything!

Hidden Words

I have never been a teacher. This story is proof of that- and I feel certain my homeschool friends will get a kick out of it.

Jonathan is working on sounded out words. He loves to sit down and see how many words he can think of and write. Of course, he wants to do it with as little help as possible. One day this week, he was making his list of words. He was trying to sound out the word "bear" and I decided to explain that the word had a hidden letter in it. I really had no idea how to explain the "ea" sound and I was trying to get everything ready for soccer practice so "hidden letter" was the best I could come up with. I told him how to spell it and he said, "oh, that's too hard." When I went to review his list of words, he had "gat" on the page. I asked him about it and he said it was gate. I explained that there was letter at the end of the word you couldn't hear. He summed it up to a hidden word and then he corrected himself and said hidden letter. I didn't think too much about it as we went through a couple other words with similar issues for sounding out words. How do you explain the "ck" in "rock" anyway?
Now, fastforward to that night when the kids are all in bed. I am checking out the piece of paper Jonathan had been working on. I was gone for an hour or so before bedtime and it was obvious he had worked on his list of words with Daddy.

Seth comes over and says he was really caught off guard by Jonathan when he was working on his list.
(This is basically how the conversation went as I understand it.)

Jonathan: "Daddy, is there a hidden word in the word "grass"?
Seth: "Uhhhhhhhhhhh... yes, Jonathan but some words are bad words."
Jonathan [really confused at this point] "What?"
Seth: "There are some words that are not nice and that you shouldn't say. You spell Grass, G-R-A-S-S."
Jonathan: "Are there 2 S's?"
Seth: "Yes, Jonathan. Here's what it looks like." [He writes the word out.]
Jonathan: "Daddy! You said that was a bad word."
Seth: "No, 'grass' is not a bad word... you can write and say grass. I will have to explain bad words more another time."

Seth and I determined it is better to say "silent letter" instead of "hidden letter". That will be a lot less confusing for all of us!

Goodnight…oh, and Daddy, I asked Jesus into my heart tonight.

“Goodnight…oh, and Daddy, I asked Jesus into my heart tonight.”
Those were Jonathan’s words to Seth right before bed last night. What wonderful words to hear! Of course, Seth didn’t just stay, “Okay, goodnight!” Seth and Jonathan came out of the room (which surprisingly didn’t bother David at all) and they had a nice talk and prayed.

More about this on Gravity of Motion. *It is such great news, I have to blog about it on all my blogs!

Boys and Burping

My boys take great pride in burping. I don't allow them to burp constantly or anything like that but they are quite happy when they happen to have a loud burp. The loudest burps in our house have been deemed "man burps".

Jonathan: "Momma, a little while ago, when I was in the bathroom, I had a REALLY loud burp."
Momma: "Oh really?"
Jonathan: "It was louder than a Man Burp. I think it was a God burp!"

The Wrong Thing

David: "Heeeeerrreee comes the WRONG THING."
(Momma, looks in the living room- quite interested to see what David is doing.)
David runs over to Thomas with fists clenched and punches his legs.
(Much to Momma's amazement) Thomas laughs.

David's Heart

Momma: "David, I LOVE YOU!"
David: "Momma, you are in my heart."
David: "...and Daddy's in my heart, and Jonnie's in my heart, and Thomas is in my heart. I am in my heart!"

Dad Made Mom Laugh

This is Dad hacking into the site to leave a post.

Tonight as Mom is packing to go to Nashville for a long weekend I made a comment that APPARENTLY she found funny. Granted, this is the first time I have been left with my three boys for longer than one night, but it wasn't all THAT funny. I mean, not tears in the eyes funny. Oh, and I should mention that it is important to know that two of the three are sick with the flu right now. Ok- so here is what happened: my jeep died a few weeks ago which necessitated me buying a truck. The jeep has sat in front of the house without moving for three weeks now (bringing a little bit of Tennessee to Washington!) Anyway- I merely commented that I thought I would fix the jeep while she is gone. Apparently she underestimates my abilities to a) fix stuff or b) completely ignore my seriously ill children as I cover myself in grease and oil.

Maybe after I fix the jeep, do all the laundry, and the week's grocery shopping, I will teach David how to pee sanding up and potty train Thomas. That should fill up Friday- what will I do on Saturday? I'll teach the dogs how to do algebra.

Soccer Time

Jonathan and David have started playing soccer. They are both thrilled. Jonathan has moved up a league, which makes him feel very big. He is in the 5-6 year old league. David is in the 3-4 year old "Bumble Bee" league. They both have practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays starting at 5 o'clock. David's practice is 30 minutes while Jonathan's is an hour. This past Tuesday was the first practice. Today's practice will most likely be called off because of pouring rain.

David is so proud to be playing soccer! He has been waiting for this moment for 2 years ever since Jonathan began playing at the age of 3. It has been a long wait for him and he is so happy to be big enough to play. He is very enthusiatic about all of it.

[Coach]: "Okay, guys, I want you to kick the ball one at a time with baby kicks down to the goal."
[Coach]: "David, it's your turn. Baby Kicks!"
[David]: " IIIIII am NOT a baby!!"

[Coach]: (laughs) "Yes, David, you are not a baby. I need you to take baby kicks- little kicks, okay?"