my sons: both pharisees in their own little ways

A few days ago, we had a very rare day: Noah and Samuel were angels! Both of them. On the same day. I in no way mean to seem as though I have no faith in my boys to obey but, let’s be honest, this rarely happens. It was like a day of bliss where I finally saw a glimmer of hope that all these years of correction have somehow “stuck”.

Yes- they were rewarded. I had a B1G1 free coupon for blizzards so I took them for a treat. They shared a blizzard (M &M, if you’re curious) and they even got their own cups (that’s a big deal around here!).

They were very curious to know: “Why the treat?” I replied, as I normally do, that “Obedience brings blessings and disobedience brings consequences.”

Here’s where it gets funny.

You could almost see Noah’s joy fill up inside of him to the point that it overflowed into a prayer of praise. I’m not kidding- at all. He exclaimed: “Oh thank you, Lord, that I obeyed! Thank you for this wonderful ice cream. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!”

Sammy followed suit, in his Sammy way. A little background: one of their favorite shows right now is The Storykeepers, which tells about many of the stories found in the gospels. One of them tells the story of the pharisees and how they prayed so that others would see them. Not even missing a beat, Sammy exclaims:

“Thank you, Lord, that I am not like other men. I fast and give a tenth of all I earn. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!” And then he said: “That’s my prayer, Noah. You like it?”

I nearly died laughing and then proceeded to explain to Sammy what a pharisee was and why we should strive to not pray in that same manner. It- was- exhausting.

My Simon

I love him =) Just wanted to share!

Noah and his attitude

Noah has had quite the attitude lately. He is being rather disrespectful to those closest to him. Today I said:

“Noah, you are being a very disobedient little boy lately. I can see lots of spanks in your future (yes, I said that). You need to learn that your disobedience and your disrespect are sin and I am going to be the one to teach you.”

He thought a moment and replied:

“No thanks, Mom. I can teach myself.”

I didn’t let him see me, but I laughed. A lot.

no training wheels!!!!

Things they say…

A bottle dropped off the night stand onto Kaedmon’s head. No biggie, but it startled Kaedmon and he burst out into tears. Sammy ran into the room and without a moment’s hesitation asked:

“What’s wrong with Kaedmon, Mommy? Did he think you were a giant?”

We do this thing with the boys. When they ask questions that they obviously know the answer to, we always say:

“What do you think?”

and they give us the obvious answer. Yesterday morning I was fixing their breakfast. Noah runs in the kitchen and asks (as I pull the milk out of the fridge):

“Is that the milk?”

I say:

“What do you think, Noah?”

He pauses, sighs, and says:

“Just say yes, Mom”

We had a Sunday school fellowship last weekend. We got together to eat and watch a movie. A lady had those circle cookies in the shape of an O (I don’t know what they are called) that you can put around your finger. She told Noah to make a 1 with his finger so she could put some cookies on his finger. After he did it, she said:

“Is Jesus #1?”

Noah was very focused on the cookies. He wanted them and that was all he was concerned with. Without even thinking twice, he blurts out:

“No, he is always the same!”

Noah’s catechism question this past week was:

“Does God ever change? No. He is always the same!”

He he.

Lastly, in the car a few nights ago, Noah made us aware of “the rules”. Now, we have no idea what they are rules for, but here goes:

1. You never go to the ocean without a man who has a boat that is safe.
2. You never go into a person’s house because he might a bad guy that hurts you.
3. You never cut up a telephone pole cause it might hurt.
4. Lastly, you never touch your Grandma’s stuff cause she doesn’t like it and might get mad at you.

For Kacie

Kacie suggested I compare each boy at 9 weeks of age (Kaed’s current age). We weren’t doing digital photos until early 2005 so I don’t have any of Noah. But here are Sammy and Simon. I see a little (and I mean little) of each boy in Kaedmon. He has more of Noah and Simon overall, but some of his bone structure is more like Sammy, I think. Honestly, however, he is just Kaedmon. There is really not much to compare.

Sammy:

Simon:

Kaedmon:

The Mohawks

Noah:

Sammy:

Now he’s happy:

Dad. He’s stoked (dig the Cracker Barrel attire?):

And Mom, not one bit impressed:

At Least He’s Honest

Upon review of Ephesians 6:1, which instructs children to obey their parents, Noah says:

“Mom, I will never disobey you again so I never have to have a spank!”

One moment later:

“Okay- I am going to try really hard to never disobey again.”

And just another moment later:

“Mommy, I’m gonna forget all of this by tomorrow!”

Now that’s more like it…

kaedmon…or a food pantry…you decide!

Kaed’s 2 eldest brothers thought he looked hungry yesterday. I mean, we had just finished lunch- so why shouldn’t he? The following took place:

Too cute!

And a quick pic with Mommy:

Kaedmon at 2 weeks (and the park…)

Kaed’s first bath:

Sleeping (and wishing to be left alone):

Again:

At the park:

4 brothers:

Noah loves soccer:

Sammy loves to go “so high!”