Thankfully we already had a remote control car for Orison and a clipboard lying around the house to give him. A friend of ours ran an 11th-hour errand to pick up the construction paper. Orison was thrilled!

Morrow didn’t seem to notice or care that he didn’t get anything on his list. I think probably the power of suggestion (read: Orison) was responsible for most of the things on there anyway.

And bonus points for anyone who can tell me the source for the question to Santa, “Did you have a good summer?”

I had walked out of the room for a minute and then found all three of them up on the bed when I came back. I have no idea how they did that! And then they were all rockin’ out and dancing together. It was awesome.

This is why I rarely have bloggable thoughts. Imagine this kind of energy, all day, every day–awesome and exhausting.

from left: Superman, Mario, Princess Peach, Luigi, Spiderman, Batman

I can’t stop laughing at how portly Morrow/Batman looks in this picture! He’s actually pretty small for his age, so it’s just killin’ me!

As you can see, Orison was ready for action and couldn’t wait to get started conquering trick-or-treating, but Morrow obviously didn’t remember the experience from last year and took a few houses to “get” what was going on.

For instance, after he went to the first house, I said, “Okay! Go get some candy!” to entice him to chase after all those big kids. He holds up his haul (one piece) and says triumphantly, “I already got candy!”

He would’ve been thrilled with one house. But his candy-craving-kid gene was activated very shortly and today as I was putting him down for nap he looked at me all sad and serious-like–”I want to go trick-or-treating again.”

Here’s another pic of our superheroes (and Morrow looking more excited):

The babies spent the evening being fawned over and photographed by Grandmama and Aunt Talitha. Don’t they look so cozy?

Any guesses?

After a few more questions, she deciphered that he was saying recycling truck!

Later in the morning he was telling her about a movie and kept talking about the “Colosorus.” [kuh-LAH-suh-rus]

He was talking about a rhinoceros! Cute!

He also says “Tamorine” for submarine. And he has “tamorines” on his Pull-Ups (which he’s still using. Because he’s still not fully trained).

All of these things are too cute for even this Speech Language Pathologist to correct, except maybe that potty thing (still working on it-ARGH!)!

Also, if you know me in person (IRL if you will), you know I’m a word-clipper. My BFF Danielle and I have been like this since college. It’s a mother’s pure joy to know her children are following her example.

Morrow’s been known to use “fave” for favorite and “Sars!” for sorry.

Be still my heart. This kid is too much. I think I might cry tears of joy the first time he uses “adorbs!”

[photo via]

Morrow had his first day of preschool today! Can you believe that?!?!

He went to a little open house last week to get ready, and today the little church bus came and picked him up right outside the house!

He had a little difficulty separating at the open house last week when the parents went across the hall for a meeting and the kids stayed to play, so I was trying to be really, really upbeat this morning to keep him from getting nervous.

We’d talked and talked and talked about how fun school was going to be, so I thought it might be a little counterproductive to let him see me bawling (I saved that for when I got back in the house). And I wasn’t the only one with tears (a certain male in the 30-34 age bracket had some moisture in his eyes too)!

Here he is, all excited to get buckled in for the ride to school!

When I got off the bus and waved to him I could tell he was about to cry, but according to one of my spies, he’d recovered just fine by the time they got to school.

When he got home he told me, “I loved playing at the park! I held onto the rope!” (which is what they use for crossing the street to get to the park).

I can’t believe he’s this old, and I can’t believe how quickly time goes by, but I also feel lots of joy and hope for this new step.

YAY for Morrow!

It’s pure Redemption–death, then life.

So happy birthday, Redemption Baby. You are more to me than you could ever know.

Sometimes I tell you your redemption story, and it usually goes something like this:

Mommy: Before you were born, Mommy had another baby in her tummy. Do you know what her name was?
MJ: Felicity.
Me: Yep, that’s right. And she grew and grew in my tummy, but then do you know what happened?
MJ: She died.
Me: Yeah, she died. And Mommy was really, really sad. I cried and cried and cried for a long time. Lots and lots of days. And Daddy cried lots and lots of days, too. But then do you know what happened?
MJ: What?
Me: God gave me another baby in my tummy. And do you know who that baby was?
MJ: Me!
Me: Yes, you. And when you grew and grew in my tummy I was still so sad. I missed your sister Felicity so much. But then it was time for you to come out of my tummy, and you know what?
MJ: What?
Me: I loved you so much. And every day that I held you and played with you and took care of you I loved you more and more. You made my heart so happy. And you make my heart happy every day. God made you so special for so many reasons. I’m glad I get to be your mommy.

So, Morrow–Mah-Jo, Mar, MahJoRahn, Mar-Mar, Jo-John, Chip–you have been a dynamic work of God in my life in the past three years, taking me from a place of death to a place of life.

Happy birthday, Redemption Baby.

(We celebrated Morrow’s birthday on Monday night, August 22nd. He was born 11 months to the day after his big sister, Felicity Margaret, was born still in 2007.)

I snapped this one on the bus in downtown Denver. It’s so funny because I have about a billion pictures of Cadence with Whitsun. I have very few of one twin with one older sibling. Splitting up the set was pretty cute and Morrow loved riding with Cadence for a little while!

I’m sure there are many of you with tons more experience under your belts for making summer a success, but here’s how I’m trying to make it work for me:

Jobs

I’m never very consistent about allowance or chores, but Orison’s very interested in earning money (& then counting it over and over and telling me the year that’s printed on every.single.coin). He does a few tasks for 10 cents each, with the earning potential for 50-60 cents per day. Cheap help! Of course these will be different for every household, but right now he does the following jobs:

• Emptying the silverware caddy from the dishwasher each morning.
• Running the bare-floor vacuum and cleaning off the high chairs after breakfast and lunch.
• Cleaning his room and/or the playroom.
• Putting away his clean laundry.

Of course Morrow (2.5) wants in the on the action, too. So he even gets some money for his jobs! Morrow gets 1 penny for the following jobs:

• Getting diapers for the babies.
• Throwing away diapers.
• Putting the bottles into the sink.

All of these things happen a lot throughout the day, so he might make about 10 cents a day. He’s thrilled to be like his big brother! I don’t think it’s that meaningful to him yet, but he thinks it’s fun, so I’m going with it.

There are a few ground rules for working:

• If you complain when asked to do your job, you will still have to do it, but you won’t get the money.
• You can say no politely from time to time, but just know that you’re passing up the cash.
• Money can be deducted from your wages if you are purposefully mean or unhelpful throughout the day.

Right now I’m just keeping a little tab on the counter of how much each boy earns per day. If I can get my act together soon, I’d like them to have a chart where we could mark it down. That way it would keep them more motivated and keep me accountable to bless them for their help.

Do your kids do household job? Which ones?

You might question that previous statement–”Molly, did you really have to make muffins?”

The answer is yes. Yes I did. And if you ever make these muffins you’ll understand why they’ve become a household necessity. They’re like oxygen to me and mines.

Most mornings I try to work a little stitch of time for Morrow and me–Orison’s at Kindergarten (for only a couple more weeks–eek!) and the babies are taking their morning nap. Sometimes we read books, sometimes we have a dance party, sometimes we play board games or puzzles. It’s not always easy to do, and there are always other tasks, but I’m really trying to be intentional with my second-born. These days are too short (as proven by my first baby almost being done with Kindergarten!!!)

Anyway, today he really wanted to help me make muffins. Every efficiency-craving bone in my body wanted to refuse him and just get it done quickly by myself. I really felt the Lord’s prodding though…

“Will you let him help?”

When I asked him if he wanted to help me, you’d have thought I’d asked him if he wanted to go to Disney World or something. He was so excited.

I’d measure things out while he stood on the step stool giggling with the excitement and anticipation of getting to dump it in the bowl. It was seriously precious.

We were getting to the end of our project and he said to me, “Mom you’re a heartbeat.”

Then he asked me, “What’s a heartbeat?” (LOVE him!)

I said, “Hang on. Let me wash my hands (which were covered in muffin batter) and then I’ll show you.”

“Are the heartbeats in the closet?”

“No, buddy, they’re in your body.” So I put his little hand on his chest and let him feel the flutter. “Do you feel that?”

“Yeah…” he said, concentrating on the sensation.

I gave it my best shot to explain heartbeats to my two and a half year old, but, not surprisingly, he quickly lost interest.

But I loved making muffins with him today. Here’s a silly (low-quality) picture of me and my little heartbeat:

It’s not always practicable to sacrifice efficiency in a mom’s busy world. Today I really felt the trade-off though: efficiency v. life-sharing. Will Morrow remember making muffins when he’s older? Probably not this particular time. But will Morrow remember that I made time for him, despite a busy day’s schedule? I hope so.

I can be too easily owned by efficiency and tasks around my house. Granted, I think that having an orderly home is important; it’s a value that I have. But…when and how can I flex that? I’m very thankful for God’s gentle reminders today to take time to feel the heartbeats. They’re not going to last forever.

And neither are those muffins…

One morning he was getting ready for school, and he started “testing” Morrow. And much to our surprise, Morrow knew the answers!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4ACVjY9_yw

The funny part is, Morrow doesn’t even know his colors reliably, but he can name the presidents on Mount Rushmore. I guess it’s all about exposure!

Another funny story about Orison and the presidents: one morning Abraham and Orison were talking about the subject of war. Abraham was telling him that wars happen, but they’re really terrible, and they should be avoided if possible, etc., etc. Orison looks up at him and says, “War should never be entered upon until every agency of peace has failed.”

Abraham looks at him with mental-jaw dropped and asked, “Where’d you learn that? At school?”

Orison says, “No, I learned it in my presidents book.”

I’d gotten him a book of all the presidents from the library just so he could see the names and pictures of the other presidents, to satisfy his curiosity a bit. Little did I know he was reading their famous quotes (and memorizing them?). He couldn’t remember which president had said that particular quote, but he looked it up for us a little later and announced, “William McKinley said that!”

Ahhh…learning rocks.

Got any funny stories to share about your older kids teaching your younger kids things that seem advanced for their age? Other funny learning stories?