Mary, Queen of the Universe

I like to think that this church was named before Universal Studios was built, but I am not too sure. The church was built 25 years ago. Does anybody know?

Anyway, the structure did not carry the gravitas of a 500 y

ear old church in Rome, but the stained glass bible stories were amazin

g. One could spend hours just looking at them, an

d there were lots of them telling the whole sto

ry of salvation from Genesis to the M

artyrs.

The side chapel had dark blue stained glass with stars that looked just like we were in space.

Crazy People Drive all night

...and God must like crazy people. We left Nashville at 11:00 am Sunday morning, and we planned to end our day in Valdosta Georgia, just north of the border of Florida. We also planned to stop at Cloudland Canyon along the way, a Georgian state park that is "off the beaten path" and very beautiful.

But the crazy part came in when we spent more time at Cloudland, just because of the sheer beauty of the whole place, and the friendliness of the few people who happened

 to be there with us (including the

 owners of this Porsche parked next to our van, which put me in a precarious  situation...which one to drive back down the mountain???). 

Anyway, we where still pretty far from Valdosta when the kids were begging for sleep, and I was not interested in

 driving another 6+hours on the day we were supposed to be arriving in Florida. So we stopped, got the kids as ready for bed as we could, brushed their teeth with plain water, filled the little kid potty (ewww) and got them in their PJ's (for Maria that is just undies and nothing else :), tipped the kids seats back as far as we could with all the luggage and food behind them, then daddy got some Mountain dew (ignoring the calories for the caffeine), and off we went. Anna was a real trooper. 

We only stopped

 for who hours along the w

ay from 2-4am, Anna slept on the floor under the kids feet while I tosse

d and turned in the front seats. I don't think we would request to sleep like that again under norm

al circumstances. But it worked this time.

I woke up refreshed (no joke) at 4am to the crickets chirping on my phone alarm. The only thing we weren't too sure about was checking into the hotel. We apprehensively called at 5am to ask what our options were. We are told 4pm was normal check in time, but w

e could check in as early as 7am. I was overjoyed.  

And by golly we arrived in Orlando at 6:30 after a 20 minute 

GPS mistake which took us to the wrong Lake Street in a little neighborhood that looked scary in the dark.   As we pulled in to the Embassy suites at 6:30 the kids started waking up, to them it was normal to wake up and be safely in Orlando where mom and dad told them they would. But we don't want to take for granted all the little details that God worked out for us along the way. Yes, God really blessed us, either in spite of our craziness or because of it.

The T-Rex display near Lego land in downtown Disney

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Our room has a kitchenette and a livingroom! Yay

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Arrived in Orlando@ 6:30 am; and they let us check in 10 hours early

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Driving through the Appalachians at Cumberland

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Sad to leave Nashville

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How many chefs care this much?

Yes, I think we found a very unique man. Someone who really cares about how others feel. He made us feel like family, or better, like royalty. The food he made at his restaurant Volare is unmatched: Anna’s Crab-stuffed Salmon, and my Chilean Sea Bass were so good they were almost spiritual. Every bite gave off a magical burst of flavors that kept our taste buds busy, and our souls praising God for such talent. Despite the busyness of the restaurant on a Saturday night, before during and after the meal he came out to just be with us, listen to the kids get to know us a little bit better, and just smile. I don’t mean to over do all this praise; but rarely has the world found a man with such visible a talent that also can focus on “people” as and balance those gifts of relationships as if people were what was really important to his world. Would you not agree that this is a rarely found balance? Our kids and we too love our new uncle Bobby Bell.
If you are ever in Nashville, stop by the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and see Bobby at the Volare Italian Resturant. (and don’t forget to ask for a free valet parking validation and save $25 on parking) :) 

Of the event at: www.rayclan.com/roadtrip

The Miracle Hotel Room

After the Mammoth Cave expedition this morning we did not have any plans set in stone. Our goal was to get two more hours south to Nashville see the and find a cheap place to sleep. On our drive down Anna searched for a hotel on our iphone but many of the known-brand hotels in Nashville were pricey. The King of all hotels in Nashville is the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and it runs $260-$300 per night with taxes, but it is the MOST beautiful place I have ever stayed at in my life. So anyway, about that miracle, after dinner at the aquarium restaurant we arrived at the hotel, but after a 10 minute walk from a nearby mall (because even parking is $20 at this place). We entered one of the three gorgeous glass-covered atriums just after dark. We wandered around a bit, watched the fountain/light show, stopped the kids from grabbing at the koi goldfish, and just enjoyed ourselves...we even commented that time spent without “somewhere to go next” is much more fun than having a rigid schedule. It was getting a bit late though and we needed to find a hotel room before the kids got too sleepy to walk. I told Anna that I would really like to spend the night here at the Opryland Hotel, and that we should pray and ask God to get us a cheap room. So we did. We held hands at the little koi pond with the gold fish listening and told God that we needed a place to stay tonight and that we would really like him to help us to stay here. As we started walking again I contemplated calling the reservation desk, I even pulled out my phone and looked at the number, but I got a sense that it was not the way God was going to bless us.
Minutes after, we walked past a familiar resturant, Volare, a fancy italian place: “$30 a plate” fancy, and we remembered that we ate there 3 years ago during a conference for my Dad’s company. Sam was just a baby, and when we asked for something soft for him to eat the Chef actually came out to our table and talked to us for few minutes. He told us about his family and his kids and his faith in God. He then brought us a bowl of blended up carrots decorated like it was for the president. He was the kind of guy whose manager you call to lavish praise upon, (which we did).

As we walked past the restaurant we recalled this event and tried to remember the Chef’s name: Freddy, maybe, something catchy that ended in a “y” for sure. He had made such an impact on us with his friendliness we thought it would be really cool to see him again and tell him how we still remembered how he took care of us. I approached the maitrde’ and asked if they had a very friendly chef whose name was Freddy or something like that. She recognized his description of “friendly” right away, which was no surprise, but his name is Bobby she told us. She quickly offered to go get him...and quickly hopped away before we could say that it was not important enough to pull him away from his work.

Out came the familiar face of Bobby Bell, the chef who cared about us like only a Christian ever could. He remembered us immediately, from 3 years and thousands of customers ago. In fact he told us that we had given him a Curious George book for his son the night he had given us our memory. He sat down on the stairs at the entrance to his restaurant, asked about the kids, what we were doing here, etc. We told him about our trip and how we plan to go to Sea World and back on a tight budget. “Good Luck,” he said. When he asked where we were staying and found out we were not staying at his hotel, and had not found one yet, he said, “wait here, I might be able to do something for you.” We waited for a few minutes, he came back and said to wait a few more. After waiting for about 10 minutes, he came out with a big smile on his face and told us normally he has to go though the HR department to get room discounts for family members only, but because it was late and at the last minute the HR office was closed so he thought he could go to the reservation desk with us and pull some strings. Right then and there he walked with us, about 20 minutes round trip, to the reservation desk and got us a room for $49.95.
You can only imagine our joy gratitude that God chose to bless us through Chef Bobby Bell, father of four, and six-year-old christian. So God Bless Bobby Bell and his family for generations.

When we got to our wonderful room with a balcony overlooking an indoor tropical paradise, we got on our knees and praised God. Ask and we shall receive. Give Him our trust he will not forsake us. For He delights in providing us with our needs. And I am sure that he delights even more when we are truly thankful to Him. It is now 12:53 AM and I am going to go to sleep. Who knows what adventures lie ahead.

Our miracle hotel room in Nashville, more on the story later

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We're eating at the Aquarium Restaurant in Nashville: 200,000 gallons

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Only 500 miles to find warm weather!

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Maria's stripey tights - at Mammoth caves

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Road Trip Links

By The Way
we are simultaniously posting some stories and pictures on our website www.rayclan.com/roadtrip

Also, we are posting pictures on a cool mapping site that can be found at Panoramio

Only 400 miles from home and it's 44 degrees already!!

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Fun with glowsticks in Kentucky

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Getting started early

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Elizabeth Rose at 23 weeks.

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A child's sense of time

One thing I love about kids is their sense of time and the phrases they use to describe time. 

Joshua, "Wow that took me ten whole years" (actual time was 2 months)

Samuel, "When I was bigger..."

Maria, very dramatically, "I'm dying, I haven't had water in 3 days!"

Joshua, "When I was a hundred I was bigger than daddy"

Maria, "a thousand years ago..."

Joshua, "a hundred weeks ago..."

Samuel, "When we went to that park tomorrow..." (meaning yesterday)

Maria, "remember when we went to that park a few miles ago..." (meaning a few days)

Mom, "your turn is in two minutes"

Samuel whining, "I can't wait, that's so long...."

Mom, "it's in 3 days"

Maria, "How much is 3 days? Is it 1,2,3?"

Maria," I'm starving, I haven't had any food in weeks!"

Funny Apple Spoof

Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

Samuel was complaining the other day that he didn't feel so good. He Then said, "My tummy is so fat I am going to have a baby soon."

Happy New Year from the Rays

Enjoy a look back at 2008 with us...



...and something a bit more fast paced and loud:

Nations's Wealthy Cruelly Deprived of the True Meaning of Christmas

I know this is meant to be humorous (it is from a satirical news website), but there is a little bit of truth buried in all this sarcasm. Let's see if you can find it.


Report: Nation's Wealthy Cruelly Deprived Of True Meaning Of Christmas

How Many Days Until Christmas?

Maria does not like wearing a coat, well none of our kids like clothes very much, but being forced to wear a coat is the ultimate tragedy. So I'll give you the inside scoop one of our kids Christmas presents: Mrs. Campbell made them hooded fleece capes (shhhh, don't spoil the surprise). Up until today we have allowed the kids to carry their coats with them in case "the car breaks down" and they are stranded for a long period in the cold of winter. But today was bitter cold and the wind-chill brought the temp down towards -20F. Maria was sobbing on our way to church that she didn't want to wear a coat. After she calmed down I told her that one of her presents would allow her to stay warm without wearing a coat. She seemed intrigued, and this 4 year-old's Christmas anticipation was raised to a higher grade level. It was 12-noon when she started asking questions to Anna about how many times she had to sleep before Christmas would be here. After going through the pattern of "go to sleep, wake up, go to sleep again, wake up...." she said in her sleepiest voice, "Mom, I am tired, I want to go to sleep."

Nutcracker

We were introducing the nutcracker story to the kids and I asked them if they knew what a nutcracker is.
Maria quickly and confidently replied: a chipmunk.

Nonsense

Samuel has been reprimanded frequently of late for being silly at inappropriate times and during these events has picked up a new phrase...

As I was tickling him, in desperation he cried out, "Mom, you need to stop all this nonsense!!"

Funny Exchange

Papa " I'm going to give a talk to cloistered nuns today. That means they stay in a building and I have to talk them through a screen."
Joshua "Why?"
Papa "Well, they pray all day."
Joshua "that they can get out?"

(I guess the cloistered life isn't very appealing to Joshua who's top two fears are being locked in a room and getting trapped in an elevator.)

Christmas Dance

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

It's a Girl!

The day before Thanksgiving we were very blessed to find out we have a beautiful baby girl! Jesse had claimed a girl from the beginning. Joshua was glad our family would be even. Maria talked all day about her baby sister who she can play "girl" stuff with.  She is also begging us to name her Rose, and although we don't have a name picked I'm not sure Rose Ray will make the cut. Samuel wanted a boy but seems okay with the fact that she is a girl. I'm just so thankful to have a healthy baby. 

The kids were with us for the ultrasound and after a few moments of looking at the screen Joshua exclaimed with delight "I see the baby and she's moving!"

Funny

Another potty story

Sammy had been calling to be wiped and when I arrived he said pleadingly "mom, you have to wipe me". I replied "Oh, I have too?" "Yes." "But what if I don't?" "Then you're a bad guy, bad guys don't wipe kids."

Pesky ants are so darn handy at cleaning up

Motherhood

Maria is just so cute. I was squeezing her and told her that I was going to keep her from growing because we want her to stay small. She told me she wanted keep growing. After a few seconds she asked if she would have any more birthdays.
Me: "No more birthdays."
Maria: "But I have to have more birthdays, because I want to be pregnant. I want to have a baby in my tummy like mommy."

We are going to need to be careful, because at this point in my little girl's life her goal is to be pregnant ;)

Just like Papa

I was reading a book about Jesus and the saints to the kids and Joshua got this bright look in his eye and told me "I know what I will do, (now nearly shaking with excitment), I'll read a book all about Jesus.

With just a short pause for a thought he then said, (in his most excited voice), "then I'll write a book all about Jesus."

I guess having a passionate and prolific writer for a a grandpa has rubbed off on this little boy.

Nobody's home

Samuel locked the door to the bathroom yesterday before he sat down on the potty. When he was finished doing his dooty he called to us in normal fashion: "I'M DONE!" When I found the door locked I jokingly knocked and called to him, he called back: "NOBODY"S HOME."
Well at this point I started looking for one of those pin-like keys that you stick in the indoor locks to open them up because I knew Sam was not going to hop off the toilet and unlock the door for me. It had become a game of I'm smarter than daddy; which is funny because he probably would have sat there waiting to be wiped for hours and that's not too smart. I couldn't find a key so I pulled out a credit card and used that to pop the latch. As I opened the door he had a surprised look as if I was spoiling all the fun. I guess even waiting on the potty is fun for a 3 year old if your dad if it is predicated in tricking your dad.

You should see the other guy

Yesterday at a baptism party Maria was playing with an adult, who will remain nameless, and got swung into a coffee table. Ouch! She is feeling just fine and has a great attitude about her big ol' shiner.

Obama's Pick for Chief of Staff Tops Recipients of Wall Street Money

If you weren't scared enough already...let's take a look at what Jeff Schibler on AmericasRight revealed about the soon to be White House chief of staff.

We learned on Friday from ABC News that Rahm Emanuel sat on the board of directors of the now infamous Freddie Mac during the beginnings of the scandal, and was complicit in the board's failure to recognize "red flags" in accounting and lending practices, and that he accepted more than $50,000 in contributions from the organization. Now, we're learning that Emanuel was, just this year, the top House recipient of contributions from hedge funds, private equity firms and the larger securities/investment industry, and that he has received more money from individuals and political action committees in the securities and investment business than from any other industry since being elected to Congress in 2002 after a previous job as an investment banker. Barack Hussein Obama tapping this gentleman to assist him in fixing the American economy is kind of like asking Rosie O'Donnell to manage a Weight Watchers franchise.

(FROM: OpenSecrets and AmericasRight)

Gun sales up

Allegedly gun sales are up in this country. According to this video on msnbc.com it is because the economy is souring and people are planning on needing to defend themselves.

hmmmm. Do you think this is the main reason, or is it more likely that intelligent people worry that B. Hussein Obama may try to take away our right to buy/bear arms?? If I were to buy another gun to cling to it would have much more to do the president elect's liberal policies than anything else.

Obama was being misleading when he denied that his handwriting had been on a document endorsing a state ban on the sale and possession of handguns in Illinois. Obama responded, "No, my writing wasn't on that particular questionnaire. As I said, I have never favored an all-out ban on handguns."

Actually, Obama's writing was on the 1996 document, which was filed when Obama was running for the Illinois state Senate. A Chicago nonprofit, Independent Voters of Illinois, had this question, and Obama took hard line:

35. Do you support state legislation to:
a. ban the manufacture, sale and possession of handguns? Yes.
b. ban assault weapons? Yes.
c. mandatory waiting periods and background checks? Yes.

Obama's campaign said, "Sen. Obama didn't fill out these state Senate questionnaires--a staffer did--and there are several answers that didn't reflect his views then or now. He may have jotted some notes on the front page of the questionnaire, but some answers didn't reflect his views."

http://www.ontheissues.org/domestic/Barack_Obama_Gun_Control.htm

A little political humor to cheer you up

This is a surveillance video from the yard of a North Carolina electrical engineer who, sick and tired of having his McCain/Palin yard signs stolen and replaced with Obama/Biden signs, decided to hook the metal frame into his invisible dog fence. While it's sad that the person caught in the act was only a nine-year-old boy, he invariably learned a lesson he wasn't going to learn elsewhere.
(discovered on www.americasright.com

I laughed out loud at this mostly because it reminded me of my old friend Frank Galdoni who died of cancer a few years ago: after many diplomatic attempts failed, he put an electrified screen over a bush in his yard that his neighbors dog always did his business on.

America: "We want Barabas"

We were given a choice for a man who sacrificed so much of himself for his country, a man who can not even lift up his arms because they were broken so many times by our enemies. But in our greed, and desire for the government to "help" contribute to our grocery budget, we have ignored our founders' morals and our christial roots. Well our greatest fears have come true, our country has voted in a velvet-tounged pro-murdered who promised the largest abortion provider in the country that his first act as president would be to make it easier to kill babies in the womb (and even out of the womb if they are born alive during an abortion).

We were given a monumental choice and we chose poorly, now we shall suffer the consequenses that we deserve.

This may be the last post you see from me as we swing towards socialism this blog will most certainly be shut off by the censors.

Mixed results from initiatives in states all over the country now further promote embryonic destruction, and abortion. On a good note, voters in California saw it in their hearts to protect some mothers and their unborn from cruel treatment, a proposal passed there to "outlaw the confinement of pregnant pigs, calves raised for veal and egg-laying hens in a manner that does not allow them to turn around freely."

silly boys

Joshua asked a question about the origin of the name duct tape: "Why do we call it 'duck tape'? Is it because it feels like a duck is biting you when you peel it off your skin?"

Samuel emerged from the pantry after being inside for a few minutes in suspicious silence, his face was covered in what appeared to be chocolate.
Before revealing what we saw on his face we asked what he had eaten.
We got a few sheepish "I don't know"s before we finally told him to point to what he ate.
He pointed at the powdered ovaltine.
Anna: "Did you eat the chocolate ovaltine Sam?"
Sam: "No it's coffee."

Twas The Night of Election

'Twas the night of elections*
And all through the town*
Tempers were flaring*
Emotions all up and down!*

I, in my bathrobe*
With a cat in my lap*
Had cut off the TV*
Tired of political crap.*

When all of a sudden*
There arose such a noise*
I peered out of my window*
Saw Obama and his boys*

They had come for my wallet*
They wanted my pay*
To give to the others*
Who had not worked a day!*

He snatched up my money*
And quick as a wink*
Jumped back on his bandwagon*
As I gagged from the stink*

He then rallied his henchmen*
Who were pulling his cart*
I could tell they were out*
To tear my country apart!*

'On Fannie, on Freddie, *
On Biden and Ayers!*
On Acorn, On Pelosi'*
He screamed at the pairs!*

They took off for his cause*
And as he flew out of sight*
I heard him laugh at the nation*
Who wouldn't stand up and fight!*

So I leave you to think*
On this one final note-*
IF YOU DONT WANT SOCIALISM*
GET OUT AND VOTE!!!!*

Keep Coming Down

What cost us over $70 to fill our minivan's gas tank only two months ago not only cost $35. I don't know what the root cause of this price drop is, but I am ok with it.

Found in a Run-down Boston Public Housing Estate: Barack Obama's Aunt Zeituni Onyango

(FROM: UK Times Online) So, his half-brother lives on one dollar each month in Kenya, and his aunt lives in dilapidated public housing in Boston. How wonderful. For a guy who is often seen as elitist and egotistical, this sure does a lot for that perception. Between Sen. Joe Biden's abysmal record of donations to charity--in the past ten years, the Bidens have given $3,690 out of their $2,450,042 in income--and Obama's failure to provide at all for his own family, the same family spoken of so nicely in his memoirs, it's a wonder that the pair can so successfully misrepresent themselves as caring for those who have less than they do. Amazing how they have no qualms about forcing ordinary Americans like you and me to share our wealth involuntarily, but have utterly refused to volunteer to share their own.

Little Baby Ray

At week 9 everything is going fine so far...other than "all-day" sickness that Anna is going through at the moment. Thanks for your prayers for our little one.

Red Green's Alternative Fuel Vehicle

how does it taste now?

if you have ever met my grandpa Ray you can probably imagine the innocent smile on his face during this quick exchange.
In September we were enjoying the fruits of the fall harvest that my parents neighbors had genorously given to us. Now these neighbors, Patrick and Michael, who are the nicest neighbors you'll ever want to meet, but they are not brothers or roomates ( if you know what I mean).
Now my grandparents were over and we were eating the most beautiful red ripe tomatoes you can imagine; these hems were just bursting with flavor. Half way through one my grandpa commented on how delicious they were. I responded that they were from the gaye neighbors...without missing a beat he said, "hmmm, now I'll have to take another bite and see if it tastes different."

why do we call it the library?

we pulled up to the library after church today and Josh asked:
"why do we call this the 'Libary' (pronounced lie-berry)?...because it lies and eats berries?

It is hard to keep a secret

Its hard to keep a secret especially when it is something that we want to share with our family and friends. So after only a few days of trying to keep it to ourselves I (Jesse) spilled the beans enough times that we felt everyone should hear it from us...so here it is: We are expecting.

Please pray for us and the new baby.

Funny quote

Sam and Maria were playing dress up and Maria announced "we're married now". Out of curiosity to see what her idea of married life was  I asked "what will you do now?" The immediate joyful response was "have a baby!" as she ran in her wedding dress to get a baby doll. 

The generosity of a 3 year old

After making a project Samuel said, "You can have it, I made it just for you"

A second later, "we can share it"

A second later, "well, it's mine, but we can share it"

In Dexter with the Brown Family

It has been a few years since we have seen our old neighbors, the Browns, but it seems like we picked right up where we left off. Amanda, Steve and Mike played so nicely with our kids and we all had lots of fun.

Little Swimmer

Maria is our water-loving child and she is now our first swimmer. Watch her paddle through the water without any floatation device.

Joshua lost a tooth

It started wiggling at the beginning of the week, and it just fell out Saturday afternoon. Josh was giggling with excitement and wanted to show everyone that he now has a window in his mouth.

They've got a ticket to ride

Joshua and Maria didn't have too much interest in giving up their tricycles, but within the space of a few days they really picked it up and rode with it.

Sam's Bible Verse

I was reading an article by a Francisian Friar and decided to share the following line with the kids "The devil always breaks the toys he plays with". Before I could attempt to explain it Samuel laughs and says "I don't want him in our house".   

This morning as the kids were playing super heroes I overheard Joshua say "Let's pretend we have so much power in our hands we can eat as much candy as we want with out getting sick!"

Kid Brains are cool

It has been a while since our last post. Lots has been going on, which I will get to later. But there has also been a flurry of silly thing the kids have been saying.

While riding bikes outside on a hot day.
Maria: Sam, your face is red.
Sam: Thats cause there's blood in it.

Running just a bit late to mass.
Maria (shouting): JESUS, don't worry, we're coming.

Going frequently to daily mass at a local church that is predominantly made up of senior citizens has made the kids very popular. They have gotten toys, candy, games, and most recently money ($1 each). While leaving mass the other day an old lady, who luckily a little hard of hearing, said to Maria: "What a beautiful girl you are!"
Joshua piped up: "How about, what a handsome boy I am?"
Sam smiled and asked: "How 'bout some money?"

a devil shirt?

Maria came running to Anna and said "Sam told me I am wearing a devil shirt!"
So Anna interviewed Sam:
Anna: "Sam, what kind of shirt is Maria wearing?"
Sam: "A duwrl shirt."

Oh, a Girl shirt...his pronunciation can be funny sometimes.

Two year olds say the funniest things

In case you haven't seen Sam in a while, he is turning out to be a sweet little kid with a great sense of humor. Yesterday Anna was asking him about boys and girls: Sam is Maria a boy of a girl?
Sam: Durl (girl).
Anna: Are you a boy or a girl?
Sam: Boy.
Anna: is Josh a boy or girl?
Sam: Boy.
Is Mommy a boy or a girl?
Sam (with a big grin): You're silly, you're a mommy.
Anna: is Dad a boy or a girl?
Sam (with a big smile): You're teasing, he's a daddy.

Sammy's explination

Yesterday Sam took the ice out of his glass and was playing with it at the table. It kept slipping out of his hands and he was trying to figure out why. Finally he said, " The ice is slippery because it is full of water."

Free Text Books

Here are the books that we are giving away for free.
eMail us if you would like some or all.

Knitted from the finest Truffela Tree

This my dear friends is a thneed, which nobody, Nobody, NOBODY needs.

(I think people in Japan have a lot of time on their hands) Wowie.

Anna's new look

Anna was growing her hair long so she could donate it to Locks of Love so that disadvantaged kids with cancer can get hairpieces during their treatment. So check out the difference:

Least Influential People

Helpless and forsaken

The other morning Maria was being dramatic and we were not bending to her wishes. So to get our sympathy she pretended to fall down the stairs (grunts and all). When she got to the bottom she saw that we were not running to her aid so she continued rolling in slow motion into the living room.
Maybe she'll be a stunt double when she grows up.

Not a good sign

After a meal, we were sharing ice cream together with the same spoon, Maria had a few bites and said, "I can't walk any more, stop giving me ice cream." 

...Because you have a gun.

The kids have been facinated by guns for the last few days. They have a couple of toy pistols that were given as gifts a while ago and these have recently been the toys of choice. Of course hands and fingers shaped like guns (accompanied by a loud bang) also work.

The kids also have a great desire to be protected. So the question was bound to come some day: "Dad, do you have a real gun?"

So I gave them the "this is dangerous and only dad can touch it" talk. But I told them that I do have a real gun locked up in the house to protect them if a bad guy was to try to hurt them.

Now I am all of a sudden the coolest and most inspiring person on the planet. This morning Maria was sitting on my lap cuddling in a blanket and she said, "I love you so much...because you have a gun." 

Funny Stories/sayings:

Samuel in worried voice "don't dink all of it"
Mom hands Samuel the glass to drink, he drinks, then proudly states "I dink all of it"

Maria in a sympathetic yet patronizing voice to Joshua "calm down, I'll take good care of you"

Samuel drops large bucket of markers onto kitchen floor then attempts to belly dive into them sending marker everywhere. 

Dinner conversation with a three year old:
Maria "are plankton persons?"
Mom "no, thery're creatures"
Maria "do plankton walk?"
Mom "no, I think they float"
Maria "in water?"
Mom "yes"
Maria "look I'm eating pizza just like plankton"
Mom "I don't think plankton eat pizza"
Maria "yes, they do, like this" (eats her pizza while making a fish face)

Sam loves sleeper pajamas, especially his red one. We call them bunny suits.  Last week we were explaininig to the kids that they were born without clothes on. A few days later Sammy states "when, I baby, I waya (wear) red bunny soot in mommy tummy".

Pick myself up

This morning Maria was commenting on how strong her daddy is, and that I can pick up little kids and big kids.
Maria: " You're big, you can pick up big kids and little kids. I'm little so I can pick up little kids."
Dad: "Oh"
Maria: "I'm little, I can pick myself up."
Dad: "Can you show me?"
First she So Maria sat down, put her hands under her thighs and lifted her legs off the ground.
Maria: "See daddy."

Almost everything...

Preface: Joshua does not like tomatoes, but like most wierd people who don't, he likes tomato sauces.

The story: Today during dinner Anna made a yummy crispy pizza, but it was covered in diced tomatos. Joshua looked at it and reminded her of his dislikes. Anna said, those are cooked tomatoes, they taste like spaghetti sauce.

Joshua tried a bite: "You're right mom! You do know EVERYTHING... about Pizza."

This little guy never assumed that his parents knew everything about everything. Even since he was a toddler he has always acted suprised when we have been right and he has been wrong.

It all makes sense

The popularity of first person shooter video games has been growing at a fast pace. I don't know if these violent video games are part a driving force behind recent senseless violence. But I do know that the government will NEVER outlaw these games. Is there a direction I am going with this? Yes.

Check out this video of the new robot/remotely driven military force and comment on if you think the government has an interest in the continued growth of video games. Do you think it is good or bad to use remote "controlled" fighting forces to do our fighting for us?

Deductive reasoning

This morning at breakfast Sam asked, "Dod made Pancakes?"
We tried the detailed answer that God made the things with which me make pancakes. But them he just repeated what he had said earlier, and we realized that it was not a question...he was making a statement: "GOD MADE PANCAKES."
"Yes, Sam, God made pancakes." He was happy with that reply.

After breakfast I asked Sam who made real clown fish. He didn't feel confident enough to answer. So I asked who made everything.
"Dod (God)." said Sam.
Then I asked again, "So who made real clown fish?"
"Dod." was the confident reply.

Alright! My little two year old is deducing right up their with Sherlock Holmes.

Narnia Quiz

Thanks to Alexis, of Love Life, for helping me discover my true self.

Punitive damages

Joshua has has some money in his piggy bank, but yesterday Maria acquired some pennies yesterday and Josh has been trying to get them from her ever since. This morning while making them breakfast I heard Joshua say.

"Maria I got hurt, so can I have your money?"

Hmmm, not such a great outlook to have.

Nightmares

Fish are Sam's favorite topic, and clown fish are the king as far as he is concerned. In fact the adorable 2 year old spends much of his time carrying around his toy clown ('cown") fish, talking about his clown fish, (losing his clown fish), and now we know that he dreams about it too.

Last night at 3:15 am Sam woke me and Anna up with his desperate cries.
Mom: "What is the matter Sam?"
Sam: "Cown fish, Josh broke my cown fish!"
Dad: "It's ok sam, you were just dreaming, your clown fish is on the counter."
Sam: "wimpers" and goes back to sleep.

Follow the Crowd

At lunch today I realized that Sam's sleaves were going to become a casualty of the meal if Anna or I didn't intervene. He was given 3 choices:
1. Roll up your sleeves
2. Take off your shirt
3. Lose the pizza
He chose to lose the pizza. But Maria (the kiss-up) said in a very proud voice, "I'll roll up my sleeves dad."
This gave me the idea to have everyone roll up their sleeves.

Sam sat silently as everyone at the table rolled up their sleeves. He simply couldn't resist following the crowd (or maybe the 2 year old is learning to compromise).

But eutopia was nearly ruined when 5 year old Josh announced that his arms were itchy and proceeded to put his sleeves back down.

A nano second later Sam was saying "my ahms ichy, sweeves down."

No, No. Josh had to get quickly back in line to save Sam's sleeves from a saucy doom. Luckily we all worked together today to keep it clean once more.

Fun Educational Songs

KidsKnowIt.com  is full of 1950's music all about science and other stuff for kids to learn.

The lightning song is fun.

New Soul

A larger version of this film as at at MacGallery

Music by: Yael Naim

Video edited with iMovie 08

Soft hands

I was trying to explain to the kids how laws in our country keep us safe. I used the examlple that laws say you cannot kill someone or you will be punished by going to prison.

Maria interjected: "Dad, I can't kill anybody because I have soft hands."

Hot Tea

Apparently two years without talking has left Sam with a lot to say. He has been talking a lot lately. On cold mornings we like to drink tea, and in the past we made a big deal about it being hot (so they wouldn't stick their fingers in the boiling water. So now even warm tea and milk is referred to as "Hot Tea".

This morning while eating french toast and drinking tea Sam said, "Look Dad, burn fench toast in mouf."

Sugar

We had dinner with the Brown's and afterwards my kids wanted a piece of candy from the big candy bowl. There was, however, cheese cake planned for dessert. They were given the choice of waiting for cheese cake or having candy. We knew the kids would be disappointed with their candy decision once they saw us eating our cake in a few minutes. So we began trying to help them make a better choice. "Cheese cake is yummier." "You'll get more cheese cake than that little piece of candy." They still weren't buying it so Dominic spoke up, "Cheesecake has more SUGAR in it."

(it was so funny to see how a little boy's mind works: as if sugar content is the best way to rate food). They ended up going with the cheesecake after they saw it.

Anna had the kids at the play area in the mall and Sam was bending over with his hands over his crotch and a startled look on his face. Anna though he was hurt but then Sam said,

"Ty-ing keep pull up dy, pee coming out." 

Ahh, the joys of toilet training.

I mopped the bathroom floor the other day...but only after I dropped a dark blue towel near the base board and retrieved a dark blue towel with a large gray collection of dust on it. What is the world coming to? 5 years ago I was so focused on keeping the house spotless: I mopped at least weekly (Mr-Janitorial-background, here). Now I seem to have lost my zeal for cleaning. As long as the counters are clear, the dishes are clean, toys are off the floor and the kids are content--things are peaceful. I guess I have found peace in something other than cleanliness (and that must be a good thing).
Posted as a comment on voxpopuli-hannah.blogspot.com and after I typed it I thought it was realization I should post here too.

Little Readers

Having kids that are close in age has some wonderful moments; they just love to do things together. This afternoon I found them in the living room reading our old Tintin comic books.

The other day Joshua authored another book, this one is an "ABC" picture book. He did it almost completely on his own except for the spelling of a few words, including xylophone. Later in the day I found Joshua teaching the other kids (who were completely engrossed) their abc's.

Coolest birthday cake yet

It has become a tradition in our home to make birthday cakes in cool and unusual shapes at the request of the kids. We have had a fish, fire truck, teddy bear, school bus, and most recently a Nautilus and Tiger Shark for Joshua's birthday.

Yeah, it takes a little more effort than a normal cake, but the kids love it, and Anna and I have fun making them together.

Seriously considering a crazy departure from normalcy

In case you didn't know we are planning to build a house on some land we bought with some family & friends. Anna and I kind of Stumbled upon monolithic domes and now we are hooked.

Here is an example of this Beautiful Monolithic Dome from the inside.

Here is a page with the construction process and a floorplan.

Why a monolithic dome?

1. More interior space with less surface area.

2. 1/3 the cost to heat & cool.

3. Disaster proof.

Please comment with your thoughts.