All For Nothing

Last week, we had to take Luke's DSi in to get fixed.

The service guy told him they would send his in and mail him another one within a few days and that if he wanted the soccer skin he had on it, we had better take it off or lose it forever.

We really should have just let it go, but I was determined to get that sucker off. I pulled and pulled and when it was almost off my hand broke free and I clocked Lucas in the head.

Really hard.

The service guy just said, "Oh that was an accident.....I'm sure." Yes, yes it was an accident!!

Luke was so stunned he wouldn't tell me where my fist landed, but then I saw the two little lines on his forehead. I not only punched him, but the brunt of the force came from my wedding ring.

It was hard for me to even look at him all last week because I just felt so bad about it.

On top of all that, we had to throw the DSi skin away because it was in no way reusable.

It was a bummer for Lucas all the way around!

Earth Hour

This past weekend was Earth Hour, where everyone was suppose to turn off their lights for an hour.

We decided to use our powerless hour playing a board game. The boys chose Monopoly.

I learned a couple of things during that bit of quality time with my boys.

1. Luke and Henry are, in fact, old enough to hold their own at fun games like Monopoly.


2. Everything is more fun in the dark. (don't be dirty!)


3. Lucas is amazing at doing math in his head--he always has been, but it still amazes me!


4. Ben is completely ruthless when it comes to Monopoly.


5. He also, apparently, can't see very well in the dark.

Ben's lack of eyesight did not, however, stop him from completely bankrupting me an hour and a half into the game!

One Last Snow

We had a quick, random bit of snow yesterday.

It only lasted about 5 minutes, which was just long enough for Henry to become completely frozen because he was outside with no shoes on.

Do Four Year Olds Do That?

Josh Oliver turned 4 on the 23rd, and it has opened up a whole new world for him!

Josh is a boy who lives within his own social boundaries.

He has strict ideas about what boys should do and what girls should do. Three year olds versus four year olds. He knows his limits and often refuses to cross them.

It sometimes gets in the way of his, and my, productivity.

Now that he's 4, though, he has a whole new set of things that he can do.

The one that makes me the most excited is now he will wear his 4T clothes, which he's been wearing for several months now, without arguing that 3 year olds DO NOT wear 4 year old clothes!

His birthday has also allowed me to exploit his love of limits a bit. When he starts to dig in his heels about something he doesn't want to do, I just have to excitedly comment that 4 year olds love to do that sort of stuff! Generally it works to my benefit! It may sound bad, but really it isn't!

Either way we are all excited about his new age!

Speaking of social boundaries, he doesn't have a problem crossing the boy/girl color one.

Pink is his hands down favorite. That means he had a pink themed birthday party. I never thought that would happen in our house, but he loved it!

Good Times in the Fort!

Henry's Gift to Ollie

Josh Oliver turned 4 yesterday!!

He's getting so old!

Henry wanted to pick out a present for him, so off we went to Target. 

He really wanted to find some slippers for him--I'm not really sure why.

The only reasonable ones they had were pink bunny ones--perfect for our pink loving boy.  

He also picked out a Monster Truck for him.

Among all the other fabulous gifts, he also got quite a haul of candy and sweets.

It's a favorite kind of gift among all the Jonker boys!!

Some Candy, the Park, and the Cemetery

When we went back up to my Grandpa's to rectify his flower situation, we decided to mix things up a bit.  We stopped at the candy store in Sedelia!

Each of the kids got a couple of dollars and got to pick out a treat of their choice.  

Oh the excitement!!  There was so much to pick from!

After the candy store we headed to the cemetery for a visit--and to give him some new, nice flowers--and then we decided to head to the park.

On the way, we came across a Henry Street.

Yet another little gem on our day of adventure!

At the park the kids played and ate their chocolate until we got too chilly and decided to head back to Kansas City.

It was one of our best visits!

The cemetery doesn't mean much to the kids, but it's nice for them to have something to look forward to when we do make our trek to Sedelia!

The Unpunishables

The boys have been making me absolutely crazy today.

Absolutely, completely crazy.

They are bouncing off the walls, not listening even a tiny bit.

So...I pushed them out the back door, gave them the task of picking up poop, and locked the door behind them.

It was the only way to remotely save my sanity.

As I worked on getting this nightmare of a house cleaned up, they happily played outside the back window.....not picking up poop, but instead taunting me with their good times.

It is so frustrating to dole out a punishment and then have them not really understand that they should be sad about it.

They ended up staying out there for quite awhile as I worked myself into a better mood.  

No poop got picked up, and lessons were not learned, but I got the house cleaned, and all three boys will live to see tomorrow, so we're going to count this day a win...but just barely.

Sacrifices

For Lent last year, Lucas gave up soda.

I didn't really intend to hold him to it, but I was proud of him for trying. 

He blew me away, though, with how dedicated he was to it. 

There were many times that I would offer him a soda, forgetting that he couldn't drink it, and he would always nicely remind me that he had given it up and then ask for a water. 

I don't think he slipped up one time. 

This year when Lent rolled around, I asked him what he wanted to give up and offered to give up the same thing. 

He picked chocolate. 

I knew there was no way I could give up chocolate--a spoonful of Nutella is a daily requirement for me. Lucas probably could have forged through the 6 1/2 weeks, but without Little Debbie brownies and Oreos he would be left to thrive on bread and crackers alone. I just don't think his skinny little body could survive that. 

I finally convinced him to go with soda once again. 

Maybe we can try chocolate next year. 

As far as the rest of the boys are concerned:

• Ben is giving up soda--a definite upgrade from his usual ridiculous sacrifices.
• Josh is giving up soda by default
• Henry originally wanted to give up rock collecting, but ended up going with bananas. He's been flaunting his soda drinking privileges, so I'm thinking I may need to make up some banana muffins!