eli met his goal

I had a previous post about how Eli schooled me in Ooh & Aah bowling.  I also mentioned that he had a personal goal to score 5000 points.

Check it out! Congrats Eli!

and i will open up my heart and let the hero let me sing

OK – I did a quick blog about Eli schooling me in coco-nutty bowling…now it’s time for a blog about Eden’s coolness.

Eden was singing “I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever” today. We are always laughing at how our kids will learn songs really quick, but they don’t always hear the words correctly. But they usually make up something that’s pretty close – and funny too.

Here are the correct lyrics for the chorus:
Over the mountains and the sea, Your River runs with love for me
And I will open up my heart and let the healer set me free

Here is Eden’s interpretation:
And I will open up my heart and let the hero let me sing.

I like Eden’s version. Kids are smart. Smarter than we think.

eli beat me in a video game

eli beat me in a video game. i had imagined this would happen at some point in our video game adventures years from now, but never expected it this early. eli is 5. and he beat me. and i was trying really hard. no joke.

we were playing “Ooh & Aah’s Coco-Nutty Bowling” at playhouse disney.

eli schooled me. he scored 4,915. i think i scored 4,300. he was trash talking me the whole way.

great job eli!

See if you can beat a 5 year old in coco nutty bowling…try it.

nexterday

Eden and I were talking this morning, we were talking about what she did yesterday – except she used “nexterday” instead of yesterday. Libby and I were half asleep, but we both started cracking up. Eden is always combining and abbreviating words, I think that’s one of her gifts.  Along with looking cute…

What did you do nexterday?

shake it, don’t break it

i taught them everything they know…

friday thought – GoGurt

After finishing lunch today, here’s my Friday thought

yogurt is really really good in a tube

GoGurt Portable Yogurt, affectionately referred to as “tubes” by my kids – are a staple in our house. And when Dad packs his lunch – they are fair game…

a square world

A couple of short updates from Eli and Eden…

I was reading Eli and Eden a science book on the solar system last night.  They really enjoy learning about the planets.  Eden said something funny.  After we talked about how the earth is round, she said “Daddy, I know the earth is round, but it seems more square to me .”

This morning Eli told me he remembers waking up two times last night.  And he said both times he was uncovered.  He wondered for a minute, then said “maybe a bunch of mice came and pulled my covers down”.

Kids are so amusing…

When I have time, I’ll put together a worship confessional from this past Sunday.  Worship was beautiful this week.

happy thanksgiving

I asked our 3 year old some questions about Thanksgiving…

me: Eden – what do you love about Thanksgiving?

eden: Uh, candy corn and marshmallows.

me: What does Thanksgivng mean?

eden: ‘Cause it’s fun. Do people have to go to thanksgiving?

me: no, some poeple don’t celebrate. What are you thankful for?

eden: Jesus died on the cross. Thanksgiving and Halloween. Let me write my name.

eden

it’s a catpad! (the fuzzy lense of adulthood)

I love that kids see things as they are.

My son Eli (5) and my daughter Eden (3) are like little computer kids. I guess all these kids growing up now are going to be crazy computer kids.

My wife has a mousepad with a cat picture on it. Lame I know. I said something about our mousepad and Eli said “It’s not a mousepad! It’s a catpad!” We had never explained what a mousepad was…so it was a catpad to him.

There have been so many times that our kids have seen things the way they really are, and not through the fuzzy lense of adulthood.

It’s helped me take a second look at so many things, like Jesus for one.

would you quit your shenanigans!?!?

Oh the things you’ll say as a parent, even in a public place…

I met Lib and the 3 hooligans for lunch at Panera today. At one point Lib was getting super frustrated with Eli and she turned to him and yelled:

Would you quit your shenanigans!?!?

I just started to giggle, then Eli did too. I’m like Lib’s 4th kid, I laugh when she yells and then I make our other kids laugh. It’s a vicious cycle. But that got me thinking, what is a shenanigan? Really? And is this a word we should be using in public? Hmm…

According to my good friend Wikit,

A shenanigan is a deceitful confidence trick, or mischief causing discomfort or annoyance. The term is usually used in the plural, shenanigans. However, in some regions, shenanigans can merely refer to harmless mischievous play, especially by children.

Yeah, she was right on with her vocabulary. Shenanigan was the right word…na na na na

What’s something goofy that you say to your kids (or husband)?

driving, cooking and getting married

Some random comments from Eli & Eden tonight…

I asked Eden if she was done on the potty.  She said yes, then she said no.  The she said, “Daddy, do you know what yes-no means?  It means almost.”

While driving home from worship practice, Eli informed us that he doesn’t want to drive or cook or get married when he grows up - because they’re all too dangerous.

trick or treating & experiencing community

trick or treating was a blast last night. Eli “Buzz” and Eden were really cute, and Silas was dressed up as a monkey! He even had a banana hanging out his back pocket. He was cool and he didn’t even know it.

Halloween is an awesome family event for us. And it seemed our entire neighborhood was out last night, everyone talking with new people and getting to know their neighbors. It was an amazing feeling of community, something we lack most other days of the year. We had the chance to meet some new neighbors and they got to see our kids, and there was free candy flying everywhere. Sweetness.

trick or treat

~~i can’t wait to go trick or treating tonight~~

Eli will be buzz lightyear and Eden will be a ballerina, I’m sure Silas will be some cute and fuzzy animal, like every other 6 month old who can’t eat candy!

What was your best costume as a kid?

Pictures from the pumpkin patch this year:

lightning & plans (it’s OK not to be safe part 3 of 5)

Tonight was “daddy night.”

Here’s the official Foester Family definition of “daddy night” – Lib goes out for the night and leaves the 3 little ones to me, it’s that simple. I look forward to daddy night. My kids are fun and I love to hang with them. And they still think I’m cool, which is an added bonus.

Being the thinker, I usually have a plan for “daddy night”.

Here was tonight’s plan…

• dinner
• building block lesson (Eli the little engineer gives me a lesson)

  

• wrestling
• movie time (Toy Story 2)
• bed time routine of brushing teeth and reading books and prayers

THEN, it’s time for daddy to get out his guitar and record some music with the Presonus Inspire Firewire recording thingy. At least that was the plan.

But here’s how it went down…

Silas (5 months) was being a stinker so he didn’t go down ’till 9. I had planned for him to go down at 7. That didn’t happen, but he’s cute so he can get away with it.

I finally got Eli and Eden down a little after 9 and I was getting set up to play some music.

Then the storm came.

Eli and Eden sleep on our third floor so they can hear the rain and thunder pretty clearly in their room. I wasn’t surprised to see them standing outside my door, almost hugging each other in fear.

So I took action, I unplugged the computer and TV and turned all the lights off in our room. We all hopped into our bed and cuddled during the storm. It was one of those loud storms with lot’s of lightning. They had lots of questions about lightning that I couldn’t really answer, like how does lightning come into the TV and computer?

Then we prayed. Eden prayed for our computer which I thought was funny. Eli prayed for his mommy’s safe trip home.

Man, I was floored with the power of God tonight. I actually got a little afraid of Him during the storm. I was reminded how powerful He is and how little control I have over the way I plan things out.

I was reminded tonight that I’m trying to force some things in my life, and trying to make them happen on my plan instead of trusting in God and having true faith that he will see things through.

So I’ll try to keep having true faith and not get too caught up in my plans.

What plan are you holding onto too tightly?

the ultimate convenience

the ultimate convenience?

 

really? read on…

These are the kinds of things you notice with your third kid. With the first I was all uptight. The third? not so much. While changing Silas, who is 5 months old…I noticed this.

This is just crazy, I begin reading the package on the Kirkland “Signature” Baby Wipes (from Costco of course!)…and the description on the back is just incredible. I promise you I am not making any of this up:

Kirkland Signature Premium Baby Wipes are made with a thick, quilted, real cloth material that contains pure cotton. They are extremely soft, exceptionally strong and very gentle against your baby’s delicate skin. And, the handy dispensing package offers the ultimate convenience, so you can take it with you anywhere!

I didn’t know where to begin so I started with doubt. Pure cotton? Real cloth material? Amazing, and they’re disposable! We have come so far. So doubt leads me to check the ingredients. I read on and this is part of what I find:

Water, Aloe Barbadenesis Leaf Juice, Cocoamphodiacetate, Citric Acid, 2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1

Just as I suspected, no mention of pure cotton. And now I’m worried…what is this nitropropane? That sounds dangerous, really dangerous, and painful – especially considering where these “real cloth” wipes get used. I’m just brimming with fear now. But I totally get the leaf juice, that’s a tradition dating way back. Leaves are the original Charmin. I’m totally cool with the leaf juice.

Then I read the last warning/suggestion…

Store at room temperature. Do not flush.

Ok, wait a minute. I’ve been flushing these “real cloth” wipes all along. I think I’m ok on the room temperature thing, but the flushing thing – not so.

But “real cloth” wipes are the ultimate convenience. As for convenience, it doesn’t get better than this. We in the west have perfected convenience – and here it is in its glory.

If you read this ridiculous post – you have to respond to this question. What’s your favorite convenience? Can you give it up?