The homework can wait

Usually, this time of year, the Kiser women start to talk about cookie day. That is when we all get together and have a day of making cookies. This year, however, is a bit different. With Lana due to have a baby in December, we are having to come up with creative ways to get our usual holiday activites done. Matt and Lana are coming this weekend, and we are going to celebrate Christmas/ Thanksgiving. We were going to add cookie day in there, but decided it was way too much. As a result, we are having a cookie exchange instead. I decided to make some peanut butter blossoms, since I had the kisses on hand. Austin got very excited about this. (Now, on a normal day, I want him to start his homework RIGHT after supper. This allows for a little play time before he needs to go to bed. Today was different!) I let Austin help with the cookies. We had a nice time making cookies, talking, and I enjoyed seeing him learn something new. (We did spelling words while I washed dishes)

Here he is hard at work!

The end result!

It was nice to do something out of the ordinary with him.

Note to Mrs. Say: I know you read my blog, please know that Austin is upstairs counting money and reading with Mike. We did get all the homework done! He did, however, want to give you a plate of cookies--I had to tell him that they were not gluten free, so we better not. I guess he was at least thinking of you!

Thanksgiving trip

We went to Mike's home for Thanksgiving. I took the camera, and got some pictures of a few things we did while there.

I had to get a picture of this. This is the paint can that we always look for along I-81 in Carlisle, PA. This is the 1/2 way point to getting to their house!

We always try to find a McDonald's that has a play area, so that the boys can have an opportunity to run around and play for a bit.

Adam decided to have his picture taken with Ronald McDonald.

Austin followed suit.

Mike even decided to get in on the action. Austin took this picture. I think he did pretty good (could photography be in his future?)

Austin created this Lego dog. It is suppose to look to Grandma and Grandpa's dog Rozie.

Mike and his brother took the boys on a hike to "the caves" (as they called it when they were kids. It amazes me how HUGE the rocks are!

Adam found the perfect nook for himself

My what a strong boy I have! (and a pretty good actor too)

Before we left we were able to see Mike's friend from High School and his boys (his wife had to work that evening) The boys always enjoy going to see Dylan and Micah. When these boys are together they giggle, and giggle and they all love Nerf guns and darts. They run, laugh and shoot. It is always an active time, but they have so much fun. I missed my chat with Delise, (somehow it wasn't the same talking with Troy and Mike )

hopefully it will work out next time.

Have you ever lost a child...

...and not known it?

This has happened to me twice since school started. Both times, Adam was the missing child.

A few months ago, Austin went up to Mike's room after school, but Adam was not with him. Following on his heels was Mr. Kline, Adam's teacher. He was wondering if Adam was up in Mike's room, he wasn't! Mike sent his 4th graders in pairs to search the school for Adam and they started their hunt. As it turned out, someone was testing a sound system in the cafeteria. To test this system they were playing a movie. Adam decided to hunker down in a corner and watch the movie.

The second time was Wednesday. I was home packing things up for our trip. The phone rang, it was Adam's friend's mother. She asked if I was wondering were Adam was. I told her that I was waiting for him to come home with Mike. She said, " He rode the bus to our house, my husband is putting him back on, and they bus driver will take him back to school." I could not believe this. Mike had his 4th graders, again, searching the school for Adam. When I asked Adam why he went on the bus he said, "Nick asked me to come over to play with his new Lego game." I was really surprised that the bus driver would let him on the bus without a note.

It is not a good feeling to know that my child goes missing. Thanks goodness for his guardian angel who keeps him safe. That angel has a full time job!

he really IS growing!

This morning, Austin put on a pair of pants for church. He said that he had been looking for these pants for a month. When he put the pants on, they were about an inch off of his foot. I decided that this was as good a time as any to check to see if he had grown. I measured him and he had grown...about a 1/2". Now, to anyone else, this may not seem like a big deal. But to me it is! With this 1/2" he is now 4' tall. Austin is the oldest child in his class at school, and he is one of the smallest children in the class.

When Austin was in Kindergarten I bought some pants for him-he is still wearing these pants. However, he has worn them so much that I don't think that they will be worthwhile to pass to Adam. (But, we did get 3 years of wear out of them) If he continues to grow, he just may out grow those pants before he completely wears them out!

Say that again

A few weeks ago, I took Adam to the Doctor for his 6 year check up. They had a questionnaire about heart health. Some of this was about family and their heart health. I filled out the questionnaire, and discussed it with the Doctor. I explained that Mike's Dad had a heart attack (10 years ago), and his Mom had a stint (about 3 years ago). Then I continued that my Dad has had strokes (not on the form, but still felt it was valid information) So, we decided to go ahead and get some fasting blood work on the boys for a good baseline. A few days later, I took the boys into the out patient center to have their blood drawn. On the way there, they were wondering why they needed to do this. I did my best to explain the situation. I then took them home, got them ready for school, and they were out the door. I really did not think that the little band-aids on their arms would be a problem, so I let them keep them on. Austin, apparently, got to school and showed his teacher the "war wound." She asked him, "what is that for?" Austin answered, "My Grandpa had a heart attack, so I had to give blood." She was a bit confused and asked me about it when I came in later.

He kind of had it right, but left a few details out.

We're not really sports people

The other day, I was in the car with the boys. Adam said, "I have a great idea!" With a comment like that, I am always eager to hear what comes next! He continued, "For a sports game, you have two hoops for basketball. One is red, one is blue. The Redskins will play the red hoop and the Eagles will play the blue hoop."

That would be a great idea, the only glitch is that they are both football teams (and I had to google to make sure the eagles played football!)

The cutest little Indian

Tuesday night our school had their Kindergarten / school singers Thanksgiving program. I have to say, I think we had the cutest little Indian there!
They sang several songs, and acted parts out. The music teacher does such a wonderful job with this program.

Breakfast talk

This morning, I was talking with my boys as we were eating our breakfast. Adam asked when Thanksgiving was. I told him, then he said, "Thanksgiving is like Trick or Treating without the costumes. You go to one house and eat, then go to another house and eat." (I had never thought of that way, but he has a point.) I told the boys our plans for Thanksgiving, then told them that following that we would have Thanksgiving/Christmas/Cookie Day because Matt and Lana would be in town and this would be the last visit until the baby comes. That led to a conversation about the hospital that Lana is going to have the baby in, would it be in our town? is it only for mothers and babies? I did my best to explain the way that I thought the hospital might be, and no, they would not have their baby here, they would go to a hospital near their house. At that point, I looked at Adam, I can see the wheels turning in his head. Then he pointed asks, "How are they going to get the baby out, without hurting Lana?" (Now, let me insert here, that of all the ways that I ever thought we might have this conversation, it was NEVER over breakfast!!) I tried the explanation of, the Doctor will be there to help Lana. Adam says, "how?" I tried to think how to make this age appropriate, and decent breakfast conversation. So, I responded, "That God has provided a special opening for the baby to come out." Adam, still thinking, said, "Oh, I know they use a fervager." "A What??" Then, Austin explains to me that he meant a "Massager." They then told me that they use the massager and the baby wiggles right out. (Now, wouldn't that be nice? Get a massage and the baby is born!) By this time, I had to start getting ready, so I just said, "Not exactly, but you are always thinking!!"

Kissable Progress

For a while now, Adam has not wanted to be kissed. At first it was because they spread germs. Then at some point he said he was waiting for Lucy to kiss him first, (I was second in line!). This has been difficult for me, but Mike and I have been known to sneak into his room after he is asleep and give him a quick kiss.

Mike and Adam have lunch at the same time. They are at different tables, but can see each other. They often wave, and Mike will come to Adam's table and talk to him a bit. Yesterday, Mike told me that they started this "game." Mike said he blew a kiss to Adam and Adam would then wipe it off his cheek. Then, Mike blew 2 kisses to Adam, and he had to wipe both cheeks. This progressed for a while until Mike started to blow the kisses up to the ceiling so that they would ricochet down, and Adam had to wipe the top of his head. They played this game until Adam got up from his table to avoid being hit by kisses. Mike had to go tell Adam that he needed to stay seated, so the game was over.

Last night, as I was putting Adam to bed, he gave me a kiss and I told him how I would love to give him a kiss. I explained that a kiss is a gesture of love. I told him that I would only kiss him very quickly on his cheek. He thought for a moment, and said okay. So, for the first time in probably over a year I was able to kiss him--without him wiping it off (while still awake :) After I kissed him he looked at me and said, "huh, that wasn't so bad!" Of Course Not!! Needing to make up for lost time, I kissed him when he got up this morning, then he gave Mike permission to kiss his cheek, then I got to give him another kiss before he left the house.

I'm sure he will have plenty of kisses for his wife, and he probably won't care about the germs!

Pocahontas and Obecca

Earlier this school year, Adam would come home talking about a girl in his class named Obecca. I thought, "that is a different name." I later found out that her name is really REbecca. I have tried to correct him a few times, but he still calls her Obecca.

This morning he was trying to sing a song that they are performing for their Thanksgiving program at school. It started out, "Pocahontas was brave...." The boys started asking questions about Pocahontas, and I could not remember that information from so long ago, so I went to my trusty World Books to find the information. I was reading a long to the boys, and read that she was converted to Christianity and baptized with the English name Rebecca (I did not remember this fact). Adam's ears perked up and he said, "Obecca, did I hear Obecca?"

Well, kind of, I guess...

Funny how it works!

Today the boys were playing outside. They kept coming to me and tattling, they would say, "He did this." or "He did that." I got tired of this so, I told the boys to find a corner and sit until they could play nicely again. They found 2 corners in the same room. It did not take long until one of them found a matchbox car, and they were soon rolling it across the floor to each other giggling.

Funny how it works!

Pumpkin log

Today, we had a lunch meeting after work. Our preschool provided dessert. I brought in a pumpkin log. Several people said that this would be good for this event or that meeting. So, I am putting the recipe on here, to make it easier for those intested in this recipe.

PUMPKIN LOG

-line 10x15 cooking sheet with wax paper

-Preheat oven to 375

CAKE:

Combine:

3 eggs

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup pumpkin

3/4 cup flour

Pour cake batter on cookie sheet and bake 20-25 minutes. Turn onto a dishtowel that has been sprinkled with powdered sugar (leave wax paper attached for now). Roll in towel like a jelly roll.

FILLING:

Combine:

2 tbsp margarine

1-8oz cream cheese

3/4 tsp vanilla

1 cup powdered sugar

When cake is cooled, unroll and remove wax paper. Spread filling. Re-roll. Refrigerate or freeze. Slice when ready to serve.

Birthdays in heaven...

I was just putting Adam to bed. After we prayed, he started to ask some really deep questions about faith. He wanted to know "How God brought Jesus back to life." I expained that we really don't know HOW God did it, we just know THAT God did it! I went to get a book I have, 801 questions kids have about God, in hopes of answering this question in a better manner. This particular question was not in there, but Adam was flipping through the book and found a question and said, "Maybe this will help us." I read the question, "Will we still have birthdays in heaven?" Adam looked at me and said, "Well, I can answer that." "Oh?" I said. He replied "Well, we won't because heaven might catch on fire."

Huh.....never thought of that. Only in the mind of a 6 year old boy!