My children are obsessed. I mean completely obsessed. It’s Star Wars. And Legos. And put together, Star Wars Legos. Although they are only allowed to play their computer game for a limited time on the weekend, they will spend much of their free time during the week: light-saber-dueling (with the standard plastic light-saber toys) in the driveway, building all manner of Star Wars space ships out of Legos, drawing pictures of Star Wars battles, setting up elaborate scenes from Star Wars with their little plastic figures, and – constantly, endlessly, relentlessly – talking about Star Wars. I’ve actually had to make a Rule: No Star Wars conversation while we are eating. (It gets kinda quiet!) Then they try to refer to things without actually mentioning them. Yeah, you know how subtle little boys can be!
Wyatt makes these incredible space ships out of Legos, based on pictures from the movies. Then he describes the situation (from the movie) where they appeared, including all the technical names for the vehicles, and asks me if I remember them. Uh, gee, Wyatt. I’m pretty good about the first Star Wars movie, (which is not #1 but #4,) but the rest are a bit hazy.
Gunnar, not to be outdone, showed me a unique twisted box-like structure made of orange, yellow, and red Legos. There was a Star Wars Lego “mini-fig” (person) lying on his back, at the bottom of the box. He proceeded to explain to me that when Jedi warriors die, burning them is honoring them. Apparently he has constructed possibly (?) the first Lego crematorium. (Really – he’s not a disturbed or morbid child!)
Tate took it upon himself to write a rather lengthy letter (!) to Mr. Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, of the Lego Company, describing in great detail a kit which he (Tate) would like the Lego company to produce, the pieces it should include, the scene from a particular Star Wars movie that he was inspired by, some pricing suggestions, and included a drawing of the battle scene from the movie. Now he’s asking me every day when I think he’ll be hearing from the Lego company…
And all I can think of is CAN WE PLEASE CHANGE THE SUBJECT?!?!
This winter has been characterized by (according to the boys’ point of view) a disturbing and unacceptable lack of “play-able” snow. Oh, there has been plenty of snow in Washington this year (ALL cross-state mountain passes closed at the same time, for the first time in 11 years, or some such thing?!), but not here… not exactly, precisely here. It has been tantalizingly close –right up in all the hills surrounding us, right there in view! – but not enough here to play in.
So we took last week ‘off’ and trekked over the recently-opened pass to visit friends at Stonewater Ranch, the new home of Reachout Expeditions (now “YD Adventures”). Fun on so many levels! For the boys, 140 acres of freedom and fun in the snow… lots of snow! For me, ‘fun’ (well, encouraging and inspiring) to see that a ministry that I really love is still going strong after all these years. And, for all of us, fun to be together with good friends. And – what a bonus! - we happened to be there at the right time to trek out to a snowy field one night and see not only the bright stars (far away from city lights) but also the lunar eclipse.
So there! We weren’t on vacation, we were on a field trip! That was really educational. And geography too. And humor. I mean, come on, does anyone else see the incongruity of two towns as different as the oh-so-kitschy faux-Bavarian village of Leavenworth and the – well – very plain town of Plain existing so close together? Yep, Plain Washington, home of the Plain Hardware store, the Plain grocery, and the Plain Church. And some really great people =) lest you think I’m mocking!
We returned from our snow-fest on Thursday, and Tate and I had to turn right around Friday and go to Seattle, for appointments at Children’s Hospital. I had Tate’s hearing tested last week, and the testing revealed what they politely call a “shift” in his hearing levels. We’ll be back down to Children’s next month to pick up a new Hearing Aid, which has been ordered.
Even with homeschooling, and a quieter home environment, Tate has been more frustrated lately. I’ve been getting a lot of “Whaaat?” Of course, I’m hoping the new HA will be a big help, and praying (please join me!) that he won’t lose any more hearing and that he will not be so frustrated, but also just facing the fact that this IS his reality. (Hey, they can transplant hearts, lungs, and other things… when will somebody figure out an ear transplant?)
In other news, Spring Soccer is on the horizon and I’m trying to work up some enthusiasm. I have to confess that I like Fall Soccer a lot better. Spring Soccer is so often just a big, rainy, mud-fest… but then, that’s probably a large part of the appeal for the boys! All three will be playing again, so we are in for a few busy weeks.
I really intended for the boys to be writing these updates, but then, the only time I seem to be able to find to sit down at my computer and write is when they are sleeping. Oh well.
Wyatt makes these incredible space ships out of Legos, based on pictures from the movies. Then he describes the situation (from the movie) where they appeared, including all the technical names for the vehicles, and asks me if I remember them. Uh, gee, Wyatt. I’m pretty good about the first Star Wars movie, (which is not #1 but #4,) but the rest are a bit hazy.
Gunnar, not to be outdone, showed me a unique twisted box-like structure made of orange, yellow, and red Legos. There was a Star Wars Lego “mini-fig” (person) lying on his back, at the bottom of the box. He proceeded to explain to me that when Jedi warriors die, burning them is honoring them. Apparently he has constructed possibly (?) the first Lego crematorium. (Really – he’s not a disturbed or morbid child!)
Tate took it upon himself to write a rather lengthy letter (!) to Mr. Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, of the Lego Company, describing in great detail a kit which he (Tate) would like the Lego company to produce, the pieces it should include, the scene from a particular Star Wars movie that he was inspired by, some pricing suggestions, and included a drawing of the battle scene from the movie. Now he’s asking me every day when I think he’ll be hearing from the Lego company…
And all I can think of is CAN WE PLEASE CHANGE THE SUBJECT?!?!
This winter has been characterized by (according to the boys’ point of view) a disturbing and unacceptable lack of “play-able” snow. Oh, there has been plenty of snow in Washington this year (ALL cross-state mountain passes closed at the same time, for the first time in 11 years, or some such thing?!), but not here… not exactly, precisely here. It has been tantalizingly close –right up in all the hills surrounding us, right there in view! – but not enough here to play in.
So we took last week ‘off’ and trekked over the recently-opened pass to visit friends at Stonewater Ranch, the new home of Reachout Expeditions (now “YD Adventures”). Fun on so many levels! For the boys, 140 acres of freedom and fun in the snow… lots of snow! For me, ‘fun’ (well, encouraging and inspiring) to see that a ministry that I really love is still going strong after all these years. And, for all of us, fun to be together with good friends. And – what a bonus! - we happened to be there at the right time to trek out to a snowy field one night and see not only the bright stars (far away from city lights) but also the lunar eclipse.
So there! We weren’t on vacation, we were on a field trip! That was really educational. And geography too. And humor. I mean, come on, does anyone else see the incongruity of two towns as different as the oh-so-kitschy faux-Bavarian village of Leavenworth and the – well – very plain town of Plain existing so close together? Yep, Plain Washington, home of the Plain Hardware store, the Plain grocery, and the Plain Church. And some really great people =) lest you think I’m mocking!
We returned from our snow-fest on Thursday, and Tate and I had to turn right around Friday and go to Seattle, for appointments at Children’s Hospital. I had Tate’s hearing tested last week, and the testing revealed what they politely call a “shift” in his hearing levels. We’ll be back down to Children’s next month to pick up a new Hearing Aid, which has been ordered.
Even with homeschooling, and a quieter home environment, Tate has been more frustrated lately. I’ve been getting a lot of “Whaaat?” Of course, I’m hoping the new HA will be a big help, and praying (please join me!) that he won’t lose any more hearing and that he will not be so frustrated, but also just facing the fact that this IS his reality. (Hey, they can transplant hearts, lungs, and other things… when will somebody figure out an ear transplant?)
In other news, Spring Soccer is on the horizon and I’m trying to work up some enthusiasm. I have to confess that I like Fall Soccer a lot better. Spring Soccer is so often just a big, rainy, mud-fest… but then, that’s probably a large part of the appeal for the boys! All three will be playing again, so we are in for a few busy weeks.
I really intended for the boys to be writing these updates, but then, the only time I seem to be able to find to sit down at my computer and write is when they are sleeping. Oh well.
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