Lo and Behold, They Fixed the Door!!!

Have I mentioned lately that I love my boys?!!  Better yet, have mentioned how I am both in awe and extremely amused at how their little minds function?

Tonight those little brains outdid themselves yet again.  Daddy was gone tonight for a work function, so it was just the little guys and I.  I have to admit that by 7:00, my fuse was pretty short.  Okay, it was non-existent.   I was actually ready to put the boys down to bed at 6:00-ish, but I decided that putting supper in their bellies before bed would be a good idea.  Not that I was feeling oh-so nurturing; My motives were more self-serving than that. It was more like I was thinking that if I didn't put food in their tummies then they would surely awaken me even sooner than their regular 7am, on the dot, wake-up call.  So, as usual, I fed them.

The boys' non-stop silly antics at dinner made it abundantly clear that 7pm was going to be the bedtime of choice tonight. An hour earlier than usual.  It was for the good of everybody in the house.  And mostly for my sanity. 

So, as I was cleaning up the kitchen and yelling...I mean gently instructing my children to get their playroom cleaned and pjs on, I was keeping my eye on the clock, ready to wisk the boys upstairs as soon as the last dish made it into the dish washer to make my 7pm goal.  I was right on track, too! Playroom was clean (enough) and one boy was in his pjs and another on his way.  Alright! Bed, here we come, and we are all still in one piece.  Victory!

As I called to Seth from the kitchen to come into the living room so I could dress him, I found him sitting in the floor by the playroom door in deep concentration, surrounded by a plethora of toy tools. 

Oh no!  Another mess!  And it is 6:50!!  My goal!  My sanity! Deep breath, Amy. 

It took me a minute to figure out that Seth hadn't just dragged out a pile of tools to play or drive me crazy; He was actually being productive!  I decided to take a seat on the couch and watch him in action...and let go of my 7pm bedtime dream.

For quite a while, our playroom door has had a little hinge problem that makes it difficult to close. We just haven't gotten around to fixing it and since we usually leave that door open, I usually just forget that it needs attention.  It doesn't really impact my day in any way, so that means it gets to sit on the back burner for who knows how long.

However, my two year old has been quite troubled that the door does not close smoothly.  He just noticed it this week. Actually, Seth has just become obsessed with doors in general over the past week.  On Thursday, he became fascinated by the fact that he could turn the knobs on the doors and LOCK them.  This was the coolest thing to him! He then proceeded to amuse himself by locking every door upstairs and then shutting them.  This meant that Mommy had to play McGyver with a credit card and spend twenty minutes trying to jimmy the locks open.

He did it again today.

I am getting pretty handy with a credit card.  It is actually a little scary how easy it is to unlock a door with a credit card.

But I digress.  Back to the playroom door.  Seth has brought its questionable functionality to my attention two or three times this week, but I have given him the same answer each time.  It is actually the answer I give to anything that finds itself broken in this house.  "Daddy will fix it."
That usually satisfies the boys and they move on.

Well, I guess Seth was NOT satisfied and frankly, gave up on Daddy fixing the door. (Actually, in Daddy's defense, I don't think I actually informed him that the door needed to be fixed.)  Doesn't matter now, because Seth decided to take matters into his own hands.   He aligned the hinge and put the dangling screws back in place.  Then he used his toy screw driver to tighten them and then pounded them with the hammer, as a finishing touch.  And the best part, after all of the handy work, the door actually closes!  I didn't do a thing.  I just watched my little guy work, with the patience that God granted because I was fresh out.

I am humbled by how our God chooses to bless us, even on those evenings when our patience is as thin as a tissue and our voices are louder than they should be.

Of course, big brother had to get in on the action, too.  He broke out the sander, because everybody knows that you must sand down those hinges to get them to function just right.

Seth's concentration, work face....and his concentration, frustrated, work face.  I only wish I had gotten a picture of the little tongue that tends to protrude out of all three Workman boys when they are concentrating on a project.  By the way, builders in this house are not required to wear pants.

This is the "construction sign" that Caleb put up to show that work was being done.  Also, notice the tie downs that Caleb rigged up all over the place to denote it was a worker's area.  (but please ignore all of the laundry my kids are sitting in. It is a laundry night here.)

Viola!!

And the boys were still in bed before 8!! Woo Hoo!  It was a victory for all!

A Little Pick Up Game of Football with the Boys

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               Seth-The Kicker                        Biz-The Runner

Touchdown!!

Seth ponders the next play.

"I got it!!"

Go Team Workman!!

So It's Not the Great Pumpkin....

...But it is a pretty big one!

The very first thing that Caleb told me this morning, as he excitedly burst into our room, was that he was going to pick the biggest pumpkin they had at Owl Hill Nature Sanctuary.   His class went on a field trip today, and although the mud and wet grounds kept them from their hayride, it did not keep them from having a really fun day and seeing some pretty cool stuff.

And getting a huge pumpkin!

By the way, our pumpkin's name is "Stinky Sock."

Part of the Family

Only one show can truly captivate BOTH boys at the SAME time for longer than five minutes.

No, it is not a cartoon.

No, it is not a superhero show.

No, it is not even some wacky show with zany songs and dance moves.

It is our beloved Supernanny!

Jo is like one of the family now.

Seth's New Angry Face

And Of course....

Biz got some new wheels, too!

Look Who Is Scootin' Around Town Now

Thanks to our friends, the Powells, Sethie now has a scooter (and helmet) of his very own.  No more pining away, waiting to be tall enough to ride big brother's scooter.  Now, he has one just his size!

And he is very grateful!  Seth has been scootin' all over the place this week!

Whew! After all of that scootin', this little boy needs a break!

Broc Rock

Either this little guy is using his broc broc as a microphone...

or he is serenading his dinner.

Can't you just feel the emotion in Sethie's song?

Note: Eric titled this blog.

 Not me.

Armor of God

"Mommy, will you help me put on my God armor?"

Ephesians 6:10-18 (NIV)

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist,

with the breastplate of righteousness in place,

(We were short on breastplate armor, so our shield of faith did some double duty.)

and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

Take the helmet of salvation and

the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."

Furry House Guest and Captive Audience...All Rolled into One Cute Pug

There is nothing like being serenaded by a two-year-old!  Just ask our favorite pug, Lily.

Our house guest last week made a great audience for our little musician. Lily sat captivated as she watched Sethie strum on his guitar and sing to her his favorite songs. 

It was a lot of fun having Lily stay with us for week while Miss Beth visited her sweet little nephew in Texas.  Not enough fun for me to run out and get a pet of our very own (Sorry guys!), but we did enjoy her a whole bunch.  And the boys were a big help with her.  Caleb is big enough now to take her for short walks outside and Seth made sure I knew when Lily needed water.  Plus, my floor stayed very clean, since we had our very own compact vacuum cleaner walking around the kitchen table and cleaning up after my messy eaters.

And as for our house guest being entertained, that was taken care of.  No problem!

God Fairy

Today while driving down the road, we saw a big stone angel statue.  Seth got all excited and started exclaiming, "I see a God fairy! I see a God fairy!"  It took a minute for us to figure out that he was referring to the angel statue. 

What a sweet 2 1/2 year old interpretation.

Big Sister

Yesterday was the first beautiful day that we had had in a while, so Seth and I picked Caleb up from preschool and headed straight to the park.  We had such a fun time running around and playing together. 

A dear lady in my bible study that morning spoke about how she has felt more like a Martha than a Mary lately, referring to the story of the two sisters in the gospel of Luke.  I could totally relate!! And felt instant Godly conviction as my friend shared her heart. 

Here is the story from the gospel of Luke:

"As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"


"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed.  Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."  Luke 10:38-42 NIV

We are in a very busy season at the Workman household, especially during our days.  We usually have plans 3 mornings a week now, leaving one morning for grocery shopping, and the other for cleaning and trying to get this crazy house in order.  And now with me working from home a few hours a week, time is just not as free flowing as it once was. I am definitely a "work before play" gal by nature, especially when things are busy.  And as I said, the past few weeks have been incredibly busy.  I have been noticing more and more how I seem to never find time to just play with the boys anymore.    Lately, I seem to always be putting them off, so I can get the last load of laundry put away, change the sheets on the bed, start dinner, run a quick errand, blog (oops!) etc., etc., etc.

Plus, I admit that I am just not a very good player.  Okay, I am a horrible player. I have a very hard time sitting still...physically and mentally.  That doesn't mean that I do not enjoy spending time with my boys.  I absolutely love being with my boys...reading to them, going for walks/hikes with them, playing board games with them, cuddling with them, teaching them, conversing with them, cooking with them...  What I am NOT good at is getting down in the floor and letting my imagination run wild.  As soon as I sit down, I start thinking about my to-do list and get distracted.   If we are in the playroom, I will start out playing pirates and end up cleaning the room, not having played more than three minutes.  It is an effort for me to just PLAY! Why is that?  I think that is why God gave me a husband who is a wonderful player and is excellent at being silly.  Thank you, God.  You know me well.

Yesterday, after really letting what my friend shared sink into my heart, I knew I heard that testimony for a reason.

It was time to PLAY!!!

And play we did!  We are park frequenters, but usually the boys are either playing together or with friends and I am not usually the one down in the dirt with them.  But yesterday, I thought we all needed to go home with a little dirt on us. We were all over that place. We were pirates, we were runners, and we were just silly. The boys thought it was extraordinarily cool that I got on the tire swing with them.  It was a lot of fun and I realized I had missed just playing and it wasn't as much effort as I often make it out to be.

I know that I will probably still struggle with the playing thing, but I am going to make an extra effort to be more of a Mary.  Actually a good Mary/Martha balance might be ideal.

As we were leaving the park, Caleb looked up at me and said, "Mom, it was like you were our big sister today."

That made me smile, although it made me a bit sad that it was such a unique treat for him but made me glad to know that I do have a little youthful spring in my step from time to time.

Caleb's First Foul

I posted this on facebook, but realize that most of my loyal blog devotees are not facebookers (Is that an appropriate term?), and this little gem was too good not to share.  So, here is a brief recap of a soccer moment:

At Caleb's soccer game on Saturday, he was up against a defender that he just could not get the ball away from, so what does he do? He grabs the little guy from behind, picks him up, and moves him out of the way. He was not mean about it...more matter of fact. The other guy didn't appear to be shaken. It was hilarious!!! We were all screaming from the sidelines, "NO HANDS, Caleb!!" It was his first soccer foul.


This last game was definitely the most physical game Caleb has played.  I think a lot of it was due to the fact that one of buddies, Dominic, was on the opposing team and they were having a blast playing against one another.  The familiarity definitely meant they did not hold back anything and were not afraid to gently nudge one another from time to time.  They were great sports about it and it was a good spirited rivalry.  At one point, Dominic's shoe flew off as he was kicking the ball. Caleb could barely contain himself as he was laughing like crazy out there and kept looking over to make sure we had seen what had happened from the sidelines.  Dominic just kept right on going and I don't think he realized he lost his shoe until he was halfway down the field.  Caleb had to recap that play many, MANY more times throughout the day.  It was the highlight of the game for him. 

Although Caleb scored three goals (that number continues to grow the more times he is asked throughout the week..but just so you know it was THREE, not thirteen) and made some good blocks, I still think him lifting the little guy, who was about a head taller than him, out of the way, was the day's best play. 

I only wish I had pictures or video from this game to share.

Happy 30th Honey!!!

Eric and I are back in the same decade again...age-wise that is!

Eric turned the big 3-0 today!!

His birthday extravaganza actually began a couple of weeks ago, when I surprised him with an overnight getaway to one of our favorite places, the Brentwood Bed and Breakfast. Okay, I think that gift was as much for me as it was for him.


Then on Thursday, I cooked Eric his birthday dinner of chicken enchiladas and homemade mac and cheese. Yes, you read that right. That is what he requested. Quite the combination. I did throw in some brocoli to help off set the cheese overload. And the boys helped me make chocolate chip cookies...Eric's request in lieu of a birthday cake.

His official birthday started off with a nineteen mile run (without me, of course), then Biz's soccer game, an afternoon of football and pizza with just the guys, and an evening with dinner out at...where else??

Yes, Logans.  Who would have guessed?

With a few of his favorite people.

And it wouldn't be a Workman celebration without ice cream thrown in at some point in the day.  We capped off the evening with a little trip to Ben and Jerrys.

Can't think of a better way to bring in a new decade of life.

And oh how well his friends know him.  Both Ticia and the McLaughlins gifted him with Logans gift cards.

Happy Birthday to my handsome hubby, covenant partner, greatest encourager, very best friend, and love of my life!!