Prayers and Career Plans

Will has become very conscientious lately about praying before meals, and he always wants to be the one to pray. His sweet prayers are usually a running commentary of what has happened that day or whatever happens to be on his mind. They always start with "Thank you, God, for our baby." Here are some recent examples:

Thank you God for our baby, and we got a belt for Christopher and some shampoo, and our baby is coming out soon, Amen.
Thank you God for our baby, and I had a birthday party, and it was a Nemo party, and there were party hats, Amen.
Thank you God for our baby, and she's coming out in April and having a birthday party, and I'm sorry, and I want Uncle Jamie to come, and he's coming after the baby, Amen.

For a long time, Christopher has said he wants to be a daddy and a donut-maker when he grows up. The other day, he asked Will what he wants to be when he grows up. Will didn't really understand the question, and when I asked what he wanted to do at work, he said he wants to play at work. (Good answer!) We gave him some examples of things he could do at work, and he said he wants to be a donut-maker with Christopher. Christopher was thrilled! And so Henley & Henley Donuts was born. :) Then Christopher asked me if donut makers ever go out for donuts. I told him that he could just eat some of the donuts that he made, and he thought that was hilarious! It surprised me, because I figured this whole time that he wanted to be a donut maker so he could eat the donuts. Now he's even more excited about being a donut maker someday!

Easter 2009

Ah, the much-belated Easter post. What a great Easter weekend we had. On Friday, we took an Easter basket to Noel's office to hand out plastic eggs with candy and Bible verses about the resurrection inside them. I thought I had explained what we were doing to the boys, and when we got there, there were two women sitting outside. Christopher gave an egg to one of the women, and Will followed his lead. But when the woman thanked Will for the egg, he decided to take it right back out of her hand and put it back in the basket! I explained again that we were giving away the eggs, and he chose another egg to give to her, letting her keep it this time. I realized that part of the problem was that he had originally given her a pink egg--pink is his very favorite color--and the second egg he gave her was yellow. But once we got inside, Will became more generous and handed out all the pink eggs first. As soon as he put an egg in someone's hand, he'd say, "Let's go find more people!"

On Saturday, we had some other families over for an Easter egg hunt. The kids had a blast hunting for eggs with their friends and then feasting on all that they had found. Then we had pizza and cake--I made a super-easy cake that looked like an Easter basket.

On Easter Sunday, we went to worship and then joined Noel's family for lunch and my family for dinner. It was a full, busy, wonderful day!

Potty Training, Rescue Jet and other happenings

Yes, I realize I have been a terrible blogger lately. Blame it on the end of a pregancy if you'd like, complicated by the fact that I spend most of the day asking Will if he needs to go potty and taking him to the potty. (Because unlike his older brother, who always insists he doesn't need to go when he does, Will says he needs to go potty about three times more than he actually needs to go.)

This has been attempt #2 on the potty training. After Will lost interest during attempt #1, I waited until he asked to wear underwear before trying again. And he has done great! He is super at going #1 in the potty, and we're still working on #2. He also has issues going on potties everywhere other than home. He's managed to go at school the last two weeks and has gone at a restaurant once. Every other time we've left the house, he's pretty much just held it until we get home. I wish he'd learn to go when we are out, but his holding abilities are impressive!

One sweet aspect of the potty training has been Christopher's encouragement of his brother. Christopher has read countless books to Will while he sits on the potty and is eager to join in the celebration when something flush-able is produced. Lately, Christopher has been handing out stickers to Will every time he puts "big pee" or "big poop" in the potty. Christopher has to assess the product and then decrees, "Will! You get one sticker for that! Great job!"

Christopher's latest obsession is superheroes. He talks a lot about good guys and bad guys and has even categorized some toy animals he has as good animals (the tamer, farm-type animals) and bad animals (the wild ones, led by two panthers). He apparently has a movie running in his head which he stars in himself as "rescue jet." Rescue jet has many impressive features, such as a laser that shoots out hot lava to kill bad guys. He flies around, using all his abilities to rescue princesses, fairies and mermaids. (Christopher spends a lot of time with 5-year-old girls, so he knows very well about all the damsels in distress who need rescuing.) Rescue jet also gives great hugs--he simply converts his wings to "hugging arms." :)

Christopher has also started tee-ball. So far they've just been practicing--games start next week, which should be quite interesting. Christopher loves it, and he is very proud of the fact that he hasn't been tagged out. (Admittedly, his teammates are not too great at fielding the ball and throwing it to 1st base. I'm not sure anyone has been tagged out. In fact, at their last practice, some of the base runners were trying to field balls. Hilarious!)

I also feel that I should record for posterity that Christopher was stung by a bee for the first time yesterday. The poor kid sat on one and got stung right on his bottom. Boy, was that traumatic!

And of course, there is the upcoming birth of the much-anticipated baby sister. The boys are ecstatic. A few days ago, I had explained to Christopher that the baby is coming in two weeks. (I'm being induced.) Later that day, he excitedly told our pest control guy that his baby sister is coming in two weeks and "if Mommy told me it was one week, I'd be REALLY excited!!!!" This morning, Will said: "I will be gentle with the baby. I will not hurt the baby. I will share a nice animal with she. I will share the pig, because the pig is not scary." (Oh yeah, did I mention we are having issues with pronouns? He also adds an extra -ed on all past-tense verbs. "Trieded. Glueded. Playeded.")

Easter post coming soon, unless I have a baby before I get around to it! :)