Tossing Around the Purple Pigskin

Joshua has been extra excited about football lately, both in watching it and in playing it.  Meghan and I certainly have concerns about him actually playing it at an organized level, and we'll figure out for sure what we'll do with that later, but for now his desire to play mostly consists of throwing the ball back and forth.  He has a very polite way of asking things, so today he said, "Hey Dad.  Would you mind if you could come out in the back yard and play some football with me?"  Well, there's no way I can turn that down.  One of the great joys of fatherhood is playing sports with your children, especially father/son activities, so I was probably just as excited as he was.  We went in the back yard and threw around my K-State football (it's a size smaller than regulation, so it's easier for him to throw) for awhile, and it was great.  And he's always been a great thrower, even when he was a baby chucking toys around the living room.  He can actually throw a spiral to me most of the time, and after I told him what a spiral was and why it was an accomplishment, now he gets excited every time he throws one, "Hey Dad!  I threw another spiral!"  Times like these are the best.

Battling Baxter Stockman

The kids have limited time each day on their Kindles, so they do a pretty good job of playing or watching their favorites.  While the girls mostly watch shows on theirs, Joshua's favorite thing for awhile now has been to play Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Rooftop Run.  Once of the bad guys in the TMNT world is Baxter Stockman, and he's featured in this game as a boss that you have to beat.  Joshua has progressively gotten better at the game, and although it took him quite a few times, he finally beat Baxter,  The first time he did it, he ran over to me, "Dad!  Dad!  I beat Baxter Stockman!!!" And every time he says his name, he emphasizes the "man" part of his name as if it were "Baxter Stock Man", which is cute.  Now he beats Baxter fairly regularly, and when he gets to that point in the game, he yells out in a pretend angry and determined voice, "I'll get you Baxter Stockman!"

Using My Tools to Cut the Grass

One of Joshua's most frequent requests this summer has been "Daddy, can I use some of your tools to cut the grass?"  He used to just use his toy saw, but he has seen me use my tools for other things, and he wanted to use them to cut the grass.  Initially I didn't let him use anything sharp, so he would spend a lot of time using pliers to rip small clumps of grass out.  But later in the summer I felt he was responsible enough and let him use a small hacksaw I have.  He's done really well with it. and he's had a lot of fun.  He was creating piles of grass, so I gave him one of my old buckets, and that made him even happier, because he could saw some grass and then throw it in the bucket.  Anytime I'm outside or in the garage he asks if he can use some of my tools to cut the grass, and if I say yes, he asks if he can use my saw,   While it's not enough to actually contribute to the mowing process, it's also not so concentrated that it butchers the yard.  So it's harmless and he has a lot of fun.

I am a Chaise Lounge

Tonight I was lying down on the floor playing with Hannah, and Clara spotted an opportunity.  She noticed that the contour of my body while I was lying on my stomach looked comfortable, so she plopped down right on top of me with her hands behind her head, relaxing.  Fortunately she weighs nothing (and her lack of pants helped even more, I suppose), so it didn't really bother me at all.  I kept playing with Hannah, and she kept relaxing.  It worked for everyone.

Veterans Day Playdate

Today was a school holiday due to Veterans Day. Evan is a boy in Joshua's class who we really like, but we have almost completely opposite schedules so it is very hard to schedule anything together. So we took advantage of the holiday and had a play date. It was kind of rainy so we met at Kaw Prairie (our church). We played at the play area for awhile and then went into the gym. Joshua and Evan mostly looked like this since they love "playing football" (some football, but a lot of wrestling).

The girls and Evan's younger brother, Ryan, also got in on the action. We had a fun day and I definitely want to keep the gym in mind for the future as the weather gets colder.

Sharing with Chicken

Hannah and I get to spend a lot of time together alone on Mondays and Wednesdays because the other kids are in preschool. Because it's so much easier to run errands with only one kid and because Hannah loves running errands, we often go to the grocery store. She gets a treat many of the times we go, which means she is a little bit spoiled, but I am okay with that. Usually we go home and she watches a Dora and then eats her treat. It is super cute, because she always brings Chicken Baby over to wherever she is and then gives her one bite for every bite she takes.

Tending to the Flowers

When they kids are over at Ron and Mom's house, they sometimes have the kids help with small tasks around the house. While they are probably usually only of marginal help, they are almost always excited to provide their assistance. Recently Ron needed to water his flowers, and Joshua and Clara were happy to jump in and help him out.