Mulching and Matchbox cars

We spent most of the day today landscaping and working in the yard.  When I got to one particular bush, I noticed a matchbox car way down in the foliage.

I pulled it out and then realized there were several other cars in there too.

                                        

The more I took out, the more I discovered.

I ended up with a nice pile of cars.

Thirty eight, to be exact.

When I asked Deacon about it, he had a perfectly logical explanation.  "If bad guys ever come in and steal all of our toys, they won't find these.  So we will still have some cars to play with."

After I had all of the cars out, Deacon pointed to the other bush right beside the one I had been working in.  "Ok, Daddy, let's get the cars out of this bush too!

I know they are in here somewhere!"

Flat the Nice Snake

Every night (and most naps), I tell Deacon and Finn a story about Flat the nice snake. Flat is a character Deacon created. My mom doesn't like snakes and so Deacon made up a nice snake. Every story begins the same way (and Deacon & Finn could recite this for you).

"Once upon a time, there was a snake named Flat. Flat was a nice snake. He didn't hiss at little boys. He didn't scare grandmas. And he didn't eat mice. In fact, his best friend was a mouse named Timmy."

Flat & Timmy do everything together. They go on picnics, build snowmen, play basketball, etc... Some stories have to do with what is going on in our family (for example, if we go to the library during the day, Flat & Timmy might go that night or if Deacon is struggling with discontentment, Timmy will learn a lesson in being content). Most stories have a spiritual twist of some kind (Flat will help someone who is less fortunate because that is what Jesus would want him to do). And some stories are just plain silly (usually because I'm tired...earlier this week, Deacon asked for the story about when Flat & Timmy met all of their animal friends, so I told them about the time they went into the woods and met the chipmunks (Alvin, Simon & Theodore) and the turtles (Donatello, Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael)).

One thing I am learning from this is that Deacon has a much better memory than I do. A couple months ago, he created a mean snake named Fluffy. (You would be mean too if all of the other children in school made fun of your name all the time. A snake named Fluffy???) A few nights ago, he wanted me to tell a story about Flat and the other snakes and at one point I mentioned Fuzzy and said "You remember Fuzzy, the mean snake." He replied "No, I don't remember Fuzzy, I remember Fluffy the mean snake."

Well, last night, things took an interesting turn. "Daddy, tell the story of when Fluffy ate Timmy." "What, Fluffy doesn't eat Timmy!" "Yes, he does." "But if Fluffy eats Timmy, who will Flat play with?" "Flat will find another mouse to play with." "What is the other mouse's name?" "Um...his name is Noodle Eye!" So last night, I told a story about Fluffy gobbling up Timmy (don't worry, it was quick and painless and not at all graphic). After the story, Deacon said "Where's Timmy?" "Timmy is resting." "Why?" "Because Timmy is tired." "Is Timmy in Fluffy's belly?" "Yes, he's in Fluffy's belly." "How will he get out?" So tonight's story will feature Timmy escaping from the belly of Fluffy the mean snake with the help of their new friend Noodle Eye!

Make it a great week!

New Youtube Sensation

I recently put a couple videos of Finn on Youtube since it was taking waaaaaay too long to load them on the blog. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfEV3E0A2cg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgekQ0mggzs&feature=related

More Deacon Quotes

We were driving past Hardees and he said, "Wow, look at those stars. They're beautiful!"

Deacon and I were downstairs and I asked him to check if Finn was awake. "No, he's sleeping," he told me. "Oh," I said, "I thought I heard him talking." "Well," said Deacon, "I thought I heard him sleeping."

I was going to the bathroom, minding my own business, when suddenly the door opened and Deacon peeked in. "Daddy, I'm going downstairs to play with my toys, ok? If you need anything, I'll be back in a few minutes."

We were getting Deacon excited for a trip to the zoo. Jane asked him what he wanted to see at the zoo. He said "Tractors, I want to see tractors." I said, "No, what kind of animal do you want to see?" He said "A gator." "Oh," I asked "An alligator?" "No, a Gator. A John Deere Gator!"

I took Deacon to a football game. We were sitting beside the grandpa of one of the Bluffton players. Bluffton tried to go for it on 4th down, but came up just short. Disappointed, the grandpa slapped his leg and said "They didn't get it! They didn't get it." Then he realized he was getting too worked up with Deacon sitting beside, so he turned to Deacon and smiled and said "They didn't get it." Deacon looked up at him and said "Well, I just like matchbox cars." The guy was confused "What?" Deacon just kept going "We have a lot of them at home. They like to go down the slide."

Deacon, Finn and I camped out in our backyard. We were finally all tucked in to our sleeping bags and so I asked "So, do you want to go to sleep or do you want to talk?" Of course, Deacon said "Let's talk." I said "Ok, what do you want to talk about?" He replied "Let's talk about tractors." I said "Ok, what about tractors?" "What tractor is your favorite" he asked. "I like John Deere" I answered. "What tractor is your favorite?" "Well, I like...vegetables."

I was tucking Deacon into bed and we were talking about having Jesus in our hearts. He asked "Where is Jesus?" I said "Jesus lives inside of you." Pointing to his belly-button, Deacon said "What's that? Is that Jesus?"

Happy Birthday Finn!!!

Two years ago today, God gave us this precious gift!









I can't believe how much he has grown in 2 years!




I told Jane we should get him a special gift for his birthday....






Something he has only received one other time in his life...






Can you guess what that is?



I don't think it will happen though. She doesn't think he needs another haircut!

Happy Birthday, Finn!!!!

Quotes from Deacon

Ok, so it's been a really long time since Jane or I have posted anything on here. I think it's because we've run out of things to say. So, I'm going to let Deacon do the talking this time. Here are things he said throughout last week.

Sunday, March 20, 2011, 9:45 AM. I had just gotten out of the shower and was getting ready for church. I was standing in the bathroom in my boxers and a t-shirt and Deacon walked in and said, "Oh, Dadddy, I love your outfit!"

Sunday, March 20, 2011, 10:00 AM. Roughly 15 minutes later, I was packing the boys' church bags. Deacon came up behind me and said, "Daddy, can I have a donut?" I knew we didn't have any donuts in the house, so I told him "no". He asked again and then I realized he was holding something...a peanut. "Oh, that's a peanut. Yes, you can have a peanut." So I cracked it open for him and went back to packing the church bags. A few seconds later, I heard him rummaging through the pantry where Jane has a bag of peanuts. "Deacon, you already had 1 peanut. No more right now, ok." "I'm just putting them in my pocket for tomorrow" he told me. And sure enough, that night at Grandpa and Grandma's, he came running up to me "Daddy, can I have a donut?"

Monday, March 21, 2011, 11:45 AM. As we were eating lunch, Finn accidentally dropped a french fry. Deacon was quick to point out "Finn's throwing food. Finn's throwing food. Flip him, please."

Tuesday, March 22, 2011, 5:45 PM. Deacon wasn't a big fan of the sweet potatoes Jane had made, but Finn loved them. I asked Deacon if I could take the sweet potatoes off of his plate and give them to Finn. "No, I'm going to eat them." "Ok, then eat them." "But I don't want to eat them." "Ok, then give them to Finn." This went on for awhile. We kept going back and forth, back and forth. Finally, I convinced Deacon to take another bite of his sweet potatoes. He did and then said, "I don't like them." "Ok, then give them to Finn." His response: "I will. Be patient."

Wednesday, March 23, 2011, 9:15 PM. As I was putting Deacon to bed, he asked me to sing Old MacDonald. I would let him pick out the animals and make the sounds, and I just sang the rest. We went through the normal cow, sheep, goose, and then we came to "and on that farm he had a..." and Deacon said "Tate". "Tate? What's a tate?" "Well," he said, "it looks like peanut butter." I still have no idea where that one came from!

Friday, March 25, 2011, 10:40 AM. I wasn't around for this one, but Jane emailed me at work to say that Deacon came up to her and said "Look at me!" He was wearing his rain boots...and nothing else!

Saturday, March 26, 2011, 3:55 PM. We used to have a real problem with Deacon asking "why?" all the time. So we told him, "You don't say 'why'." In fact, if you would ask Deacon "What's the rule?" he would probably respond "We don't say 'why'". Well, this has come back to haunt us on numerous occasions. Here is one example. Deacon and Finn were playing in the kitchen. Suddenly, I heard a thud and Finn started crying. I ran into the kitchen and Finn was laying on the ground crying. Having seen this happen many times, I asked Deacon "Deacon, why did you push Finn?" "Because he was crying" he told me. "No, he started crying after you pushed him. Why did you push him?" "Because I just did." "But why did you push him, Deacon?" At this point, I think he realized he was busted, so he came back with "What's the rule, Daddy? We don't say 'why'."

Make it a great week!

Deacon vs. The Baconator

We went to Wendy's Thursday night. Somehow we ended up with an extra cheeseburger. Suddenly, chicken nuggets weren't good enough for Deacon. He wanted a "shandwich" too.

Whew...this is hard work. I need a break.

Ok, so in the end, he ate maybe 1/4 of it and I ate 1/4 and our dogs enjoyed the rest of it when we got home.

Meanwhile, Finn was stuck with a full order of chicken nuggets. But the whole time, I know he was thinking "When are they going to let me get one of those?"