the giggles

the giggles....

they come at the most inopportune time ~ church, family devotions, sitting in a class
they come up most unexpectedly, and give no warning
as a slow smile begins to spread across your face;
your shoulders begin to shake, you begin to sweat, you agonize why you wore such a bright coloured shirt so that everyone can see you shaking, you try to think of a sobering thought, you pinch yourself, you try to smother the giggles with a cough and it comes out more like a snort - just to add to the awefuless of it all, it is a horrid feeling as the giggles sweep over you

Growing up with all sisters there were many fits of giggles and it usually happened when my dad was trying to read the Bible after supper. My dad would look to my mom for support only to see her shoulders shaking and her face turning red from trying to keep the giggles in. You see, us girls came by it honestly. When we were in trouble we would only have to give mom our mastered look and she could no longer discipline us. She had a hard time trying to look angry at us and at the same time trying not to smile. So my mom, in great wisdom, would tell us to turn around and then she would turn around and that is how we would get our lecture. Back to back. Some of you are probably thinking that this explains it all! I do not ever remember walking out of church because of a bathroom need but I do remember on a few occasions walking out because I could not stop laughing. I am sure that my sisters have the same story.
Our boys often have fits of laughter and it frustrates Adam to no end especially because he has no support from me. I tell him that my dad had to put up with much worse but that doesn't seem to help matters. I tell him that the boys also come by it honestly and the sad thing is that the giggles are with you for life. The one good thing is that our boys haven' t mastered "the look" yet. They still get in trouble without me trying to hide a smirk.  Adam tells me that the giggles are all about control. I tell him that you can no more control the giggles than you can control "the runs". The giggles are that uncontrollable!

a troublesome two year old

For a few months now, Tyler jumps out of his crib as fast as we put him in it. After making this huge mess, his room is now empty. He even managed to climb on top of his dresser and knock everything off of the shelf - high on the wall. We find him asleep in all sorts of positions but most often in front of his closed door so that when we try to open his door at night we have to shove his sleeping body out of the way in order to get into his room.

 

So far out of our four children we have had three trying two year olds.With number five on it's way, be it a boy or girl, Adam and I feel that we deserve a calm child!  We have had our share of heart-stopping moments and sharp intakes of breath as our daring two year olds take flying leaps, climb on to high things, and seek to destroy.  We often wonder who was more of a handful at the age of two -  Tyler or Andrew.

******
Here is an email that I wrote to our friends and family about Andrew when he was two years old.
Date: December 22, 2009
Subject: I hope that no one comes over right now...

"Our house looks like it has been struck by a tornado, maybe even worse than that. While I was reading quietly to the two older boys this morning a certain little two year old unleashed all of his powers. He got into the pantry and dumped two bags of rice all over the kitchen and living area. Amongst the scattered rice he mixed in a container of sunflower seeds - just for good measure. He smeared kid's tooth paste all over the kitchen counters (I think that he wanted to hide the marker drawings that he made on the counter!). He dumped all of the crayons that we own on the carpet (and we have a lot). He went upstairs and tied certain woman's products on to our hallway dresser. He took bread, added water to it and smeared it over the couch and put the left overs in his hiding spot behind the couch where he twisted and grinded his feet into it. He dumped my creative memories tote onto the ground and spread paper around. Words cannot describe the disaster.
He managed to do this all very quietly and orderly. He made good use of his time - less than five minutes. I had wondered why he closed the french doors into the living room while I was reading to the boys on the couch.
When I entered into the kitchen and saw the chaos - I said in a very loud voice, "Andrewwwwww" and I heard "Yep."
There he was behind the couch in his favourite hiding spot. He was sitting in a mess of soggy bread with chocolate smeared all over his face. He had the cordless phone in his marker covered hands and he was pressing the buttons as quick as his little hands would let him. He looked at me and smiled his lopsided smile and said in a deep and too confident voice, "hi mom."
As I lifted him up from behind the couch and terrible thoughts were going through my head, a horrid smell greeted me....
This boy has as much energy as the energizer bunny, he is as quick as an olympic runner, he can climb as well as the greatest mountain climber. His determination surpasses mine by miles and his endurance cannot be matched.
I was worried that he would not live to see his second birthday because of his history of many accidents, but now I am worried that I may not see his third birthday. I will probably hospitalized due to extreme fatigue.
From, one tired mom!"

******
Well Andrew is now almost five and we made it through that troublesome two year old stage. Tyler is settling down - sort of, and so to all of the moms out there that need eyes on the back of their heads - Hang in there!

 

visiting with family & friends

A few weeks ago we headed off to RLL with some dear friends and along the way we stopped by at uncle Pete and aunt Annette's. We were so spoiled. Their daughter Jenna has a sheep farm and brought a lamb over (in her small Pontiac) to show the boys.

 

 

 

We were welcomed with open arms and many delicious homemade muffins.

 

The boys LOVED the hay mow

And then off to RLL with Brian and Holly.
Their oldest three boys are the same age as ours and did they ever have fun together.

 

Nate and Andrew

Liam and Jordan

Justin and Andrew
The middle children. I don't think that I need to say more.

 

 

The kids had fun and so did the parents. It was so nice to catch up and spend time together.

Treasure Hunt!

 

 

 

Brian and his beautiful baby daughter.
 Adam's hands look very empty.Twelve more weeks...

Time spent with family and friends is such a wonderful gift and we are thankful for these blessings.