Andy Warhol, Eat Your Heart Out

Today Lydia had an eye doctor's appointment at the mall. She always asks me to go along with these things so that I can give input on which frames to choose. I always choose one and she goes with the one that she likes anyway! Why do I do it?

Well, Watson was sleeping in the stroller and Anna, Owen, and I were walking through the mall. I could not bare to sit and watch all of the children in that play area today- so we kept walking.

As we passed the GAP, I noticed that it has a new ad scheme which includes a number of Warhol prints and one giant self-portrait of him. I love Warhol! He was absolutely crazy and eccentric. Now if you know anything about his form of art, his prints often began in one of those photo booths. I got to thinking about all of the ones that I know are attributed to Warhol. There are many!

As we were walking and thinking about pop culture and overly commercialized art we passed a photo booth! I could not resist (and they take debit cards)!

Since Watson was sleeping I let him sleep. Anna and Owen had no clue what this thing was, but they obediently got in.

The first picture was a stunning experience for them- they laughed and laughed. It seems that the next three are the natural human response to the photo booth. Silly faces and kisses... is there anything better than that?

Tug of War: Sedgwick Style!

Nothing says fun like tug of war with Sedgwick. (Of course Sam is playing in this picture as well... he doesn't count for this story though).

Lydia and I were having a quiet cup of French Roasted coffee and discussing our plans for the afternoon when Anna and Owen decided to play a little game with Sedgwick. They tied themselves together and convinced Sedgwick that the tie was actually a badger and a fox. Sedgwick's job was to take down the badger and the fox... who happen to be Anna and Owen.

If all that I gave you was this picture, I am sure that many would cry "get rid of that dog!" or, "you still have that dog... with children!" or "how can you stand that animal?". I know- you are all sweet and swell, but Sedgwick is my dog and part of our loving home. At any rate, if this picture was all that was published you would see Anna thrown towards the love seat and Owen defending his honor. Thankfully (for your amusement) we have actual live footage of the event. Do enjoy! We loved watching them play it!

Meet Wyatt and Hannah

Anna and Owen have been playing with their cousins all day. They really love to have other kids to play with. Hannah lost her head at one point, but Anna got it reattached. The moral of the story? If your parents won't take you to see your cousins, just make them out of construction paper.

A Nicey Icey Saturday

Today was quite chilly in the morning. We woke up to a home at 48 degrees. The heat sometimes likes to sleep at night and needs to be aroused manually. It was cold, even by our standards. We got it going after a couple of minutes. The morning moved on. The kids played while Lydia prepared some things for the Lord's Day. Anna suggested that they go outside and play for a while, which was fine by us.
So Anna, Owen, and Samson all headed outside for some fun in the blowing snow. They went on the slide and climbed a tree. They made snow angels and all the other things that kids love to do in the snow.
Lately they have liked taking sticks and writing in the snow. They make pictures then the sticks quickly turn into guns. They shoot the house, trees, the dog and sometimes each other, even though this is off limits (we shoot things and animals, not people). They played some more.
I continued writing a sermon while Lydia was baking something chocolaty in kitchen. After a while I heard a slight gasp from the kitchen. Lydia commented that Owen did not have his gloves on and, of course, we don't want our children to lose their fingers. She also informed me that he was running around out there BAREFOOT.

Wow.

Cold.

Bizarre.

Some New Watson Picutures

Here is Anna snuggling with her little brother. She wants to do this quite often.
Here is one where we are breaking the rules of the Academy of Pediatrics. Do not try this at home:
Enjoying the pillow and a little drool.
Elfkin ears... just like Anna had.
To the right.
To the left.
Ahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are all falling!!

Family Update

Things have been quite busy around here. We are preparing for a new baby, our AC was out this past weekend, we had company for a week, and I have a lot of behind the scenes work being done as a part of my internship.

Some things seem to never change though, such as Owen wanting to nap with his vacuum cleaner tucked in next to him.
Since our visitors left we have cleaned out some of the things left behind in the refrigerator. Shawn and Tammy are organic-naturalpathics who do not use man made food-products. The result of this was some heavy whipping cream left which was unopened. Owen, Anna and I had a great time turning this into butter. I made them guess what the cream would be when it was done, but of course, they had no clue. When it turned to whipped cream, Anna exclaimed, "it's turning into a mocha!"

She loved the moment when it went from whipping cream to separated butter and water. It was like magic, minus the Harry Potter action.
Owen liked it on a cracker. He could not wait to eat more. We told him no.
Anna thought that it was really a great thing as well. Homemade butter.. what could be finer? Well, homemade bread on which to spread it!
We also went to Johnson Park for lunch today. The kids played and Lydia and I went through baby names. We may have one.... who knows. Lydia is quite excited about being delivered from this burden... I mean child. We are very excited to have three little ones. What a blessing and an honor to raise children unto the glory of God!
Owen and Anna are always telling * * * * * * * * * what the outside world is like... spankings and all. Here they are giving a pre-kiss.
I am sure that the next few weeks will be filled with pictures of our little guy. I will give a precondition now... we do not think that new borns are cute... this is a myth. But we do love them.

Psalm Singers Are Always Cute

SO MUCH to Talk About!!

So much has happened in a week and I could post 10 different posts about it all. I will try for one. Our little Owen turned 2 a week ago. We were in PA visiting my family and they hosted a party for him. He wanted a "Thomas Train" cake, so my mother had one made for him. It was chocolatey good. It was fun watching him opening presents with his sister's "help".

We ate at a really great restaurant that was minutes from Lake Erie. It was in an old lighthouse and had really good steak. It is one of the best local restaurants that I have eaten at in a long time there. Anna wanted to show off her love for the Desert Fathers who were famous for their hours of meditations while standing on poles. She also said that she could not wait for her friend, Brian, to see the picture! I am not sure if I should worried about having a little female mystic on my hands- how is that a form of devotion? Standing on a pole for hours???
These next three are for my aunt Debbie: We travelled around all week with this juice box on top of the car and kept forgetting to take it off. Aunt Debbie wanted to see if it could make it back to Michigan, so we gave it a try... The first one is the juice in Cleveland, Ohio.
Toledo.
In Indiana, just before the Michigan border.
We lost it within a hundred feet of the Welcome to Michigan sign. Lydia and I gasped as if Sedgwick had jumped from the Mountaineer! We really hoped to get one on Union Avenue, but it just could not make it. Oh well.

Here is Marion, Anna, and Maggie at Paige and Bill's wedding. It will be interesting to see how Anna maintains a relationship with these two women as she grows. With Moey going to the land of Aqua Net and Moon Pies and Maggie living in Motown it changes things for our little girl. She loves these two SO much. Anna already has plans for writing Ms. Moes letters.

Here is Anna with the beautiful bride. Paige looked so lovely. I am very happy for her. She could not have found a greater man than Bill. He exemplifies the Lord Jesus in the way that he lives and interacts with others. He is quite well read too (which gives him extra Nate points). I am sure that the Lord will use them in great ways together.
Anna is not quite sure whether Paige is lawfully married though. I guess that in a 3 1/2 year-old head, a bride without a vale over her face is not really getting married. Anna informed Maggie, Lydia, and I today that she would have one over her hair and her eyes when she gets married!

Sing Us A Song You're the Piano Man

Here is Anna and Owen the morning the new addition to our home arrived. This baby grand piano now being loved and cared for by the Eshelman family. Anna already wants to learn to play it; and Owen has to be told to leave it alone! It is not a drum!

Children at Play

Only Lydia's daughter can use this line while playing, "Okay Owen, it is time to go to Target".

The Big Sleep Over At Opa and Oma's House

Anna and Owen's cousin, Hannah, wanted to have a sleep-over with her cousins while they were visiting. We thought that this would be fine as long as they actually slept. The last thing on earth anyone needs is to spend time with a pre-schooler who has not had enough sleep (ask anyone who has spent time with a sleep deprived child)!
The greatest part is that this sleep-over was following an entire day of play (Barbies, Little People, McDonald's junk toys, dolls, blocks, and so much more). They got into bed and wanted to watch the Disney classic Bambi (yeah, where the mama deer gets murdered by the barbarous humans). About 3 minutes into asking to watch it, all three were fast asleep.

That is my type of sleep-over. Parents are heroes for letting it happen; children get a full night's sleep. I bet it will never happen that way again.

Fake Smiles are Better Than Real Frowns

I do not believe the title of the post, but it is cute nonetheless.

Upples and Ben Oh Nos

Anna and Owen have such a great time dancing. I think that they want to dance almost every day. We tell them that it is not Presbyterian to dance- but they do it anyways!

The fact is that when a home is filled with music and dancing- it is filled with joy. We take joy in the fact that our home is a great place to cut a rug!

Popcorn and a Movie

Popcorn and a movie was always a staple in my home growing up. Actually when we went to my grandpa and grandma's house as a child, my siblings and I would be allowed about 4 ounces of beer with our popcorn and movie (but that is for another time).

A favorite of Anna and Owen is to have popcorn and to watch Anne of Green Gables. Any of the three in the series are a fine choice for them. Anna thinks that the third is a bit tiring and over-the-top, but it is still good.

Anna also thinks that the drama is great and that Gilbert is a swell guy.

At times Owen gets annoyed with Anne of Green Gables because of her feminism.

Feminism! Anna exclaimed to Owen- explain yourself, as her face sunk in disbelief!
I guess that Owen thinks that Anne is a little too career focused and that she should be honest with Gilbert about her feelings for him and quit trying to be the strong independent type.

Owen likes the strong women, don't get me wrong- but he would prefer a little bit of honesty- he says that integrity is far better than bravado.

Owen, you have so much to learn!

I want to be JUST LIKE you... NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

What if our (or anyone's) children grew up to be just like us? That would be horrible!

Personality- we desire so much more for our children.
As for intelligence- man! I hope that they learn something before they turn 20.
Looks- well, let's not go there.
Spiritual life- we pray that they never know a time when they did not love the Lord Jesus Christ.
Overall character- we hope that they learn from our downfalls and desire to please God in all things.

Of course, we could not be just like our parents. We know that through the fall of Adam in the Garden that we are just like him by way of sin. If we were all just like our parents though there would not be those that are redeemed by Jesus Christ. I guess that we would desire that our children would be just like God their Heavenly Father, and their Eldest brother, Jesus Christ the Righteous.

Lighter Than DeVos and/or Attachment Parenting

Nothing makes a better chaser to a couple of good blog-uments than pictures of our children playing. The best one is the action shot of Owen being thrown off of the merry-go-round. Enjoy!

Mr.Sandman Bring Us A Dream

And Another

Here is another sleepy time photo that I thought would be a great follow-up. Notice there are no Elton John glasses. Also observe that Owen is sleeping and that Anna is totally faking. Think how many muscles it takes to make a fake sleeping face versus a real one like Owen's face.

Just A Little Thought

Despite the social prejudices against the practice, the verdict is in with our children:
Co-sleeping is the Coolest!

Anna loves it so much that she offers her brother a celebratory kiss!

Are You Ready For Some Football

Anna and Owen have had some great times playing football. Owen is the one that seems to get the most battle wounds. They are having a great time though!