My Shadow

It's been a strange weekend for me -- Ben and Evan went on a church father and son camping/canoe weekend, and Joel is at my mom's house (he did NOT want to go with Ben because he's afraid of the canoe?!) so it's just been Drew and me at home. And Drew is now my little shadow. Every where I go, there he is. I took a shower, he's turning the bathroom lights off and on; I'm in the kitchen making oatmeal, he's helping; I even mowed the yard and he actually walked behind me!! (OK, he didn't walk behind me for long, but I could not believe he even did it for a minute.) He seems so lost without his brothers, but at the same time he loves the attention I'm giving him.

This weekend we played Old Maid and Cariboo; read numerous books; went on a bike ride, got ice cream; went to a family movie night at a local church (he stayed up until 11 p.m. -- I'm guessing this will be the first thing he tells his brothers because they all usually go to bed between 7 and 8 p.m.); and he even got to sleep with me.

I've...rediscovered...no...refreshed...my love for my littlest 4-year-old boy; it's so nice to have this "alone" time with him.

It's been a nice, calm weekend with just one child. I forgot what it's like not to yell at someone for an entire weekend! But, there's always tomorrow when everyone will be home. :-)

How To Play Checkers

Since Evan and Drew were going to Grandma’s together for an overnighter, Evan wanted to teach Drew how to play checkers so they could play with Grandma.

Evan: “When you play checkers you have soldiers and they go over to the bad guy’s side and when the soldiers get there, the bad guys make you a king. Got it, Drew?”

Drew: "Are the red ones the bad guys?"

Evan: "No."

Drew: "Are the black ones the bad guys?"

Evan: "No...(pause)...the OTHER ones are the bad guys."

Drew: “You need to write that down so I can remember. Is that all?”

(Write it down? Even IF Evan could write, Drew can't read!)

Evan: “You move the soldiers and they can jump over the other guys but when they get to your side and you make them a king, then they can move anywhere.”

So there it is -- checkers instructions from a 5-year-old. Pretty good, eh?

In Loving Memory of My Dad

Recently I have been avoiding blogging because I wanted to write something in memory of my dad and I just haven't had the ability to do it yet. I want to honor his life with a written eulogy here on my blog.

On Saturday morning June 27, 2009 a piece of my heart was torn out when my mom called to tell me that my dad had died suddenly of a heart attack while undergoing treatment for multiple myeloma (cancer). I cannot tell you how great of a loss his death is to our family. He was an amazing, godly man who lived the fruit of the spirit every single day of his life -- he was the epitome of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. I know that we will join him in heaven some day, but today I miss him terribly.

Now, a little about my dad:

Not only was my Dad’s college degree in teaching but teaching was his passion. Unfortunately, after I was born he realized he couldn't afford to raise a family on a teacher's salary so he had to find another career. But the love of teaching never left him.

As children he made us do things we didn’t really want to do, all in the name of "educating" us:

We had to go to the Cincinnati art museum and the conservatory. We had to see a movie about Amadeus Mozart that none of the three of us kids wanted to see. We even had to learn to ride a city bus downtown just in case we ever needed that later in life.

Even with his grandchildren, he was always teaching. Each grandchild caught their first fish with Grandpa; they learned how to drive his John Deere lawn mower and how to shoot a B.B. gun (my boys thought it was so much fun to shoot Grandma’s flowers in the backyard).He taught them things they didn’t really need to know…like he was the first person to introduce them to video games! And Grandpa actually got pretty good at the Scooby-Doo game!

He even taught them how to Monopoly. My dad and mom spent two days playing one game of Monopoly with my boys. Oh the patience he had! (The picture below is of my dad wearing a Native American headband Joel made for Thanksgiving one year -- Joel named Grandpa "Patience Chief" because of his great patience.)Another passion of my dad’s was missions. When we were children Dad’s mission field was right at home – his three children were his mission. His mission was to teach us to love and serve Jesus.

When we were grown, his mission field became the world – traveling to many countries using his talents to help others and to teach them about Jesus.

His mission started at home, then went out into the world, and finally when his children grew up and had children, his mission field became his grandchildren. His mission was to show through love and by example what Christ’s love is like.

He left a legacy as a Christian father and Grandpa by teaching us and, more importantly, by demonstrating to us what it meant to be a man of God. I want you to know what a great man my dad was, but he would want you to know what a great God our God is. He lived the scripture: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind and all your soul.”

Now, about those grandchildren...

This past December my dad was diagnosed with cancer and although that's not what took his life, he did struggle with the effects of the disease. He was tired most of the time and seemed to keep to himself much more than normal. But, as my mom has told me many times, the thing that made him smile most were stories about the grandchildren. Anything they said or did made him smile -- the more ornery the child, the bigger my dad's smile.

Here are a few more pictures of Grandpa.

Teaching Joel how to bake

(here they are baking cookies,

but cracked wheat bread was his specialty).Teaching Joel about paleontology

(digging for dinosaur bones).Teaching Drew how to hit a baseball.Class: Tools 101 Instructor: GrandpaTeaching Drew how to make ice cream.

If Grandpa wasn't busy teaching the boys something, he was busy just watching them -- his grandchildren were his favorite subjects.

My Dad and Joel, Evan and Drew's Grandpa

LeRoy Robert Heibel, Jr.

December 12, 1940 - June 27, 2009

Dearly, dearly missed, but he ran the race and won!

Stink Bomb

While sitting in a room full of people, Drew quietly turned to me and said, "stink bomb."

I wasn't sure what he meant until the smell started burning my nose, and my eyes began to water.

Drew, you are disgusting!

Flying Squirrel Update

Update on last blog entry:
While riding in the car the other day, Drew randomly said:
"I know everything -- I know Santa Claus is real and the Easter Bunny...(pause)...but I didn't know about flying squirrels."

Flying Squirrel

Drew appeared beside my bed at 6:30 this morning totally naked and asking, "Is there something called a flying squirrel?"

"Get some clothes on kid and come back at eight!" was what I wanted to say.

But instead I pulled him into bed with me and educated him on flying squirrels (well...I gave him as much info as I could recall at 6:30!!).

Then here comes Evan. Evan wanted to know all about bats. Seriously?! Where is Daddy when I need him? Ben was working so this "The More You Know" segment was brought to you by Mom.

Pomp and Circumstance

Evan graduated from preschool last week. sob. sob. I cannot believe he is getting so old and will be headed to kindergarten in the Fall. It seems like once kids go off to school they become "part of the world" and are not just little babies in mama's nest. At least next year it's only half-day kindergarten; I'm really not ready to send this little birdie off yet. "tweet, tweet."

Once again, for Evan the best part of graduation was wearing the costume!