Life with Four

Sometimes, life with four boys under the age of six can be challenging. In recent days, it has felt that the boys are in accelerated mode around the house.

--> Today, Marcel said, "Mommy. Color. Baby." He had a yellow highlighter in one hand and some of the baby announcements that I had recently made in the other hand. Of course, he colored on them.

--> Yesterday Jozef decided to color on my new dry-erase board. This would have been fine, except I spent the better part of yesterday jotting down all of the "to do" items that have been in my head. It was loaded with "To do this weekend..." and "To purchase...", etc. By the time I found the white board, it was completely erased.

--> Marcel was writing with a pencil. I made a mental note to watch him as his pencil usually strays onto other items besides the paper. Two minutes later I was busy and he quickly played Picaso on a wall in the stairwell.

--> Yesterday I washed the boys sheets as Marcel spilled an entire cup of water on the bed. This shouldn't be too much of a process except the water-proof mattress cover has to be washed in a particular way. This morning as Jozef woke up he was saying, "Mom, I'm all wet." I am now re-washing the sheets...

--> Our newest DVD currently skips during the climax of the movie. No amount of Windex is going to cure it's ailment--scratches!

Most likely, these are the types of occurrences that come to mind when people learn we have four boys. Then they say things like, "Better you than me." I understand where they are coming from. It is not fun to realize something has been broken, altered or marred. Whenever these situations occur, I try take a breath and ask myself, "Is this where my treasure is?"

In the book of Matthew it says, "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Obviously my treasure is not a DVD or a clean living room. Nor is it in the tasks that I do only to re-do later.


It would be nice to have my life more comfortable. But this is the life that God has asked me to live. One with four young boys (so far) and a husband that works long hours. One with a messy living room and a "to do" list a mile long. One where my treasure is in my boy's hearts and souls and the in soul of my husband. And, one where my treasure is my faith.

My time is better spent on enriching their hearts and inspiring their souls than lamenting the latest fiasco. Besides, I have it on good authority that there are no scratched DVDs in heaven. ;-)

Lounging

Enjoying some "Daddy time".

Big Brother

Favorite Movies

Jen and I enjoy watching movies. While we don't often go to the theater these days (I think we've been to three movies in the past 12 months, and all of those have been for the kids), we receive movies from Netflix relatively frequently. I keep a running list of 'Nate's Top Ten Movies', which may or may not actually be ten movies at any given time. I recommend them highly:

La Vita e Bella (or 'Life is Beautiful'): An Italian film that makes you laugh hard and cry harder with it's humor, love, war, tragedy, and sacrifice.

The Sixth Sense: I never saw the ending coming. I like the rest of it too, and can watch it more than once and still enjoy it (unlike my wife...)

Apollo 13: A riveting movie that makes you proud to be a part of the country that went to the moon.

The Sting: When I first watched this movie, I realized that old films can be good. Plus, who else can act like Paul Newman and Robert Redford?

Marnie: An Alfred Hitchcock classic, in which I found out that really old films can be really good.

Speed Racer: A new movie, the newest addition to my list, that I really enjoyed. Its got great action and a good plot, with a really wierd beginning.

Its a Wonderful Life: I never tire of watching this one, and the boys like to watch it too!

The Incredibles: The best kids movie ever! ...and a really entertaining film for anyone to watch.

The Matrix: This movie was fascinating to watch, and had all kinds of references. Then, the last two movies in the trilogy ruined it. But the original still deserves a spot on my list.

Saving Private Ryan:Imagine watching the first 20 minutes of this movie (storming the beaches of Normandy) from the front row of the theater. I also like the ending, and it makes me ask the same questions about my own life.

While You Were Sleeping:This is when I became a big Sandra Bullock fan, and then I became not so big of a fan when I watched ‘Miss Congeniality”.

The Hunt for Red October: Sean Connery at his best, and Alec Baldwin at his best as well. Ok, and Tom Clancy at his best too.

I'm also a big fan of some triolgies:

Indiana Jones: Ok, this isn't a trilogy anymore, but they sure are fun. The best one, of course, is still The Last Crusade.

Spiderman: Really cool, really good plot. Will this also have a fourth movie?

Back to the Future: Nostalgic about the eighties, anyone?

The Lord of the Rings: The movies, for once, do justice to the books.

Kung Fu Wisdom

This past weekend we traveled to Michigan's Upper Peninsula to see our families. As is tradition for each major car ride (and this definitely qualifies) the boys can pick out a new movie to watch on our portable DVD player. The pick for this trip--Kung Fu Panda.

The story is about a Panda Bear, named Po, who works in his father's restaurant selling noodles. He is dedicated to his Father but dreams of learning Kung Fu and he idolizes the Kung Fu masters of his town--the Furious Five.

The townsfolk have recently learned that a major criminal has escaped from a high security prison and has come to claim that he is the Dragon Warrior. The Dragon Warrior, it is said, is a Kung Fu master that is second to none. All the Warrior needs to become such is a sacred Dragon Scroll.

Meanwhile, the town has learned that the Kung Fu Master, Oogway, is going to anoint a new Dragon Warrior. With the rest of the villagers, Po journeys up to the Jade Palace, a school of Kung Fu, to learn who the new Dragon Warrior will be. However, he is too late, the large gates surrounding the school have just closed as he arrives. Using some ingenuity (and a lot of fireworks) he manages to blast into the air and land in the center of the court yard. He awakes with the master Oogway's finger pointing at him. He has been chosen to be the new Dragon Warrior.

Po has a love of Kung Fu and the desire to learn, but no one believes in him--not his teacher or the Furious Five. And, ultimately, we learn that he doesn't believe in himself. He sees how awesome the other Kung Fu fighters are and he doesn't feel he compares. And, he knows the threat of the escaped prisoner is looming.

One night, he is under the stars deliberating about his past and the future warrior he is said to become. She he go back and sell noodles? Should he believe in Oogway's prophecy that his is to become the Dragon Warrior?

Po: Maybe I should just quit and go back to selling noodles.

Oogway: Quit, don't quit? Noodles, don't noodles?

Then, his master gives him some advice:

Oogway: Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.

While this line is cliché, truly it carries in it much wisdom about our walk in life. God calls each of us to be our best each day. To plan for the future, but to act, heroically in the present. Often, we allow our failings of the past to mar the present. And, we look far into the future, about the person we know we should be, and feel we could never measure up.

By despairing over our past, and being overwhelmed about our future, we too need to be reminded to live heroically in the present moment.

A note about the movie. Put out be Dreamworks, the movie is truly family friendly (as opposed to Shrek). For a full review, I recommend Decent Films Guide.

Marcel: Update

Often, when a new baby enters the family, the previous "baby" may feel slighted. He or she may act differently or resent his/her sibling.

If any of my devoted readers are worried about our Marcel, I am pleased to announce that he has not altered a bit with the arrival of Jerzy. He constantly asks to hold the baby and kisses him on the head as often as possible.

In addition, he is still up the the same antics that he's been performing for a while.

For example:

Thursday:
--> One entire box of Cheerios spilled on the floor
--> One Ibuprofen bottle broken into and one pill swallowed (thankfully, Mom and Dad were able to induce his gag-reflex to retrieve the pill).

Friday:
--> One bottle of fish-tank treatment dumped on the floor.
--> One nicely-packed coffee maker packed into it's box was opened, up-ended, and much of the packing foam crumbled.
--> One bottle of vitamins spilled and than replaced one-by-one into the bottle

Saturday:
--> One jar of pineapple chunks spilled on the floor (and it's only noon).


It's good to know that even though we have a new baby, Marcel is up to life as usual.

Doing the Hard Things

Our lives are filled with "hard things"--challenges that we encounter. Whether they're intellectual (studying for an exam), spiritual (working on our prayer lives), physical (working out), emotional (being patient as we discipline a child) or any other type, we realize that in order to reach a goal, often we need to surmount some "hard thing".

As we brought Jerzy home from the hospital, Nate and I knew that having a family of four busy boys was a "hard thing".

Each morning as I arise, I am confronted with a busy day full of "hard things". The day is begun and I am running between chores, nursing, diaper changes, homeschooling, a little Web surfing, and naps. Many of these tasks require constant diligence (ever leave the dishes in the sink overnight?) and planning (try homeschooling without a plan for the day...). It's difficult to always be looking forward to the next challenge.

God calls each of us to (as one of my favorite authors, Matthew Kelly puts it) become the very best version of ourselves. This means taking on the "hard things" in life. I will admit on most mornings (as I am truly NOT a morning person) I simply want to say, "No, thank you" and crawl back under the covers. It's difficult to look a challenging situation in the face. It's even harder to see that challenge as an opportunity for growth.

With God's help, we can move forward on the tasks in life He wants us to. In prayer we can ask Him to help us overcome ourselves--often our biggest obstacle in growing as individuals. Whether it's gaining patience in working with our children, overcoming a bad habit, or working hard on a intellectual task, doing "hard things" in life will help us to become the people He wants us to be.

As I struggle this week to squeeze in homeschooling or become frustrated when there's just not enough "Mom" to go around, I want to work at remembering that these "hard things" in life are often the means to perfection. It's easy to become discouraged and wave a white flag (or simply leave the dishes too long...). But in avoiding these "hard things", often we set ourselves up for an even greater task (doing two days' worth of dishes...).

May we embrace the challenges we face this day. And, when we fall, may we all get back up again. Tomorrow, we will be the person God wants us to be.

Homemade Halloween

I really enjoy making the boys' costumes for Halloween. In Nebraska, it was about 65 degrees, so even Jerzy went Trick-or-Treating! We had a great time and are now enjoying candy at all hours of the day.

Sir Kolbe Dragon Slayer
I made his tunic myself! I really enjoyed having a project that I could work on without interfering with family life too much.


Jozef is dressed as "Diego". He really likes that cartoon. Thankfully, making this costume only required putting a patch on his vest.


Marcel is "Baby Jaguar"--Diego's friend and side-kick in the cartoons. This is entirely apropriate as Jozef and Marcel play together a lot!


Even Jerzy dressed up! His costume wasn't homemade, but when I saw it at the store, I thought it was fitting for our little pumpkin!

Trick-or-Treat!