Mount Virkler

Why settle for this...

When you can have this??

Unimpressed with the pictures that his Daddy showed him of Big Sky, Liam decided he could make his own mountain, complete with shovel-carved ski slopes for him and Daddy to do together. In his defense, his mountain did melt a few inches in this upper 30 degree weather we've had the past couple of days before I took this picture... but that was a plus for him anyhow, as he had told me while building it, that his mountain wouldn't have "avalanche snow falls like Daddy's mountain", but only "waterfalls".

So the melt is a dream come true :)

As he put it, "This mountain is for Daddy and Liam- and we don't even have to fly on an airplane to go ski!"

And now that it's smaller, "It's ok, we can make snow angels on it too!"

I've discovered...

... that it is much more of a workout to shovel wet snow then powder. Whether or not it's better at making snowmen, I think I'll take the non-slushy kind any day over the stuff we got overnight. :)

I think the boys knew it was going to be bad too. They didn't once offer to help me shovel this time around. They probably saw that this workout was possibly going to put Mommy into labor if she wasn't careful... so they pulled out their sand pails, shovels and rakes and played in the snow (and ate it) instead. And granted, the tools were only about $1, but the snow was so heavy, they still ended up breaking a couple. Thankfully the tree branch that broke off of the tree was by the road and not near a power line or our house!

Life's Lessons from a Child

Joel left for a "guy trip"... his first since we've been married... and possibly his last, since according to anecdotes from his friends', "your life is over with three kids".

It is amazing, how all it takes is to hear that his Daddy is flying on an airplane to get my son missing his Dad all the more then a normal day of work. Joel had just left a couple hours before, when Liam came into the room at 630am to tell me that "he missed his Daddy". Later that day, he prayed to Jesus that "he would not be sad with his Daddy gone".

Last night before his departure, we had a little farewell meal that they enjoy- the usual quick thrown together Japanese meal of mochi, gyoza, rice (and veggies). And then Joel wanted to play some games while the boys played together. I think he was hoping to school me (as he usually does), but it was a rarity, because I won... both times. And I could have avoided winning the last game, but I didn't. It actually occurred to me before I laid down my card, that I could show mercy (and I would've had it been one of my children), and I'm not even all that competitive, but I laid down the card anyways. And it put my very competitive husband into a depressed mood. Liam saw it right away, and asked his Daddy to come play with him, telling him "don't worry Daddy, I'll let you win".

Throughout their game of matching, he kept congratulating Joel when he would get matching pairs, and reassure his Dad when he got matching pairs, that his Daddy would still win and be happy again. And not that winning is always everything (or that we should teach our son that happiness only comes through winning), but it delighted us to see how he cared more about his father then himself. Our evening devotion had been over imitating Christ, and Liam told me afterwards, that he let his Daddy win, because Jesus wanted him to be kind just like Jesus was kind, and that makes him a Christian. We talked about what it really meant to be a Christian, but Liam told me he needs to be like Jesus first before he can be a Christian.

The next day he was shoved over a couple of times by a friend. He told me later that evening that it made him sad when he was pushed, but he didn't push back because Jesus didn't push the "bad soldiers when they came and got him in the garden and put him on the cross. And it would make Jesus sad if he pushed his friend back."
 
Now my son isn't perfect (and usually he'll have a heart-warming moment, followed by a "punch your brother in the face because he restarted Patch the Pirate" moment), but it's still humbling to me, and really has made me think the past couple of days about whether I intentionally in my everyday little acts try to imitate Christ. Are we reflecting Christ for our children?

"Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour." 

Ephesians 5:1-2

Our Family Band

So Joel's not postcall today...

but this is a spine rotation...

so Friday's are light days...

of course, with interviews the past couple weeks, and a "guy trip" this next weekend, well, we haven't been able to enjoy it to it's fullest extent.

So it made it even more special to hear the boys delightfully cry "Daddy's home" when he popped in the front door at around 2pm today (or if you are the younger non-talking child, you just run up to your Mommy and say "Unh!" and then take off down the stairs laughing). I don't think I'll ever get over hearing them exclaim those two words. Oh, to delight in our heavenly Father like that!!

Anyways, so after wrestling, on the yoga mat, drinking smoothies and playing games with the boys, they decided to start up a band

I think it has potential ;)

Valentine's Day Festivities

So after being on call the past couple of Valentine's Days, my husband was rewarded with a post call day yesterday... yay! Not that we really celebrate too much. The boys have been under the weather recently (randomly throwing up in the wee morning hours) and with other digestive issues, well, it's been a low key week here in the Virkler household. Originally, I had planned a playdate with a friend to make cookies, but after warning her off, I wasn't sure if I wanted to still make them with the boys, as they'd most likely want to consume them.

Problem: Liam found the Valentine's Day sprinkles that I bought on clearance last year. And he has an indelible memory.

Thus, yesterday morning I awoke to a "Mommy, it's February 14th! Valentine's Day! Let's get Aiden and make cookies with sprinkles!".

So much for avoiding sugar.

About that time (yes, I slept in until 9am), my husband came home with breakfast for us all. Yay!!

And then while he worked out, I quick made cookie dough and the boys patiently waited the two hours for it to chill. A snack helped this out too. Then they cut out shapes, and I baked them while they napped. Afterwards Joel got in on the family fun and helped monitor decorating... Aiden preferred the frosting part, while Liam fancied the sprinkles.

We fed the boys an early dinner, put them to bed, and then instead of going out Joel and I enjoyed some Caribou Coffee (B1G1!!), and made a nice meal together of salmon, rice, roasted asparagus and salad. Yum! It was a relaxing evening/night of talking, setting goals, playing a few games, watching a random dvd of Dave Ramsey that I found while cleaning the office, and doing devotions together. We both agreed that although we can't remember too many Valentine's day celebrations, this was definitely our best, and we need to try Andria's "making dinner together" idea more often :)

I think we made over 30 cookies. Unfortunately, I went to go do something (and left Joel in charge to clean up when they were done) and the last two pictures is what I returned to find... there's definitely a handful that got eaten in my absence! And though they aren't perfect with frosting and sprinkles, I'm not complaining... the recipe I used actually was decent and neither my children (nor I ) need that extra sugar!

Prepping for Valentine's Day

One of Liam's favorite books right now is the story of Valentinus, the man whom the holiday is named after. The book begins and ends by talking about Valentine's Day, and thus my son became interested in making valentines for people (specifically for the "old people at Woodhaven" he said- I love this kid's heart!... but also for his grandparents, etc. Unfortunately, with all of us having some type of bug, we didn't make it to Woodhaven). After seeing a picture of "love bugs", he wanted to make those. And so one Sunday, when we had to stay home because he was sick, we listened to the sermon while making valentines.

He doesn't realize that the typical valentine holiday colors are red and pink- he wanted orange :) So after Mommy cut out hearts (he tried but decided he wanted me to do it), he did all the writing, gluing, antennae folding, etc by himself!

 (We finished before Randy did, so he took the phone with him to continue to listen to the sermon while he looked at books).

When Daddy comes home early...

Sometimes the snowiest days are the ones that make my heart melt!

After watching the snow fall for the past few days nonstop (still only accumulating a few inches), Liam was talking nonstop about making a snowman with his Daddy who had been gone for the past few days on another couple interviews.

And then he looked at a magazine today.

And it showed how Eskimos make igloos.

And suddenly, he would settle for nothing less then an igloo.

Little did Daddy know this when he came home (early!!) from work at 530pm.

What's to follow is a slew of pictures that I took to record my husband's lovely success at building his first igloo...

"A firm foundation". Always have to start with a Bible lesson :)

Building blocks. Liam informed his Daddy that the proper way to make igloos was to cut blocks of snow with a saw. Joel needed it anyways, because the snow was so powdery, it kept falling apart.

All it took was me mentioning "food" to get Aiden to come out from the cold into the heated home!

Layer 1 almost complete!

We watched Daddy and Liam work from the warm indoors... and built puzzles to pass the time.

Making another block...
Joel and Liam would pray over every "block" before they tipped it over, that Jesus would help the snow stick together. Joel's convinced there was divine intervention.

Daddy teaching Aiden how to pat the "mortar" snow down...
except Aiden became a little too rough while he said "pat pat pat"

Almost done with Level 2!!

I think the igloo took a little bit longer then Liam planned...

Aiden eating a leftover block that Daddy had chiseled away...

Stomping on the snow to pack it down...

Helping move the trash can while Daddy shoveled snow in. Let's just say we now have one of the cleanest yards in the block... almost no snow left on our lawn ;)

Level 3 complete!

An "incomplete" keystone said the engineer...
and so yes, he had me hold the blocks in place while he chiseled away at them...

Aiden helping Daddy shovel snow into the trashcan...

And then wanting to help Daddy saw...

Almost finished... just a little bit of "mortar" left to help make it solid!

"Mommy, take a picture of me being strong!"

Putting on the finishing touches so the blocks will stay in place...

"Mommy, look! Daddy and I made an igloo!!!"

Four trashcans packed full of snow, 2 1/2 hours spent of quality priceless time, one proud Daddy , a couple impressed neighbors and one VERY happy child later... we have our igloo :)