Like father, like son

Gavin is practicing writing his letters and also practicing some new words. He asked me "Is this the contact way to write an 's'?" I love how he is trying to expand his language- even if he does pick the wrong word sometimes.

He also reminds me of Ron. I remember when Ron and I had just moved into our first apartment. It was a hot summer day but we hadn't turned the air conditioner on yet. Mom came over to visit and, out of concern for mom's comfort, Ron asked if she wanted him to make the fan ovulate back and forth.

That still makes me laugh when I think about it. :)

My new furniture

Here are pics of my new furniture! The couch, love seat, and chair are now in the living room and the old furniture is down stairs. The boys are loving the bunk beds. Max sleeps on the bottom and Gavin sleeps on the top. The pictures are some I had bought a year or so ago, but match perfectly with the furniture.

Swim Fan

We made our way to Adventurland Inn a short 6 miles from home to have some R&R. Actually, there wasn't any R&R because the boys swam for 3 hours and Ron and I chased them around to make sure they didn't drown. They had an awesome time!!

Gavin-speak

Gavin to English dictionary

amn't (v.)- contraction for am not. "I am being good today, amn't I?"

bootybot (n.)- this word is derived from the word butt, which is not allowed to be spoken in the house (in the context of "I am going to stick my butt in your face!" followed by peals of laughter). So butt was changed to booty, which I still didn't appreciate hearing, so it was further transformed to bootybot, which is close enough to butt to be just as hilarously funny, but far enough away that he can't get in trouble for saying it.

google (n.)- the number 1 followed by many many zeros. After learning that this word represented a number it now is the answer for anything requiring a number. "I want a google sandwiches for supper." "I am going to ride my bike a google miles per hour." "At my next birthday I am going to be a google years old!"

chicken-butt (n.)- the obvious answer to the phrase "Guess what?" Unfortunately I was the one who answered with chicken-butt because, honestly, I was tired of guessing what. I am expecting this word to transform to chicken-bootybot soon.

chantel (v.)- when you take a toy to school to show your classmates and talk about it. AKA: show-and-tell. Chantel is the name of Gavin and Max's babysitter on the occasions that Ron and I are both busy. It is pronounced shan-tell.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia!

These are my herbs that I am growing. Compared to Olivia's mine are jungle-like.

The Many Faces of Gavin

I Rise

The pastor at the church I attend gave a sermon about Christ rising from the dead and worked into talking about when someone cuts you down and how you can rise from that. I was trying to import it into my itunes and the sermon started playing. I didn't stop it and just listened as I worked on the computer. He mentioned the Maya Angelou poem I have pasted at the end of this post. He spoke the line "You may trod me in the very dirt, But still, like dust, I'll rise." And as he said that he stomped his foot on the floor and I could imagine the dust rising.

I love those moments when I am unaware and unexpectant and suddenly I realize I am in the middle of hearing the answer to the question I have been praying about.

I have attached the audio link to the sermon. It is titled CSI Jerusalem.

http://www.c2all.com/public/fileshowgroup.asp?ID=100561&fID=1857


Still I Rise

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

Maya Angelou

The Many Faces of Max