Old McWheeler Had A Farm…

Today Matthew had a fieldtrip to Wheeler Farm.  Yes, I know it was snowing.  We went anyway.  And in spite of the snow (and the enormous amount of mud that a wet day creates on a farm) we had a great time!  I didn’t take any pictures (I figured I had enough on my hands with the snow, hats, gloves, mud and patrolling a four year old on a farm) so you’ll have to use your imagination.

Now taking a kid who is allergic to milk and eggs to a farm can be an interesting experience because when the lovely tour guide asks questions like “What do we get from cows?” or “What do we get from chickens?”  she expects a four year old to know the answer.  Poor lady must have thought the completely blank stares meant Matthew was short-bus-special until I whispered to her that he is allergic and therefore hasn’t a clue in the world where milk, yogurt, cheese and eggs come from since he has never eaten them.

Matthew had mixed feelings about the animals: He was impressed by how tall the cows were.  One of the horses was awesome because it was so long.  The tom turkeys gobbled at the kids (Every one of them jumped at least six inches.  Maybe I’m a mean mom, but it totally made me laugh!) and after the tour guide told them that they do that to make everyone think they are in charge he sidled back to me and told me, “They scared me out.”  The coolest goat was the one with one horn.  He wouldn’t touch the sheep’s wool the tour guide had.  All through the tour he kept making horse sounds.  And he couldn’t wait to see the “hens.”  (Don’t ask me where he learned that word.  I have no idea.)  He has been excited about this adventure for weeks and I don’t think he was in any way disappointed.

Although Matthew seemed underwhelmed, I really enjoyed watching the blacksmith doing his thing.  We watched him turn a metal rod into a lovely leaf and I was very impressed.  I mentioned that it made me appreciate my silverware a whole lot more and the blacksmith told me that many years ago forks were frequently made with only two tines because they were easier.  After seeing him hammer a red hot rod into a recognizable shape, I would definitely have to agree!

I think my favorite moment (again, I think I’m a mean mom) was when we were feeding the ducks.  The duck feed for the day was wheat and I held Matthew’s first handful while he took little sprinkles and scattered them around.  Then he got a second handful and before he could pass it to me, one of the ducks came and ate right out of his hand.  He went very still, then slowly lowered his arm and let the rest of his wheat drop to the ground.  Needless to say, he was totally done feeding the ducks at that point.  On our way back to the car, he informed me that the duck was “very naughty.”  When I tried to get him to tell Kev about it later this evening, he shook his head and whispered to me, “It’s too scary.”  I seriously hope he doesn’t end up having naughty duck dreams for the next thirty years because I thought it was hilarious!

So while I wouldn’t necessarily suggest going in the snow, Wheeler Farm is a fun place to visit!

Growth Trickle

This morning Matthew scampered into my bathroom, held up his arm and exclaimed, “Look how much skin I have!”  I thought, “Huh??”  What I said was, “Wow.  You do have a lot of skin.”  Once he had my confirmation of the hugeness of his skin, he explained further: “It’s because I’m growing!!”

Now, here’s the back story:  Last night Matthew jumped on the scale and we discovered that he is finally big enough for a booster seat.  He is thrilled beyond belief.  He is four after all, a pretty ripe age to still be in the car seat.  Daniel and Nathan both outgrew the car seat at age two but it has taken Matthew a whole lot longer to put on the necessary weight.  Unlike the other boys, he doesn't exactly have growth spurts.  It's more like growth trickles.  So he is ecstatic about the fact that he has managed to eke out enough poundage to be in a big boy seat.  In about six more weeks Nathan will turn eight and will finally be able to ditch the aforementioned “big boy seat.”  And then we will be down to one child seat in the car.  It’s going to be downright roomy in the backseat.  Of course, the “anti-fighting barrier” that is the arm of the car seat will no longer exist between Nathan and Matthew, so the extra room may not seem like such a perk in a week or two…

"The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right."--Mark Twain

I know this should have been posted a couple of days ago, but Matthew has to be in just the right mood to be willing to perform for the camera.  After preschool on Thursday he told me that he learned a spider song that was creepy.  A few hours later when he got around to singing it for me, I laughed.  And then he sang it for everyone else and they giggled as well.  So without further ado, here is Matthew’s tribute to the First of April:

 Have I mentioned that we love preschool?

Better Than Ever!

Nathan had another appointment with the eye doctor today and we are all jazzed!  He is doing better than he has ever done: 20/20 in both eyes with his current prescription!  And that is after three months of no patching!  The doctor was very happy, as were we.  We will go back in July, but we are just in the watch and wait and make sure his eye doesn't regress stage.  I think we're all starting to think that maybe he is actually done with the patching for good.

Is It Possible For Him To Get Any Smart Aleckier?

Matthew is a four year old with an incredibly sassy mouth that is due to the fact that he is too smart for my own good.  He is a little baby sponge: he only has to hear something once for it to become a permanent part of his vocabulary.  So I try not to give him too much ammunition for his sassiness.  But try as I might, things have a way of being said…and heard.  Tonight Nathan was getting ready for school and bed at his regular pace: he makes a tree sloth look speedy.  In an ineffectual attempt to speed him up, Kev called out, “Get your tushy in gear!”  From down the hall I heard Matthew: “Ha, ha!  Tushy in gear!  I get that word!” 

I can hardly wait to see how Matthew decides to use his latest vocabulary acquisition.

Nudity Is Not An Option

My children have always hated being naked.  When they were toddlers I never had to worry about them stripping down and flashing everyone because they just didn’t do it.  Being clad in just a diaper was a punishment of the highest order.  Matthew wouldn’t even wear his pajamas to preschool when they had pajama day last month because getting dressed is just the right thing to do before going to school.  As time has passed, this tendency has continued for all my boys and while I believe that modesty is an admirable trait, sometimes I think it can go a bit too far.  Say, for instance, that you share a room with a sibling and are so concerned about anyone seeing you without clothes on that you can’t get dressed while the aforementioned sibling is in the room even though you will always have all the important parts covered by your underwear.  That is how Nathan is.  He usually gets dressed in the bathroom, but if the bathroom is unavailable he will scream at Matthew to get out of the room before he will get dressed.  And Matthew, of course, is loath to comply with these high decibel requests.  It is, after all, his room to.  And really, he isn’t hurting anyone by just sitting there, right?

I had assumed that Matthew stuck around just to irritate Nathan since that seems to be one of his goals in life.  I didn’t realize that Matthew had completely clued in to the reason behind Nathan’s conniptions until Nathan went to take a shower tonight and I heard Matthew taunting him through the closed bathroom door: “When you come out I’ll see your belly button!”

What a little smart aleck.

I've Always Considered Red To Be Our Lucky Color

No leprechauns visited our house last night.  Matthew nearly had a meltdown when he woke up and discovered that his pancakes were green.  None of us bothered to wear any green at all.  For dinner we had plain old stew.  I couldn’t see spending the extra money to buy lamb to make a traditional Irish stew when I knew my kids would prefer beef.  And they won’t eat corned beef so it was just the regular kind.  I wasn’t in the mood for cabbage so I skipped that as well.  Matthew wouldn’t even let me take a picture of him in the cute hat he made at preschool.  The only really authentic thing we did today was have raisins in our soda bread. (Which was very tasty, by the way.  A touch of sweetness to perfectly balance the tartness of the buttermilk.)

I guess it’s a good thing we have Chinese blood and not Irish because the Luck O’ the Irish is so not going to be with us this year.

Construction In The Basement

In a moment of blessed peace, two of my offspring quit fighting long enough to collaborate on a building project in the basement.  And what did they build?  A library, of course.

Here are the architects:

They were very proud of their accomplishment.  I was thrilled beyond belief to have an hours long span of no arguing.  I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love that my kids really, really love the library.  I don’t think there are many better places to enjoy spending time.