So I was putting Gabe to bed tonight, and when we were going to pray, he told me he wanted to ask me about something. I love the questions he asks about God. I'd like to remember this, so I'll try to recreate the dialogue below:
Gabe: Does God sleep?
Me: No. He never sleeps. He's always watching over us and everybody else. He doesn't need to sleep because He's God.
Gabe: Well, does He eat breakfast?
Me: No, He doesn't need to eat, either.
Gabe: Doesn't He have a mouth?
Me: I think He has a mouth; He just doesn't need to eat because He's God.
Gabe: Lunch or supper either?
Me: I don't think so. But, when He came to Earth as a man a long time ago, as Jesus, He ate then.
Gabe: (Exasperated) What? Are you telling me God came to Earth?
Me: Yeah, He came to Earth as Jesus a long time ago. That's what makes Jesus so special.
Gabe: Is this for real?
Me: Yes, it's for real.
Gabe: What did He eat?
Me: All I know is that He ate fish and bread. (Gabe snuggles Lambie, his little stuffed lamb, just as I say,) He might have eaten lamb.
Gabe: What? I thought God liked lambs. (With that "I'm a little saddened by this, but I don't want to share this verbally" look in his eyes.)
Me: Oh, I mean, I think people back then used to eat lamb. I don't know if Jesus did.
Gabe: Well how did He get down here? Did He have a parachute?
Me: No, He was born as a baby. Remember the Christmas story? (I briefly re-tell the Christmas story...)
This lead to talking about miracles, which brought us back to one of the pages we read just before this conversation from his children's Bible, where Jesus turns water into wine, which led to Gabe asking "What's wine?" And we carried on with a 10 minute discussion on the fermentation of grape juice from there.
Okay, so we didn't discuss the fermentation of grape juice, but the rest is true. Priceless stuff.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Stay-Cation: A Week in Review...
Well, tomorrow I go back to work.
I'm glad I don't feel super bummed...thought I would.
While the past week didn't go exactly as I'd envisioned when I requested the time off (thought we'd have a sitter for a couple days and that I'd use those days to get some projects done around the house), I don't know that I'd change anything about it. A ton of moments treasured with the fam...that was a real blessing.
For my own sake, more than anything, I want to chronicle the highlights of each of the days of my stay-cation.
Friday, July 3: Gabe and I made a Costco run...had lunch at Subway...doesn't sound too exciting, but I really enjoy those 1-1 times with Gabe. He thrives on 1-1 attention and conversation, and I really enjoyed that time with him. He had a turkey sub with nothing but tomatoes on it and ate almost the whole thing. When we got home and unloaded the car, Sara and I decided spontaneously to take the boys to see "Up" in 3-D. It was Caleb's first big screen experience...He was pretty freaked out at first, but ended up sitting on my lap and paying attention to the movie the whole way through. I really enjoyed watching him devour popcorn...He just kept stuffing it in his mouthas fast as his little hand could move back and forth between his face and the popcorn tub. In every scene that showed the house being carried away by the balloons, he'd wave and say, "Bye-bye, b'oons."
Saturday, July 4: Went to Rockford...highlights included the annual Minnick picnic at Sara's mom's...awesome BBQ beef from Sara's grandma and good brats from Becky (and getting to try on Beck's full fire fighter gear, and watching Gabe talk like Darth Vader while wearing Beck's face mask...the only video of Darth Vader he's seen is in the "Chad After Dentist" video, so instead of saying something like, "Luke, I am your father," he was saying "Do I have stitches in my vent?"...). Also was very cool watching Caleb love everyone singing "Happy Birthday" to him. That night, a BBQ and eating near the Rock River (fantastic homemade potato salad...the way my Grandma Schemenauer used to make it) and watching the fireworks from my mom's building. Really enjoyed walking across the Whitman St Bridge with Gabie (long before the festivities began).
Sunday, July 5: Great breakfast at my mom's, went to hang out with Sara's dad. Nice low-key afternoon...I even got to sneak away for a little while to hit some golf balls at Elliot Park in Rockford (that was the extent of my golfing for the week, but I'm really not too sad about that). Crashed at Sara's dad's and I watched Gran Torino after everyone else went to sleep...really liked it for the mentoring theme as well as some of the deeper themes...wouldn't recommend it to anyone really sensitive to racism and/or language though.
Monday, July 6: Spent the day with Sara and the boys at Coco Key in Rockford. We had a blast there for Gabe's birthday, so we thought it would be good to repeat for Caleb's birthday. Had a blast once again...the boys really love that place, and we really enjoy seeing how much they enjoy it. Gabe and I went shopping for Caleb's b-day presents that afternoon...Gabe is enjoying picking out presents "Caleb" would really like. I think we had Culver's that night, too...Mmmmmmm. Came home to Chi-town.
Tuesday, July 7: Caleb's 2nd Birthday :) Gabe helped him open his presents in the morning; Sara went out and got McD's hotcakes for breakfast, and we went to the zoo that afternoon. Caleb is especially liking the dinosaur exhibit at the zoo, that and the childrens zoo next door. Drove out to Lombard for dinner at Ed Debevic's that night...Gotta say that it's just not the same in the suburbs.
Wednesday, July 8: Sara had to work. The boys and I dropped her off and went to the Shedd Aquarium. Not so fun being a solo adult in that setting...Caleb was more interested in getting out of the stroller to play with the buckles than he was in the fish. And lots of summer camp kids and tourists. Just not too fun. So we left and decided to explore...I wanted to see how close I could get the boys to the waterfront...found a fantastic little beach just south of the Planetarium. Had it almost totally to ourselves due to the dreary weather we had that day. I realized it was Caleb's first time walking on a beach...when we were in Maine last summer, he wasn't quite walking yet. He was freaked out at first, but ended up having a great time standing on the edge of the water and throwing rocks into the lake. Gabe really enjoyed letting the water was over his feet. I'd say the 40 minutes we spent on this beach were probably one of my favorite highlights of the week. Caleb though walking on the dry sand on the way back to the stroller was hilarious...he was squealing and laughing the whole way.
Thursday, July 9: Didn't really plan anything for this day other than chilling out at home...was kinda boring. My brother Cory texted me, though and the boys and I ended up driving out to his college apartment to pick him up to bring him to the house to hang out for a while. The boys really enjoyed getting to see their Uncle Cory. After picking Sara up from the train, we all went out for a delicious meal at Fuego Loco...Yum. Very cool having Cory sorta nearby now...really enjoyed getting to hang with him.
Friday, July 10: I honestly don't remember anything too exciting from this day...spent a good chunk of time car shopping...saw one I really liked but didn't think it was going to work out. Oh well. Went to the library with Sara and the boys after some curry at one of our favorite local Thai spots. More yum. Gabe and I did some work in the basement. Home project asccomplishment for the week= reassambly of a big cabinet we keep down there that had fallen apart. At one point, though, at a discouraging moment, Gabe said something about not wanting to work with me anymore because I wasn't a very good fixer. Thanks for your confidence in me, Gabe.
Saturday, July 11: Actually had to work for a few hours; we had a mentor/mentee bowling outing. Was pretty fun, and a great way to start mentally transitioning back to work. Through the day, was going back and forth with the car dealer with the car I really wanted...ended up driving all the way to Marengo in our van (no AC, passenger window decided it would not go down, Sara baking (as in, personally, not pound cake), Gabe saying for about 20 minutes, "Get me outta here"...) to test drive this car. Test drove it with the boys...3 hours later, left with our new (to us) car. By far, the nicest car we've ever owned...pretty psyched about it (if I can borrow that term from 1992)...Best part was seeing the excitement in Sara's eyes and her bid smile as we drove away...truly a highlight of the week. :) Drove to Rockford (since we were so close, and so excited) and Bob, Norma and my mom met us at Dairy Queen to check it out. Got home uber (sp?) late.
Sunday, July 12: Church...still so thankful that Gabe is liking childrens' church, that he has a buddy there he looks forward to seeing. (Caleb continues to cry non-stop in the nursery...tried having him "Cry it out" today...Doesn't work with him.) Sara and the boys cleaned out the "old" van while I grilled chicken. Highlight of the day was taking Gabie to wash the old van tonight. We had some deep conversation. On the way to the car wash, there was a sermon on the radio (Yes, I listen to sermons sometimes when I'm driving:) about the Good Samaritan...Gabe heard the speaker say that it was a story about Justice, and Gabe asked me "Daddy, what is justice?" I tried to explain...how do you explain such a concept to a 4-year old? Then, the speaker quoted Jesus from the Bible, and Gabe goes,"That's not how God sounds when he talks." And we got into another discussion about what God sounds like when He talks. Interesting stuff...Got to a point where Gabe said "Okay, that's enough of this talk." Gabe really enjoyed helping wash the van and drying it with the vending machine chamois I tore in half so we could each have one. On the way home, way past Gabe's bedtime, we stopped at Baskin Robbins for their $.88 soft serve cones...good stuff. It was just so fun to sit there and talk with Gabe; that old "Louie, Louie, Louie, Louie...Louie, Louie, Louie, Louaah" song came on and we had fun singing it together in our falsetto voices, Gabe with ice cream all over his face. On the way home, Gabe saw a police car and we had yet another deep discussion, this time about the police. He had a lot of questions, but one of them was along the lines of "Are some police nice?" (Sidebar...It's frustrating to not be able to say what most people would want to say in that situation, that police are always "nice," except to people who do bad things, but personal experience (and the Chicago news)would tell me otherwise...Sometimes it's hard to be honest with a kid... ) Anyway, I just treasured that time with Gabe...Neat to see that significant 1-1 time doing mundane errands book-ended this week off and were a couple of my favorite memories...
It's been a great week. If you have read this far and want to see pics of any of this...maybe check Sara's blog...I need to get to bed; I have work tomorrow.
I'm glad I don't feel super bummed...thought I would.
While the past week didn't go exactly as I'd envisioned when I requested the time off (thought we'd have a sitter for a couple days and that I'd use those days to get some projects done around the house), I don't know that I'd change anything about it. A ton of moments treasured with the fam...that was a real blessing.
For my own sake, more than anything, I want to chronicle the highlights of each of the days of my stay-cation.
Friday, July 3: Gabe and I made a Costco run...had lunch at Subway...doesn't sound too exciting, but I really enjoy those 1-1 times with Gabe. He thrives on 1-1 attention and conversation, and I really enjoyed that time with him. He had a turkey sub with nothing but tomatoes on it and ate almost the whole thing. When we got home and unloaded the car, Sara and I decided spontaneously to take the boys to see "Up" in 3-D. It was Caleb's first big screen experience...He was pretty freaked out at first, but ended up sitting on my lap and paying attention to the movie the whole way through. I really enjoyed watching him devour popcorn...He just kept stuffing it in his mouthas fast as his little hand could move back and forth between his face and the popcorn tub. In every scene that showed the house being carried away by the balloons, he'd wave and say, "Bye-bye, b'oons."
Saturday, July 4: Went to Rockford...highlights included the annual Minnick picnic at Sara's mom's...awesome BBQ beef from Sara's grandma and good brats from Becky (and getting to try on Beck's full fire fighter gear, and watching Gabe talk like Darth Vader while wearing Beck's face mask...the only video of Darth Vader he's seen is in the "Chad After Dentist" video, so instead of saying something like, "Luke, I am your father," he was saying "Do I have stitches in my vent?"...). Also was very cool watching Caleb love everyone singing "Happy Birthday" to him. That night, a BBQ and eating near the Rock River (fantastic homemade potato salad...the way my Grandma Schemenauer used to make it) and watching the fireworks from my mom's building. Really enjoyed walking across the Whitman St Bridge with Gabie (long before the festivities began).
Sunday, July 5: Great breakfast at my mom's, went to hang out with Sara's dad. Nice low-key afternoon...I even got to sneak away for a little while to hit some golf balls at Elliot Park in Rockford (that was the extent of my golfing for the week, but I'm really not too sad about that). Crashed at Sara's dad's and I watched Gran Torino after everyone else went to sleep...really liked it for the mentoring theme as well as some of the deeper themes...wouldn't recommend it to anyone really sensitive to racism and/or language though.
Monday, July 6: Spent the day with Sara and the boys at Coco Key in Rockford. We had a blast there for Gabe's birthday, so we thought it would be good to repeat for Caleb's birthday. Had a blast once again...the boys really love that place, and we really enjoy seeing how much they enjoy it. Gabe and I went shopping for Caleb's b-day presents that afternoon...Gabe is enjoying picking out presents "Caleb" would really like. I think we had Culver's that night, too...Mmmmmmm. Came home to Chi-town.
Tuesday, July 7: Caleb's 2nd Birthday :) Gabe helped him open his presents in the morning; Sara went out and got McD's hotcakes for breakfast, and we went to the zoo that afternoon. Caleb is especially liking the dinosaur exhibit at the zoo, that and the childrens zoo next door. Drove out to Lombard for dinner at Ed Debevic's that night...Gotta say that it's just not the same in the suburbs.
Wednesday, July 8: Sara had to work. The boys and I dropped her off and went to the Shedd Aquarium. Not so fun being a solo adult in that setting...Caleb was more interested in getting out of the stroller to play with the buckles than he was in the fish. And lots of summer camp kids and tourists. Just not too fun. So we left and decided to explore...I wanted to see how close I could get the boys to the waterfront...found a fantastic little beach just south of the Planetarium. Had it almost totally to ourselves due to the dreary weather we had that day. I realized it was Caleb's first time walking on a beach...when we were in Maine last summer, he wasn't quite walking yet. He was freaked out at first, but ended up having a great time standing on the edge of the water and throwing rocks into the lake. Gabe really enjoyed letting the water was over his feet. I'd say the 40 minutes we spent on this beach were probably one of my favorite highlights of the week. Caleb though walking on the dry sand on the way back to the stroller was hilarious...he was squealing and laughing the whole way.
Thursday, July 9: Didn't really plan anything for this day other than chilling out at home...was kinda boring. My brother Cory texted me, though and the boys and I ended up driving out to his college apartment to pick him up to bring him to the house to hang out for a while. The boys really enjoyed getting to see their Uncle Cory. After picking Sara up from the train, we all went out for a delicious meal at Fuego Loco...Yum. Very cool having Cory sorta nearby now...really enjoyed getting to hang with him.
Friday, July 10: I honestly don't remember anything too exciting from this day...spent a good chunk of time car shopping...saw one I really liked but didn't think it was going to work out. Oh well. Went to the library with Sara and the boys after some curry at one of our favorite local Thai spots. More yum. Gabe and I did some work in the basement. Home project asccomplishment for the week= reassambly of a big cabinet we keep down there that had fallen apart. At one point, though, at a discouraging moment, Gabe said something about not wanting to work with me anymore because I wasn't a very good fixer. Thanks for your confidence in me, Gabe.
Saturday, July 11: Actually had to work for a few hours; we had a mentor/mentee bowling outing. Was pretty fun, and a great way to start mentally transitioning back to work. Through the day, was going back and forth with the car dealer with the car I really wanted...ended up driving all the way to Marengo in our van (no AC, passenger window decided it would not go down, Sara baking (as in, personally, not pound cake), Gabe saying for about 20 minutes, "Get me outta here"...) to test drive this car. Test drove it with the boys...3 hours later, left with our new (to us) car. By far, the nicest car we've ever owned...pretty psyched about it (if I can borrow that term from 1992)...Best part was seeing the excitement in Sara's eyes and her bid smile as we drove away...truly a highlight of the week. :) Drove to Rockford (since we were so close, and so excited) and Bob, Norma and my mom met us at Dairy Queen to check it out. Got home uber (sp?) late.
Sunday, July 12: Church...still so thankful that Gabe is liking childrens' church, that he has a buddy there he looks forward to seeing. (Caleb continues to cry non-stop in the nursery...tried having him "Cry it out" today...Doesn't work with him.) Sara and the boys cleaned out the "old" van while I grilled chicken. Highlight of the day was taking Gabie to wash the old van tonight. We had some deep conversation. On the way to the car wash, there was a sermon on the radio (Yes, I listen to sermons sometimes when I'm driving:) about the Good Samaritan...Gabe heard the speaker say that it was a story about Justice, and Gabe asked me "Daddy, what is justice?" I tried to explain...how do you explain such a concept to a 4-year old? Then, the speaker quoted Jesus from the Bible, and Gabe goes,"That's not how God sounds when he talks." And we got into another discussion about what God sounds like when He talks. Interesting stuff...Got to a point where Gabe said "Okay, that's enough of this talk." Gabe really enjoyed helping wash the van and drying it with the vending machine chamois I tore in half so we could each have one. On the way home, way past Gabe's bedtime, we stopped at Baskin Robbins for their $.88 soft serve cones...good stuff. It was just so fun to sit there and talk with Gabe; that old "Louie, Louie, Louie, Louie...Louie, Louie, Louie, Louaah" song came on and we had fun singing it together in our falsetto voices, Gabe with ice cream all over his face. On the way home, Gabe saw a police car and we had yet another deep discussion, this time about the police. He had a lot of questions, but one of them was along the lines of "Are some police nice?" (Sidebar...It's frustrating to not be able to say what most people would want to say in that situation, that police are always "nice," except to people who do bad things, but personal experience (and the Chicago news)would tell me otherwise...Sometimes it's hard to be honest with a kid... ) Anyway, I just treasured that time with Gabe...Neat to see that significant 1-1 time doing mundane errands book-ended this week off and were a couple of my favorite memories...
It's been a great week. If you have read this far and want to see pics of any of this...maybe check Sara's blog...I need to get to bed; I have work tomorrow.
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