Jonah...the 6 year old powerhouse!

Hey slip and slide, you're going down!

"Looks like the slip and slide won this battle, but I will be back to fight another day"

"Now for some time to reflect on what I have conquered amidst the flowers and water to calm my nerves."

Jonah, what to say first about a boy who seems to have so many sides. He is loving, caring, and sensitive, only if he lets you in. The other times, he is intense, competitive, and takes no prisoners. This is our Jonah. A friendly game of slip and slide in the yard today turned into him scraping up his chest because he went flying off the track and over a twig. No big deal for Jonah. As you can see in the pictures, he is not coming down the slip and slide laughing, but has a look on his face like he is coming to take the camera man out. Summer is great because he doesn't seem to trash as many clothes as fast, since he always seems to be in his bathing suit with his shirt off. At the end of the day, he is the one person in the famiily who has to shower before getting into bed. We call him "pig pen." This past weekend is one that, if he could have created, he would have. Yesterday morning at the beach, afternoon at the little league field, then on to slip and slide thrashing and ending with roller blades and hockey sticks in the yard (a whole other story). It has to be intense or he is "bored". The one side effect that we see from his personality and action is that he is out within minutes at night because he has no more energy.

I walked in the garage tonight before dinner to see all three boys dressed in bike helmets, knee and elbow pads, and odds and ends of clothing, smashing a box with their hockey sticks. My first thought in looking at the situation was, "someone is going to get hit in the head," Since Jonah was the one without a helmet, within seconds, his 3 year old brother clobbered him in the back of the head "on purpose" as Noah says (He is still trying to get the difference down between on purpose and on accident). Jonah came screaming towards me yelling, "I can't breathe". This is normal for Jonah when he gets hurts, so I knew he was going to be able to breathe once he calmed down. Noah got rid of the evidence, like I hadn't seen the whlole thing, and then came running to me with a look of horror on his face. Once Jonah was calmed down, he wanted to have a rumble with Noah, because he was sure that Noah hit him on purpose. When asked, Noah said, "Yes dad, I did it on purpose. " This made Jonah furious. Because I know the Noah language, I clarified and Noah didn't do it on purpose (plus I saw the whole thing). There were apologies and hugs, but deep down, you know Jonah won't forget what his brother did on that fateful day. Jonah can go from a tough jock, to a true 6 year old who still needs his parents when he gets hurt. Far after that tonight, he was curled up in the restaurant bench with his head on my lap. If his enemies could see him now being so vulnerable. Rebecca and I love the differences about each one of our kids. Jonah is sweet and kind, and would pummel the first person to hurt or threaten one of his brothers. We always take time with all the kids, to have those "teachable moments" with them, but with Jonah, we spend extra time trying to explain empathy to him. He will accept all the prayers he can take in.

We went out to dinner and all the kids wanted to take the Jeep out one more time before I put up the top for the week. It is supposed to be cooler this week, so the top is going up tonight. So, the boys and I had a last ride in the nice weather and blue sky. A combination of warm weather, loud music, sun glasses, and the top down, can sure cure a lot.

Well, just as I sat here writing this blog, I heard a big thump, and knew it must have been Noah. He fell out of bed. We came in to pick him up and calm him down and his mouth was bleeding. He bumped his upper tooth and was crying pretty hard. After playing so hard all day, does night time have to be so brutal? We calmed him down and looked at his mouth. He is fine, but still had the look like the day had spanked him or somehow won. Tomorrow is another day that Noah can conquer the world. Hope you call had a great weekend. Enjoy the week and look for the small things in each day that bring a smile to your face. There sure seem to be a lot of teachable moments out there for all of us each day.