dave & janet horsman ::: keepin’ it real since 1998

…”Elijah and Zeke…come down from there!” hollered the Macleod boys.

Hmmmm, thought I, maybe I should go investigate…

In the tree (obviously): Elijah, a couple of feet above Zeke.  From left to right:  Noah Horsman, Andrew, Isaac and Dominic Macleod.

We had an amazing TV-Turn Off Week, thanks, in part, to some perfect, week-long, play-outside-weather.  Lots of trees were climbed, trenches dug in the sand at the park, and al fresco (I like saying “al fresco” - it makes me feel like Anne of Green Gables) snacks eaten.  The only time Elijah and Zeke had anything negative to say, were the few times that we asked them how they thought TV-Turn Off Week was going.  Of course, then they said, “We don’t like it!” but they weren’t able to give any reasons besides the classic, “Just because!” 

I have to confess that I was very tempted to turn the TV on for Noah (Zeke was at preschool) on Friday morning, when I was busy baking his birthday cake.  But, I held firm, brought him to the kitchen with me, and let him empty my can cupboard of all it’s cans, all the while fearing for the safety of my toes, as he built towers with them, and then knocked them over.   After those were put away, he pulled all my baking “stuff” out, and, well…this is what his little brain thought of doing with a muffin tin…

Cute.  What else would go in a muffin tin besides dinky-cars?

So, once again, TV-Turn Off Week was a really good experience for us.  We had a little family meeting on Sunday night, and agreed on three simple “TV Rules” (and I share these here on our blog, simply because I believe it will help to keep us “on track”)…

1.  TV stays off untill 5 PM on weekdays.  An easy agreement to come to…this is when their favorite show - Cyberchase - is on.  (And I like this one too…I really prefer to have the kitchen to myself while I’m preparing dinner!)  This one will definitely be different on weekends

2.  Only 1 and 1/2 hours of TV each day.  This one was a compromise.  Dave and I suggested one hour, and they seemed to think three hours was more reasonable, so we finally settled on an hour and a half, in exchange for a little extra GameCube during their GameCube time on Saturday. 

3.  The first Monday to Friday of each month is going to be the “Horsman Family TV-Turn Off Week.”  This one was not very popular.   We talked about the reasons why it is a good thing, but still, the scowls remained.  So, I guess I’ll just have to enforce this one, and hope they thank me for it in 20 years! 

P.S.  I wish smells were transportable over the internet!  We’re having some very fragrant spring showers this evening as I sit here and write this.  We have all our windows open, and it smells like heaven!

Here’s some pictures from Noah’s party on Saturday. Enjoy.

Noah blowing out the candles.

The kids enjoying cake and ice cream!

Noah and da-da.

These are my sister Beth’s two oldest. Grace and Duncan

Janet’s touching tribute to our baby…at least for the next month.

Here’s a link to a news story that a local channel did last night on the Morrison clan:
St. Louis Park couple expecting six babies

Here’s the link to their website:
morrison6.com

Ryan and Brianna were both very involved with helping me with worship on Sundays at Bethany. Anytime I can’t lead, Ryan steps in. Downside…no more help for a while. Upside…in 16 years we’ll have a killer family choir!

When you think of it, be praying for this family. May the peace of Christ reign in their hearts!

 This made me laugh…

 I really didn’t like TV-Turnoff Week, except I did notice that my grades went up and I was in a good mood all week. -Drew Henderson, 2nd grader, Donora, Pennsylvania

Our family took part in TV-Turnoff Week last year, and it was a really good experience for us!   When the week was over, we all agreed - yes, even the kids! - that TV-watching really wasn’t that important. 

Slowly though, over the winter, shows that we “had” to watch, got added back…funny how that happens.  This year, I’m hoping that we all come to the same conclusions as last year, but even if we don’t, I - as the powerful matriarch…he he! - plan to use this week as a catalyst to cut down on the amount of TV that our family watches, and then be really deliberate about sticking to our “TV Times.”  I certainly don’t think TV is “bad,” but I do beleive that WE should be in control of these moving-picture boxes that are in our homes…and not the other way around!

So, blogging will have to be kept to a minimim this week, as will other unnessesary “computer activities.”  I must confess, that if I sit down to write a post during the day, I usually use TV to distract Zeke and Noah while I’m doing it!  And I wouldn’t want staring at a computer screen to replace staring at a TV screen - that would be silly.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on TV, and/or how your family handles “TV Time.”

Me!  by Zeke Horsman at age 5 and 1/4
 done at Broodside Christian Preschool

I had the delight of going to Zeke’s final parent/teacher conference of preschool yesterday.  I was glowing with pride as I left, let me tell ya!  

The only thing his teacher suggested that Zeke needed to practice, were his small motor skills.  Things like printing, coloring, drawing, cutting, gluing.  I had to nod in agreement, although I often wonder exactly how much I should expect from him in this area.   He’s always been more about the large motor skills, imaginitive play, and building and constructing things.  And I adore this about him! 

Elijah, on the other hand, seems to have been born with incredible dexterity…he could print his name legibly when he was just 2 and 1/2.  At his parent/teacher conference a few weeks ago, his teacher said that - hands down - Elijah had the best handwriting in the class, and she was amazed at the small details that he added to his drawings.  I adore this about him!

Getting Zeke to practice things like printing, coloring and drawing is like pulling teeth…and this is where parenting gets tricky!  It’s very tempting to compare siblings to each other, and I struggle with knowing exactly what expectations to put where!  (Sigh)   And just think, Noah, being so young, hasn’t even been added to the mix yet!  And then there’s #4!

Anyway, Dave and I have made an executive decision to let Zeke be for the summer!  He’ll only be five once, and we think he should enjoy it.  He has his whole life to improve his handwriting skills…and besides, there are lots of successful people in the world with horrible handwriting.  Maybe he’ll be a doctor!

So, there I was, quietly peeling potatoes for supper last night.  I could hear Elijah and Zeke at the park across the way, and Noah was entertaining himself by coming in and out of our patio door, saying “Hi,” and “Bye,” to me, talking to himself, and about various items on the patio.

After I’d peeled my sixth potato, I heard Noah come in the patio door, repeating, “Mou’… mou’…mou’!”  I turned around to say hi to him for the dozenth time, saw what he was holding, and briefly thought, “Oh, where’d he get that toy mouse?”  It took me less than a fraction of a second, though, to realize that it was a real, dead mouse, all full of rigor mortis, eyes glazed over, shiny and bulging out of it’s head (because, I think, Noah was squeazing it so hard!).  Oh, it was a gruesome sight!

I started, and then Noah started as a shriek escaped my lips, and I grabbed his forearm and started shaking it violently untill the dead mouse fell to the ground!  Noah stood in confusion, no doubt wondering why I wasn’t as excited as he was about his “Mou’.”  I think I was the closest I’ve ever been to hyperventilating as I carried him to the bathroom, and washed his hands over and over with soap and water. 

But, my friends, as a true blogger at heart, I was also thinking, “I should have gotten a photo of Noah and the dead mouse for our blog…it would make for a good post!”  I even briefly considered getting a photo of the dead mouse alone, but I couldn’t bring myself to look at it again (I stayed out of the kitchen ’till Dave got home from work to dispose of the carcass), and I doubted if my readers wanted to see such an image either! 

Dear common flower, that grow’st beside the way, 
Fringing the dusty road with harmless gold,
First pledge of blithesome May,
Which children pluck, and, full of pride uphold!

- James Russell Lowell
To The Dandelion