A Monday Phenomena

I just got back to my house from dropping the girls off at the bus stop.

Some mornings this little ritual is murder. Nothing goes right. They are running late as soon as their little feet hit the floor. The bathroom is too small for two little girls. Lunches are such a pain to make. Backpacks are heavy and unwieldy. Tempers rise. Mom gets tense. We pray together and the bus arrives. Those days are often Mondays.

But this Monday, everything has turned out right. C's alarm didn't go off and I woke them up 10 minutes late, but no big deal. The outfit J had picked out didn't match so Mom had to make an adjustments, but that was ok too. The bathroom was the perfect size for two little girls this morning. The backpacks didn't occasion one comment. The lunches were made before I even reminded them. No one was tense. We prayed together and the bus arrived.

So what happened? New duds! New Spring duds, no less! I am pretty sure that is the answer. It is going to be 67 degrees here today (we are told) and bless their little girly hearts they are both in new white capri's and loving it!! And honestly, I can't blame them. I feel the exact same way about new clothes. So now I just need to figure out how to provide the girls with something new to wear for the next 6 Mondays of school so this Monday phenomena can continue.

The Bible According to C

Last week when my parents came in town during Spring Break, my Dad thought he would create some healthy conversation at the lunch table. So he asked the kids who knew of a Bible story where someone asked for something but got something else that was even better.

Fairly quickly, one of them hit on the story of Peter and John meeting up with the beggar at the Gate Beautiful from Acts 3:6. Papa agreed that was the story he had in mind and asked the kids what Peter had said to the beggar. In a matter of fact tone, and without skipping a beat, C responded with, "Peter told him to get up and get a job!". I was in mid-chew at that point and it took me a good 3 minutes to stop laughing enough to swallow. It was just so darn unexpected!

Nothing daunted, my Dad pursued the Bible story conversation-starter idea. He asked if anyone knew of a story where someone gave something away but was punished because of how they did it. Ananias and Saphira giving money from their real estate deal was the answer and C once again contributed her interpretation of the Scripture. "Peter said, You little liars, now you are going to die."

I don't think I have ever laughed so hard through a lunch in my entire life. And even more so because it is not usually C who comes up with these hilarious things. And in addition, I will vouch for her that she was not being sacriligous or even trying to be funny, she was just putting the stories into her own words. But oh, my, it was SO FUNNY!!

Dad gave up at that point and we just finished our lunch with smiles on our faces.

NEVER!!!!!!!

My kids, like most toddlers, had their own funny little ways of saying things as they learned how to communicate. For instance, D3 would add an extra "i" into words, like panicakes and pianio. M would just say funny things in general....he has always had an incredibly great sense of humor. C named one of her grandpa's Pookie, which was pretty darn cute if I do say so myself. And then came along the littlest animal in our forest. Whenever there was an emphatic "no" on anything, J would say in a very serious voice and with a very serious expression on her face, "NEVER to hit the dog" or whatever was the current issue at the time. For some reason, that phrase will still pop up in our family's conversation when ever we feel very strongly in the negative about something. Today that happened to me. Only I was by myself. But it still needed to be said.

NEVER to run outside in 42 degree weather with a wind gusting at around 100 mph, give or take!!!

I am still in pain an hour later and I think I have done irreparable damage to my lungs.

NEVER, I tell you, NEVER!!!!!!!

Jelly bean jar

A very fun thing happened for C during Spring Break week. She actually won something...a very large jar of jelly beans from a grocery store. My young mathematician calculated the number of jelly beans by looking at the serving size on the package the store had laying out and estimating. She came within 15 beans. The actual number was something like 1122 beans. And she was so-o-o excited to win!!! We were too since she generously shared all week long.

Jelly bean jar then (we had already dipped into it by the time I took the pic) ...







Jelly bean jar now...




I like the purples. The girls like the pastels. M prefers the black. D and D3 pretty much just grabbed by the handful and didn't worry about the color, unless it was black. As you can see, you pretty much don't want to be a jelly bean in our house. And M gets the last laugh as black are the only ones left.