Word choice

At dinner, we always try to get the kids to share their feelings about the day - good, bad, disappointing, frustrating, exciting, etc. We also try to get them to share some details and highights. Last night, when I asked Isaac to share more about his day at preschool he said, "Well, there was a little bit of a misunderstanding."
I prodded to get more information, since that was such an ambiguous answer.
He said, "Well, Jaiden and I had a misunderstanding. We almost broke-up."

Okay, at this point, I'm thinking to myself, "This is my 5 year old...where does he come up with this?!" But, I kept prodding and he continued.

"Jaiden doesn't want me to play with Max and she said we wouldn't be friends anymore if I play with Max, so I promised her I wouldn't play with Max for a whole week. So it's okay now."

The language he chose and the content of the conversation were a bit surreal for me, the mother of this five year old, but once he was done explaining we had a good discussion about playing together with all of his friends, rather than leaving someone out.

His same friend, Jaiden, called my cell phone today and asked for Isaac! They talked on the phone for about 10 minutes, to wish one another fun skiing this weekend and to make sure they both were bringing their "texting machine" along. (One of their friends celebrated her birthday at preschool last week and gave everyone little solar powered calculators. Jaiden and Isaac have been "texting, emailing, and calling" each other on it ever since.) Definitely a different pretend use of a calculator than when I was a kid! By the way, some of you might be wondering - Isaac says "calculator far better than Auntie Lisa!

A lesson in sharing and Lent

Well, yesterday, before we headed out to run some errands, I got the kids one of their more favorite snacks - "A mix" - a modgpodge of whatever cereals are in the cupboard, some craisins, and if they're really lucky some chocolate chips. Yesterday, they were really lucky!

"Be careful not to spill your snacks in Mommy's car."
I don't even think I had finished saying that when I noticed ACE had spilled a small portion of his baggy. (I've learned to expect it...) So, in helping him clean it up, I ate a few bites of cereal.

ACE is our sharer. He'll always let you play with his toy, give you a bite of his brownie, and if he's ever offered something from somone (like a sticker from his preschool teacher), he always asks politely if he can have one for his "brudder." It's just who he is.

So, he was happy to share, but was a bit concerned I might have had some of his treasured chocolate. He asked, "What did you eat, mom? Did you eat a chocolate?"

"No, I told you, I don't eat chocolate right now," I responded.

"Why not? Are you 'wergic' [translation: allergic]?"

"No, I'm not eating chocolate so I will think about God more and what He did for me."

"Oh, does He not eat chocolate, either?"

Melting my Heart

Elyse is at such a fabulous stage. In some ways I don't even think it's a stage, I think it's just her personality. Below is a video that captures some of her personality - some singing, some disractions, some eating (yes, I actually feed her...she doesn't have to lick the bowl), and some great smiles and laughs.

The Vanity of a three year old

After showering after my spin class Friday morning, I decided to quickly crawl back into bed with Kurt, to sneak in a few more minutes of snuggle time. As Kurt and I lay in bed, barely past 7, the boys were already bouncing off the walls. Austin came into our room and apparently grabbed my brush and started grooming himself for his day. Without our really knowing he was still in the room, he popped his head up over our bed and said, with utter seriousness and pride, "You guys are not going to believe how handsome my hair is!"

To his credit, it did look pretty nice - actually lying down! And that was just after waking up! (If you've seen Austin in the morning, you'll know that this is unheard of!)

What a cute little personality he has!! I just love the honest, humorous, and constant commentary that fills our house from 7 - 7 everyday (even if it does get loud sometimes...)!

Dueling Vacuums

My little Helper!

She doesn't look very happy in this, but the "look" was toward her brother and the camera - she wanted to get back to her super fun vacuuming, rather than "posing!"

Laughable Landscaping

Nearly five years ago, when we originally moved into this house, our backyard was literally one big, steep hill of dirt. Nothing more. Nothing less. It's come a long way since then, thanks in part to hired hands and in part to our own sweat and tears. Even with all the work we've put into it, there's still a lot of hill and a lot of dirt back there. Many times I've wished we could have leveled more of the yard for the kids to play in. But, that hill brings more laughter (not to mention dirt) into my house than most things, so I'm thankful for it.

(Good thing we recently replaced the fence with a super sturdy, steel-post fence!)

A Name Tag from Birth

Last night, snuggled up as a family in front of our cozy fire watching the SuperBowl, I had a moment of nostalgia and asked Isaac if he knew why we named him "Isaac." I know we've told him why in the past, but he seemed to have forgotten.

Austin, however, knew right away...
"That's what was on the name tag God put on his back when he came out of your tummy!"

Praise the Lord we are all named by our Heavenly Father, as CHILD, and that He knew each one of us before He created us in our mother's womb. What an amazing gift that the God of the universe has our names (each one of them) written on the palm of his hand!! He knows us better than anyone else and loves us more than we could ever fathom.