A little Monday comedic relief

For your comedic enjoyment, this came home in my son’s weekly work folder from school last week:

My husband said that it would have only been better if there had been some fire coming out of the back of the snowman.

Boys.

You can’t argue with cute

This morning I was getting ready to go to Bible study and couldn’t decide which shoes to wear.  Mike had already left to take Sarah to school, so the only counsel I had in the house was Nathan.  Being a 5 year old boy, he’s not normally the person I would go to for shoe advice, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

I went to his room with both shoes on (technically one shoe and one boot) and this is how the conversation went…

~~~~~~

Me: Nathan, which shoes should I wear?

Nathan: (Takes one look.) The black ones.

Me: (Surprised because my son loves him some boots.) So you think the black ones instead of boots?

Nathan: Yeah.

Me: Why?

Nathan: Because the black ones are better and they are really cute.

~~~~~~

Lesson: You can't argue with cute.

Or a five year old boy with an opinion about shoes.

Who knew?

Kitchen face-lift {part four} – Taking a turn for the ridiculous

So.  Do you remember that little face-lift we started on our kitchen? 

We were just going to paint.  Then we decided to replace the floor after we ripped out the old pantry and built a new one.  But in the midst of all of this, we were absolutely, without question, no-doubt-about-it going to keep the existing cabinets and countertops.

Remember that? 

If not, see the part one, part two and part three blog posts.

Well, we’ve turned a corner into the land of “this is ridiculous.”

My son walked into the kitchen this morning after my husband removed the cabinets, cook top and wall oven and pronounced:

“This place is out of business!”

Yes, son.  Yes it is.

Need a sound effect? Just ask a Kindergarten boy.

On Friday, Sarah went to a girl-friend’s slumber party where they were going to do their own version of Cupcake Wars instead of traditional birthday cake.  Totally cute idea, in my opinion. 

However, the thought of Sarah being at a party and spending the night without him was just almost more than Nathan could bear (bare?  oh I don’t know).  So we decided to invite a friend over to play for the evening and then we could go out for pizza. 

I have noticed in the last few years that one of the biggest differences between my son and daughter was the increased amount of sound effects that come from him.  With boys, it seems, everything has a sound effect. 

Nathan was making car sounds as he pushed his little toddler toys since before he was a year old.  In recent years, however, the volume of sounds that he has learned and practices on a consistent basis has grown exponentially.  And after seeing Star Wars for the first time this summer… oh my… everything sounds like a blaster these days.

Girls, in my experience, even girls that are “tom-boys” just don’t do this.

So picture the scene with me.  Friday evening, we have two Kindergarten boys in the back seat of the car as we are on the way to get pizza for dinner.  And this is what we heard the entire ride.

Mike and I just could not stop laughing. 

Moms of boys (or MOB Society as we call ourselves), have you experienced this?

Birthday party filled chocolate cupcakes

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that my baby had turned a huge 5 years old.

I still can’t get my mind around it.

We had a small impromptu swim party on that Saturday, then he pretty much got whatever he wanted on the day of his birthday as he opened presents little at a time all day long and got to pick what we had for our meals all day long.

He actually said at one point, "I'm the boss of my birthday."  I guess since someone, whether his dad, me or his older sister is always the boss of him, he HAD to be the boss of something.  HA!

Back in May, during the last week of school, I took cupcakes up to his class so that he could celebrate his birthday in class with his friends.  When I asked him what kind of cupcakes he wanted, he made his request very specific.  He wanted chocolate cupcakes with white filling, white icing and blue sprinkles. 

No fire trucks this time.  Just very specifically chocolate cupcakes with white filling, white icing and blue sprinkles.

And when it came time for his actual party, he asked for the same exact thing.

Well, okay.

Obviously, I’ve gotten pretty good at making these recently so I thought I’d share the recipe with you.  The chocolate cupcake recipe is one from Cook’s Illustrated that I have adapted to be a little more pleasing to the kid palette.  I’ve tried a few cream filling recipes, but this one that I discovered over at Evil Shenanigans takes the cake…. or fills it.

Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients:

8 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
1/2 cup cocoa powder (1 1/2 ounces)
3/4 cup all purpose flour (3 3/4 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar (5 1/4 ounces)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sour cream

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine butter, chocolate and cocoa powder in heat-proof bowl and set over a small amount of barely simmering water in a sauce pan and allow to fully melt and combine until smooth.  (To quicken the process, you can melt the butter in the microwave and pour it over the chocolate and cocoa to begin the melting process sooner.)  Once melted, set it aside to cool for a few minutes until just warm to the touch.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and baking powder and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk eggs until smooth.  Add sugar, vanilla and salt and whisk until fully combined and smooth.  Add cooled chocolate mixture and whisk until combined.  Sift in 1/3 of the flour mixture and whisk to combine.  Whisk in sour cream then sift remaining flour mixture over and whisk until batter is homogenous and thick.

Using a large scoop, place 1 just over-full scoop into each cupcake liner.  The recipe makes 13, so if you only have room for 12 cupcakes, you will have a bit left over.

Bake 18-20 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Allow to completely cool before filling and/or frosting.

Cupcake Cream Filling

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons hot water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 – 7 ounce jar marshmallow cream
1/2 cup shortening
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Method:

Dissolve salt in hot water.  Whisk marshmallow cream, shortening, powdered sugar & vanilla with stand mixer until fluffy.  Whisk in salt water until incorporated & fluffy. 

Use a pastry bag fitted with a decorating tip poke a hole down into the cupcake and fill until a little peeks out the top.  One batch fills approximately 3 dozen cupcakes.

Top with your favorite butter cream icing along with some sprinkles if desired and enjoy.

 

In this post:
Chocolate Cupcakes
Cupcake Cream Filling

Because nothing says “I love you” like a tornado and a port-o-potty

Nathan’s little Pre-K class had a Mother’s day breakfast on Friday morning. 

That morning as he was eating some cereal, I said to him, “I get to come have breakfast with you at your class this morning.”

“I know,” he said.  “And Mrs. B says, ‘Moms go first.’”  Clearly that had been talking about the etiquette of the breakfast quite a bit.  I love that.

I enjoy these things so much.  It is a great time to visit with some of the other moms and I also get to see my son interacting with his classmates and teacher.  But most of all I just LOVE all the little things they make for us for special occasions like this.  The handmade cards, the flowers they potted, the pictures they drew… it’s all just about more than a mama can handle.

I got to his classroom on Friday and he took me to his chair.  There were all kinds of goodies sitting there.  A “#1 Mom” pin, a flower they had potted, and a wrapped gift with a card attached.  He immediately showed me the card and started describing everything he drew.

“This is a house and this is the tornado that’s swirling around,” as he moves his hand around in circles really fast.  “And this is another house but these clouds keep this tornado from getting to this house.”

Right.

At this point I was so tickled and giggling.  I knew I looked a little like an idiot to the other moms.  They were all opening the wrapped gift and “oooh-ing and aaahhh-ing” over whatever it was that their son had created. 

(Have I mentioned that it is a class of all boys?  11 boys.  Oh dear.)

(And have I mentioned that his teacher is a saint?) 

I opened mine and it was sweet.  I saw the handprint and the little picture drawn at the bottom and my heart swooned.

I was asking him about the picture at the bottom, “Is that a house and some flowers?”

“No!” he replied.  “THAT’s a port-o-potty!”

I love boys.  I never would have gotten a tornado and a port-o-potty from my daughter for Mother’s Day.  And I never would have laughed so hard.  Never.

Then came the little program.  They all stood at the front of the class and sang a song.  All of them except for Nathan of course.  He tolerated standing up there, but didn’t sing a word.

And then came the reading of the interviews she did with each boy. 

(I posted some answers to previous interviews that my kids have done about me last year.)

I blew tons of kisses to him when his teacher read that he said, “She has to be 14 or 15 years old.”  And you really know you’re doing some of the right things when your son answers, “When we are together we go to Bible study.”  Then I hear, “I love her because I love to hug her and kiss her.”

Oh be still my heart!

Sarah’s class didn’t do a part because of some other things going on, but they did make a gift and I also received this note in the mail from her children’s choir teacher at church.

“Dear Mom, Thank you for cooking for me.  You make the best wakamolly and meatlofe. You are nice. <3, Sarah”

Just to be clear, I don’t make guacamole and meatloaf together. 

And I also am not entirely sure what the picture is on the top half of the card.

 
I love these kids and I am so glad to be their mom.

Especially when I get a tornado and a port-o-potty for Mother’s Day.

I reminisce and wish you a Happy Mother’s Day {Foodie Friday}

I began to reminisce today as a friend of mine who teaches Kindergarten was talking about how she was working on a project full of awesome Kindergartener quotes for their Mother’s Day party at school tomorrow.  I thought back a couple of years to when Sarah was in Kindergarten and I remembered the cookbook that her teacher put together full of recipes that the children dictated to her. 

I remember that as I read it, I laughed so hard that I cried. And probably peed a little. 

You know it’s probably true.  And guys… it’s just a reality of life for us girls.  Get over it.

So, for your enjoyment today, I will share with you my Brownie Recipe as my daughter dictated it to her Kindergarten teacher three years ago.

~~~~

Brownies
As told by Sarah

I know just how to make these because we cooked them up last night!

You need:
4 eggs
Lots of sugar
1 cup of powder
Melted chocolate – the kind that are in bowls at the store and you melt it

Put it in a bowl and mix it with a spoon – like stir it (motioning stirring with hands).  Then put it in a pan that is a rectangle.  But before that you have to put this blue thing in and spray it.  Then cook it in the oven.  The oven is really hot!  Cook it for maybe 1 hour or 2.  Then you let it cool outside the oven.  Everybody gets to eat them but they have to be in small rectangles so everyone gets one, OK?

~~~

Now if you compare it to my actual recipe, she’s not all that far off.  Quite a bit closer, at least, than the boy who described cooking pasta at 7 degrees for 8 minutes and then letting it cool off. 

Did your kids’ teacher do this project with them at any point?  I’d love for you to share their “recipe.”

I hope each of you has a wonderful Mother’s Day this weekend. 

God's ABCs

While our own kids were out of town at a family reunion with my parents this weekend, Mike and I were called upon to teach in the preschool area at church on Sunday morning. And when I say that, I mean we were called on Sunday morning.

I originally thought we would be with the 4 year old Pre-K kids which are my son's age. But when we got there, it turned into the director saying, "Well, I've placed you in the 2's class. Most of them have already turned 3."

I don't do well with little preparation and I do even worse when what I have mentally prepared myself for changes.

What makes this whole thing even funnier to me is that when I asked the director what the lesson was for the day, she brought me a single sheet that had the text of a Bible story from Genesis and a single picture to color on the back. This is what I had to go on. Then, not until I was sitting down to try to give the children a Bible story did I find that the sheet I was originally given was completely different from the sheets we were given for the children.

I was just about fit to be tied.

But we pressed on. I was going to teach on the story in Matthew 8 where Jesus was asleep on the boat in the midst of a storm and the disciples woke him and he calmed the storm.

We had somewhat corralled the children to one side of the room and kind of had a circle time going. Several of the children sat right down to listen, but a few continued to wander the room playing with toys like they had no idea what "circle time" was. We tried to reign them back in a little bit, but eventually just moved on and prayed that they would hear the story while they played.

Then the sweetest thing happened.

I have learned a few things from all the volunteering I have done in the preschool program at BSF so I implemented some of those things here. I pulled out my Bible and before we talked about the Bible story, I began talking to the children about the Bible itself.

I asked, "Do you know what book this is?"

One child may have said, "The Bible."

"Yes, it's the Bible. Do you want to see? Do you want to touch it?" I opened it up and had my finger on our story in Matthew and encouraged them to put their fingers on it. And then I asked, "Do you know what the Bible is?"

Then one precious little girl piped up with, "Hey, there are ABCs in there."

"Yes, there are. Do you know who's ABCs these are?"

"They're God's ABCs!" she replied quite excitedly.

"Yes, that's absolutely right. These are God's ABCs. His true and holy Word."

No pastor could preach that sermon any better than a 3 year old saying, "They're God's ABCs."

Amen.

Get a grip, Mary

Our church does the neatest things for Palm Sunday. Most recently, we have had a "multi-sensory & interactive worship service" on Palm Sunday. The idea is that we get a little packet of items to hold in our hands and interact with as different portions of the service focus on those items.  I posted about last year's service here.

I don’t think Nathan sat with us during the whole service last year.  So this year was a little challenging a midst him holding the small wooden cross we got in our packet…

… and playing with it like it was a sword, a gun, a light saber, etc.

It kind of reminded me of when General Grievous showed up in our nativity scene and apparently took out everyone except the Holy Family.

But I digress.

During the service this year, Sarah had a small one-line speaking part and I participated with her as we were modern-day representatives of the disciples at the last supper.

Later on in the presentation, a video was shown of a trauma surgeon describing all the injuries and trauma that Jesus' body would have suffered between the scourging and crucifixion. Alone, it is a moving video. But then, it was followed by a woman dressed as Mary, the grieving mother of Jesus, crying... no... wailing for about 2 minutes straight.

To say it was uncomfortable would be an understatement.

But it was supposed to be.

So, after the service Mike tells me that during Mary's cry-fest, Nathan leaned over to him and asked, "Why is she crying?"

Mike quietly explained that she was pretending to be Jesus' mom and that He had died on the cross so she was just really sad.

"But He's coming back," Nathan replied

Yeah.  Seriously.  Get a grip, Mary.

Sunday’s comin’, y’all.  Have a wonderful and beautiful Resurrection Sunday!

Words schmords

During my daughter’s Christmas concert at school the other day, one of the songs that they sang was “Sing We Now of Christmas.” You know it right? Here’s how it goes:

Sing we now of Christmas, Noel, sing we here!
Hear our grateful praises to the babe so dear.

Sing we Noel, the King is born, Noel!
Sing we now of Christmas, sing we now Noel!

So Sarah has been practicing this song, among others, off and on for a little while and was singing it in the car on Monday evening. She sang it a couple of times, then I also played a recorded version that I have on my iPod.

Later, when we got home, Nathan said something and I asked him to repeat what he had said.

“Oh my gosh, oh dear,” he said.

And then he started singing it.

Sing we now of Christmas.
Noah sing we here.
Bringing gifts for Jesus.
Oh my gosh, oh dear.

I never could get a recording of it and I just couldn’t bear to correct him because, dangit if it wasn’t just the cutest thing EVER!

Have you ever or have your kids ever butchered song lyrics? Oh please, do share…

Is there a meeting for this?

Last night, I was working on dinner. Nathan walked through the kitchen and stopped at the oven. He clicked on the light and looked inside.

"That's weird."

Mike and I looked at one another and then looked at him and both asked, "What's weird?"

Shrugging his shoulders he said, "It's empty."

Hi. My name is Donna and apparently I have a baking problem.

I can clearly see… {Mama Braggin’ Monday}

Last week Nathan had another one of his awful headaches that causes him to be sick to his stomach. Poor thing. They’re almost migraine in nature.

Mike’s mom has mentioned on more than one occasion that his sister would get headaches when she was younger and it was due to focusing issues in her eyes. So, last week when Nathan said to his dad in between the times he threw up, “I watched too much TV at Nanny’s house and it made me sick,” we decided it was time to get his eyes checked out.

I called to make the appointment with our eye doctor knowing that I needed to get Sarah in for a check-up as well. So Mike took both of them this afternoon.

The outcome of that appointment was nothing like what I expected.

In short: Nathan’s eyes are perfectly fine. And Sarah is now wearing contacts.

Yes, you read that right. Contacts at 8 years old.

It boils down to the fact that her vision is degrading so rapidly that we are hoping that the contact lens on her eye will help the eye to hold its shape and keep it from deteriorating so quickly. She’s only been in glasses for about 1 1/2 years and her uncorrected vision is already at 20/200.

Yikes.

Yeah, she’s got her daddy’s eyes.

(See the post from April, 2008 when she got her glasses here.)

They tried to help her put the contacts in at the office but couldn’t get it to work. The poor child just has eye lashes galore to get in the way, apparently. So Mike brought her home and eventually he just put them on her eyes.

She immediately noticed a big difference. Not only did they bump up the prescription again which allowed her to see leaves and not just colored clumps on the trees, but it made a big difference for it to be clear around the edges as well.

She hasn’t stopped bouncing off the walls about it yet.

So here’s to the next 10-15 years of contacts for my girl until she’s old enough and can afford the next new development in eye surgery.

Just like her daddy.

Oh, and if you take your 4 year old to the eye doctor, you may discover that they have their own way of describing how they see the letters on the charts.

They might say a letter is clear or that it is soggy.

Just so you know.

Friendship

We came home from BSF today and Nathan immediately asked to watch a movie.  (You must understand that in our house, for some reason, any show on television is called a movie by both of our children.  I have no idea why.)  I told him that I was not turning anything on and that we were about to eat lunch. 

He happily went about his business and played with his remote controlled motorcycles while I got lunch ready and then we ate. 

After we had finished, he went back to his motorcycles and then, the next thing I know, he has cleaned up and put them all away.  Then he said the most curious thing.

“Mom, I’ll be your best friend if you turn on a movie for me.”

As with so many things that this boy says, I had to stifle my laughter.  But that was only for a moment until I realized the larger picture that was at stake here.

Certainly, Nathan does not have the full understanding of the weight of what he said, but I cannot as a responsible parent, let this teaching opportunity pass by.  I just can’t.  So we talked about it.

Think about that statement though.  Let the weight of it rest upon you for a moment.

How often do we do that; both as kids and as adults?  We set conditions on our friendship.  We are in essence saying, “I’ll be your friend as long as you do something for me.  As long as you meet some need that I have.”

Or the opposite might me true.  Maybe we say, “I will do this for you if you’ll just please be my friend.”

I know I have been on both sides of that conversation.  I’ve been the one to only offer friendship if the person has done something for me.  And I’ve been the one, even recently, who has done things for people, time consuming things, just to prove myself worthy of their friendship.

And it dawned on me, all in these few brief moments that I had to whittle the whole concept down so that I could talk to my 4 year old about it, that it’s not about what we do for one another.  As I explained to him, we’re friends just because we are, regardless of what one person does for another. 

And then, I turned on a show, just because I love him and because he asked me.  Not because I need or want him to be my best friend.  But because I wanted to bless him.

That, my friends, is what friendship is about.

Go out and bless a friend today.  Just because.

Of boys and fire breathing animals {Mama Braggin' Monday}

I am reminded periodically by circumstances and conversations that I have, in fact, a little boy. And that he is 100%, grade A, B-O-Y.

Which I do believe is something to be bragged about. Because, you see, I originally wanted another girl.

There. I said it.

But now I realize what I would be missing if I just had two girls and no boy to bring his own perspective to the family. In fact, I feel bad in a way for my friends who only have all girls or all boys. I know God has blessed them with that for one reason or the other, but I LOVE that I get to experience both genders as a mother. And this story is just one reason I love my 100% boy.

The kids had an early release day from school one Friday after a fundraiser Fun Run that the grammar school kids did. So, we thought a nice relaxing trip to the zoo was in order. Everyone else in public school would still be in school so it shouldn't be crowded. And, it was one of those rare August days when it is below 105 F.

The day did not fail us. It was gorgeous. Mike took the kids right after lunch and then I joined them at about 4 pm after I left work. After I got there, we went to see the elephants, giraffes and the hippopotamus.

We got us a show, too. While we were standing there, some of the elephant keepers came out and began giving each of the elephants a shower. One by one, the elephants would lie down and get sprayed for a while. Then they'd stand up, turn around, lift up each of their legs... it looked as though they were thoroughly enjoying themselves.

And then the hippopotamus, who is usually just sedentary at the bottom of the pool was swimming around and one of them shot up out of the water and splashed around a bit. Definitely something you don't see every day.

So then, as we were leaving the hippopotamus and giraffe behind, this conversation occurred between my son and I:


Me: "What do you want to go see next?"

Son: "The rhinoceros!"

Me: "What does a rhinoceros look like? Describe him to me."

Son: "He's big and he has horns and..."

Me: "Where are his horns? On his back?"

Son: "No. On his nose. And he shoots fire out of them."

Me: "Um, I don't think that's accurate. I don't think they shoot fire out of them."

Son: "Yes they do."

(A little while later while looking at the rhinoceros....)

Son: "Dad, does the rhinoceros shoot fire out of its horn?"

(Since apparently mom's word wasn't good enough for him.)

Dad: "No. No, I believe the rhinoceros does NOT shoot fire out of it's horn. As cool as that would be, there is no fire coming out of that animal."

Me: "I told ya!!"

(Yeah, I'm real mature.)

I can't imagine that many girls would come up with a rhinoceros shooting fire out of his horns. Maybe some would, but that's just not a conversation I remember ever having with my daughter. And I LOVE that I get to have these conversations.

So that I can laugh like crazy.

And show my own maturity.

And enjoy my 100% boy.

What is Jesus' middle name? {Mama Braggin' Monday}

I picked Nathan up from school the other day and he came out with a package of Skittles in hand. The boy loves his Skittles and they were open and being consumed in no time flat.

As we pulled away I suggested that he might want to save some to share with his sister. She has, after all, purchased whole bags of candy for him using the stickers she accumulates with good behavior in class. She is usually so excited to share things like that with him. So using my oh so gentle (NOT) techniques, I was urging him to save some to share with her.

But, no. He was more than willing to save some to share with Biscuit, but his sister? Nope. Not happening.

We went by home so that I could change clothes before picking Sarah up and I remembered that she had stashed a package of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups in the refrigerator recently. I pulled those out and explained to him that they were hers and that I was not going to make her share with him since he didn’t share with her.

He understood and off we went to pick her up from school.

She got in the car and I gave her a choice of treats between the Reese’s and some Ritz Bits crackers. Clearly the child is a genius since she chose the Reese’s.

As she opened them, she began to ask Nathan if he wanted one. I kind of interrupted her to tell her that she didn’t have to share and explained what happened earlier with the Skittles.

Can you tell I am the type of person that wants justice?

And you know what that little girl did? She went ahead and asked Nathan if he wanted one. And like a good child o’ mine he said, “Sure.” She handed it over and he thanked her and told her that she was kind.

In a rare moment of lucidness for me, I realized the teaching opportunity that I had at that moment.

“Sarah, you just showed a great amount of grace toward your brother. Nathan, do you realize that Sarah just showed grace to you? You didn’t deserve that Reese’s because you didn’t share with her, and yet she shared with you anyways. Just like we didn’t deserve what Jesus did for us. We didn’t deserve for him to come to earth to dwell among us and die on the cross for our sins. He knew we didn’t deserve it. But he did it anyways. Do y’all know why?”

And Sarah said, “Because he loves us. And I shared because I love Nathan and because he is my brother.”

“And that is grace. God giving us what we don’t deserve just like you giving Nathan that candy when he didn’t really deserve it.”

After a short pause, caused by chocolate and peanut butter consumption I’m sure, Sarah responded again saying, “You know what? His middle name should be Grace. Because he just shows us grace over and over all the time.”

Yes, dear one. And His middle name pretty much IS Grace because HE IS GRACE.

Grace over justice.

Oh the lessons we learn from our children.

~~~

Edited to add:

I linked this up for "Your Life Your Blog" at Real Life.

You know you have a boy when...

I am reminded periodically by circumstances and conversations that I have, in fact, a little boy. And that he is 100%, grade A, B-O-Y. And it is in those times I also become acutely aware, once again, of how different those little boys are from little girls.

We were recently visiting with some long-time friends that we had not seen in a long time. We spent the afternoon with them and their two daughters swimming, grilling burgers and just hanging out; enjoying their new pool, or the “Disney World we built in our own back yard,” as my friend describes it.

As the sun set, we lit the fire pit and all gathered around it. In an effort to give the kids something to think about and do other than getting too close to the pool or the fire, I started a story and had each child tell the next part of it from their perspective.

Imagine the scene for a moment. Each of the three girls is telling part of a story about a nice monster who loves to dress up, have tea parties and put on toe nail polish. Then comes my son. In his step of the story, “the monster got in the fire and he burned up and his head cracked open.”

Yeah. No sweet little girl that I know of would come up with that. Certainly my daughter wouldn’t have, and neither of the other two girls we were with that night would have either. Just my 100% B-O-Y.

He called my bluff

We are on our way home from the beach (Destin) today. Nathan has been mercilessly kicking the back of my car seat our entire trip that began last Friday afternoon. You know how as moms we sometimes make ridiculously empty threats? Well, this morning I'd had enough and this is how the conversation went down.

Mom: NATHAN, if you don't stop kicking my chair, I'm going to cut your feet off!

Nathan: But Mom, there aren't any scissors, or knives or swords for you to cut my feet off.

Seriously.

A little about me... apparently...

I mentioned yesterday that my little man's teacher did a "Let Me Tell You About My Mommy...." page with him for Mother's Day this year. Well, by some strange aligning of the stars, or luck, or by the grace of Almighty God (and some great planning and storage on my part), I found a similar sheet that my princess did with her teachers at the same age.

So, without further ado... here's some insight into me through the eyes of two very different three year olds.


My favorite thing to do with my Mommy is...

Princess: ... eat.
Little Man: ... go to dinner.

(hmmm... I'm noticing a theme here...)


I love my Mommy's...

Princess: ... kisses.
Little Man: ... smile.


My Mommy makes the best...

Princess: ... cookies.
Little Man: ... bread.

(This question was not on his sheet, but I just asked him and that's what he said, "bread.")


The next two questions were not on Sarah's sheet and it doesn't make much sense to ask her now... because it wouldn't be nearly as funny.


The thing that makes my Mommy very happy is...

Little Man: ... when I smile.

(I heard that one of the kids in the class completed this sentence with "wine.")


My Mommy's favorite food is...

Little Man: ... macaroni and cheese mixed up with hot dogs and peanut butter sandwiches.

(Hmmm... methinks he is projecting some of his preferences on me. However, I did tweet this a while back with the caption, "My kids think I'm a culinary genius"...)


My Mommy always says...

Princess: ... I love you.
Little Man: ... always go potty.

(*giggle*... yeah, I guess I do say that a lot.)


I love my Mommy because...

Princess: ... she gives me cookies.
Little Man: ... I love her heart.

On being three

The other night my daughter started a conversation over dinner about who in the family is the oldest child, the youngest, who is the oldest in the family, etc.

I looked over at my little man and asked, "So, Nathan, what are you?"

"I'm the 3-est!"


Oh my... yes, son, you definitely are the 3-est one of the family.

It's just too cute when they don't get it

One of our morning rituals is waving good-bye. Every morning Mike takes Sarah to school and Nathan MUST go out on the front porch to see them off.




The other day, as they drove out of the driveway, he yelled:

"Bye alligator!"

"See you soon crocodile!"

He'll get it one of these days, but I'm not sure I really want him to.

Because that was just way too cute.