It was dark when I left the grocery store this evening… chilly too. Further witnesses that the days are getting shorter and summer has retreated. I knew my 7pm Starbucks run was a bad idea, but I plowed through anyways, determined to get through my list of chores this evening.

I like grocery shopping alone. It’s a necessity really. With three small kids I would spend more time chasing them down and less time adding things to my cart. I can’t imagine a more pointless exercise. So I leave them at home. For a few hours it is quiet.

When I got home they were already asleep, but I will sneak in and give them kisses before I go to bed.

I dressed Baby E in a tie this morning, and even though Big E was already dressed for church, he insisted on matching his brother. He said he wanted to look more like a man. So, I obliged and found him a shirt and tie. My boys were very handsome this morning!

We didn’t need our beach pass to get on the beach this morning…

The pirate ship is closed up and the swings have been taken down…

Rita’s is closed…

 

I guess summer is really over.

 

This morning seemed like a good time to hit the beach while the weather is still a little warm. The sky was overcast and there was a constant breeze, but other than that, the beach was perfect. C and Baby E went with me and we spent a couple of hours playing in the sand. C made sand cupcakes… yummy… and Baby E compared small rocks.

I found 76 sharks teeth without even going near the water! C played on the pirate ship for awhile. We finally headed home when we got hungry.

After nap time we got up and headed out to the kids’ favorite restaurant for dinner… IHOP. It’s been ages since we have all gone out to dinner together, and even longer since we have been there. We tell the kids every time we go there that they will regret their decision to order the funny face, i.e. – a chocolate chip pancake with whip cream, but they insist on ordering it and succumb to a sugar stupor within moments! However it was wonderful to spend time together as a whole family.

I was lamenting what we were going to eat for dinner this evening when I remembered that I had a coupon code for a free pizza from Papa Johns! Wahoo! Dinner, check!

I picked up the kids and we headed home. We decided that a picnic on the front lawn would be wonderful so I found a sheet and we laid out our plates. We sat and talked about our days and just enjoyed each others company.

A perfect Friday evening!

“That’s where all the people die,” Big E said as he stared out the window. We were driving past a cemetery next to a picturesque white church. We pass this cemetery multiple times a week, and on more than one occasion we have had this conversation.

“No,” I respond, “That’s where they bury people after they die.”

He pauses for a moment as he thinks about this.

“When I die, I don’t want them to bury me in the ground. Won’t that hurt??”

I really do hate having conversations about death with my children. In one sense it is a great way to lay out the gospel for them, explaining what Jesus did on the cross and the freedom we have from death, but on the other hand, I know that it is a very difficult concept to explain, especially to a four year old, and I worry about frightening him. I explained to him that when we die, our bodies won’t feel anything because we will be in heaven.

“But how can we be in the ground and be in heaven??”

“Our souls go to heaven.”

‘What’s a soul?”

So I started my monologue about souls and how they aren’t like bodies, and yet they are everything that we are- our thoughts, feelings, etc. After a moment of silence he simply replied, “So souls don’t have bones?”

“No, they don’t.”

“Can we see Jesus in heaven?”

“Yes, we will be able to see him in heaven.” I respond.

“Good. Because when he was on this world before we didn’t see him because he was always camouflaged.”

“Well, he wasn’t camouflaged, he was in a body.”

“Then why didn’t we see him?” Big E asked.

“Because we weren’t alive then.” I answered. “He came to earth a long time ago.”

“Oh.”

From there I tired to explain to him that Jesus can live in our hearts if we ask him to.

“Wait!!” He exclaimed. “Jesus can live in our bodies?!?!? But how can he fit in there?”

My ever literal child strikes again. Before I could answer, he had come to the conclusion that it would make sense if “Jesus didn’t have any bones.”

With that, I pulled up to pick up C. As she climbed into the car and got buckled in, Big E excitedly told her that Jesus can live inside your heart and he can do that because he doesn’t have bones.

“She knows Jesus can live in your heart because He lives in C’s heart.”

And at that moment, the most beautiful thing happened. C spent the short drive home explaining the Gospel to her brother. She explained how he died on the cross for our sins and to help us make good choices. There were moments that were a bit off, but to hear her talk with that enthusiasm, it just made me smile. She talked in terms that he could understand, and didn’t get bogged down with the questions that I can find difficult to verbalize. It was all simplified and concise. And it was exactly what he needed to hear.

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I can already tell that homework is going to be a challenge. I was quizzing C on her spelling words this evening because she has a spelling test tomorrow. I was having her write each of them down as I said them. She asked if she could do rainbows with them. It took me a little while to decipher what she meant, but eventually figured out that she planned to write the word with pencil and then trace it with different colored crayons.

Then she asked me if she could use tallies. I admit that the rainbows made me stumble, but the tallies had me completely stumped.

“What are tallies??” I asked.

“Didn’t you go to kindergarten?!?!?” She asked incredulously.

I did in fact go to kindergarten, but I certainly don’t remember tallies. I’m pretty sure we played on the playground, had snack time, and ate glue, but then again, my memory of kindergarten is bit foggy. After all it was “ahem” years ago.

“Yes, I went. But we didn’t talk about tallies.”

“Did you ever go to math class??? “

Well yes, I did, but we are currently working on spelling so I’m not sure how this is relevant at all. And what are tallies?!?

After a few more questions said in a tone of utter disbelief that she might actually know something that I don’t she explained, “Tallies are when you make four lines and then a line through it.”

“Ah ha! Of course I know what a tally is, but seriously what does that have to do with spelling homework?!?” I’m still terribly confused about that, but she just looked at me strangely and went back to printing her words as if I was being the unreasonable person in our conversation.

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Big E had a small amount of homework to do this evening and when he was finished he asked to draw a picture. I told him to draw a picture of Naona and GP. This was the result.

Big E- I drew Naona. I gave her lots of hair. I gave GP a little bit of hair.

Me- What are the spots all over GP’s face?

Big E- Those are his whiskers.

Ha ha ha ha!

This little fellow hung out with me this evening as his siblings were in Awanas at church. He fussed when I carried him into the grocery store, but once inside he begged to be set down. He held my hand as we wandered the store. I would stop, take something off the shelves, gently hand it to him and watch him toss it into the basket. With each successful throw he would clap his hands together and say “Yay!!”

The ride home was not even five minutes, and yet he protested the entire way, indignant that he had to be strapped in his seat. Once home, he complained when I walked him to the mailbox, and he wailed when the neighbors said goodnight. I brought him in and he whined about his shoes and he shrieked when I told him it was bedtime.

And then he saw Molly. Litty Litty Litty is what he calls her. He saw her run upstairs, and that was motivation enough to follow her. Once there, he didn’t complain about brushing his teeth or getting his diaper changed. Instead he smiled sweetly and chatted nonsensically to me. When he asked for his paci I told him not until he was in bed. He ran to his crib and lifted his arms.

Once snuggled in under his blankets he looked at me and smiled. Night Night! He grinned and as I walked out of the room and closed the door I heard him whispering and giggling to himself.

Goodnight sweet boy. Sleep well!

Nearly every night Baby E wakes up between 10:30 and 11:15. In fact, I would say this happens at least 5 nights a week. Sometimes I hear him calling me as I lay in bed, other times I hear hysterical screaming coming from his room. There are times when I can sneak in, give him his paci and sneak out. Other nights he is inconsolable.

Last night Tim heard him first and came to get me. Baby E was in hysterics, sobbing and screaming. Big tears were running down his face and he struggled to breathe because of his wailing. He seemed to be able to focus on us, so I don’t think it was a night terror, though all the other symptoms were there.

Finally we brought him downstairs. He screamed and kicked. I got him some cold almond milk and he tried to toss it to the floor. When I put it to his lips, he seemed to wake up. He stopped crying and started gulping the milk. He would pause, bring the cup down a little, stare at me and smile. Then he would start drinking again. I took him upstairs and held him for awhile, rocking him in his room. He was in a great mood and talked quietly to me. Finally I laid him in his bed. He smiled again, asked for his paci and said night night. And just like that the episode was over.

I’m not sure why this happens so often, or why it always happens at the same time. I’ve tried various things like going into his room around 9:30 and adjusting his blankets or turning off his fan in order to help him stir a little and hopefully preemptively interrupt his sleep schedule (this is recommended for night terrors), but it still seems to happen. Hopefully it is a phase that he will soon outgrow!!

Hey C, come in here! I called to her as I stood at the stovetop stirring the pasta. She came running in as I waved a small bottle of nail polish in her direction. Her eyes got big as she pulled over a chair and made herself comfortable. As I loosened the bottle, she begged to do it herself. She has often asked, and I have always said no, but tonight I decided to let her do it. I reminded her to only do nine of them. The toenail she dropped the brick on at the beginning of August is black as night, but hasn’t fallen off yet, even though it is beginning to get loose. Ugh.

I smiled as she contorted herself into a position better for painting. She took her time and with extreme care painted each toenail. When she was done she looked up at me and smiled.

It was a sweet moment.

Have you noticed that birthday parties have gotten pretty serious?!? With the invention of Pinterest and Etsy, there is no end to the creativity that can go into a party. I did a Pinterest-worthy party once, it was the year that C turned two. That was the last time I really ever attempted it. It took weeks of prep and hours of crafting to pull it all together. It felt like a right of passage to accomplish it, to be able to say we did it. It looked absolutely awesome, but guess what?!? My kid really didn’t care. So now when we throw a party we opt for something simple… the park… pizza… cake… playground. The kids have a blast, clean up is a breeze and they can invite as many people as they want (C invited her entire class, and a handful of them showed up!)

I went through all the photos from C’s party and there were a ton, but most of them included pictures of kids I don’t really know, and I don’t feel comfortable posting them without parents’ permission. So here are the photos that didn’t contain C’s classmates or that I could easily crop them out of.

Thankfully the party was a hit for the birthday girl!!

(PS- I totally just Doctor Googled how long it takes toenails to fall off… The answers I found ranged from 3 months to about a year!!! Goodness, I thought it was a much faster process!!)

This evening was C’s (somewhat belated) birthday party! We met at the park for pizza, cake, and playground time. C invited lots of friends and cousins to play with and she had a blast! We are all super tired this evening, so I’ll post more pics tomorrow!

Happy Six Years to my little bug! Love you!!

Our church had a block party this evening. It was a chance to invite the community for a picnic, games, etc. There was a moon bounce, so my kids couldn’t wait to go. We invited two of the kids’ friends that live in our neighborhood to come with us, and we all packed in the van and showed up. It was definitely more challenging to keep track of five kids instead of 3, but we all had a good time and the kids had fun bouncing in the bounce house, sliding down the giant slide, getting their faces painted, and playing tug of war. The kids ran hard and played hard. It was great to see them have so much fun!

She wanted her face to be painted like a fox. The girl that did it did a fantastic job!

The bounce house was a huge hit!

The giant slide was a favorite for Big E. He must have done it 50 times!

They also got to hang out with some cousins, so that’s aways fun!

The kids were certainly ready for bed this evening, in fact, Baby E begged to go to sleep. So they got a bath (gotta wash off all that paint!) and they went straight to bed, exhausted from their evening adventure!

There’s a book I have been trying to read for well over a year now. I had a late coffee, so I am going to try to sneak in a chapter or two. It’s a thriller by two of my favorite authors.

I love to read. I love nearly everything about reading, except coming to the end of a book. My favorite type of books are classic British literature, but my all time favorite book is Lord of the Rings. The first time I read that book it took me an eternity to get through it (ok, how about three months.) I found a mistake (or perhaps omission) in it that always drove me crazy. (When Samwise is in Shelob’s cave, he puts on the ring. Tolkien never says when he takes it off.)

Samwise Gamgee has always been one of my favorite characters in literature. He is both complex and simple. He is loyal, strong, and selfless. He’s the kind of brave that moves forward even when everything tells him he shouldn’t. He loves fiercely. He sees goodness when others no longer can. And of all the characters to have worn the ring, he was the only one that walked away relatively unscathed. You see, he didn’t have any desire to use the ring, to control its power. He saw it for what it was, a corruptible influence as he witnessed its consequences on a daily basis.

While it was Frodo who carried the ring to Mordor, Sam is the real hero of the story- the quiet hero, the unsung hero. Frodo would never have made it there without him. But I doubt Samwise would call himself a hero, he’d probably say he was just doing his job.

If you’ve never read the books, I highly recommend them.

(sorry, this post was an absolute tangent!)

Big E made a volcano in school today.