My Past Comes Back to Haunt Me

This past weekend we had the wonderful pleasure to host my cousin (Joanna) and her boyfriend (Josh) for a few days. Often, when we have friends without kids over for a visit I have a tendency to forget that I still do. Now I don't lose them or anything (though I wouldn't put it past me), but if they are being quiet I simply forget that they are always listening. Joanna and I were reminiscing about one of my favorite places in the world, Silver Dollar City. We talked about our favorite rides, sights and smells. We also talked about our Fire-in-the-Hole ride record. (We rode it 24 times without getting off) Then, without thinking, I started talking about how when we were younger we would keep our belts loose so that after the ride started we could climb out of our seats and hop from car to car while the ride was going. The entire ride is in the dark so the technicians never saw a thing. The conversation continued and I never thought about it again. Charis, though, evidently thought about quite a bit. The next day we had a very long conversation about it. Here is a brief snippet.

Charis: Mom, how old were you when you got out of your seat on the roller coaster?

Me: Old enough to know better. (15 or 16)

Charis: So you didn't think it was wrong, or you did?

Me: I knew it was wrong.

Charis: Then why did you do it?

Me: Sometimes people do things even though they know they are wrong.

Charis: Did your mom know?

Me: Nope.

Charis: Did the workers know?

Me: No, they didn't know either.

Charis: But Jesus knew?

Me: Yes, He did.

Charis: So you did it even though you knew it was wrong and Jesus was watching?

Me: (gulp) yes.

Charis: You really should ask Him to forgive you.

Me: You're right I think I will.

Charis: Mom, one more thing, can I do that next time I go?

Me: NO!!!

You never know when or where that next little dose of humility is going to come from, but it always seems a little harder to swallow when it comes from your kids. I am supposed to be the one with all the answers, guiding them through the many mountains and valleys of life, perfectly practicing what I preach. Pardon me while I wipe the tears of laughter out of my eyes. I am pretty sure that when God hears conversations like this He has to be smiling. Using the simple things (one's) to confound the wise (or at least those that think they are wise). And those that should remember the children are always listening.

My Little Clean Freak

Micaiah has always liked things to be orderly, not clean necessarily, but orderly. He likes to line his up cars and toys in neat little rows. And from the time he could stand he has been my laundry helper. Yesterday I started to worry that things may have gone a little far. We were outside and he pointed at the ground and said (in a very distressed voice) "Oh Man, Shreesh Meshy! Translation - "Trees Messy.". He was really quite worried about all the leaves that the trees had left scattered throughout my parents yard. If I would have let him I'm sure he would have been very happy to line all those leaves up for the Meshy Shreesh.

I would also love to say that he gets his desire for cleanliness from me, but that's probably not the case. I am more of a recovering clutteraholic. I like to start projects and have a really hard time cleaning them up (or finishing them for that matter). Only recently have I begun to understand why my mom seemed to be so obsessed with cleaning. When I was little I just thought she enjoyed it. This is what my kids think of me. I now realize with all the other chaos in the house, having the visual chaos can push a perfectly sane person right over the edge. So, I'm sorry Mom, had I known that you were just trying to hold on to your sanity I may have been a little more helpful. Okay, who am I kidding, probably not. But, to make up for it, if you have anything that you would like placed in a row, I will happily send Micaiah over for the afternoon.

Good one!

Here is that video of my dad. Can you guess who he is???

Harvest Party Pics

Another Harvest Party come and gone. It was really fun to watch the kids and their different personalities. The girls were old enough this year to be a little more independent of Greg and me. Micaiah, however, still needed a "hand buddy". The night ended up being a little less fun for him than I had hoped, but you never know what you are going to get when kids are involved. It turns out, Micaiah, doesn't like people in costume or crowds. I really thought he would like the games, which he did, as long as no one in a costume was within a 10 ft. radius of him. Oh well. Charis was on a mission. Goal=get as much candy as possible in the short amount of time we had to spend there.The kids were also given passports and could get them stamped at each booth. She went through the booths methodically so she could get her passport stamped in the most efficient way. She went through 3 passports by the end of the night. Anya just wanted to play, passport forget about it, waiting for candy was almost too much of an annoyance to her. She was a little disappointed at the end of the night that her bag wasn't nearly as full as Charis'. All in all it was a fun night.

Hopefully I will be able to post a video of my dad, but right now it's giving me too much trouble.

Ani's best friend

Ani: Gramma, do you know who my best friend is?

Gramma: No???

Ani: It starts with a "G".

Gramma: Who is is it? (Secretly hoping it's "G" for Gramma.)

Ani: It's God!! Do you wanna know why?

Gramma: Sure! (If you have to be second best, God is definitely the one you want to
come in second to.)

Ani: 'Cause He's the only one that has the power to make me happy....and CRAZY!!!