Don't underestimate four year olds alone

*Luke really wanted to play outside Monday, so I suited him up and sent him out. This project kept him quite busy apparently:

And yes, it is like this ALL around the van. Amazing the artistic ways you can use all of that dirty slush that accumulates under your vehicle in the winter! It's funny to watch people's faces as they stare at me driving this around and trying to calculate what kind of animal might have crawled across my vehicle. Well, it was this kind, people!

*When I tell Luke I love him, he says "My green heart loves you". He's convinced that his heart is green. Of course; why would his be red like everyone else's? Doesn't fit his character!
*Ash Wednesday was today so I did my best to try to explain the season of Lent and what it means. These things are harder to explain than you'd think! But Jack was definitely interested in the ashes involved in the service, while Luke fell asleep during church. Perfect, I was able to focus tonight. Yea!
*Pediatric dentist checkup-attempt #2 is tomorrow morning with Luke. Wish me luck! Lots of bribery and preparation have been involved this time. Hope it works. More on that soon...
*Finally turned page 1,071 and finished my monster book last night, Under the Dome. I wanted to get it done so I could work on my next book club book, Life of Pi. I checked it out today at the library so it's all set to hang out on the beach with me very soon. Whoopee!

This and that

Life is fairly uneventful on the plantation right now, but I felt I still owed you a quick hello and update. Friday night we were fortunate enough to secure a babysitter to have some actual adult conversation out on the town which was great! And would you believe I am hard pressed to find a recent photo of Rob and I together to post? I even took my camera with us on our date but forgot to take a picture. Stay tuned for that....

We saw The Blind Side at the movie theatre, which was very good. It seems hard to still find "feel good" movies anymore but this was one of them. Then we hit the local casino which Rob has frequented a few times but I hadn't seen yet, which was very nice. We were also able to stop by Pier One quickly so I could get my Mother's Day present. You read it right folks, my Mother's Day present. You see, we are in one of those necessary but evil "crack down, no frivolous spending, pay off debts" sort of modes which don't allow you luxuries such as home decorations, new clothing, or extravagent dinners. However, I found this which I really wanted so I was able to finagle it as a future gift. Thanks honey! It matches our room and new bedding PERFECTLY! Sometimes it's easy to become paralyzed with the overwhelming task of making a room just how you want it and you find yourself not being able to make a decision on anything, so it was refreshing to see something, love it, and know just where you want it to go.


Tonight we took the kids to a nearby town which has a non-profit $.99 theatre and saw Planet 51. It was alright, but I didn't think it was necessary to have a scene involving a brain almost being removed via a saw, and all of the shooting. Is it just me, or is it hard to find even an animated movie anymore that isn't somewhat violent? Cars was the ultimate kid movie. Great message, no violence or bad guys. Enough already— listen up Hollywood!

I've included a picture of Jack— he has been especially helpful lately and loves to help me cook. As much as his dear brother is a staunch advocate against anything you tell him he's going to do (go to school, grow up and become bigger— try fighting this one), Jack is the complete opposite. He is a pleaser and will give me twice as many kisses if he sees his brother refusing me them. He is working hard now to earn stars on his chore chart each week in hopes of receiving that weekly allowance and getting himself closer to a Nintendo DS. Everyone else has one and it's been killing him to be the only one without. I have been hesitant to grant this wish on the grounds that it will be another electronic that he'll be begging to play each day which then equals less time actually using his imagination and playing. So, our solution has been for him to save his money and earn it himself. This should also accomplish a goal we are working towards which is respecting and appreciating things, and hopefully through the long process of earning it himself, this will come.

I'll close with a picture of Pierre, a young French gentleman I met recently who bears a strikingly strong resemblance to my young tyke Luke.

Have a good Sunday!

It's Time to Pray

Yesterday, I had a bad eating day. I mean, a really bad, pizza/donut/cookie/candy bar/beer sort of day. In fact, the gravity of the situation must have hit Jack when he saw me eating breakfast. I have taken the idea from both my mother and my friend Cindy, both of whom I have seen eating this before for breakfast, to eat what you want to eat even if that food doesn't "fit into" the stereotype of what you should eat for that particular meal. So, when Jack saw me eat pizza for breakfast yesterday, he said,

"I can't belive my own mother is eating pizza for breakfast."

Geez Jack, sorry to disappoint you so severely. I will work on that!

On another note, Luke has declared that he will not learn when he goes to school. No ifs, ands or buts, this one is settled. I told him then he would have to go to extra school if he refuses to learn at school, to which he replied he would not go to extra school either. So today, we toured a preschool that he will attend this fall since I don't feel he is quite ready for kindergarten. As we discussed it at lunch, he said that indeed he would not go to this preschool when he was 5, to which I replied, Yes, you will.

At this point, he found it necessary to drop his head into his hands and begin to pray: God, please don't make this be a big fight. I don't want to fight about going to preschool. Help us to not fight. Amen.

How perfect! Maybe sometimes they do learn from us despite how hard they might try not to learn!

He followed up his prayer by asking me,

"Is left quicker?"

You see folks, this is what I'm talking about with Luke. I am sure at some point in our lives, there was a conversation, which involved the fact that indeed, left might be quicker. However, the time and places these tidbits of conversations reemerge make it somewhat difficult to follow his train of thought. So, generally, my answer is "Luke, I don't know how to answer that."

Somehow I suspect the time will come soon where I will be told "Gee mom, you sure don't know many answers to my questions!", and I guess I would just have to say, "Luke, I don't know how to answer that."