Saturday, May 7, 2016

Dinner Time Randomness

Have you ever seen the Johnny Depp version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?

During one of the opening scenes, three of the grandparents are all laying in their shared bed reminiscing about the old days of working at Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. The fourth grandmother, who had just been quietly laying in bed, suddenly chimes in with her two cents of, "I love grapes!"

There's sort of an awkward pause. Because no one was talking about grapes or fruit in general. But then the other grandparents smile, and move on with their conversation.

That grandma, and her random love of grapes, reminds me of my four year old son Max.

Now, please don't misunderstand me. Max is a very much loved and adored member of our family, and we are beyond crazy about him.

It's just that...he does have a tendency to say some of the most random things. And most of the time, those random things he chimes in with have to do with either a. dinosaurs, or b. monster trucks. Occasionally he will mention something about trains or construction vehicles, but the vast majority of the time it's about dinosaurs and monster trucks.

Take, for example, the other night at dinner.

The kids were all talking quite loudly about some different ideas they had.

Amid all the conversation about if you really could build a bridge from our little town in the midwest to Paris, Max was just sitting quietly, taking it all in, and eating his taco.

At some point there was a pause in the conversation, and Max suddenly exclaims,"When I grow up I'm going to live in Mount ___(insert name of town that his Meemaw and Papa live in.)

Intrigued, I asked him why he wanted to live there.

"Oh because of the dinosaur that lives there."

Cue confused looks between my husband and myself, and finally one of us said,"Buddy, the dinosaur doesn't live in Memaw and Papa's town. The dinosaur lives at the Science center."

All of the kids were back to talking all at once again. And Max went back to eating his food, deep in thought.

Finally, just as the kids were discussing what game they wanted to play before bed time, Max spoke up again.

"When I grow up, I'm going to work at the Science Center! I'm going to take care of the dinosaurs there. I'm going to feed the big T- Rex, and I'm going to help the triceratops feel better. And then I'm going to take them home, and let them sleep with me, and... I'll be like their dad!"

After this proclamation, there was a brief period of silence. Then Jack exclaimed as he was getting down from the table,"I think that's a great idea, Max! You'll take great care of those dinosaurs!"

Max's eyes lit up from the praise of his older brother. Then he looked at me very seriously and said,"Mama, can I please ask you something?" Which is how Max almost always begins his sentences.

"Of course, buddy,"I say, assuming he's going to tell me more about the dinosaurs he's apparently going to be a father to.

"For my birthday...can I please have a remote control monster truck? And then can we take it to Aldi and have my party there?"

Again, Erik and I exchanged a look, and then I finally said,"Well...I guess we'll have to just wait and see, buddy, but that does sound fun!"

And with that, Max got down from the table so he and Luke could go back to their game of playing dinosaurs.

Dinosaurs, monster trucks, and Aldi.

If nothing else, at least he's an easy boy to please.




















Sunday, February 7, 2016

Christmas 2015


Yes, I realize I'm just now getting around to posting pictures from Christmas on this here neglected blog of mine.

What can I say? Christmas came and went(well, "came and went" is a bit relative, as we had at least five different Christmas celebrations this year.)

Then January was full of trying to get back into the swing of things and trying to keep my New Years resolutions of being more organized/getting up earlier/ being a better wife/mother/ and homeschooler.

And now here we are. Tomorrow Lily will be turning six (sob!) And in a week it'll be Valentines Day.

But since this blog is more a place for me to document our families memories and stories than anything else, I figure posting about Christmas almost two months later is still better than not posting about it at all.

So, here we go.

Christmas Eve of 2015, will forever be locked in my memory as one of the most special and sweetest days with my kids.

This year we did "Secret Santa" with the kids. We had never done anything like this before, and weren't sure if the kids would be able to keep who they were buying for a secret, but as far as *I know* they did.

After we got home from church, we told the kids they could open their gift and find out which brother/sister had bought for them. I don't know why, perhaps it was because I was so excited for them to open their bigger gifts on Christmas morning, but I was so surprised by how genuinely excited everyone was to open their gifts from each other.




There was so much excitement, and shouts for joy over opening the five dollar gifts they had picked out for each other, that I can say with absolute certainty that this will be something we will do for many more years to come.


And as if that wasn't enough to make my heart want to burst with joy, after everyone had opened their gifts from each other, Lily announced that she had a surprise for everyone.

She walked back to her room, and a few minutes later she came out carrying a big box full of presents only a five year old girl could have wrapped. Then she handed everyone, including Erik and I, a present that she had made each of us. She told me later that she had been working on these presents since the Monday after Thanksgiving and had been trying to think of things everyone would like that she'd be able to make.

She made me a pair of earrings out of construction paper, scotch tape, and Frozen stickers.


But, the best gift that she gave of all though was the one she gave Erik. The last time we had visited my mom and dad, she had insisted on bringing home a trophy leftover from my gymnastics days. I had honestly forgot all about it until she pulled out a heavy bag and handed it to Erik.


Sure enough, she had given him the trophy, along with the explanation that,"Daddy is the best daddy ever...and it's hard to think of anything to make for grown men!"

After that, we read the Christmas Story from Luke 2, put the kids to bed, and then got to work setting up all the presents so that they'd be ready for the next morning.

Being Santa is exhausting, I tell you.

But it is oh so worth it.

Christmas morning, after the gifts were opened, and the french toast casserole was ate, we spent the rest of the day just hanging out in our pajamas and playing together. I'm not always very good about sitting down and just being with my kids, so it was nice to just relax and watch them enjoy their gifts.


I hope the rest of you had great Christmas too!



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