Grace

Mess 1 said grace tonight before dinner:

"Dear God, thank you for today, and for our hearts, and for loving us. Thank you for trespassing against us, and those that trespass against us. Thank you for our minds, and our hearts, and our strength. Amen."

"Sweetheart, what does trespassing mean?"

"Giving money to the poor."

We should probably explain more of the words as we are teaching him the Lord's prayer.

Not brave

Last Friday Hubby took the messes to the local mass flu clinic for their flu shots.

All by himself.

He’s such a brave Daddy.

We talked about the shots with the kids before they went, telling them that yes it will hurt for a second, but getting the shot was important since it would help them stay well this winter. Mess 1 told me that getting his vaccination was very important (thanks Sid) and that he would be very brave and not cry.

Friday evening I was fixing dinner while Mess 1 was coloring and telling me about his day. “Mommy, I went to the doctor (check up with the ENT) and then I went to get my vaccination.”

“How was it; were you brave?”

“No, Mommy, I wasn’t brave.”

“Oh, did you cry? It’s OK if you cried a little, shots hurt.”

“No, Mommy. My sister cried but I didn’t cry and I wasn’t brave.”

I was totally confused by that statement so I just looked at him blankly. Then, just as proud as he could be, he told me:

“I got to sniff mine.”

The child cracks me up. Although I think we now have to have a chat about not sniffing anything unless it’s given to us by a doctor or nurse. Thank you big pharma.

Big girl bed

Last weekend my parents came for the Labor Day holiday. They brought with them the toddler bed that has been in the family for generations. I used it as a little girl and and now Mess 2 will get to use it for her first big girl bed.

My mom made the quilt for me and there's a blanket she made just for Mess 2 under it. My mom also had to cut down the fitted sheet so it would fit the narrow mattress, so the bedding is almost all handmade.

She was so excited to be able to get in it by herself.

And of course her brother wanted to get in it with her. I shudder to think of the trouble they can now get into.

And this is how I found her last night. Whether she crawled out onto the chair, or fell out and didn't wake up, I have no idea. She didn't really wake up when I put her back in the bed, so I guess she was comfortable.

Bits of my weekend

We had a wonderful, quiet weekend at home.

We rescued a frog from our frog sandbox/pool.

We made yummy lemon muffins for breakfast.

We made jerk chicken, coconut rice and black beans, and friend plantains for dinner.

We had some success with potty training (thus the chocolate mouth) and then danced in the kitchen.

Hubby and I used all of dominos (double 15s) and it ended in a draw.

And we spent lots of time running up the water bill: Daddy washed the cars while the rest of us played in the frog.

Little boys like to put buckets on their heads. I don't know why.

Punkin Chocolate

First you take some punkin and add some chocolate and stir it all up.

Den you add some oil and stir that up.

Den you add some crackers that you smashed up with the smasher and stir it up really well for a long time.

Den you add one more chocolate chip.

Den you bake it in the oven so it all squishes together.

That's how you make punkin chocolate.

Recipe by Mess 1 age 3

Improving

Hubby took Mess 2 to Children's a few days ago to see the ophthalmologist for her six month checkup. It was a long appointment for them since they dilated her eyes and did a number of tests. Plus my poor girl was very sick; she and I had been in the ER the night before because she was having such a hard time breathing (thankfully her O2 levels were good), so she was low on sleep.

But the good news is her eyes are improving and the odds of her vision correcting by the time she is a tween/teen keep getting better. We also found out the lazy eye part is not due to weak muscles (so not patching her was the right thing to do), but a result of her trying so hard to focus. Her vision is still as bad as mine is so I have some idea of what it's like for her without her glasses, and I can see how she'd go cross eyed trying to focus. I don't even try, it just gives me a headache.

So the optometrist here in town is getting her new glasses, which is good since her old ones aren't working well at all. They are way too small, and the earpieces broke during the move (yes eight weeks ago). They were replaced once with earpieces from a pair that didn't quite match or fit, but one broke again within a week. We tried various types of tape, but then finally gave up and let the half earpiece do its best. They really are pretty pathetic.

Once we get the new ones in I'll post pictures, both of her current pitiful pair, and her fun new, purple, pair.

Road Trippin'

Mess 1 and I went on our first long road trip together a few weeks ago. My grandfather (Pepaw) had just come home after a stay in the hospital and a rehab center, so we went to help out for a few days while my father was out of town.

Mess 1 was a real trooper, handling the two 10 hour days in the car like the seasoned traveler he is. Of course, getting to watch movies for the whole trip helps. :0)

It was a fun trip, with some very memorable moments:

• My boy did get tired of the movies toward the end of each day, so I'd start the praise and worship playlist on my iPod. Whenever Toby Mac's "Lose My Soul" would start he would perk up, and then he'd ask me to play it again and again. He loves that song, and I love listening to him sing "I don't wanna gain the whole world and lose my soooouuuul."
• We also heard Audio A's "Big House." I don't think he's ever heard it, but he perked up when they mentioned football, so we listened to it a few times. Days later he asked for the "Big song." And then proceeded to sing most of the chorus. The child's memory for music continues to amaze me.
• At one point, after asking him repeatedly to be quiet for a few minutes so I could deal with the traffic, I finally had to call his name in my mean mama voice. His response: "Aw man!" but then he was quiet. It was too funny.
• While Mess 1 was talking to Hubby on the phone, Hubby handed the phone to Mess 2. My sweet boy said "Hey sweetie-girl." I hope he calls her that forever.
• Two days later while talking to Hubby he said "Can I talk to my sister?" I hope he always wants to talk to her.
• Mess 1 fed Pepaw popcorn while they read the Sunday comics
• Pepaw was sitting in the recliner with his feet up at one point when he wasn't feeling well, and Mess 1 kept walking over to him and patting his arm and asking "Are you OK, Pepaw?"
• Mess 1 told both the PT and OT that came to my grandparent's house "That's not Mr. John, that's Pepaw!"
• We stayed with some friends the last night of our trip to help break up the drive home, and he shared the bed with me. I accidentally woke him up at 2:30 in the morning trying to get him to stop digging his knees into the middle of my back; he then chatted to me about who knows what until almost 5. I did at least get one nice hug/"I love you, Mom" out of it, but man the drive home was rough
• And just for the record, the boy watched Aladdin five times, Mickey's Three Musketeers six times, and Monsters Inc. twice. I tried to tell him I had other movies (at least 10), but he wasn't interested.

I can't wait to see what future car trips hold...