Zombies

Erik spent some quality time with Nate the other day. After some time together, Nate apparently told Erik that he was the best Daddy ever! Sweet, huh? Keep reading...
Earlier in the day, I was on a work call. Now, mind you, I hadn't seen or heard from Nate in forever. He and Lex have this uncanny ability to come running with every disaster and emergency possible when my work phone rings. Because, you know, needing to tell me you need to wash your hands repeatedly and in the loudest voice possible is an emergency. Boy, I really digress...
Anyways, Nate not only had a massive temper tantrum while I was on the phone (picture me hitting mute every time I'm not speaking while mouthing to Nate to knock it off). So, he got into a bit of trouble after that. The point of my story is here, it really is.
Erik asked Nate if I was the best mom ever. Nate said, "Yes, she is. But don't touch her work phone." Erik asked him why not? "Well, Dad. She starts to yell. Then, while she is yelling, black clouds come and cover the sky and then rain falls and then snow falls and then the zombies come."
Huh? My yelling has quite the effect on him. However, apparently my yelling zombies aren't scary enough to get him to stop touching my work phone and/or tantruming while I"m on it.

It's free, Mom!

Lex had his first experience with the snack bar at school today. He knows it's there, but I don't give him cash. He normally packs his lunch and snack and if he does buy, he knows he has to give his number for his account. He told me today that he must've gotten in the wrong line and the lady asked him what he wanted. Well, he was at the snack section so he told her a cookie and, "You know what, Mom? She didn't even ask me for money, for my name or for my ticket! I didn't have to give her any dollars! It was free! I get free cookies at the snack bar!" I tried to tell him that it wasn't free and he had money in his account. He said, "No, it's free for me. I had to give her my number, but she didn't ask me for my account or name or money! It's free!" While he's telling me this his arms are going a mile a minute and his eyes are bulging!
Guess we need to have a talk about snacks and money this weekend...

I think I scarred my children

I would like to say I'm joking, but I'm not. You see, in January of this year, we decided to get a puppy. The kids had been begging for one! Erik and Nate went out and picked one up. We found an add in the paper for a mix. They brought him home and the kids were in love. He was a gorgeous dog and we named him Hunter. He looked just like a tiger. When we walked him, people would literally pull over to the side of the road and tell us how gorgeous he was. Looking back, that is the only thing this poor puppy had going for him. He was truly impossible to train. We tried everything! We watched videos. We bought special collars. We bought the treats. We did the positive training. We exercised him and tired him out. We did it all. This is one puppy who did not want to please his owners. At all. After going for long walks or playing he would come in and go potty on the floor...right in front of us while LOOKING at us! The boys would be afraid to come down in the morning because of him jumping on him. Both boys have scars now because of Hunter. Literal scars on their body. After his behavior got worse (I don't know how it could have) and he started biting (thank God no blood was drawn!) we decided he was not fit for our family. We couldn't trust him with the kids. As a family, we decided that we were not the family for Hunter. We gave him away to friends of ours and it got worse from there. He ended up attacking the father there and their full grown son. I feel absolutely horrible. I don't know what else we could have done to save Hunter. But, through all of this, the kids have talked about getting another dog. We decided we would not get one for a few years until the kdis could help more and be more responsible. But, what can one do when an opportunity gets dropped in your lap? You seize it! So, we are now the owners of a four year old Boston Terrier named Charlie. He is absolutely wonderful and the perfect dog for our family. The kids were nervous at first because they were scared to death they were going to get hurt (physically) again. It's been a few days and they have finally realized that Charlie listens, will not run away, will not bite them and will not hurt them. I feel horrible that I scarred my children physically and mentally from a dog who was not meant for our family. But, it was a learning process for all of us.

Communion in the eyes of a three and five year old...

We had Communion this Sunday. It was a bit different than normal. When Pastor Steve was talking about it, Nate knew what was coming. He instantly started telling me, not so quietly, that he does not like dipping his bread into the juice. Over and over and over again. I am telling him that we are doing it differently this time and he can have them separately which soothes him. Anyways, we get up to the alter and he prays with me and we have the bread and juice and go back to our seats where he is talking about it. I tell him the bread is for the body of Jesus and the juice is for His blood. He stands on the seat, grabs his belly and starts moaning saying, "Oh, I have a bellyache now. I just drank blood!" Obviously, he doesn't get the connection yet...

Fast forward 10 minutes later when Lex comes in for Communion. We go up front and pray and he takes his bread and juice and comes back with me where I am informed by him that "I am still hungry. That wasn't enough of a snack."

Seriously. I should take our show on the road.