Happy Halloween!

May you remember on this day that the real trick is the way of life this world offers and the real treat is the sweetness of life through Christ!

But we can have fun, too! Enjoy your evening and be safe!

Unanswered Prayers

Just like the Garth Brooks song, I thank God for unanswered prayers.

In the car the other day, I hear this from Braylon:

"Dear God, please make me into a monster. Amen."

OOPS!

If I sent you a Blockbuster coupon, there is a good chance it won't be honored at your local Blockbuster. Apparantly those were for a certain area I guess.... Not all of the stores will honor it... SORRY!!!! I had my hopes up, too!

Music and Lyrics

Anyone who has spent any small amount of time with Braylon, age 4, knows that he LOVES to sing music - Mostly praise and worship songs. I've rarely seen him at home without his self-made microphone pack in place with a plastic microphone, singing his heart out in the mirror. We've now had to move him into the spare bedroom and shut the door while he "practices" because he's too loud for the rest of us to tolerate.

What's funny is that sometimes, if you really listen to what he's singing, he gets the words all wrong. They are usually close, but here are a couple that I thought were funny, with the correct wording listed first.

Correct: "God is good. He's so good....."
Braylon: "God is good. He smells good...."

Correct: "And in His presence all our fear is washed away."
Braylon: "And our presents and all our fear is washed away."

Now you KNOW God has a great sense of humor and just has to be smiling down on that!

Open the Floodgates

Everyday when I pick up Braylon from school and usually again over dinner conversation I ask Braylon how his day at school was. A typical conversation is the following:

Mom: "How was your day?"
Braylon: "Ok."
Mom: "What did you do?"
Braylon: "Played."
Mom: "Did you sing songs? Color? Play games?"
Braylon: "Yes."
Mom: What songs did you sing?"
Braylon: "I don't remember."

Every parent has probably ran into this conversation even with the most talkative children. Well, last night, the floodgates opened up! Blaine was in bed already and Braylon came up with a creative way to stall - CHAT! He started telling us details about everything he could think of at school, from his favorite teachers, to the things he liked to do. He enlightened us to the fact that even if someone isn't his friend, he still tries to be their friend. (That warmed our hearts...) He also noted that one reason he gets into trouble during nap time is that his cot was recently moved to be closer to his friends. Hmmm..... Anyway, we spent about 10-15 minutes just listening to him talk and talk and talk. He even asked Daddy some cute questions about his school.

Ok, now we KNOW this was a stall strategy for bedtime. We aren't too naive to see that. But as Brandon eloquently said last night after Braylon dozed off, if he tries that tactic again.... it will work every time.

Roughing It

This weekend was good in many senses, pretty rough in others. Brandon is in considerable pain as he recovers from his knee surgery. He has been pushing himself over the weekend, trying to act as though he's back to normal, when really he needs to slow down. But he's in medical school and does not want to get further behind, so he pushes forward... He's been a trooper. I've tried to pick up extra slack for him as he recovers...

The kids and I tried to stay out of his hair as much as possible this weekend to let Daddy study for his mid-terms that are coming up this month. I had to get a little creative with things to do - We had a picnic in the park for lunch on Saturday. I battled a willful Blaine at the library. I ran errands with them in tow partly just to be out of the house.

That's about it for us this weekend ~ Fake it to make it! This too shall pass!

An Important Safety Note

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