Potholes and Children

After a hardy rainstorm filled all the potholes in the streets and alleys,

a young mother watched her two little boys

Playing in the puddle through her kitchen window.

The older of the two, a five year old lad, grabbed his sibling by the back of his head

and shoved his face into the water hole.

As the boy recovered and stood laughing and dripping,

the mother runs to the yard in a panic.

" Why on earth did you do that to your little brother? " she asks

as she shook the older boy in anger.

"We were just playing 'church' mommy," he said.

"And I was just baptizing him.....

in the name of the Father, the Son

And in...the hole-he-goes."

Close your eyes...

There is nothing sweeter than listening to my little ones say their prayers at night. There is never anyway of knowing how long or short, organized or random they may be. No matter how they prattle on, they are sweet to hear.

My Squish always says the exact same thing. "Thank you for this beautiful day." That's it, of course he inclues the "in the name" portion also. Ocassionally he will ask for someone to be blessed, but this only happens if he is reminded. His favorite part of praying is the amen. Which he says differently every night. Lately he has me say every other letter while he does the rest. Very clever.

Now Jellybean, on the other hand, will not follow prompts of any sort. He will jump from subject to subject like a bouncy ball dropped down the stairs. One night he will bless every stuffed horse that is in his room... by name. The next night he might ask a blessing on the cats . I try not to get annoyed when he asks for me to be blessed to not be mad at him anymore (usually I am not mad at him until he makes this request). Of course, my all time favorite part is when he starts naming the family. He always explains the order he is praying in. Youngest to oldest... youngest first... by birthday order, etc. Without fail he confuses himself and asks for help with whichever names he has forgotten. So cute. Last night though he seemed to be fully in control of his "list". "Please bless Mommy and Mikayla and Daddy..." and so on. He then moved on to "Pop-pop and Grandma". Nothing unusual, until... "and bless Uncle Matt."

Who?

There is no Uncle Matt on either side of the family. I wondered if maybe he had confused my brothers names. He seemed to be clear on Norm, Keith and Uncle John. He doesn't really know Uncle Ray so I don't think its him. I asked Jellybean about this person and he said Uncle Matt is at Grandma's house. "Remember mommy? With the toy hammer?"

What? I have no idea who in the world my son was praying for.... but by darn "Uncle Matt" was prayed for. Whoever he happens to be.

Aww.

According to a parenting page I found on the web, this week (week 27) Mikayla is about the size and weight of a head of cauliflower. My boys don't really care for cauliflower. Is that a bad omen?

It's a bird? It's a plane?

Spring Break has been a bust so far. With my two oldest boys not here (Utah and work) and with my youngest still having school.... Spring Break has mostly been my sweet freckled son playing XBox and showing me how he can make Superman terrorize the citizens of the town. It is quite amazing. Lazer vision, strong breath (we have dental appointments tomorrow) and ice stuff. Squish can really demolish a town and I am privilaged to watch it. Over and over and over again. "Mom, watch this!" "Mom, see this!" I have considered changing my name for the duration of the break just for a change of pace.

Actually I really think that tomorrow despite my being forbidden to leave home I will take my three sons (Brownie, Squish and Jellybean) somewhere. Anywhere. Some place where there are no video games and no mutant robots waiting to destroy the sad unsuspecting crowd that always stands around waiting to be killed or rescued.