Well, I don't want to spoil you!

One whole week between blog posts . . . did you think I was reverting to last year? Hee-hee :) Well, it turns out . . . the weather has been pretty rad around here--upper 60s and even low 70s--whoohoo!! The kids have been enjoying the outdoors, shovels and fistfuls of mud have flown . . . my voice has raised . . . good times!

We also had our carpets cleaned. This was necessary for several reasons:

1. It wasn't done before we moved in.
2. Our dog regularly pukes on it.
3. The kids haven't fully grasped the concept of "white carpet."
4. We didn't have it cleaned when Chauncey was leaking abdominal fluids all over it post-surgery 18 months ago (I know, gross, right?)
5. The classic doggy-tush drag (nasty!!!)

Our neighbor plans to start homeschooling her kids next year. She's borrowed some of our materials to look through while she sets up for the first time. On the day our carpets were cleaned, we opened all the doors and windows to the house. Interestingly, on the same day, the boys' fire alarm (which is hard-wired to every alarm in the house) decided its 10 years were up and it was going to set the whole house to screeching no matter what we did. Well, until we pulled the plug. So, when our neighbor brought back some of our books, she commented that 1. Her husband thought she was burning bread, and it was their own alarms going off (ha!, been there done that!) and 2. That our carpets looked really nice, and that they should have theirs done also.

As I was explaining the above reasons why we'd gotten them cleaned in the first place, my youngest son . . . oh, my youngest son . . . decided to give our neighbor a visual demonstration of reason #5 in his spider man pajamas. Lol, what are you going to do? She got a good laugh out of that one :)

Let's see, oh I have another Graysen moment. It seems now that they're getting older the funny things they say aren't quite as frequent, however sometimes their understandings of things and their reasoning comes out in entertaining ways. G wanted a new Bible . . . his is full of pictures and short stories, but in Sunday school, they are reinforcing looking things up by name of the book, chapter and verse--his Bible doesn't provide these options. So, he decided to save his money :)

For the most part, he's not super aware of what things cost. He knows he can get a bottle of pop (and subsequently a free donut, perhaps, with the lid at our local bakery). This he began debating with himself out loud, "I would like to buy a new Bible . . . but I REALLY want some pop. Maybe I should just get pop, but it WOULD be more important to have the Gospel." We did order him a Bible by the way; it should arrive tomorrow and he's so excited, he's pretty much talked about nothing else. He knew exactly what he was looking for too, "I want one with a magnetic strap to close it, like Gabby's, and a ribbon inside to keep my place." Well, we found one with a buckle (the only magnet ones were like $70 and in Spanish :) and I'm not sure if it has a ribbon inside, but we'll find out tomorrow.

Brennen provided a couple of humorous observations this week . . . we were wondering exactly where Baghdad is located (we're reading a book in school from that region). So I hit the microphone option on my phone's search page and asked it out loud. The phone, of course, answered out loud in its monotone female voice, "Baghdad is located . . . this region was originally . . ." etc. etc. Bren shook his head in amazement and said, "I wonder how they got that lady to do all that." Ha! From his perspective, that hard-working gal recorded every bit of possible knowledge in the universe and recorded it, so my phone could play it back :) I know that's not how it works, and I explained it to him, but I thought that little glimpse of wonder was pretty cool!

Also, he's very particular about English grammar--he's not a huge fan of learning it himself, so he's quick to notice when someone else isn't footing the bill. We were flipping through radio stations in the van, and on a country station we heard, "We always want what we ain't got . . ." I hear his voice from the far back seat, announcing, "Well, that's not good grammar!" Lol :)

Last one . . . we were invited to lunch at our friends' from church's house (that was some awkward apostrophe and "s" placement). Buck was actually able to join us! The older boys challenged the dads to a basketball game in the driveway after lunch. The dads accepted, and for the first time ever, Buck played bball in cowboy boots :) While they were busy with this, the girls and the younger boys were busy planning some after dinner entertainment.

They came up with the story of the Good Samaritan from the Bible (where a traveler is robbed on the road, and two religious leaders who should have helped did not--instead just passed by and let him lay for dead . . . in the meantime, a Samaritan--an enemy of the Jewish man--stops, helps him, provides for his care, and ultimately shows kindness where those who "should have" did not). It's a story they've talked about recently in many of the age levels' classrooms at church, so I guess it was fresh in their minds . . . but maybe not THAT fresh :)

Elaine (the girls' friend) played the role of traveler. Graysen--dressed in a red bandana with a giant stick--played the role of the robber. One of the funniest parts came next. Our friends have a tiny little black-and-white dog. She is an endless licker; she's just so friendly! Well, when G went after E with the stick (even in his slow motion, cowboy-movie-esque, grinning-beneath-the-bandana way), little Abby went nuts! She was barking and jumping and all over him; protecting Elaine! We were laughing so much! Little hero, that one :)

Next came Gabby, as the priest guy who just walked by. Following her, was E's littlest brother . . . with a Lightning McQueen plate covered with quarters??? We later asked the kids what that was about, and they said they couldn't remember what the second person's job was, but they thought he was an usher :) You know, the guys with the collection plates at church? So funny! Close enough, right?
Finally Gabby (now costumed as the Good Samaritan), saved the day, pulling out a box of band-aids and a bag of gold to help pay for E's care at the inn keeper's (formerly the usher) well swept (another prop :) place of business. All this took place in the backyard in a matter of about three minutes. Super creative! I'm glad they've met such great friends!