In The Refiner's Fire

We have heirloom yellow pear tomatoes this year that are for some reason going gangbusters.  No complaints - we love that! Buddy is the designated person for the tomatoes. He LOVES tomatoes.  Did I say LOVES ?  Adores. Is passionate about beyond words. And has a huge devotion to.  He once ate a half-bushel of tomatoes all by himself. In one sitting. Yes, really.  And he was happy as a clam. Since he was two he has called them "My 'Matoes."  And don't you dare mess with his 'matoes! He came in the other day and says with the most serious look on his little face: "Mom, I have to tell you something." I thought, "oh, no what now!"  "Yes," I said. "It's about the tomatoes."  I thought, "O no, what happened."  And immediately thought of all the wild, awful, crazy things that could have happened to the tomato plants. With the same serious look on his face, he says: "I accidentally had to...

Lately Buddy has gotten into taking photos with my little wimpy digital camera.  Since the camera was cheap, and I don't even pretend to be a photographer, I think it's pretty fun. He hasn't dropped it in water yet - that might make me take the camera away! In the meantime, I'm enjoying seeing the world through the eyes of a 6-year-old boy: I think it's safe to say that my little guy likes nature and dinosaurs.  What do you think? And just for a bonus: A conversation that took place tonight while I was trying to get a snarl out of Missy's hair before she washed it: Me: Did you know that Grandpa used to just cut the snarls out of my hair? Missy: Did it hurt? Me: No, but I had pretty funny looking hair. Buddy:  Is that how Grandpa lost all his hair? (My dad is completely bald!) He he. :)

My Buddy loves, loves, loves dinosaurs and has talked for two-plus years now about being a paleontologist when he grows up.  My parents bought him a National Geographic DVD on dinosaur excavations for Christmas.  It was on back-order and just arrived last week.  While watching it one evening the whole thing went something like this: Narrator: "This 167 Million Year Old Dinosaur...." Buddy:  "Mom!  That's older than you are!  No, wait...That's even older than Grandpa is!" Umm, thanks, Buddy.  I think. :) What more can I ask for?

On Wednesday Missy shared something with us: "MOM!  There's this new thing!  It's called a Gift Certificate.  And it's something you can spend money on!" Yes, my dear it is. And I didn't have the heart to tell her that it's not new.  She was SO excited!

I think Trick-or-Treating was successful! What do you think? I am completely shocked at the amount of candy we got - but I have ideas for much of it and the kids do get the chips in their lunch boxes today along with some of the fruit snacks.  What a treat for them! If I got 1/5 of this when I was a kid, it was a really successful night. I guess times have changed. How was your Halloween?

The kids were playing in our family room downstairs and I was in the kitchen at the top of the stairs when I heard this shouted at the top of the lungs: "We're almost there, Dinosaur!" How often do you hear that? What more can I ask for?

Saturday as we were driving back from running errands, the kids were singing away in the back seat. It went something like this.... Missy: "One - Two -Three: Rock and ROLL!" Both: "Hark! The herald angels sing,..." Of course, at the top of their lungs! What more can I ask for?

Passing on our Christian faith to our children is something that is a continuing challenge. They have done a fabulous job of memorizing things like the Lord's Prayer, Bible verses (short ones), and a variety of other things, such as not taking the Lord's name in vain, praying before eating so we say thank you for the bounty God has given us, etc. Buddy has even really impressed several random people at church by knowing the Apostle's Creed, the Confession of Sins and several songs by heart! It's really funny when we sit behind someone we don't usually sit by and he starts saying one of those or singing along. They have to turn around and see who is this little boy, with his little boy voice, that's got the whole thing down! But do they really get it? Most of the time I'm not really sure. I do a morning devotional with the children every morning while we eat breakfast and then we read a story or two or three (depending on how much time we have) from their C...

On Wednesday night I have choir practice at church. We have re-arranged the schedule when our women's group practices as well (we only sing about 4 times a year) and I got home later than usual on Wednesday because of that. Buddy and Missy were in bed, so I went in to kiss them goodnight. Missy was still awake. And hugged and kissed me. Buddy looked like he was asleep. But he said "I love you, Mama" when I kissed him. I replied, "You're almost asleep, aren't you Buddy?" His answer: "No, Mom, I'm already asleep." :) Hoopa-Loops: Defn: a large ring, usually made of plastic, placed around a person's middle and kept there by 'wiggling the hips' while the ring spins in circles. (Typically known as "hula-hoops" to adults). (John had heaps of fun with that one - and I couldn't look at him or I'd really laugh!) Aren't kids fun? What more can I ask for?