Hamster Church

Whenever May comes to see the kids, she brings them "surprises." OK, she also mails them "surprises," she has "surprises" when we get to her house, she is a "surprise" fool. They are pretty much spoiled rotten! But it is a grandmother's prerogative, right?

Well, this trip, she brought my little darlings each a Zhu Zhu pet. We have had "hamsterns" before, but not like these. These babies have minds of their own. Oh, and they make noises. Lots of noises. And they are unpredictable. You never know what might come out of their little mouths and when. Sort of like kids, I guess. But with kids, I like to think I have some influence. But not with these new pets. Oh, no! And if the dogs bark, I can yell "hush!" And 5 times out of 10, they listen. You know? But if you tell these new little guys "hush," they NEVER listen.

They came with names, like the toy company names them. But of course, those names are never sufficient. My children always have to rename them. And those names change many times. Spencer finally settled on "Henry" for his. And that darn Henry kept wanting to stay at Bay's house. Several times, he got left over there. I had to do some fast talkin' to keep us from having to head over to Bay's house in our jommies to retrieve said Hamster.

Well, last Sunday, Henry and Spencer were in the same place because Jess and Spence spent the night with May and Bay and of course, Henry. So it was time to head to church, and of course, Henry wanted to go.

OK, you know how I said those darn Zhu Zhus cannot control themselves. Well, that is not totally true. There is some hidden magic button that can make them quiet. (The kids and dogs DO not have one of those. . .) Only I don't know where the button is. May found it and has been our appointed official Zhu Zhu whisperer. So Spencer brings a sleeping Henry into church. He has not been stimulated or "woken up" lately. Everything is fine. Spencer placed Henry in my purse to rest during the service.

Per the routine, the choir sang. Then it was time for the Children's Sermon. All the kids ran up to sit at the front and potentially embarrass their parents on the big screen using a microphone. After the sermonette is over, they all run out of the sanctuary to head downstairs for Children's Church. After I make sure they went to the right place, I always settle into my pew just in time for the sermon. You know, the sermon? Where the preacher inspires us with stories and scriptures? Where everyone in the sanctuary is very quiet, hanging on every word?

Yeah, well, as I was sitting there, I needed some chap stick. So I slowly and quietly reached down to grab my purse. When I reached in, I somehow woke up that darn Henry. And I panicked! People were starting to sort of look over their shoulders to see what the noise was. So I tossed him to May. Well, then he was even LOUDER because he was out int he open and not muffled by my purse. She is trying to work her hamster whisperer magic, but of course, the stakes are high because we want Henry to hush, like 5 minutes ago, you know? So I reach over and grab that noisy little fur ball and head out the big doors.

Whew. He is outside of the sanctuary. But now what?! I am looking around. Trying to find an answer. Where to put him? I want him to be still and also sort of hidden away. I mean, I would hate for a good Samaritan to come by and take old Henry to the Humane Society for adoption, you know?

And all of a sudden, it hit me. The perfect place to tuck little Henry in for a nap. He would be out of the way and not readily visible. AND I would know right where to find him after church was over.

The name tag holder!

Genius!

And so Henry hung out right here until after the service. May, Bay, and I went to children's church to pick up the children and to the name tag holder, aka, Hamster Church to pick up good old Henry!

The usual

I have blogged a little before about our wild Wednesdays. We have a lot on our plates on Wednesdays. Of course, there is school for both babies. After I drop Spencer off, I usually go to church to get our classroom set up for Awana. It is quiet and I can think. And I get to have cool chats with the awesome custodians. After that, I usually have a few errands to run before time to get Spence.

Then I pick Spencer up at 11:30, it is a mad dash to get everything else done. I usually think of wonderful ideas to use for my kiddos at Awana in advance. But being the procrastinator that I am, I am always finishing things up once we get home from Spencer's school. I really do work well under pressure (even if you cannot tell that by looking at the mess that is my house after a Wednesday!).

Jessa gets home at 3:15. And then it gets nuts. See, I have to get the car loaded. Make sure everyone has a snack. Make sure no one falls asleep (we love quick after school naps, but they don't work on Wednesdays). Make Jessa get dressed for ballet and tap. Help Jessa take off said ballet leotard, tights, and skirt to potty, even though I already asked her 12 times BEFORE we put on the whole get-up. Get Jessa's Awana stuff packed up. Help Spencer find his socks. Help Spencer put on his socks. Help Spencer find his shoes. Watch him put them on the wrong feet and bite my tongue to keep from mentioning it. Get Spencer's Awana stuff packed up. Feed dogs (IF I have time since we are not home at "supper time."). Feed cat (also time permitting). Change my clothes to put on my super cool Cubbies shirt. Try to look presentable. Give up and grab a rubber band for the mane. Then out the door by 5.

We drop Jessa off at ballet and get her all situated. Then Spencer and I are off to church to get ready for Awana. See, all the last minute stuff I did was not ready at 9:00 when I was there to "set up," so there is still more to do! I then get to meet up with my awesome co-teacher for us to go over last minute plans.

Then I get to have fun and sing and run and laugh with my awesome Cubbies at Awana for an hour and fifteen minutes. After it is over, we clean up the room. I try to find my misbehaving childrens somewhere in the fellowship hall. Then I herd the kids out the door. I finally get both of them in the car, and we are on our way.

Are we headed home? Nope. Not yet. We have established a Wednesday routine. There is only one place to eat between church and home that does not require us to go out of our way. That place is Subway. Let me tell you, I love me some Subway. I was a Sandwich Artist in High School, so I feel sort of at home there. Well, talk about feeling at home, my kids think it is our second home now.

We go each week. We have made friends out of employees. I love it because when we pull into the parking lot, they start making our sandwiches. How cool! I have always wanted to be able to go into a restaurant and order "the usual." Here, we do not even have to order it and it is done! if one kid is sick, we still stop to get food to bring home. And they always ask where's the other kid? They are so sweet (and patient) with us. Sometimes Bay is with us. Sometimes David is with us. Sometimes even May is there. But the kids and I are almost always there. We are all 3 so tired that we are punchy by this point. The kids seriously think they own the place. They go to the bathrooms by themselves. They head straight to the fridge to pick out their milk. We have 414 of those cute little kids meal sacks floating around the house, the car, the backyard. And if we have a week off and miss going, the next week, the employees who are now our friends always want to know where we were and tell us we were missed.

It is so comforting to know that we are going to Subway each week. The kids sing the "Five Dollar Foot Long" song and love to say, "We are going to "Eat Fresh!" And we sit in our booth and have our supper. I did not have to cook. I will not have to clean up anything more than a few sandwich wrappers. And after the wild Wednesdays that we always have, that is the BEST.

And every week when it is time for us to head home, the kids tell everyone bye and thank you. And then our Subway buddies say, "See you next week!" And you know what, we probably will. And I love that.

Tales from VBS

We went to VBS this week at our new church. I sort of cheated on the new church thing. Wait, that sounds bad- what I mean is that my Daddy visited several churches in the area and found a great one. So he did all the legwork! I had even visited the church several times when we were visiting him in the past.

The theme is Crocodile Dock. They are all really into this. Jessa is in a gator group (David is thrilled), and Spencer is in a frog group (I am the Crew Leader of his group). Each night, there is a verse: "God is always with you," or "God is Powerful," or "God always does what he says he'll do." And each time anyone says it, the kids are supposed to yell, "Fear not!" It was very cute, and they all had the hang of it by the end of each night. Each activity focused on not being afraid because God is always with them or how powerful God is or him keeping promises.

So on the way home the first night, I was trying to hurry them along. It takes forever to get strapped in to their seats for the ride home (always), so I said, "Guys, Daddy is at home all alone. He misses us and wants us to hurry." I was anxious to be home because I did not like it that we were gone on the one night this week that he is in the same state as us. They still were poking along. And I said, "Daddy is waiting and he is all alone." Spencer looked at me, smiled, and said, "But Mommy, he shouldn't be lonely, God is always with him." Gotta love it when they are paying attention!

One part of this week that has been somewhat hard to get used to is that VBS is at night. When I was coming up (oh so many years ago. . .), it was always in the morning and we were home by lunchtime. (they have also changed the motions for "this little light of mine-" I am so old!) So this is very different. It is nice because they provide supper each night (any excuse not to cook. . .), but strange because we are not getting home until like 9 o'clock. The babes are wired and fired up and overly tired. But that is not even the most troublesome part. See, when we do not leave until 5 o'clock in the afternoon, Jessa has had all day to plan and perfect her outfit. If we were scooting out the door early in the morning and they were still half asleep, I would be in total control of their wardrobe choices.

Since I am not even consulted, here are a few selections that my precious girl child has chosen for "children's church," as she refers to VBS.

I am desperate to hang a sign around her neck that says, "I picked out my own clothes and shoes."

And the sunglasses! She told me very seriously that she needed these glasses to see. She explained that she would wear her contacts, but that she forgot them. So she has kept the pink tinged ones on all week. Her crew leader said that they are not distracting and she leaves them on her face the whole time, so they are not a problem. It's just Jessa. And after all, her eye doctor did tell her she HAD to wear them, or so she told us.

Here are a few pictures from Thursday night (I have had my camera the whole week, but I guess I forgot until Thursday OR maybe it was that I was less embarrassed by Jessa's outfit Thursday???)

Posing on a"dock" before VBS

Spencer NOT PEEKING! He cracked me up at how seriously he took this! And look how LONG he is. . .

Jessa with her group - I have not seen that much of her this week. . . But her crew leader promises she is behaving.

One more story:

There are 2 children in my group that are "spirited." That is the word my Mimi uses when she wants to say bad, but she thinks "spirited" sounds better and less critical? I agree, don't you? The first night of Bible School was awful. I did not want to go back and chase and wrangle these kids for 3 hours, but I went anyway. I was pleasantly surprised. One was absent and the other was a different kid! I was telling this story to Mimi and Poppy on the phone, and Jessa was listening. She said, "I know why. The first night he was bad because he did not know God yet. He was better tonight because he knows God." Such a sweet and precious thing to say! Unfortunately, night 3 they were both there and back to their old tricks! Oh well!

Tonight is the last night. I have so enjoyed it and mostly enjoyed wathing J and S be so excited about it. I just could have done without the double dose of "spiritedness" in my group. . .

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I love pictures of people from behind - especially these 2. Have I mentioned this before? I want to publish a book of pictures of people walking from behind. I am going to call it "Ifs, Ands, and Butts." Good idea??