Being prepared

So my neighbor had to leave unexpectedly to go out of town. When I saw them packing up and getting ready to head out, I offered to look in on their cats. They were planning on taking them on a 32 hour round trip car ride. Yikes. I am human, and I cannot imagine that. She said she hated to ask, and I pointed out that she did not ask. And I won, we have 2 sweet kitties to check on. The kids L-O-V-E this. They remind me about 32 times a day that we need to go check on the cats. So we walk across the street and feed them, clean out their litter, etc.

Tonight, it was time to head over and I could not find the children. Anywhere. I thought, maybe they were waiting for me on the porch. Nope. I called for them and they hollered from upstairs that they were "getting ready." Getting ready? To walk 25 steps across the street? I heard Jessa say, "Spencer, put your coat on." In summer? Well they FINALLY got ready. They came downstairs dressed like, well, I'll just let you see for yourself.

Jessa had her pockets filled.

"Mom," she said, "we have to be prepared."

Spencer had an interesting addition to his hat.

Not quite where you normally see a propeller.

He is holding a rubber snake.

Now that is prepared.

And in the next photo, my 6 year old uttered the lovely phrase,
"It's tight, yo." Note hand gesture.

I don't even know what she was referring to or really what that even means.

I am so old and unhip.

Then on our way out the door, to walk ACROSS OUR STREET, Jessa pulled out and consulted "The Map."

They are so crazy.

It was a pirate map.

It didn't even look like our neighborhood.

Oh, and Spencer said, "Mom, the 'X' is the treasure. And the treasure is the cats."

Then they proceeded to walk 10 paces behind me the whole way there and the whole way back. When I asked why, Jessa sighed, rolled her eyes, and said, "Mom, we are spies."

Overdressed, extremely conspicuous, very prepared and absolutely precious spies.

One shoe on, one shoe off?

The weather has been, well, crazy lately. Crazy for us GA folks, at least. The kids have to have their snow boots on lots of days to go to school. They they have to take more shoes to put on once they are there. Well, Spencer actually wears regular shoes and then takes his snow boots to wear if it is warm enough to go outside. The child is not even at school 3 hours, yet he needs 2 different types of shoes. I have heard tale of colder climates where the children have to wear snow pants over their clothes and take them off at school. I declare, I don't think we could deal with that. We have a hard enough time making it to and from school with one outfit!

So we've got the whole snow thing going. You get it. Well, last week, on Friday we were having a "Wintry Mix," of course, this is a catch all for rain, sleet, snow, freezing rain, that weather people use to avoid having to make an actual forecast. On Friday mornings, Spencer and I always go to the commissary. It is our weekly shopping trip. So when it was time for me and my little shopper to head out, there was a discussion on proper attire for his feet. I had his snappy Thomas tennis shoes, the ones that light up, all ready to put on his little feet. But I wanted to give him a choice since it was snowy/rainy out there. So I asked him if he wanted to wear boots. I even gave him the choice of snow or rain.

I may or may not have mentioned this before, but our Spencer is a tad on the indecisive side. Basically he does better if Jessa is around to tell him what he wants. So when I am standing in front of my fully dressed boy, holding one pair of shoes and offering him two more choices, I should have known he would have trouble. I mean, picking shoes is tough when you have 2 choices, but 3!?

So after a moment of considering all of his options. He decided. Well, he made a decision. And I must say, I liked his choice. So we were off for our shopping.

The entire time we were shopping at the commissary, people noticed. They looked at him, and then at me, and smiled. Many people whispered to each other as they noticed. Finally, we were in the frozen foods, getting close to being finished with shopping. A man was staring at Spencer's feet with a huge grin on his face. So I leaned over and said, "He couldn't decide." He smiled even bigger and said, "Well, I gotta say, I like his style."

You know what? I do, too!

Soft Pants

I may have mentioned this before. Honestly, I cannot remember what I ate for breakfast or even IF I ate breakfast, so bear with me. Please. If I have mentioned it before, this will be a new take on it, I hope. If it is not, well, I already mentioned that you should bear with me. So just do it, OK? Mentioned.

My sweet and precious son will only wear soft pants. Have you ever heard of "soft pants?" Well, it is basically knit pants. He will even wear thick, almost sweatshirt material pants in the summer. Just do not make the mistake of trying to put hard pants on him. What are "hard pants," you may ask? Well, hard pants are every other kind of pants. He does not enjoy khakis or courds or jeans or any other kind of pants. And when I say "does not enjoy" that is a nice way of saying "refuses to wear."

As with every fashion phase they go through, I always try to just go with it. It usually works itself out, and they move on to another way to torment me. One summer, Jessa announced that we new favorite color was purple and that she would not wear anything else. This was easy enough to solve, we all started buying her all purple. She was not naked and happy, so we were happy. The theme of her fourth birthday was "purple." The only problem we had was that her arm was broken at the time, and she decided she was an all purple sort of girl AFTER the pink cast was on her arm. And yes, the child did ask the doctor to remove the pink one and give her a purple one. And the dear doctor said, "Next time you can have a purple one." She was pleased with this, but I told them both to hold their horses because we were not going to make plans for a "next broken bone!" Sheesh!

So, Spencer. He always preferred knit pants. And when you are small, they are way easy to find. I mean Carter's is like a knit mecca. Once he started going to school a day or so a week, I tried to dress him a little nicer. OK, to some jeans are not nicer, but the kids was wearing all sweatpants! I was golden because I always dress them while they are still asleep. Clever, huh? I get to be in charge of their wardrobe AND they get some extra minutes of sleep. Seriously, sometimes we would be in the car on the way to school before they even noticed what they were wearing. Think I can do that when they are in high school and wanting to wear what everyone else is wearing? I am willing to try. Carrying them to the car may be more difficult. . .

Well, Spencer still sleeps through getting dressed most mornings before preschool. BUT now, he pays attention. Yep, in his sleep, he can pay attention. I am gently trying to pull on some precious carpenter jeans, and he WITH EYES STILL CLOSED will run his hand across the pants and say, "These are not soft. MOMMY! THESE ARE NOT SOFT PANTS!" So I relent. It is not worth the fight, really. And I want him to be comfortable and confident at school, so he wears soft pants. Again.

This is only a problem when we go to church. I must draw the line at sweatpants at church. Call me mean, if you want, but the child can suck it up and wear a pair of khaki pants once a week for 2 hours. 2 hours! That is all I ask. But EVERY Sunday morning, we argue about this. I give in every other day, but I want him to be cute and properly attired on Sunday mornings. So he usually grumbles the whole way there. And he is always changed back into soft pants within about 12 seconds of being home every week.

Oh, and remember how I said that I wanted him to be comfortable? Well, he may be taking that too far. Last weekend, I let him skip a bath on Friday night, and he climbed into bed with his clothes STILL ON. I asked him didn't he want to put on his jommies? He said, "Nah." Do you think his clothes are TOO comfortable if he wants to sleep in them????

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. . .

l

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??

Out of the mouths. . .

A few cute stories before I forget. . .

1. One day in the parking lot at school Spencer was showing me his new bracelet. It was black and white beads. Since they were working on the letter "Z" this week, it was zebra-like. He was telling us as we were walking to the car, "Miss Caffy told me not to take it off or I will lose my beads." Jessa didn't skip a beat, and she replied very dramatically, "Well, I guess you'll have to keep it on for the rest of your life."

2. That night for supper we had (at Jessa's request) bacon and eggs and grits and toast. Their favorite part is the bacon. I have to keep the bacon plate away from them or they eat it all and nothing else. Jessa refused her toast because she did not ask for toast. Spencer, my good eater, always eager to please was just eating away at his plate. After a while, Jessa asked to be excused. Spencer was still eating. After a little while longer, he handed David a bite of crust from his first piece of toast. We thought, how precious, he is sharing. Then he picked up his last piece of toast, which happened to be the last bit of food on his plate. Then he grinned and turned to me and said, "Mommy, look, I cleaned my plate!" Bless his heart, he aims to please!

3. This next one may not sound as funny as it was, but I want to write it down anyway. . . After supper one night, Jessa decided that they were going to play some sort of diner thing. She was like the waitress, I guess, and he was like the cook. So she is on one side of my chair and he is behind it. She keeps hollering back behind her (in her thickest Southern Country fake accent she has), "I need some carrots and some broccoli. I need a tuna fish and some chicken." I guess she is placing her customers orders for them. Spencer has a stack of plastic bowls and is passing them to her after each order she hollers back to him. He is not saying a word.

After a minute, she looks in a bowl full of the pretend food that Spencer, the cook, has fixed and sighs and says, "They don't want it fried!" And hands it back to him. So the he fixes the pretend food again and gives it to her. She again, screams, "Not Fried! My customers don't want it fried!" This goes on for several minutes. He tried to fix the pretend, imaginary, invisible food the way she (and her customers) want it, but he is simply not doing it to suit her. I was contemplating intervening on his behalf when he figured out what she wanted. My sweet, smart boy got a bowl ready and as he handed it up to Jessa, he screamed, "NOT FRIED!" She smiled and still with the accent yells, "Not fried!" as she hands it to her pretend customer. Bless his heart! He "gets her" when no one else does. . . The rest of the time they spent playing, every time he handed her a bowl, he would say, "Not fried." And she was pleased as punch!

4. I have been telling them about the move and saying, "We are moving to Scott Air Force Base in Illinois." One afternoon, I was saying something to someone else about the move and Jessa said, "You mean to Scott?" I smiled proudly and said, "Yes, ma'am! You remembered where we are going!" And she said, "Oh yeah, I got it up here in my brain brain." I said, "What?!" She said, "Yeah, I have two brains so that helps me remember things better."

5. We were getting ready to go to over to the home of some of our college friends who happen to be here at Ft. Stewart. Jessa picked out a dress. She picked out shoes. She picked out socks. She told me how she wanted her hair fixed. She put on her best Barbie Pearl necklace. She found an Iraqi scarf that David sent her. She put on lip gloss. And she came to ask me how she looked. I told her she looked great. She said, "Well, I want to be the most fashionable person there. Do you think I look fashionable enough?" I told her she did. And when we arrived at our friend's house, they agreed!

My fashion plates

My children love Chick-fil-A. This makes me happy because I also enjoy Chick-fil-A about 1,000 times more than McDonald's. So I am thrilled with their new love. And it is nice to be at Momma's where we have lots of Chick-fil-As to choose from, unlike Ft. Polk.

Jessa used to call it the footprint resturant because to her little eyes, the logo reminded her of a footprint. (Look at it with that in mind, and you can sort of see it or at least I can. . .) Then she called it "Chickayay," which is what Spencer still calls it.

This summer when we were driving home from my Daddy's house, she refused to eat anywhere but Chick-fil-A. Daddy is currently at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois. Not rich with Chick-fil-As!! So I programmed it into the Garmin, which did not distinguish between mall ones vs. freestanding ones. We were not in the market for something that did not have a drive-in window set-up (We had me, momma, my cousin Nikki, 2 babies, 2 dogs, and 10 catepillar chyrsalids that we had to keep at a constant temp and very still if we wanted them to become butterflies). Se we tried to find her a Chick-fil-A all day. We all ate. She refused. FINALLY, after we drove all the way through Illinois and all the way through Kentucky, we found a free-standing Chick-fil-A just past Nashville, Tennessee! Boy was she thrilled. My point: the girl loves Chick-fil-A.

Almost every day, one or the other of them asks to go and eat there. I try to limit our visits to no more than 2 per week. In order to try and regulate our eating, I have decided that Monday is a good time to get our fix (since Sunday is a hard day because we all seem to want it more that day ;>). Plus, they love the train at Truett's, so we have taken to eating there every Monday night.

Jessa was already excited about it when she got home from school. After naptime, she started preparing. She got change for the gumball machine - a highlight on the way out for children who eat well and behave. And she packed her backpack so she would be ready to go.

THEN. . .

My two sweet independent children proceeded to dress themselves. What was wrong with the clothes that they wore to school you may ask? NOTHING. But where is the fun in that, right?

Jessa chose a red Hannah Montana t-shirt (I am not a huge fan of t-shirts with writing on them when we go out to eat, but the point is that I was not choosing, right?). This prompted Spencer to choose a red Old Navy American Flag tee. Jessa chose black knit shorts; Spencer chose navy knit shorts. Jessa chose white socks and pink jelly sandals. Spencer chose white socks and his black loafers. The icing on the cake was Jessa adding a large plastic bib. She grabbed her backpack and was ready to roll.

Let me say that the pictures DO NOT do these ensembles justice. I did not realize that I had my camera until after she had removed the bib, but I included a shot of the bib, too. I promise I do buy them NICE clothes, decent matching clothes. But I also try to pick my battles, and I do think it is important to let them express themselves. That is not to say that I do not hope that people we encounter realize that I had little to do with their outfits. I even asked Mom to walk ahead of us last night and actually say it out loud. . .hee-hee!!

Jessa has been up to this for a while. . . BUT, I had hope for my Spencer, my sweet cooperative little boy, but I am afraid that her influence on him is just too strong!