Tiny (but determined) Talk Tuesday

I think Nate is already showing promise as a lawyer.


Nate (4 yrs): Mom, do you want me to get in an accident and the police to come when I drive  a car?

Mom: No.

Nate: Well then... I need to watch Mickey Mouse Club because that tells me how to drive stuff.


LOL!! A very convincing argument, aimed straight at this mom's desire to protect her children. He is good! And extremely persistent.

On the tough side of Nate's "gift" of argument... is the argument part! Phew!

Teaching and trying to mold his heart  (his desires and then his words)  every.single.conversation  all.day.long  is exhausting.

It makes me thankful for the mommy wisdom God has allowed me to be exposed to these last few months through a conference, carving out time for reading my Bible, some pretty inspiring blogs and godly motherhood books.

Now just to continue to apply all that wisdom into our days.  Not to grow weary, but to press on! Love, correct, love, referee an argument, love, guide, love, cook dinner, love, bathe, read, love, snuggle and tuck them in for the night;)

You will always harvest what you plant... 

 So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. 

At just the right time we will reap 

a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.

Galatians 6:7b,9

More Tiny Talk

Nate was looking at our world map in the school room and said,"See that really big orange spot on the map?"

Me: "Yes, Russia."

Nate responded,"No, it's Mississippi because it is so big!"

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Lydia: "I'm on chapter 9 of Mr. Popper's Penguins. You know it's kind of a "how-to" book."

Me: "Really, a "how-to"?"

Lydia: "Yes, how to keep penguins in your house."


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An afternoon TV show for Nate is sometimes a necessary evil so we can finish that last bit of home schooling. One afternoon the Roku was needing new batteries so Nate had to choose a DVD.

Nate was NOT please with any of the choices in the kids' DVDs. He opened the adult drawer and found Gilligan's Island! Excitedly, he ran around the house telling the other kids what he was going to watch and then instructing us what episode to turn on.

He's an old soul:)

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One morning while working hard we all stopped to listen to the rain beat the house. A very hard rain!

Anna started the conversation, "Oh, wow look at the rain coming down. Do you think that it's going to flood today?"

Lydia was next,"Don't you remember? God promised He wouldn't flood the Earth again."

Chris replied to Lydia,"Oh, yeah. But there still are floods that happen in just certain places."

Then Nate chimes in,"Maybe God forgot?"

I am thankful daily for the conversations I get to have with the kids and that I get to watch them "make sense" of the world. They want to understand and to have all the dots connect. They want a logical explanation and pattern. It's exciting! And also challenging as I get to see (and hear) their thoughts and encourage them to understand what we can about God and His ways.


What are your kids saying?

Tiny Talk Tuesday in the School Room

A question asked in the schoolroom, "Who is Sargon the Great?"

And answered by one smarty pants 10 yr old, "I know who that is! Its Willie Roberson's great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather."

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The question asked by the teacher-Momma, "What do we call it when a ruler uses an army to make people obey the laws?"

Chris confidently shouted out, "Dictation!!"

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And this didn't take place in the schoolroom, but the items destroyed were created in there by one tired momma the night before the class:/

The afternoon after the destroying event....

In a forget moment of cuteness, I may have said to my dog, "Jack, you're such a good dog!"

Lydia snuggling Jack responded, "Jack is always good."

Me: "Yeah, like when he ripped up my children's church craft this morning [as we were getting ready for church, where the previously mentioned craft was going to be crafted]."

Sweet Lydia's gentle answer,"Well, everyone makes mistakes!"

Yep! We all do!


What are you all "talking" about today? 

Tiny Talk Tuesday: Thought Provoking Questions from a 4-yr Old

Lately Nate has been full of some pretty deep questions... for a 4 yr old:)

"We have 4 pets. Why do pets have to live at our house?"

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On the way to church one Sunday morning.
"Snakes don't have legs. Why don't snakes have legs?"

Then Chris (8 yr old) answered him with the story of the Fall:)

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On the way to the pool one afternoon...

"Is God a girl or a boy?"

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On another trip to the pool... :)

"I not sad that Pey and Great Grandma died and we tan't see them anymore. They are with Jesus now."

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"Why do I only have two legs, but Jack (our dog) has four?"


This is little guy keeps us on our toes... not just because he's soo busy but because we have another little "thinker" in the family!!


What are you're kiddos saying to keep you sharp?

The Things Boys Think Of :)

Nate's LEGO house bathroom.

Yes, there are 4 toilets!!

"Why?" you may ask.

"Betuz everywee one wakes up at da same time and everywee one needs to use the potty!"

Of course! A big family dilemma!

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And what is Chris doing out in the yard? With a tennis racket and no ball?

But still swinging?

Japanese tennis, of course!

You know! The game where you whack Japanese beetles with a tennis racket!!

And of course you slice some in half and HAVE to come tell your sisters, little brother (and mother) the gory details while they are enjoying their lunch.

No need for pesticide here... just send out the kids;) LOL!!

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Just a little scared to see what my silly little boys will think of next!

As I write this I hear their noises and know EXACTLY what they're doing! They drew a bulls-eye on the schoolroom wipe board and are shooting their Nerf guns at it. At least it's finally a target that doesn't breath:)

How are your kids entertaining you today??

Tiny Talk Tuesday - Summer Songs Edition

So have there been any songs that are "stuck" at your house this summer?? LOL!!

My crew has had two that have lingered in our home;)

The first was a song (and movement) to Agency D3 VBS that we attended at our church in June. I'm not sure of the official title of the song but any time someone in the house uses the word "more", we start singing:)

"More, more,... oh, oh, oh,oh, oh,... more, more, more than just a good man!" So very cute to hear them all start to sing with the perfect pitch and timing with each other. And I love that it's a song about Jesus being "more than just a good man"!


The other song is funny:) We finally got to see the LEGO movie during one the $1 deals at a local movie this summer! The kids were sooo excited to finally see it and Nate made it through a whole movie (I think that was a 1st for us... minus the time we took when he was too little to care).

Here is the "full version", my kids just sing the "chorus" :)


And of course my kids totally add in different words to include what we're doing or something that has been done. Seems like we get a new version to sing every few days;)

"Everything is awesome when you're part of the B_________ team, everything is awesome because it's kind of about me!"

So what songs, sung at the tops of their lungs, have you heard in your house over and over and over this summer ???

Tiny Talk Tuesday & Vacation Pics

As we've gone down the road to our friend's house this spring and to the pool this summer, we've watched a Canada goose family. In the beginning the kids thought the goslings were soo cute. Their lighter fluffier feathered balls swimming around the adults were soo fun to spot. And then the little goslings got larger and started to get their adult feathers.

Finally we went by the goose family this week and the geese all looked about the same size. And I heard Nate say from the backseat:

"Why do babies always have to grow up? Now there aren't any babies no more!"

I teared up! I have been having the same feeling in our family! All my babies are grown:/

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And the child that is not a baby anymore, but is still youngest, decided to smile like this...

and someone might have told him that he looked like he was making a "stinky"! And this was the next pic... the siblings' reactions.

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More fun pictures from our fun visit to Charleston last week! It's always nice to see family and get to explore some fun places.

What are your kids saying? Or where have you gone with summer;)

Tiny Talk - Not a Baby & "egg" Hunt

"Tan you help me (r)wide my bike?" and then he's off;)

Growing up too fast:)

2 weeks and 3 days until he's 4! How is that possible?????

Nate and I were talking about the days and weeks left until his birthday and he said,"Oh, why can't it only be 2 days left?"

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And taking the crew to the grocery store is finally getting easier and easier;) The older ones mess with each other sometimes but have learned it to their benefit to help me so we get out of the store more quickly.

Nate though is still learning:/ While he wants to walk freely about, usually he ends up in the front basket where he is contained and can't wander. But that often is NOT what he wants and is protested loudly by cries of "I am NOT a baby!" LOL!!

So yes, even though it IS getting easier.... it's still not chaos-free!

And then he gets into the car after the grocery shop and does this:)

Totally OUT!

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We went to a friend's church for an egg hunt on Saturday! We really enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and the kids all had friends to play with! Larry did a great job telling the story of the cross and presenting the Gospel. And then the kids began the hunt!

It was much different than we are used to;) They had scattered the candy all over the ground instead of putting it all in eggs. They joked about it "cutting out the middle man" but it was a huge blessing for us.

Most holidays and food allergies just don't mesh well:( Our kids are either put at risk getting into something or left out or awkwardly "separated out". We were always thankful for a safe Easter day at a neighbor's house that made us skip Easter events for many years. Of course every hard Easter has been well-meaning.....

 but food allergies DO make us different and DO at times separate us from others:/ It's just reality.

To be honest, I was just going to let my kids hunt eggs like everyone else and then help them separate the candy. I know, I was kind of leery but I hated for them to have another weird Easter function.... and last year we did it that way with no issues (but they had not used chocolate/peanut candy).

So seeing just candy scattered on the grass was awesome for us;)

 The girls got to hunt, too! No pictures of Chris because he stayed home to be with his daddy.


And Nate cracked me up:) He only picked up the kinds he liked. And then at first only one of each kind so others could have some too:)

Little Thoughts and a Tea Party

He loves the phones at the science center... two at a time!

"I'll never be 4!! Why can't I be 4 right now so I tan play soccer?" - Nate pondering one night as he was getting still before falling asleep:)

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And Nate's new phrase when he doesn't get his way is "That's not fairw!" He crosses those little arms and plants his feet firmly in place... serious stuff !!

Lots of  training still ahead for this not-so-little guy!

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One morning Nate and I found a few moments of quiet. I thought it was a perfect time to review some of the verses we've been memorizing together:)

So I quoted Romans 3:23 with Nate adding in words as he knew them. We talked about what "sin" was. And then I asked him,"Do you sin? Have you done something that made God "sad"?" (Trying to use very simple terms with him!)

He was quiet for a minute really thinking! And then he blurted out, "Chris does sins!"

LOL!! Isn't that our human nature? Pointing out the faults and problems of others while overlooking our own issues. Brings us right to the ideas that Jesus taught about in Matthew 7:3-5!

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And the kids were super sweet Sunday afternoon and made such a special memory for us all:)

During lunch they decided that they needed to make us a dessert!! So Chris and Lydia got into the kitchen to make cookies.... gathering the ingredients, doubling the recipe, following the directions... just good practical learning stuff;)

While Anna was secretly in the school room decorating;)

Flowers from a Sunday school project and then two of Chris' zucchini plants:)

What are you kids saying and doing??

Heard in the School Room

"Pootie-Poot" (and we add another "Poot") had been heard over and over while we study post-WWII and listen to current news from Eastern Europe. Totally not "potty words" in this case! Anyone want to guess??

It actually started with a biography I read about George W. Bush years ago. And it's soo hard to hear the name of the leader of Russia without that nickname popping into my head. And now I've passed this "gift" to my children:) LOL!!

And just for fun, I Google-d the nickname and found a Wikipedia LIST of all the different nicknames George W. Bush used:)

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While reviewing the word "indispensable" for spelling, Anna had to write a sentence for the word. She called over to me at the table giving another spelling test, "Hey Mom, what does 'indispensable' mean?"

My response, "Anna, look it up!"

Chris: "Oh, Anna! You just got Mom-ed!"

At one time I hoped that my staying home and home schooling my kids would keep me from feeling like I live in the 'hood. And then I realized all kids are kids and there is ONE (at least one) comedian in each class... no matter how small... and that they are related to me :/

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And sometimes there can be some purring happening in the school room (and simultaneous protest barking coming from the living room).

Sometimes it's because she just slips in.

Sometimes she gets smuggled in.

Sometimes she's just too precious to deny.

Who can resist that

        sleepy

                 squishy

                          face?

Each Moment

After a week of not having the littlest kiddo come into our room (and bed) in the wee hours of the morning, I really began to miss him:/ It was a reminder of how quickly this littlest boy of ours is growing older.

This morning I was glad for his little body snuggling into bed with us before we rose for the day:) And how after we moved around the room for a bit, showered and dressed he still slept soundly in our bed... the bed his used to call his own:)

Oh, how the years of little toes being in our face or under our neck have flown by. How the mornings of wrestling the covers back from underneath him have become sweet memories.

I'm learning to slow down.
To stop and step back to appreciate these simple moments.
Maybe take out the camera to capture this sweet little face into a memory that doesn't fade as fast.

And then in a few moments...
Embrace the quiet start to the morning with both boys still in the bed:)
One looking through baby books learning about opposites.

The other perfecting how to tie a shoe.

Gentle, unhurried, simple moments together before the day gets under way.
Tender moments that continue to knit our hearts together.
Before the dog needs to be taken out into the arctic wind and the school work begins.
Before the news of loved ones sick and passing on.
Before the 5 loads of laundry begin the endless cycle... dirty, wash, clean, dirty... and the kitchen requires attention.

And then in the middle of the day, I received another tender moment.

Chilled by the cool dampness outside, I shivered. My youngest in PJs hugged my neck and then asked, "Is this feel better, Mommy?"

As I smiled back, I whispered,"Yes, thank you! Where did I get such a sweet boy?"

And with his bashful grin he responded, "Maybe, from God. Maybe He give me to you."

He knows!

This is all a sweet gift!
Each child!
Each tender moment!
Each kid- inspired mess!
Each disagreement!
Each dirty mismatched pair of socks (it's the "in" thing now... so maybe I don't have to mess with attempting to match them anymore either)!

May I be faithful today... and every day! To count each moment and daily task as the gifts that they were meant to be. And in the moments that overcome and attempt to steal my contentment and joy, help me to show grace and search for reasons to be grateful.

Hugs, Kisses and Animal Mtg at the Manger

This morning I was greeted with a little toothy smile:)

And as we snuggled for a bit before we started the day, Nate asked, "Where is Daddy?"

Brian put the kids to bed last night while I attended a meeting, so Nate remembered being with his daddy as he fell asleep. Then Nate had slept in until 8am which is when Brian starts his day at work so he missed seeing Brian in the morning.

Nate continued, "So you are going to stay with us today, while Daddy is at work?" LOL! It was funny that he was asking this.... hmm, we have the same arrangement 5 days a week;)

Then he added, "You can stay with us because we give you hugs and kisses!" Definitely the BEST way to start the morning and the BEST reminder of the blessings of this season of getting to stay with them:)

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I'm totally not ashamed that we still have up Christmas decorations!! I love Christmas and taking down all the pretty and meaningful decor makes our house look soo bare. They will come down sometime this week (or next week!) though:/

Meanwhile, Nate is still playing with the Little People Manger set we bring out every Christmas!! He loved the set this year. He's take it out of his "busy bin" and ask,"Will you tell me the story?" Music to this momma's ears... just beautiful and simple! Christmas!

This week I found a meeting happening at the manger scene... a meeting of animals.

I had to see what the "hub-bub" was about :)

I know it was a silly arrangement of Nate's, but in that moment it really hit me when I saw they surrounded Him... Baby Jesus!

I was still... I was reminded of how we should have Jesus in the middle of it all. That even a small child knows that Jesus is the most important person! And in this case Nate thought even the animals gave Jesus all the attention.

I love stopping to see sweet moments instead of just rushing through my days and tasks. I am VERY guilty of always being in a rush with an impossible "to do" list each day. And I am thankful for the encouragement and reminders I get when I take the time to stop and enjoy and even look for the small blessings among the messes and the every day moments with my kids.

Link up or share in the comments if you also have some "tiny talk" moments this week:)