magic man

The boys had each enjoyed a "tootsie-pop" lollipop, and all was well in the world. All of a sudden, Evan reappeared from a brief moment away with another tootsie-pop. "Evan," I inquired, "what are you doing with another one of those?" He looked at me, looked at the lollipop, looked back at me and declared, "It's magic! I have a magic hand!" Of course - what was I thinking?! I guess I'm gonna have to raise the bag of tootsie-pops to the magic-resistant shelf in the pantry.

how to get rid of allergies

Evan asked for some milk with his breakfast recently and I replied with a look that reminded him of his milk allergy. Without even a verbal reply from me, he declared, "Daddy, I'm not allergic to milk anymore!" Laughing out loud at his wide-eyed expression and declaration, I asked him how that happened. "I just changed my mind!

far out

Nathan has been interested in the high-beams of the car lately. He's had me click them on and off so he can see the different light locations while standing in front of the parked car. He's had me switch them on and off while driving at night to see the difference. He's inquired about the purpose of them and how they differ from the fog lights some cars have. Today, in broad daylight, he informed me, "Dad, y'know what I'm going to call those high-beams? I'm gonna call them 'far-beams', because they help you see really far at night!" Far-out!

all we want

Nathan asked me recently why Jesus had to die. I was curious how much he already knew, so I asked him why he thought Jesus died. He replied, "Jesus died on the cross for our sins so we wouldn't have to... so now we can sin all we want!" We need to clarify some of his theology, but it's a good start, I think.

Random Belly

Nathan is into bellies. Ok, let me rephrase: Nathan is curious about bellies. He thinks they're funny and he always tells us when someone's shirt hikes up to reveal their belly. Whether me, Laura, Evan, family, friends, strangers, even people on TV or print ads, he's got some sort of "belly radar" or something. SO, it was not too surprising when, while getting undressed for a bath recently, Nathan asked, "Mom, what does GOD's belly look like?" (I mean, REALLY, how can I NOT share these stories?) Laura responded something about the fact she's never seen God's belly. Nathan poked his own belly out and rubbed it, saying, "I bet God has a BIG belly!" I left the room after that, but I'm guessing that, since Jesus was a carpenter by trade and they didn't use power tools back in his time, he probably had a pretty well-toned set of abs. I wonder if God smiles at the random thoughts of my sons like I do.

Random Lettuce

I'm starting a new blog subgroup featuring the random thoughts and actions of the boys. You'll know it's part of the "Random" items b/c it will begin with the word "Random" (pretty ingenious, huh?!) Anyway, here's the first...

Driving home from Sunday morning church service, the boys had decided they wanted to take Laura to Casa Ole for her birthday dinner. She had worked the night of her birthday and the boys' friend had a birthday party Sat night, so this was our opportunity to take her out. The decision was made and we were en route. After a short season of silence (all seasons of silence are short with these boys), Evan spoke up, "Mommy! Sometimes, when you eat lettuce, it gets stuck in your teeth." We looked at each other, bewildered as to where that came from, and then laughed out loud (an authentic LOL moment). Evan meanwhile maintained a serious, matter-of-fact expression that seemed to say, "Laugh if you want, but it's true!"

NATHAN, the DEFENDER!

It was a night like any other night at Chick-Fil-A. Laura was working, so the boys and I splurged on some hot nuggets and cool lemonade. After a hearty (?) meal, we crashed the indoor playground which was packed with kids young and old. Some were probably a little too old for the playground, actually. There's this sign on the door that says all children must have an adult inside the play area with them. I noticed there wasn't a single adult in the room with the 15+ kids, so I figured I'd hang out. Everything was cool... the boys jumped right into the mix, happy to run into a couple of friends from school in one of the tunnels... and then they approached THE SLIDE. There was a group of 3 older kids sitting cross-legged and chatting about whatever 10 year olds discuss these days (video games, parents, Obama's marxist-socialist agenda). They seemed to ignore the fact that there were two young boys eager to get to the slide. I watched curiously to see how the boys would handle this blockade. Evan just acted like they were part of the structure and proceded to push and climb his way over and past them to his goal. Apparently one of them said something to Evan about the slide being closed, I don't know. What I DO know is that Nathan suddenly bowed up to the girl with the biggest mouth and told her angrily and forcefully, "He's my brother! and He can go down the slide if he wants to!" Meangirl spewed back at Nathan that Evan was too little to go down the slide. "No he's NOT! He's almost four and I'm almost six and we can go down if we want to!" Evan looked back at Nathan as if to say, "thanks", and climbed over the remaining obstruction (girl) and went down the slide. Meanwhile, back at the blockade, Meangirl was apparently struggling with the fact that a five-year-old was calling her out in front of her friends. She said something about how old she and her friends were and that they were bigger than him. Nathan pointed behind her in my direction and informed her that his Daddy was 39 and a lot bigger than all of them and something about my making them get out of the way. I decided it was time to intervene before Evan got back up there and started throwing blows (Nathan tends to fight with words, Evan not-so-much!). "Excuse me, guys... is there a problem up there with the little guys going down the slide?" With a look of surprise, Meangirl replied, "Oh... no... there's no problem." "OK, good!" I must say that I was very proud of Nathan for standing up for Evan's right to slide!

apologetics

Nathan was nearby as I was setting up a promotional video clip on our church website for an upcoming event. The video was that of a girl asking questions of God and about him. She had a skeptical tone and Nathan came to God's defense rather strongly... "Daddy! Who is that girl?!" She's just some girl in a video. "Why is she talking like that?" She's just playing a role on this video, pal. At this point, the girl in the video says, "Does God even care?!" Nathan looks at the screen and says, "God DOES CARE!" I intervened and told him, "It's ok, buddy, it's just a video." Just then, she asks, "Does God love me?" Nathan leaned around me and told "her", "YES! God loves EVERYBODY! And Jesus died on a CROSS!"



Wow. Too bad most adult Christians don't share the passion of my little apologist.

(to see the video clip, CLICK HERE)