Sanitor Evan

It was time for the weekly vacuum run and as I started in on the kitchen, Evan came running in.  "Daddy! I wanna do it! I wanna do it!"  My first thought was that I needed this to get done quickly and completely and I should do it myself this time.  However, I know that any opportunity to teach the boys responsibility - especially when they're so eager to do it - is a golden moment.  So, I removed the middle section of pipe from the vacuum tube and let him rip.  He cleaned the kitchen, the living room, the hallway AND the bathroom.  If I hadn't told him we were done, he'd be next door cleaning their house right now.  Call him "SANITOR Evan" please - he's worked hard for his title! 

Brutally Honest

We have a tradition of tucking the boys in their bunks and praying with them each night.  Frequently, when I pray with Evan, I kneel next to him (he's on the bottom bunk) and put my face next to his while he snuggles with me as we pray.  Usually, this takes place before Laura and I are ready for bed, as was the case this evening.  I had tucked Nathan in and prayed with him first, then knelt next to Evan.  As I began to pray for him, he turned his head away from me and said, "Oooo, Daddy! Your breath is STINKY!  You need to brush your teeth and then come back and pray with me!"  Now, we had taco salad for dinner and I did sneak a couple oreos afterward, but I was feeling pretty bad that Evan was giving me such a hard time.  I turned my face away from his to finish praying for him without making him sick, when he made another declaration: "Aww, Man!  Daddy, your hair stinks, too!"  This time, I sat up and responded, "Hey, pal! I'm not ready for bed yet, so give me a break!  Besides, there's no reason my hair should stink as bad as you say it does."  "But Dad," he replied, "your hair smells like crackers... or somebody's smelly feet!" MAN!  All I can say is that if anyone at our house knows about getting dirty, it's Evan, so I'm off to take care of some serious personal hygiene issues...

Rock, Paper, Scissors... EVAN style!

For some reason, our dinner conversation moved to the rock, paper, scissors game.  Nathan said he had played it at school before, and that it wasn't a very fun game.  I told him he'd just not played with an RPS Master.  "What's THAT?!" he asked.  "This," I said, as I proceeded to play him in a fierce round of the game.  After we had a few minutes of fun and laughter, Evan said he wanted to play.  I explained to him how to play the game and he joined Nathan and I on our side of the table.  I chose scissors and cut their papers. "I won that one, guys."  Next round, Nathan and I chose rock and Evan had an "unauthorized" entry.  Instead of two fingers for scissors, he had his thumb up and his pointer finger sticking out - like a gun.  Nathan and I looked at each other and then at Evan.  "What's that, Evan?" I asked.  "POW! It's a GUN!"  Yep, guns pretty much take care of rocks!  Who's the RPS Master now?

Praying FOR Tongues

The boys were in the tub when Nathan asked Laura, "Mom, how does our tongue move around like this? (wagging his side to side) And, like this? (curling up the sides to form a tube)" Laura explained that our tongue is a muscle used to talk, taste, etc. The boys both thought that was pretty cool, and they playfully stuck them out at each other with silly faces. As she stepped out of the bathroom to get a towel, Laura said, "Thank God for tongues!" As the door closed behind her, Evan took her literally and prayed, "Thank you, God, for my tongue. In Jesus' Name, Amen!"

They Grow Up So FAST!

That's what everyone says, and it's true! Seems like we just brought him home from the hospital yesterday, and now he's GRADUATING!! Ok, so it's only Kindergarten graduation, but STILL!!

Gone Fishin'

The boys received a Betta fish for their birthday from the Biloxi Pecks. It was a beautiful crown-tailed fish with a nice little tank and everything it needed. They named him Lightnin', after the Cars movie character, and he was a lot of fun to watch. He would play in his tank, come up to the boys when they got close and even "moon-walk" with fins in full display. Then he got sick after Christmas and by the time we realized he needed help it was too late. Laura was the most saddened, followed by me. We felt we let poor Lightnin' down by not recognizing his illness and helping him sooner. The boys' biggest problem was deciding who gets to flush him - so I did it and they waved by. Before the toilet tank refilled, they were planning a trip to get Lightnin' II. So, after a few days we began our search. Y'know, there are a lot of ugly Betta fish out there! The struggle to find as handsome a fish as Lightnin' made his loss more disappointing. So, we decided to pass on Bettas and get a 10-gallon tank with several fish. We got all the gear, picked out some fish and set it all up. Two lyre-tailed mollies (an orange one called Flame and a dalmation named Blue), two tiger-barbs (Hotty and Toddy), and two serpae tetras (Bucky and Lucky) fit the bill for starters. We followed the fish shop's instructions and they were all doing great. Blue was the bigger fish and he was also the biggest eater (and pooper - just ask the boys). Flame was the most active, and the other guys seemed to enjoy the company of their immediate relatives as they swam around in pairs. Less than 48 hours into the new deal, Blue turned belly-up and face-down. Within a week, ick attacked the rest and they were all gone! A month later, and we've finally got the tank cycled and three healthy replacement survivors - 2 Dalios (sp?) named Phineas & Ferb along with a black molly named Blue. New arrivals soon!

Cost-Cutting Advice

We'd had a hurried week, with hectic schedules and out-sourced meal preparation and I needed to put the brakes on the eating out. I had picked up the boys from school and they wanted to know where we were going. "Home" was an unacceptable answer - they wanted to go "somewhere"!

"Not tonight, boys, we've been going all week and we need some home time - your fish are missing you."

"But, Dad, what are we gonna eat for dinner? We don't want to eat anything at home!"

"Boys, we've been eating out a lot lately, and we're eating at home tonight."

"Why, Dad? We like to eat out!"

"Eating out costs a lot more than eating at home, so we're eating at home."

Nathan: "Hey Dad, I've got an idea! We can just go through the drive thru and then eat it at home!"

(Someone HELP - my son is thinking like a Democrat!)