Busted

After being accused of stealing milk from kids, Uncle James decided to see what would happen if he really did steal milk from Katie. So one recent evening, James showed up at our house and made a beeline for the fridge. He then made a big point that he was stealing Katie's milk. Still in shock, Katie yelled, "No, Uncle James! You don't take my milk!"

"But I took Isabella and Zach's milk," James replied.

Katie's eyes got very big as she realized that James knew what she had said about him. Busted. How would she respond?

"No, Uncle Chris took their milk." When caught in a lie, it's always best to come up with another lie to cover your tracks. Right?

Uncle James

In the world according to Katie, Uncle James has been a very busy man lately. First of all, he is a composer. Last night Katie was singing "Jesus Loves Me" while she took a bath. She looked up and asked, "Mommy, who composed 'Jesus Loves Me'?"

"I don't know," I said.

"Maybe Uncle James," offered Katie.

"No, he didn't."

"Yes, he did." And that was that.

Then today I was telling Katie about the DeGarmo's camping trip. "Katie, do you want to know what happened when Isabella and Zach went camping last weekend? Someone stole their cooler with their milk in it! Can you believe that?"

"Who took their milk, Mommy?"

"I don't know."

"Maybe Uncle James took their milk."

"No. Uncle James did not take their milk."

"Yes, he did." And there it is, my brother is a real-life version of Dr. Jeckel and Mr. Hyde, composing "Jesus Loves Me" by day and stealing milk from small children by night.

If at first you don't succeed...

I'm going to give this blog thing another try. Nathaniel will be eight weeks old tomorrow, and it is way past time to immortalize him in cyberspace. Some of Katie's thoughts on having a little brother:

1. "What dude say?"
2. "That his peanut? I want to see his peanut again!"
3. "I want Nathaniel eat my belly."
4. "Nathaniel spit up!"

No Clothes!

One of Katie's favorite books right now is called Adam, Adam, What Do You See?. The book highlights some of the major people in the Bible in order but in the style of Bill Martin, Jr. (also known for Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?). While Adam sees "creation all around me," Katie just sees, "no clothes!"

So I say, "Yes, Katie, Adam is naked. Before sin entered the world, people were naked and without shame." Do you think she got that? Either way, we turn the page.

Next comes Noah. "Nona, clothes!" Katie points out. And she continues to turn the pages pointing out people and saying, "clothes!" Eventually she always turns back to Adam and shows me that he, unlike the others, has no clothes.

"Katie," I say, "Adam and his wife Eve sinned and with that came shame. So people started to wear clothes. That's why everyone after Adam wears clothes." I think she's getting it.

Today we were playing outside, and I let Katie drink lemonade out of my cup. Of course it spilled all over her, so as we went inside, I took off her shirt and threw it into the washing machine. As we made our way upstairs to get her another shirt. Katie said, "No clothes!" She ran and got her blankie and put it over herself, giggling all the way.

Now I don't really think that Katie was ashamed because she has run around topless without shame after many a bath. And I while I don't think that she really "gets" the whole connection of clothes and the Fall, she is interested in the idea that for some reason, Adam doesn't wear clothes, while Abraham and John the Baptist do. Interesting what catches her attention.

Bad Dog

O.k. to be totally fair, I have to include this story, too. While Grandmommy may be a "good boy," I (Ashley) am, at times, a "bad dog." Last week, Katie was doing something that she shouldn't have been doing, and when I made her stop, she looked at me quite seriously and said, "Mommy, bad dog!" Interesting how our daughter expresses herself based on how we talk to our dogs. I am thankful to say that I am not the only "bad dog" in Katie's mind. A couple of days later, Zach DeGarmo was trying to escape out his front door when Katie yelled in protest, "No, Zach! Bad Dog!" Zach, I'd share a title with you any day. But maybe we can work our way up to "good boy" when you get back in town.

Good Boy!

So Katie is really into talking to herself these days. As she plays, she often talks to her toys or about whatever is on her mind. Yesterday, I was washing dishes and paused to listen in. She was talking about her "Grandmommy" (Ashley's mom), and it went like this. "Grandmommy in Houton. Grandmommy, good boy!" When do they start to understand gender? Apparently not yet. Either way, Grandmommy is apparently deserving of the same praise we give to our dog, Tex, when he occasionally behaves himself. Good boy!

Making Time

I love to write, really I do. But I am just not making time for it these days. I have a thousand excuses... chasing a toddler, trying to keep up with the daily demands of life, spending time with my hubby and friends. All good reasons. I think that I actually waste a lot of time though. Life is short, and I need to prioritize. Andy keeps encouraging me to use my gifts; he is great that way. The last thing I want is to find that I have buried the very things that God has entrusted to me.

Blogging

Big B little b what begins with b? blogging ,baby, bubbles and a bumble bee...
Can you guess what we've been reading?

Yes, Ash and I are really delving into some esoteric literature recently. We've been studying the hibernal tendencies of ursus arctos (Bear Snores On) ,the umbilical stumps of African land mammals (Belly Button Book), and the nocturnal behavior of diminutive monkeys (Five Little Monkeys) With all this study of the animal kingdom that we are getting at bed time , we should be ready to host our own show on Animal Planet in no time. I can see it now: "Hi I'm Andy Cavanagh. Today on Kitty Cat Hunter I am going to hunt and capture the 10 most dangerous kittens in the world!" Yes I am truly a man without fear, friends.

Speaking of kittens, we seem to have adopted, or more accurately, been adopted by a stray and her kitten. This leads me to the inevitable question...How do you best cook cat? No seriously, Ashley is supposed to have named said kitty days ago but can't seem to come up with anything. Originally she said "Mooch" but that's just not very feminine sounding. Granted I am no feline gender-ologist, but given this cat has kitty utters and breast feeds her kitten I am going to assume it's a girl. So any name suggestions?

Back on the topic of reading, Ash and I are actually reading something not in board book form (although if it had come it board book form- I much prefer it that way- much better tasting in my opinion) Anyway, we are reading Blue Like Jazz. Incredibly funny, simple and profound. I haven't even finished it and it's in my top ten book list (I absolutely love making top # lists of different things- top 5 places I would love to visit, top 7 ice cream flavors, top 10 Polish wedding songs etc. )

Well this blog is getting long, so I will end it with a question to ponder...How should I end this?