Interesting Description

David working late + me working all day + no food in the house + freezing temp that I don't want to drag the kids to the grocery store in = TAKE OUT FOR DINNER!

I chose Applebee's carside to go. The roads were a bit slick so it took a little longer to get there and get home than planned. Plus Tate decided to throw the remote at Drue's head right before we got into the car so I had to pause to comfort/discipline which also made us later.

We got it home and I doled out all their little meals. The fries were cold, my chicken sandwich left a lot to be desired. Then Drue took a bite of her macaroni. Instant wailing ensued.

I probed her to further explain what was the matter with her noodle entree and between sobs she said, "My macaroni isn't soft and silky!". I looked down at her dry, clumpy dish and thought her description had been right on.

Signs, signs, everwhere are signs...

Ok, so it's a small thing. But it bugs me. Can't help it.

After David gets something out of a cabinet in the kitchen...HE LEAVES THE DOOR OPEN! So, many a time, I have walked into the kitchen while he's in there and MULTIPLE doors are wide open with all our junk and disorganization exposed.

Rather than nag or complain too much about it, I have just started saying sarcastically, "Well, Daddy's home!!" as I go about shutting all the doors, perhaps slamming a few in the process.

The kids (and I) are still getting used to David's crazy schedule and long hours. It's hard for them to keep track of which night he closes and won't be home to sing to them, which weekend days he works, etc.

Tonight on the way home Reese said out of the blue, "I hope the cabinet doors are open."

Of course, I was puzzled by this statement. Wasn't sure why she'd wish them to be open since she knows it drives me crazy...so I figured I had heard her wrong.

"You hope the cabinet doors are open?" I repeated for clarification.

"Yes", she confirmed, "Because that means Daddy's home!".

Seatbelts are overrated (NOT REALLY)

I really do not consider myself to be a mother who intentionally puts her children in harms' way. We are down to having just one kid who requires assistance with putting a seatbelt on. Obviously, that is Tate. He can undo his buckle once we reach our destination but isn't able to buckle it yet.

It feels funny telling the girls to "hop on in and buckle yourselves". Drue still has a hard time on occasion. When her booster isn't positioned exactly so...she can kind of go a little crazy when it takes a minute to finagle her buckle til it "clicks".

When Drue's booster is in the middle seat, she can't get it buckled at all. That's where it was tonight. So I reached over and buckled her, then went and got in the drivers seat and started the car.

Tate's little voice piped up, "NOT I BUCKLED! NOT I BUCKLED!". Yes, I had forgotten to buckle the little dear...and if that weren't bad enough...this is the SECOND time in the past few days that has occurred! (I really need to move Drue's booster back to the backseat).

Because my mind thinks that once I have buckled one child in, my job is done. And it's kind of humbling that my 2 year old needs to remind me to buckle him!

Another "cute" story

The other night Tate and I went to Target while the girls were at AWANA. I have been wanting to get some clothes with my Christmas money. I am not usually too successful at buying clothes with the kids around because I am the type of person who has to try everything on and corralling them all into a 3 foot by 3 foot dressing room usually results in me banging my head against the side of it repeatedly in frustration and not getting anything tried on.

I thought I could successfully try on 2 items with just Tate along, and with minimal head banging. I took him into the large wheelchair accessible one partly because it was large enough for him to run around in, and partly because it doesn't have an opening at the bottom that he could escape through while I try to run after him half clothed.

Poor little guy. He is so verbal now that sometimes I only half pay attention to what he is saying. I will insert the words "ohhhhh" and "uh huh" appropriately and agree with something he's just said, "Yes you are a fast Superman", etc.

But when he really wants to get his point across he will calmly repeat the same phrase over and over and over....

Tate has already associated Target with where David works. So everytime we go to one he asks for David repeatedly. While we were in the dressing room he kept asking, "Daddy go?". "He's at work", I kept saying. "Daddy work?". "Yes, Tate". After I tried on a sweater and turned a few times in the mirror...I could hear that he had moved on to a different subject matter. "Mommaubooful....mommaubooful". I stopped and looked at him and said, "What did you say?".

He looked up at me and said more clearly, "Momma u beau'ful".

Of course my heart melted all over the dressing room floor...and then I watched him walk right up close to the mirror and say, "Tate cute!".

Gifts from God

The girls' devotion tonight was about how God made a special plan for their life even before they were born. It also talked about how God has given each of us a special gift. There are always questions to discuss also, so tonight I read, "What special gift has God given you?".

Reese's hand shot right up. I wasn't sure how much she understood about God's gifts so I half expected her to say her "webkin".

But she simply said, "God gave me a special gift of being sweet."

Awwwww....couldn't you just eat her?

Drue was next. I worry that she doesn't think for herself at times because she usually will just say whatever Reese said.

But she very sweetly, and very confidently said, "God gave me a special gift of being cute...".