John at church

John has started attending church services with us. At our church children age four and under can attend children's playtime during service, which Amelia did until she turned five. Amelia seemed to enjoy the playtime and I enjoyed having an hour uninterrupted to focus on the service.

However, John has expressed interest in attending "big church" with us so I try to take him when I am up for the challenge. John is actually pretty good at being quiet when he has to and his favorite activity is children's time. Just before the sermon, kids are invited up for a short lesson with the children's minister. I can tell that John thinks it is fun to talk to the front of the sanctuary with his sister.

Today John was very vocal in answering Pastor Rachel's questions about the story. So vocal in fact that two different church members came up to us after service to comment on "how funny" and "so outgoing" John was during children's time. John made comments that made the entire congregation laugh, and I tried not to feel embarrased since he clearly was engaged and was just being honest with his thoughts. But of all the kids up there today, John was the only one who spoke aloud on his own while Pastor Rachel was talking with them.

The theme of the lesson was that today is the fourth Sunday of Easter, and that even though we celebrated Jesus rising from the dead four Sundays ago with traditional Easter activities we still celebrate for 50 days after that Sunday. She explained this, and then said that each year we will celebrate Easter for that long to remind us about how much Jesus loves us.

Pastor Rachel: "So next year when it comes time to remember Easter, to remember the story about Jesus on the cross and then rising from the dead, we will do that and then celebrate his rising for 50 days afterwards. Even though we have easter eggs and chocolate bunnies and all the fun things you enjoy with your family on Easter Sunday, we always want to remember how much Jesus loves us."

John (raising his hand): "Pastor Rachel, can I ask you something? Did you know that my dad threw out all of our Easter eggs? I was so angry with him. Can you believe that?"

Pastor Rachel laughed (so did the rest of the congregation) and then got the children to refocus on the idea of why those who believe in Jesus are called Christians. She said that it's because we are always trying to act in the ways Jesus would want us to, and that we are called Christians because we are all continuing to learn about Jesus. Pastor Rachel said that just as children learn stories about Jesus in Sunday School, moms and dads and other adults are always learning about God too and how important he is to us.

Pastor Rachel:" Even the oldest people you know, even me and the other pastors in this church, everybody, is always learning new things about God and what it means to have God in your life."

John (not even raising his hand this time): "Even astronauts? Are they learning about Jesus all the time too?"

Pastor Rachel: "Yes, John, even astronauts".

I don't know where the astronaut comment came from, but John's reference to his dad throwing out the eggs was because we used to keep spare eggs in the garage and every now and then during non-Easter season the kids would hide them for each other in the backyard as a game. Scott must have gotten tired of seeing them on the shelf so they were thrown out the last time he cleaned the garage. The children found out that they were gone and were upset.

Anyway, I don't know that my translation of John's comments came across well here, but he definitely stole the show during children's time and the fact that people came up to comment on it afterwards makes me wonder if we are in for repeated performances on Sundays to come.

After church it was time to burn off some energy (for the kids at least) so we went to the park. Our weather has been absolutely spring-perfect gorgeous all weekend long that it would be sinful to stay indoors. I ran the kids ragged this weekend visiting various parks, playing in the backyard, and riding bikes and scooters around the block. Below is a shot of John chasing random kids on the playground, of course looking quite athletic in his "exercise clothes" and his beloved Crocs.

Amelia loves the monkey bars! This was a new park for us, one where Amelia had never mastered the monkey bars before. Instead of traditional bars placed in a row there were discs placed on an angle, so that they spun once weight was placed on them. Amelia was quite strategic in trying to figure out how to use the spinning to get her connected to the next disc, and thus travel across the playground.

Carnival

Amelia's elementary school had their annual spring carnival this weekend. I feel like I have enjoyed the carnival more in previous years, because now that the kids are older and are more prone to wander off on their own I am less interested in the messiness and chaos of the event, trailing around after them while they indecisively select where to go next. However, the children had a good time and it feels good to support Amelia's school. I look forward to the day when I can let them wander around solo with friends while I lounge in the shade talking with other parents. Still a bit too chaotic for me to do that now.

One of John's favorite things was the spray-painted hair tent. John selected green and was so proud of himself! And what was even better was that I didn't make him take a bath Saturday night so there was a bit of green left in his hair for church on Sunday morning. You could barely notice it but John thought that was hilarious. This was a gross mistake on my part - who lets their kids wander all over a dirty carnival with colored hair spray and then not take a bath that evening? - but we got past it.

Both of the kids got their faces painted. Amelia selected a blue butterfly with sprakles and John selected a lightning bolt.

The only game where I was able to snap decent shots of the children was the surfing game. Despite watching several children in line ahead of him, John acted like he didn't know what to do when it was his turn. After this he mainly stuck to the games he could identify most with - bowling, throwing a ball towards a target, etc.

Amelia on the other hand knew what to do with the surfing and I think she enjoyed herself a=for a minute before getting bounced off.

John the thief

John was a manipulative little thief today. Just being honest. As much as I love my spunky kid, the boy with a bit too much personality sometimes, I have to admit that he was both a thief and a liar today.

Here's the story. Scott left some money on the kitchen counter this morning as we were all downstairs getting ready for the day. The money was for our cleaning ladies as they were coming to our house today. Scott left the house first with the children as it was his day for drop-off and I went upstairs to shower as I had just returned home from the gym.

When I went downstairs to get coffee and make final plans for the day, I realized that the money was not on the counter. I looked all over for it, including on the floor, random places like the junk drawer, and finally gave up and called Scott to ask him if he had removed it from the counter. I was going nuts looking for something valuable that had just been there 20 minutes before. Of course Scott didn't know where the money was - he was still in the car driving to work after having just dropped off Amelia and John after all - so I panicked and ran out to the ATM to get replacement cash. I figured out that the original money would turn up eventually, and rather than be super late for work I decided to replace the bills.

After I returned home from the bank I noticed that Scott had sent me a text message. It read, "Check John's money bank. I suspect he took it." I thought to myself, no way, John's not old enough to want to take money yet. But I went to his money bank anyway and sure enough, tucked in with a few ones and loose change was our cleaning money. Sitting there plain as day. Even though I was relieved that I had found it, I'm sure my mouth fell open in shock. Scott later told me that he was suspicious it was John because this past Sunday at church after Scott had given John a dollar to drop in the collection plate, John had refused to put it in the basket, declaring that he wanted to keep the money for himself. I have never seen John act this way personally but now I can believe it.

So here's how the confrontation played out on the car tonight after I picked up John from school.

Me: "John, I want to ask you about something. Daddy left some money on the kitchen counter this morning. The money was for the ladies who come to clean our house. The money was missing this morning before I left for work and I am wondering if you know where the money is."

John: "I have no idea where the money is."

Me (staying calm, though completely amazed that the little stinker lied outright to me): "John, I am not mad at you. I just want to know if you saw the money or if you can tell me where it is. I am not angry. It's just that that money didn't belong to us - it belonged to the ladies who work hard at our house - and now it is missing and I cannot pay them for their work."

John: "Mom, I do not know where the money is."

I gave him one last try, all the while looking frantically in the rearview mirror trying to see his expression. And then Amelia piped in declaring something along the lines of "I saw John with the money and I told him to put it back but he didn't listen to me." Amelia's statement finally got him to admit his guilt.

Me: "John, when I couldn't find the money I went looking for it. And one place I thought to look was yoyur money bank. When I opened your money bank, the cleaning money was inside, so would you like to tell me how our money got inside your bank?"

John (big sigh): "Mom, I'm sorry, but I took the money."

We discussed the matter for awhile longer because I wanted the message to be that we don't take things that do not belong to us. Plus we don't lie in the first place when asked about something, but I am not sure that part came through very clearly. When I finally got a good look in the rearview mirror, that little stinker was smiling broadly while at the same time sounding passive and declaring, "But mommy, I am so sorry."

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! We had a great day today!

If I can say so myself, the photo below is a sweet shot. I took this photo today after Amelia and John were finished with their Easter egg hunt in the backyard just as they were headed inside to unveil the loot. Of course John did not want to cooperate with me at all. He was sticking his toungue out and making funny faces, until I told (bribed) him that he would not be able to open a single egg until he took a nice-looking photo for my photo books. Amazing what a little incentive (bribe) will do! And doesn't John look just fabulous wearing his first tie? Love it!

Amelia and John were very interested in hunting eggs today! We went to the early church service and stayed for the family service followed by a short Easter egg hunt. Then Amelia and John were ready for the real thing! As is tradition now, the Easter bunny comes to our house while we are at church. In reality what happens is that Scott drops me off at home for 15 minutes after church while he takes the kids somewhere and then they all return home, and "Poof!", the Easter bunny has come! Amazing how that works! Plus mom gets a pot of coffee brewing, which is a nice bonus. Then, the HUNT!

Amelia looks so happy with her eggs, it's a shame the girl doesn't have any teeth to enjoy the treats inside. More on that later.

Later in the afternoon after the sugar rush had subsided some, we dyed eggs for Easter. I tried to buy the pre-made dye kits at three different stores yesterday but they were all sold out, so we made our own coloring with liquid food coloring, vinegar and water. I actually think these were easier and produced more colorful eggs than the PAAS kits can make.

Below John is not dipping his crayon in the color, he is going to use it to write words on the eggs that will stay after they are dipped in the colored water. What he started to write, but eventually had me do it for him, was "Style Dog!" on his eggs. That is what Scott calls John when he is wearing his much-beloved exercise clothes.

The Easter bunny brought Amelia and John some new shirts. Amelia got a spirit shirt for her school (Peace, Love, UP!), and John got a new Under Armour (a.k.a. "style dog!") exercise shirt. I was pleased to see that they both loved them.

And while I had my camera out, John wanted to do tricks for the camera. Lovely.

Last but not least, our toothless and back-woods-looking beautiful daughter. Amelia lost her third tooth in as many weeks last night and since none of the adult teeth have grown in yet, she is starting to look like a project in malnutrition. Scott calls her the "prettiest jack-o-lantern on the planet!". I think I have to agree.

Amelia doesn't mind a bit. So long as the tooth fairy continues to bring her $$ for each tooth (going rate is $5 per tooth!), she is a happy girl!