Do I KNOW you?

Prayertime is almost always interesting at our house. We give the kids the opportunity to pray/ thank Jesus for whoever they wish. Lately, Matthew Jr has been rattling off a list of objects: "My letters... um... my closet...um... my boots... kitten." To which I say, "Matt-Matt, let's pray for people." In the same singsong tone he corrects himself: "For peeeople..."

So last night, Sophia was prompting him who to pray for.
S: "For Daddy."
M: "For Daaaaddy."
S: "For Mommy."
M: "For Mommmma."
S: "For me."
M: "But I don't KNOW you!"
S: (stunned and shocked) YES you DO! I'm Sophia!
M: "No I don't."

I just know God is laughing too!

Feeding the Hungry Children

The Starving Child Himself

My children don't look malnourished. They get meals AND snacks AND dessert sometimes too. And yet, there is a near-constant whiney "I hungry Momma. I hungry" sound ringing in my ears. It starts (I'm not kidding) as soon as 5 minutes after a meal or snack and comes and goes in waves until we eat again.
Dear little Matthew MUST be growing. This is ridiculous!
Usually I wake up around 6:15 to the first sounds of stirring coming from the kids' room. But this morning, I must have been really tired because at 6:45 two sets of little hands were pounding the mattress in front of my face to wake me up. And guess what they wanted. "We're hungry Momma," whispered Sophia. "Matt-Matt and Me are hungry."

MIA

Yes. It had gone missing. My humor entirely deserted me for a stretch there, which makes for some long days and even longer weeks. That is why there have been no blog entries.

So, as I realized last night how long it had been since I blogged, I vowed to wake up in the morning with a more affable, laid-back disposition. It didn't take long to be tested.

This morning as I groggily checked the clock at 6:30am the usual giggles and squeaks were emanating from the kids' room. But by the time I was brushing my teeth, the noises had relocated to the kids' bathroom. And the water was running. Uh-oh.

I opened my bedroom door just in time to see two little urchins making a dash across the hall for the safety of their beds. I stonily inquired, "WHAT were you doing in the bathroom?" Sophia held up her baby doll and Matt-Matt followed suit (with her spare baby doll). "Momma, we were bapti-tising our babies."

I couldn't be mad. Sophia had apparently re-baptized herself in the process because her bangs were wet. Later in the day, while tidying up, I happened to notice a small play-kitchen pot in the sink from their psuedo-sacramental undertaking. And I smiled again.

Not to Brag or Anything...

Last night we had soup and green beans. Ice cream for dessert. We had to prompt Sophia every few minutes to keep eating so she could have her dessert. At one point she said, "Okay Momma, but can I have my green beans BEFORE I have dessert?"
I don't know how she got like this... but I'm okay with it!

He Said She Said

Matthew can't seem to get thru his head that Sophia is not his boss. Ditto for Sophia. They make each other cry several times a day telling the other that they can't do something.
Sophia: Matt-Matt. You CAN'T have dinner.
Matthew: WAAAAAA

We're getting ready to go somewhere:
Matt-Matt: NO. 'Fia. You stay HOME!
Sophia: Waaaa. Mooooommm. MattMatt says I have to stay here! Waaaahhh!

The kids had been down for the night for about an hour and suddenly Matthew starts wailing. I sprinted upstairs... because last time that happened, Sophia had been trying to climb into his crib and fell on top of him. Poor guy!
Well, I blasted into the room, "WHAT happened?!" Sophia said Um. Um. enough times for me to realize I wasn't going to get a straight answer out of her. So, I turned to Matthew who was still wimpering. "What happened Matt-Matt?"
"Fia said no birfday for ME."
Seriously? Yes. He was just upset because Sophia apparently said he couldn't have a birthday any more because he just had one.
God grant me patience.

Monster. It's What's for Dinner

Sophia's story she "read" to Matt Matt today.

"Once upon a time Kristin and her friend Sophia went to look for a monster. One came CRASH through the gate. Then one was in the closet. But they were not scared. Then they caught the monsters and cut off their heads, and their arms and their legs. And mommy cooked it for dinner. And Daddy ate it too. And MattMatt and Kristen and Sophia. "

Eeew.

The Big Storm

All day they had been predicting tornadoes. With no basement and pictures of Joplin all over the news, tornadoes were on my mind.
So around 8:00 when the trees and every animal went still and the sky turned yellow-green I started upstairs to wake the kids up. Matthew was out for the evening, so I felt I had to be really calm and give myself lots of time to get all three kids corralled. Grabbed some books, blankets, and the couch cushions and threw them in the bathroom. The kids were asleep and limp in my arms as I carried them downstairs. X was asleep and I parked him in his carseat.
Finally the four of us were huddled together in the 4ft by 4ft bathroom downstairs (that includes space for a toilet and sink!). The golfball sized hail started to hit the windows and I could hear the wind. I had turned the news on loud, so I could hear it in the bathroom.
The kids after realizing the couldn't lay down in the tiny room started getting crabby. I wisked out the the flashlight and the books. Matthew was so excited to be able to hold the flashlight that he just grinned and crowed with delight. I wedged the cushions over our heads to make a "tent" and I whispered to Sophia about our new secret clubhouse. Matthew was still thrilled to be holding the flashlight.
The newsman said that a tornado was at Love Field, a few miles away. Wait. He recanted. A spotter at Love Field saw a tornado. At the edge of Irving. Then, they looked the radar I guess because he said 'We have an area of rotation crossing Loop 12.' That's 1/4 mile away from us and we are about 3/4 mile from the edge of Irving.
The hail had stopped and I was so scared that I would hear the wind roar at any second. I asked Sophia to pray the Guardian Angel prayer with me. She did. Matthew was still excitedly flashing the light around our tent. Then the power went out. Then it was really quiet.
I felt like I was seeing my kids sweet faces for the first time. They were both so not scared, so trusting that we were just having a great time being cozy on the bathroom floor.
I knew I needed to trust God. Just as my kids were trusting me at that moment.
I asked Sophia to sing one of her songs from school. Her little voice started to treble... "Jesus we adore thee, we lay our lives before thee..."
Isn't it amazing how we are given exactly what we need in those scary moments.

---

The weather passed and we sustained hail damage on both the van and the car. Our neighbor's rear car window was broken. We found out later that a policeman was struck by lightning about 1/4 mile away (he's okay). There was rotation that never dropped.
I can't wait to move back to the midwest and have a basement.