When a Toddler Says the Blessing

Tonight, Rowdy Rebel looked sooo cute as he said the blessing. His eyes were closed, he grinned the entire time, and instead of putting his hands together, his arms were spread out like he was ready to give the world a big hug…or a big speech. Here was his blessing: “God, thank you for my […]

First Grader’s Questions on God and the Sun

I love Deep Thinker’s questions about God. They are never ending. We are going to church finally, so hopefully he’ll start getting some answers. It’s so sweet that he keeps asking me new questions, despite that I am almost never able to answer any of the ones he’s asked so far…Here are some examples: 1) […]

Words of Wisdom in Times of Frustration

Rowdy Rebel was sooo irritable yesterday. I think it’s due to having potty training accidents. Poor thing. Poor me and Deep Thinker too…Anyway, we had a hard day. So, at one point Rowdy Rebel was having a fit. At this moment, Deep Thinker asked me if he could sweep the living room. (Note that Rowdy […]

God and Santa and Powers

Today in church the message was that we need to let God shine and work through us, since he uses our hands and bodies to change the world and do good things. On the way home, I was explaining this to my six-year old. Nodding is head, he asked, “Oh, is that why God gave […]

Rowdy Rebel Will Help When Baby Arrives (Hm)

We think we’re ready to have a third child. I had the sweetest conversation with my three-year old. First, I asked him if he’d like to have a baby brother or sister. He said he’d like to have a baby brother. He added, “I don’t want to be the baby. I want to be big […]

How to Make Paint

We were driving home today and Deep Thinker asked how to make paint. I said, “I wish I knew! But you asked the wrong girl…I’m just not sure how to make paint.” He responded, “Oh, no, I think I asked the right girl. You used to be a teacher didn’t you?” Of course, ALL teachers […]

Six-Year Old’s Thoughts on Nude Paintings

We visited the Getty Museum last weekend. My six-year old, “Deep Thinker,” had lots of questions about the paintings we were looking at. I didn’t even really stop to think that there might be nude paintings or that they might surprise him. Anyway, we were walking through the room with the still lifes and portraits. […]

Son Learns about Still Life Paintings

Today we went with friends to the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. It’s really nice–a modern, spacious building surrounded by beautiful gardens. It has several pavillions with exhibits. In one of them, we saw paintings by Rembrandt, Millet, Degas, and many others. So, I was admiring this still life painted by Chardin in the late […]

Not Ready to Be a Dad

This year in kindergarten, Deep Thinker learned about symbols of the United States, inclulding the bald eagle. He became somewhat obssessed with the bald eagle, so we had to do lots of internet research on them. We learned that newly hatched bald eagles attach to the first moving thing they see as their mother, even […]

Rowdy Rebel Not Listen

When we moved back to Southern California, Rowdy Rebel’s nap and sleep schedule got out of sinc (AGAIN). So, I started laying down with him to get him asleep to avoid the screaming. The other day, he kept saying over and over, “MOMMY, I don’t WANT to sweep (sleep)! I don’t want to!” I was […]