mollys tummy ache remedy

molly and i were laying on my bed cuddling earlier and she said
molly: "mommy, my tummy hurts."
shes been saying that a lot lately, and i selfishly didnt want her to get up, so i said
me: "maybe you should lay here and rest with me. laying down always helps my tummy feel better."
molly: "pooping helps my tummy feel better."
me: "oh. well, yeah, i guess that would do it, too."
molly: "and if its really really hurting i poop, then sleep. poop and sleep should do the trick."

so if you find yourself with a tummy ache in the future......need i say more?

making friends

first week of school!
molly started a 3-day-a-week mothers day out on wednesday at the academy at our church, and i started homeschool with colby that same day.
i love the curriculum i'm using and he's enjoying it, too, so i'm really excited about our year together!!
molly did great, too. her favorite things are playing on the playground and lunch. shes definitely allens daughter. :-)

i went saturday morning to the welcome brunch for the co-op i'll be taking colby to on fridays. he's taking three classes and i'll be helping out in a couple and teaching p.e. for the k-2nd graders. we start sept 10th.

last night when i was giving colby his bath i mentioned something about him making a lot of new friends when he starts co-op, and he said
colby: "i know how to make friends, now."
me: "you do? how?"
colby: "first, you ask them their name, which i forget to do sometimes. then, you ask them if they want to be your friend. if they say no, you just walk away, but if they say yes then you ask them if they want to play with you."
me: "what if they say yes they want to be your friend but they dont want to play with you."
colby: "well then, you ask them if they'd like to sit down and watch some t.v. with you."
me: "and what if they say no to that?"
colby: "hmm...maybe they dont want to be your friend after all."

i remember the days of running up to someone and asking "do you want to be my friend?" they usually said yes, but if i got the occasional no, i'd shrug and go try again with someone else. things were some much simpler then. i wonder what kind of reaction i'd get if i did that today. hahaha!!

a little bit of tattling

we've been dealing with tattle telling around here a lot lately. trying to explain when its necessary and when it needs to be worked out on their own. sometimes they'll come and tattle before even attempting to work it out themselves.
we've started to be able to tell when thats why the're coming to us. we can just hear it in the way they say, "moommmmyyy," or "daaadddy."

the other day colby and molly were playing in colby's room and allen and i were in the kitchen getting dinner cleaned up. colby comes in and says
colby: "daaaddddyyyyy,"
allen: "wait. are you tattling?"
colby: "no, i'm just telling you that mol...."
allen: "are you tattling?"
colby: "no."
allen: "are you sure?"
colby: "well....just a little tattling."
allen: "no, colby. you dont tattle just a little. you're either tattling or you're not. do you want just a little poison, or no poison?"
colby: "no poison. well......what kind of poison is it?"
allen: "whats the most poisonous kind?"
me: "arsenic!"
allen: "arsenic."
colby: "whats it look like?"
allen: "its clear."
sidenote: we dont know what the most poisonous kind of poison is, nor do we know what arsenic looks like.
colby: "like water! i'll have just a little."
allen: "no! you wont have just a little. it will kill you. its poison. and we dont want just a little tattling either."
and we've come full circle. i'm not sure how we got there, or that it made any sense, and we definitely got off on a rabbit trail, but i'm mildly confidant the point was made.
and thats the most we can hope for at this point in the game.

bedtime prayers

tonight i was putting the kids to bed, and they wanted to say prayers together.
we sat in a circle on the floor in colbys room and held hands.
i thanked God for the day and for my kids, that He would watch over us and give us good rest tonight. i also thanked Him for a great day of church and learning about Him and His Son. i specifically said
me: "thank you that we get to go to church, because there are so many people in the world that dont get to do that like we do."
when i got done praying i opened my eyes and colby was scrunching his face up at me. he looked angry or something, and i was expecting him to say something like "i dont like praying" or something that would result in me telling him to be thankful, etc, etc.
instead this is what happened
me: "colby, whats wrong?"
colby: "you didnt pray that you're sorry those people dont have churches. you just said thank you that we have one."
colby hasn't been wanting to pray lately, like out loud on his own, so i seized the opportunity and said
me: "well, then why dont you pray for that."
colby: "ok, lets hold hands again. dear God, thank you for the bugs and sea animals and i pray that no one would step on any bugs and squish them, even by accident. and i'm sorry for the people that dont have churches. amen."
me: "why dont you pray for them to have churches?"
colby: "what?"
me: "instead of just being sorry that they cant go to church, how about you pray that they can?"
colby: "oh, ok!....and i pray for the people that dont have churches to go to that you would send workers to build them churches. amen."
me: "amen. thank you colby, that was a very good prayer!"
molly: "i want to pray!"
me: "ok, go ahead."
molly: "dear God, i hope that no princesses get squished. i hope that the fairy godmother doesnt turn cinderella into another fairy godmother, because she needs to be cinderella. i hope that colby doesnt ride on any sea animals because that would be very dangerous. and i pray that no sharks would eat us. and i hope that we can have a sea animal cage filled with lots of fish and things, but not any jellyfish cause they sting. and keep us safe. and thank you for our church, and please give workers to the people that dont have churches so the workers can build them a church. amen."
me: "thank you molly! i love it when you pray!"

its not very often that my kids pray willingly. we're still trying to help them understand that you dont have to pray a certain way, you just say whats on your heart. they always want us to let them repeat after us, or they just dont want to pray out loud at all.
this was such a sweet time, and i always get a little laugh out of what molly comes up with.

goodnight!!