Conversations of late

I am not sure if I have mentioned it on my blog, but I absolutely LOVE the stage of life my kids are in right now. When the hormones aren't completely raging (yes, they do start before the teenage years hit!) we get to have some really, really cool conversations. Here's some summaries from the discussions of late:

• I fixed a Korean rice bowl for supper on night this week. It was really delicious and would have been even better with steak. Anyway, the starter question by one of the kids was do they really eat this in Korea which led to a long, massive discussions which include war (we spanned several wars including Vietnam, Korean & WWII), the reason to go to war and what communism is all about.
• Music....I cannot even begin to count the number of discussions I have had with especially the girls lately about music. Between their age, the newly acquired iPods and American Idol, we've had plenty of conversation starters. It reminds me of a class in which Joe teaches concerning the culture (the arts, music, philosophy) and its impact on Christianity over the years. Can't wait for the kids to get to take that class.
• John evidently knows what suppositories are. Ahh, the education that comes from classmates. That was a very short conversation.
• Dating...One of my girls asked me how old I was when I went out of my first date. Then she informed me that her classmates were "dating" and how she didn't get it since they can't go anywhere. Smart girl!
• Spiders and male responsibilities...I'm not sure if your house is like mine this spring, but mine seems full of spiders. And my brave Nathan has decided that the one animal variety that he does NOT like is bugs or spiders. So after two occasions this week in which he came to me concerning the spiders in his room, I decided it was time for us to have a mom to son chat. I explained to him that he was a boy and part of his job was to take care of spiders for his mom, sisters, and one day his wife. His prompt response, in a very matter of fact tone, was that he was not going to get married. And, in that moment, I believed him. I could totally see him moving to Texas, finding a ranch in the middle of the nowhere (there's a. lot. of nowhere in Texas..I've seen parts of it in west Texas), and hanging out with all the animals he can find. I don't think it was out of a response of not wanting to kill the spiders either, because 5 minutes later I heard him in his sisters' rooms killing their spiders for them. My sweet Nathan has always been an animal lover almost to a fault. When he heard the story of Noah's ark he literally wept...not for the people that died but for all the animals that didn't get to go on the ark. And there are many days that we question which he loves more...animals or us?
  

Status updates

I have been taking a break from Facebook recently. Well, I've been checking in occasionally in the evenings, but for the most part I've been good. I thought I would share some of my status updates that I haven't posted lately....

• A child up with a nightmare at 3:15am and staying awake until 6am which happens to be the time I need to take my shower makes for a very. tired. momma.
• Joe had to hide the oatmeal cookies I made yesterday because if I know where they are the likelihood that there will be any left at the end of the day is very small.
• My girls have grown at least 1/2 inch in the last 3 months. We measured them this morning.
• I LOVED working in the flower beds at church and home on Saturday. However, I was so stiff the next day I wasn't sure I was going to be able to get out of bed.
• Babies make me smile.
• Kindergarteners can be amazingly mean at times.
• I think I will count how many times I say "no" today because that is just what you tend to do when you are hanging out with a 2 year old, 3 year old and 19 month old all day. I'll count my "good job"s as well and see if they balance out.
• We are thinking of sending the girls to camp next summer. I have gotten so excited just reading the websites!!!
• Loved Colton Dixon on American Idol last night!