count your Blessings...

Dawson woke up this morning with a sore throat...which, this week, could only mean one thing...strep throat. David took him to the clinic to have a throat culture. It, of course, came back positive. Carter is already home healing from strep. I went to tell him about his brother and this is how the conversation went:

"Carter...Dawson has strep throat."

His eyes got wide with excitement & he smiled. "Just like me?!"

"Yes...just like you."

Still excited, "Can two kids with strep throat play together?"

Philippians 4:8

⁸Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Romans 8:28

²⁸And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Kid Funnies...

Things are starting to "ramp-up" at our house this week. The stress of the move is getting to everyone. The only thing that gets me through it are the times when I can laugh. There are a couple of really funny things that the kids have done this week that are worth sharing.

On Thursday morning, we picked up some bagels from Panera Bread. Carter was home from school, because he has been sick. We gave him a half of a chocolate chip bagel and then went into the kitchen to fix ours. He came around the corner, threw his hands dramatically up in the air and said, "Mommy & Daddy...when I die...I want you to bury me in these bagels."

Genevieve was dancing around the room today while David and I were talking. She hadn't gone to the bathroom in a while so I asked her, "Are you dancing because you have to go potty?" She replied back, "No. I'm dancing because I'm beautiful."

Motherhood...

Kids keep you so grounded and humble. I was getting out of the shower today; and, of course, my daughter was in there with me. (For those of you who are mothers, you know that it is completely impossible to take a shower without an audience of small people, either in the room or standing right outside the door, banging furiously. For those of you who aren't yet mothers, don't get weirded out, it's just comes with the territory.) I always try to be as modest as possible when a child is around, but they inevitably see more of me than I would like them too. Genevieve took one look at the broken veins on my legs...ironically the very ones that being pregnant with her produced...and said, "Mommy, why do your legs have cracks in them?"

I took a deep breath and did not pitch the fit I wanted to. Instead I told her they were veins that had gotten broken.

"What are veins?"

"Well...they are tubes or straws that carry blood around our body."

"That's gross!"

I assured her that they weren't gross and that she, in fact, was also in possession of these essential body parts. I patiently showed her the blue lines on her wrist and the tops of her feet. She smiled big and said, "cool".

Motherhood...where else can you be an unwilling exhibitionist, the focus of medical curiosity and a science teacher all in the span of 2 minutes while soaking wet and wrapped in a bath towel?

Here's to keeping it real!

Off with Your Head Day..."

We have started a new tradition in the Black family household. It all started with one of our favorite children's books: It Happened in Pinsk by Arthur Yorinks and Richard Egielski. The book is about a man, Irv Irving, that has a great life, but only sees what others have that he doesn't. So on the morning of March 19th, he wakes up to find that he has lost his head. His wife fashions him a new one out of a pillowcase stuffed with socks. He then tries to go about his day but is mistaken for 3 different people. Through this experience, he learns that his life isn't so bad after all and that he has everything he really needs and wants. He does eventually find his head and he "was not known to complain, hardly ever again."

We decided to celebrate March 19th as "Off with Your Head Day." It would be a day of fun, food and focusing not on what we don't have, but on what we do have and how great our life really is.

We started off by making our own "pillowcase" heads.

Then we ate a delicious dinner of roast and veggies...and for dessert, chocolate pie (see my last post for the recipe). At the dinner table we talked about being content and I asked the children to tell me 3 things that they liked about their lives.

Dawson:

1. family
2. friends
3. that he exists

Carter:

1. family
2. toys
3. helping Mommy cook

Genevieve:

1. doing art/coloring
2. eating breakfast
3. drinking milk

It was such a pleasant meal! No complaining or fighting...just spending time together focusing on what really matters. We ended the night with a family reading of It Happened in Pinsk, prayer and song. All in all...a great evening...and the start of a great tradition!