Kendra's song

Kendra was making up one of her many songs about God last night. I happened to be sitting at the computer so I tried transcribing as she was singing in the other room. Here's how it went:

Jesus, He is the King of Kings.
He'll never make a lie.
He is the king of the whole world
[I missed a line. I was trying to type the first 3 without forgetting them.]
He even made all the flowers in the whole world.
He is the King of Kings!

This song was a lot shorter than most of them, but just as heartfelt and adorable as the rest.

Jealous

My husband is out on a date.
With this beauty.

I'm so incredibly jealous.

I just can't figure out of whom...

I love summer

Candy Land is on the dining room floor. Duplos are all over the living room floor. And the kids are all three busy locking themselves in handcuffs and "feetcuffs" made out of freebie bracelets.

I love summer!

I. Quit.

I just quit. Resigned. Retired. Gave up. I am no longer cooking. If the kids refuse to eat the meals I cook, then I am no longer cooking for them. They are now on their own. Evan and Kendra know how to read if they need to use a recipe, and Evan can read the fractions when Kendra gets stuck. Laura says she knows how to dump stuff in. Kendra will be the most careful with the stove. But I'm done.

Tonight for supper, Chad and I will be having leftovers of the super scrumptious shepherd's pie from lunch. The kids will be eating whatever they make.

They asked if they could have candy now. I told them I don't care because I'm not in charge anymore. They can have as much candy as they want. But if they throw up, they clean it up themselves. And if they get sick from the other end, they clean that up too.

Evan is currently very busy making quesadillas for him and Laura for lunch since I resigned during the middle of lunchtime.

Maybe it's more that I'm on strike than that I resigned. I told the kids that if they decided cooking wasn't so great, they can request my return, and I'll consider it. I might say no, but I'll consider it.

For now, I'm going to enjoy my freedom from cooking for the kids.

And I'm going to continue holding my laughter inside while Evan continues to set the microwave timer to heat his quesadilla instead of actually starting the microwave.

Update: Evan can't figure out why the quesadilla isn't turning out. He decided it must need more cheese. Then he reset the timer for the 4th time.

Cross-country vacation

The weekend before last, we went to a wedding in Sioux City. Afterwards, I asked Chad to take us for a drive. A multi-state drive. After bedtime. After the kids were more than ready to be in bed. After roads had already closed due to the Missouri River levels.

But he said yes.

So, to South Dakota we went. 

And back over into Iowa. 

Where we checked out the high water. 

Then headed to Nebraska. 

And finally back to Iowa so we could get the kids to bed. 

Good thing the whole road trip occured within the minutes from 7:07 to 7:27.

A sucky post

Long ago, I told Evan that if he heard a word that he thought was bad, he could ask Mommy or Daddy about it and we wouldn't get upset, no matter how bad the word. He just couldn't ask about it in front of the girls; he had to ask us alone. He took that conversation to heart, and it's been a great thing that's covered words from sometimes-bad words to all-the-time-bad words to Mommy-doesn't-prefer-that-word words to it's-not-necessarily-bad-but-there-are-more-polite-ways-of-saying-it words to no-that's-not-a-bad-word words. It's even led me to think more about why some people view words as bad and whether they're acceptable or not. However, it occasionally leads to conversations like this...

Evan: Mommy, what's it mean if you tell someone they suck?
Mommy: Umm...it's not a very good thing to say, but if you say something sucks, that means it's bad or lousy.
Evan: But what's it mean if you tell someone they suck?
Mommy: Well, if you tell someone they suck at drawing, then you're saying they're really lousy at drawing. And that wouldn't be nice, nor is it a very good usage of the word 'suck'. 'Suck' isn't a bad word all the time, but when it's used like that, it's not nice.
Evan: Oh. [Pondering.] Mommy, do you know what I think sucks?
Mommy: That's not a word you need to be using.
Evan: But do you know what I think sucks?
Mommy: No, I don't. But you don't need to be saying that.
Evan: But, do you know what I think sucks?
Mommy: [chuckling] No, I don't. What do you think sucks?
Evan: The devil. Because he's really lousy.
Mommy: Yes, yes he is. Do you know what I think sucks?
Evan: What?
Mommy: A vacuum. A vacuum sucks.
Evan: [laughing] Good one, Mommy!
Mommy: Now, you don't need to use that word anymore. Ok?
Evan: Ok.
Mommy: Thanks, Bub. I love you.
Evan: I love you too, Mommy.

Have I mentioned lately that I have the best son ever?