Good Friday

Good Friday is a time that many Christians will purposefully spend time reflecting on what Christ has done for us on the cross. Some will watch The Passion of Christ; others will attend Passion plays at their church or participate in one. Still others may have ritualistic type things they do in the quiet of their home to reflect and remember what Jesus sacrificially did for us on the cross nearly 2,000 years ago. We have laser treatment appointments!

For the last two if not three years, Judah has had a laser treatment scheduled for Good Friday. If I didn't believe in the Sovereign Hand of God working all things together for my good, I would feel like I and my family are the target of a cosmic joke. And, while my faith certainly does waver, I do, nevertheless believe and by God's grace, stand firm in the truth that even this small detail is not coincidental.

I guess in a way, it's become our family's way of commemorating Good Friday (or God's way of having our family remember it). I do not schedule this way on purpose, by the way; it just happens. Crazy, isn't it?!

The timing actually provides quite an amazing opportunity to grow in appreciation for what my God, the Father, did on that first "Good Friday". He willingly SENT His Son to die on a cross to receive His wrath in order to pay for my sins. Isaiah 53:10 says it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer. I consider that when I willingly subject my son to pain and suffering during his laser treatment, and for really noone else's good but his own. I consider that and am led to worship the God, my God, who is so different than me...so incomprehensibly loving.

Then, I consider the Holy Son of God, Jesus, who on that first Good Friday, willingly WENT to the cross to suffer and die, to know abandonment by His Father and to take the full cup of God's wrath that my sin deserves. And, I consider how He did this: Isaiah says, He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. And, then there is Judah who screams bloody murder to take on relatively mild suffering again for noone else's benefit but his own. And, again, I stand amazed by how different Christ is from us and what a glorious, amazing thing it is that Jesus died on the cross for my sins.

I will likely be tempted tomorrow to feel sorry for myself at some point or to think Judah and our family got a raw deal. But, the truth is Jesus is the only One who ever got the raw deal. He was perfectly righteous, had never sinned, had never known anything but perfect fellowship with His Father. But, as Philippians says, Christ Jesus...made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!

Thank you, Jesus, for humbling yourself by dying on the cross for my sin. Thank you for choosing to carry through with your Father's plan to redeem my life from the pit, even though it meant that You'd endure the most horrific pain and injustice known to mankind. In light of that, help me to have a grateful heart tomorrow when I drop off my kids one more time at a babysitter's and travel down I-95 one more time to see Dr. Cohen and nurse, George. Help me to communicate to my sons in a way they can understand that even in the midst of our circumstances, You have been and are being kind to us by not giving us what we deserve. Help us to carry the light that you have graciously shown into our dark hearts into Hopkins tomorrow, into that laser room that we typically dread. Help us to see that place as the platform You've given to us to shine Your light and radiate Your truth.

A New Business for Me...

Hi Friends!

I'm writing to let you know that I am starting up my own business through The Pampered Chef!
From one of the first Pampered Chef shows I attended at Lydia England's house, I thought that this would be something I'd like to do someday.

I was immediately impressed with the practical nature and quality of Pampered Chef products, and I loved the concept of "shopping" while in the comfort of someone's home, enjoying good friends and good food that I didn't have to prepare myself! :)

If you are unfamiliar with Pampered Chef, you can check out their website to view all their products here: http://www.pamperedchef.com/.
Even if you are familiar with Pampered Chef, you might enjoy seeing some of their newer products at the website. So, check it out!

If anyone is interested in hosting a show or learning more about The Pampered Chef business, I would love to serve you. For anyone who books a show with me in the first 30 days of my business will receive a free gift of your choice:
Lemon & Rosemary Hand Soap http://www.pamperedchef.com/our_products/catalog/product.jsp?productId=7923&categoryCode=KW OR
a Cranberry Hot Pad/Trivet http://www.pamperedchef.com/our_products/catalog/product.jsp?productId=16606&categoryCode=KW
That would mean booking a show with me before April 17th.

If you aren't interested in hosting a cooking show in your home, but still would like to take advantage of all the host benefits that come along with hosting a Pampered Chef show along with the free gift I'm offering, you can opt to do a catalog show whereby you simply hand out catalogs and collect orders from friends and family who are interested. (This would be a great way for some of my long-distance friends and family to be a part of the action!)

Feel free to give others my name and contact information. Keep this in mind especially for brides-to-be or newlyweds. The Pampered Chef even hosts wedding showers which is a great way to introduce someone to The Pampered Chef and stock their cabinets with quality cookware/kitchenware from the get-go.

Hope to hear from you soon!

Found a Penny

Found a penny,
Found a penny,
Found a penny just now
Just now, we found the penny
Found the penny just now

We're so happy
We're so happy
We're so happy just now
Just now, we're so happy
to not have to look through poop again!

This Week's Update

Sorry to keep ya'll hanging. (Yeah, I'm sure you lost sleep over it!) ;)

NO Penny yet.
I have to say hands down that searching through poop has been the worst parental duty yet for me.
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Judah did amazingly at his EUA on Monday. Truly, it was probably the best one yet. What makes something like this "the best one yet"? Judah didn't cry too much throughout the process of getting him into his OR clothes, waiting for the procedure, talking w/ the anesthesiologists and receiving all the pre-op check over's. The outcome of the evaluation was positive, and wake up from anesthesia was the quickest and smoothest yet with no vomiting and really little disorientation if any. We were wheeled out of recovery and down to post-op. in record time.

It always helps to have our dear friend, De, with us. She makes any chore not seem so chore-like. She brought along her digital camera and took pictures of each step of the process for Judah to share with his brother and others who don't get to go along. I thought that was super sweet and thoughtful of her. And, I'm thinking about trying to put it into a booklet of some sort to send to the Sturge-Weber Foundation for them to possibly publish and make available to parents to share with their son or daughter to help prepare them for what is a very common experience for SWS kids, that being trips to the OR and/or being put under anesthesia for evaluation.

De may go along with us to a laser treatment and try to do the same thing as that is also a very common experience for SWS kids. Perhaps having a little booklet of pictures of a real person going through the procedure may help some children not anticipate it with such fear. I personally think my little guy is the perfect model, and he's getting to the place where, even though he doesn't prefer to go through what he does, he'll actually smile throughout the ordeal if asked.

In fact, when I took Judah into the OR this time, I thought I would formally introduce him to the doctor. Typically, he doesn't see this doctor because he's 'out' by the time the doctor sees him. And, since Judah asked on our way down to Hopkins this time what doctor he was going to see, I thought I would make a point of actually introducing him to Dr. Jampel. As soon as we step foot into the OR, Judah starts to cry (always....he knows what's going on at this point). But I introduced him to Dr. Jampel and asked if he could shake his hand. Through tears, Judah stuck out his hand to politely greet his doctor. What grace! I love my little, brave, amazing boy.

So, thank you for your prayers. We always need them and always feel them throughout these ordeals that are just "normal life" for us. Just because it's normal, though, doesn't mean it's easy by any means. And, we certainly appreciate your ongoing support to us through your prayers. Thank you so much. I don't know how we'd live our life apart from knowing God and having the support of His people.
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I'll end on a 'funny'...
I try to take the kids to the library on Friday's for a half hour story time. The boys resist participating with some of the finger plays and other interactive parts of story time. So, for a while I've been trying to encourage them before hand to be ready to participate with the librarian and other children. Today, Judah beat me to the punch with instruction. As we were getting ready to walk out the door, Judah said, "Mom, do you want us to "recitipate" today at story time? ;)

EUA on Monday

Judah will have an EUA (evaluation under anesthesia) Monday morning to check his eyes. These are regular checks, and the past couple have gone well...meaning, no surgery needed. We don't want to take that for granted, however, and ask that you would please pray that the evaluation would show Judah's eyes to be in good condition. Thanks.

And, please additionally pray for our other two, Tucker and Bella, who will be left with our caregroup leader's wife, Kathleen, an example in service as she has 5 of her own, 2 of which she homeschools during the day! Tucker has not been doing well being left with others lately. I will have to wake them up rather early to have them over to Kathleen's by 6 a.m. Please pray that will go better than I'm anticipating it to, especially for Kathleen's sake.

Thanks!

Missing Penny

There's a penny missing in our home.
It's in my son's stomach!!
Yes, one of my 3.5 yr. old sons swallowed a penny today!
Nevermind he's been told the story about his grandfather who swallowed a quarter and had to have it surgically removed. Nevermind the countless times I've instructed them that we only put food and drink into our mouths.
Thankfully, it seemed to have gone down his throat without being lodged there for too long. It did give him a scare (me, too!), but it was quickly down the hatch and into his stomach.
I immediately called our pediatrician who informed me that he should be alright and that I get the pleasant duty of poopie inspection for the next 24-48 hours. Lovely! I'm noticing a poop theme lately in my life.

We were told that he shouldn't have trouble or pain passing it, but to call if he starts to complain of any stomach pain. Please pray (and I can hardly believe I'm asking you to pray this, but if you're a mom, you'll understand)...that my son will pass this penny safely and quickly and never swallow any coinage again!

A Must Read...

We are on our way to recovery, slow but sure. I've been able to care for my kids this week, keep some standing appointments and even make two trips to the "Y". It'll be really exciting if we actually make it to church this Sunday (would be the first in a month). Thanks for your prayers.

I am a regular reader of the Girltalk blog, written by Carolyn Mahaney and her three girls. It is a worthwhile read anytime, but I've been particularly encouraged and benefitting from their most recent series which they are entitling, "PMS Prep". I think it's been choc-full of practical, God glorifying wisdom for us women who oftimes are not only in a battle with our sinful hearts but our raging hormones as well. I would highly recommend reading through the past two weeks of their posts. They are short posts, so I don't think it'll take you too long. They are under the category, "PMS Prep" in the left sidebar, or you can simply scroll down to the post, dated for Feb. 12th and begin reading from there. Here's the link:
http://girltalk.blogs.com/girltalk/

Happy weekend reading!!

Another One Bites the Dust...

...that would be me, down for the count...hopefully a short count. Woke up this morning achy and with head cold symptoms, some chills, no fever thankfully. My in laws were kind enough to come over and watch the kids while Lawrence was at work, and my hubby has assumed my duties since he's been home this evening. I figure I've got tomorrow to rest up and then I'm back "on duty". Would appreciate your prayers for a quick recovery from whatever is knocking me out.

A Day in the Life....

Just to keep things interesting here (because you know I get bored here sometimes! HA!)...Judah had a random poopie accident in his pants. ??? Lovely...guess it had been too long since I had cleaned one of those up (uh..yesterday, Bella had an explosion that went undetected until I yanked off her pants and poop went flying everywhere. Wish I was exagerating).

The "Why" Behind Almengor Birthday Parties

As is indicative of Lawrence and my personality and not some moral mandate, nearly everything we do has been thought out, analyzed and has some more significant purpose than just "that's what we wanted to do." Birthday parties for our kids are no exception. This way of living life is not something I necessarily prescribe; it can be quite exhausting. Nevertheless, it's our way of life here in the Almengor home. So, I thought I would give a bit of explanation behind the seemingly "over the top" birthday party for my daughter recently.

When our 3.5 yr. old twin boys were about to turn one, the discussion of what to do about birthdays in our family arose. We had a tumultuous first year with our babies with many and varied health issues between my sons and myself. We relied on the support of many, many people to get through that first year with our boys. When their first birthday was approaching, it was a "no brainer" to me that we were going to have a big bash and invite many who significantly helped us through that first year. For me especially, it was no doubt a celebration not only of their lives, but also and primarily a celebration of God's amazing and sustaining grace to our family. In my mind, it was nothing short of a miracle that we all survived that first year. So, we celebrated in what I thought was a big way for 1 year olds.

Well, then the boys 2nd birthday was upon us and we needed to decide what our "M.O." was going to be in regards to how we did kids' birthdays in our family. I grew up only celebrating with immediate, sometimes extended family members for birthdays unless it was a 'special' birthday, like 10, 13 or 16. Those special birthdays we could invite friends as well. This is very much what I had in mind for our own kids. I was also influenced by a dear, older and wiser friend of mine, Sandy Browne, who had 6 children and a very specific plan for how to celebrate their birthdays. She expressly didn't want to have big birthday parties for a practical reason; she didn't want inundated with gifts. With 6 kids growing up at the time in a townhome, this was a very practical move on her part.

As one who avoids clutter to an extreme at times, I certainly appreciated Sandy's thinking and wanted to do likewise. However, my husband had something else in mind (as is so typical of our relationship). And, since he's the head of our home, he won! :) He wanted a birthday party every year for our kids with all their friends and family surrounding them, celebrating with them. The compromise was that I would expressly ask people not to bring gifts.

What might seem "over the top" to some regarding our kids' parties really has purpose behind it. One reason is that for whatever reason, parties is probably the one area of life where my creativity shines. I don't generally consider myself creative in the broad sense, but for whatever reason, my creativity emerges for party planning. I always pray about a theme, and once God gives me a theme, He often supplies a plethora of ideas to go with it. (The internet and the input of other creative friends helps significantly, too...I certainly am not going to take all the credit or even most!)

Another reason our parties might appear "over the top" is because Lawrence and I really want to bless our friends who have blessed us beyond measure or the ability to ever repay. Going to some length to make it enjoyable and a memory for their entire family is a part of our way to say, "thanks and we love you for loving us like you do". Here again, we have been influenced by some dear friends who we see go to great lengths when they extend hospitality, the Neumanns and Placks to be specific. There are others, but these two couples especially make people feel loved and cared for and special by the way they lavishly extend hospitality. We may not be able to do quite what they do with some of our financial limitations, but we do what we can and always with the aim of communicating to our friends, "you're worth the trouble".

Finally, we want our kids to know how much we love them and how much trouble we're willing to go to in order to create fun, memorable birthdays for them. We certainly cannot go to such trouble everyday, but we feel their birthdays are a great occasion to show them how much they're valued in very tangible ways.

Again, we certainly don't view the way we do our kids' birthdays as the only way to do them. Every year, I wrestle with whether or not I should go to such length. I am no different from most and struggle with mixed motives to impress rather than simply bless our friends. I struggle to show love and care to my kids in the days/weeks leading up the party as I seek to prepare for it. And, every year I evaluate with my husband whether I've grown in handling the stress of it all, and whether we should continue to do things the way "we've always done them". After this first birthday party for Bella, I think we're in agreement that we will not do this next year for her. Instead, we are going to celebrate all the kids' birthdays in the summer when my husband's work schedule is a bit more flexible and the weather allows for outside parties. :)

We are not trying to "keep up with the Jones's" (pardon the pun, Danielle...I could never keep up with you anyway!). We are simply seeking to express our love and care for our kids and our friends and demonstrate how grand our appreciation is to God who ultimately gave us the gift of children and sustains them from year to year. We see that alone as something worth celebrating!

Pictures of Bella's First Birthday Party

To peak your interest in checking out the entire album, here are just a few shots from Bella's party:



The theme: celebrating our winter "ONE"der baby!


Everyone singing "Happy Birthday" to Bella!


Bella eating her birthday cookie, lovingly made by her Tia Kate.


To see the entire album, check this out: http://picasaweb.google.com/lnalmengor/BellaSFirstBirthdayParty

Definition of Boys:

I saw this definition of boys from a wall stenciling company and loved it.

Boys: Noise with dirt on it.
Here's the visual (and what we were busy doing today!)

Does my Tucker look like a bruiser in this picture of what?

Job Offer...

My hubby emailed this to me today from work. I thought I'd post it here for your amusement and encouragement today:

POSITION:Wanted
Mom, Mommy, Mama, Ma, Mami, Dad, Daddy, Dada, Pa, Pop, Papi

JOB DESCRIPTION :Long term, team players needed, for challenging permanent work in an, often chaotic environment. Candidates must possess excellent communication and organizational skills and be willing to work variable hours, which will include evenings and weekends and frequent 24 hour shifts on call. Some overnight travel required, including trips to primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in far away cities! Travel expenses not reimbursed. Extensive courier duties also required.

RESPONSIBILITIES :The rest of your life. Must be willing to be hated, at least temporarily,until someone needs $5. Must be willing to bite tongue repeatedly. Also, must possess the physical stamina of a pack mule and be able to go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds flat in case, this time, the screams from the backyard are not someone just crying wolf. Must be willing to face stimulating technical challenges, such as small gadget repair, mysteriously sluggish toilets and stuck zippers. Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars and coordinate production of multiple homework projects. Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings for clients of all ages and mental outlooks. Must be willing to be indispensable one minute, an embarrassment the next. Must handle assembly and product safety testing of a half million cheap, plastic toys, and battery operated devices. Must always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst. Must assume final, complete accountability for the quality of the end product. Responsibilitiesalso include floor maintenance and janitorial work throughout the facility.

POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT & PROMOTION :None. Your job is to remain in the same position for years, withoutcomplaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills, so that thosein your charge can ultimately surpass you.

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE :None required unfortunately. On-the-job training offered on a continually exhausting basis.

WAGES AND COMPENSATION :Get this! You pay them! Offering frequent raises and bonuses A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because of the assumption that college will help them become financially independent. When you die, you give them whatever is left. The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is that you actually enjoy it and wish you could only do more.

BENEFITS :While no health or dental insurance, no pension, no tuition reimbursement, no paid holidays and no stock options are offered; this job supplies limitless opportunities for personal growth, unconditional love, and free hugs and kisses for life if you play your cards right.

** AND A FOOTNOTE 'THERE IS NO RETIREMENT -- EVER!!!
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This was my hubby's addition:

ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES INCLUDE:

Handling of biohazardous waste in the form of poopie diapers after every bottle and feeding, administration of rectal temperature readings, cleaning up spills from the pottie seat in the minivan (or yacht-on-wheels) after braking too hard because you forgot there was a payload in there, and removal of vomit from your date-night outfit 30 minutes before your dinner reservations.

Must be bilingual being able to speak toddler babble and introducing it into adult conversations: “Honey (spouse), I’ll be right back. I have to go poopie upstairs.”
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What would your additional responsibilities include?

Our Winter "ONE"der baby

What a special day it is for the Almengor family. One year ago, our baby girl entered the world. After a long labor and two hours of pushing, she came flying out in one push! The cord was wrapped around her 3 times. She was blue and not crying, but eventually, she pinked up and began to cry. Her breathing was so labored, they laid her on my belly with oxygen blowing at her mouth. I didn't even notice; I was so enamored with her beauty!

At the time, I had no idea what distress my baby girl was in, but soon learned that we would be making trips back and forth to see her in the NICU at Hopkins where she remained for the first week of her life. She just needed a little extra time to grow strong enough and brave enough to enter into our world, that being one with excitable twin brothers with which to contend.

We have thoroughly enjoyed having Bella--getting to know her over the past year. She's certainly a momma's girl but delights in the care and attention of her Papi (daddy), Abuelos, Grandparents and brothers as well. Just about the only thing she might love more than her momma is her nuk. You will rarely see her without one. She loves to dance and sings along with us in her baby babble when we sing. She does not love to nap, however, and some days lately has gone all day without one!

My earliest crawler is still not walking. She's tiny, weighing much less than the boys at a year, but she eats much better than they did/do. We still can't tell the color of her eyes, but I'm hoping they'll turn blue or at least hazel. She loves to read, will sit and page thru any book. She is still struggling with reflux and has a noticeable stridor (noisy breathing)--not sure what will come of that yet.

She's had her fair share of colds but no indication of asthma for which we are very grateful. The boys had already had their first attack by now. So far, she ony has 2 teeth on the bottom, and I wonder if she's having a harder time with teething than the boys did.

She loves to crawl up the stairs and giggles when we come after her. She loves to be tickled, and we love to make her laugh (especially Judah). She's beginning to show she's got her own mind about things--pulling off her bib and taking out her hair bands at will. She also screams and kicks when she doesn't like something...making no one doubt that she's my daughter. :)

We think she's the most beautiful girl around. There are times I am so taken by her beauty and I pray she will be as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. I know she will grow and change so much in this next year. We don't take her life for granted. We are grateful for our little Bella--Happy Birthday baby girl!!

The Special People in Our Lives

Thank you, Jessica, for sending the lovely Valentine's gift package...it arrived at my door tonight. It included a shortbread mix, so I decided to make cookies with the boys while my hubby continues to rest upstairs trying to recover from this miserable flu. The boys were, needless to say, very excited to make cookies. Our conversation ensued as follows:

Me: "Boys, do you want to make some cookies together?"

Boys: "YES!!!!"

Me: "Okay, we're going to make some cookies for some special people in our lives. Is there anybody you'd really like to make cookies for to show them how much you love them?"

Tucker: "Yes....ME!"

Joining Everyone...

It seems everyone is sick right now or has been sick recently. We are joining the masses who are undergoing a variety of yucky sick symptoms. My hubby came home early today with flu like symptoms (the ONLY way I get him home early during busy season!). My kids all have some kind of cold type virus, Tucker and Bella with off and on fevers. It's been a long day (aren't they all for any mom?), and I'm currently debating whether I want to attempt going to bed, afraid that as soon as I lay my head on the pillow, someone will wake up screaming and needing me. I have to say that while I have seen moments where God's grace has been evident on my life to serve my family today, there have been plenty of other moments where I have been less than self sacrificing and/or cheerful about the self sacrifice.

We'd all appreciate your prayers. I know some of you may be reading from your sickbed yourselves. Let me know to pray for you...helps me look up and out of my all too oft, self absorbed world. :)

Two Dinners

One of tonight's conversations with my son, Tucker:

Tucker: "Mommy, I'm still hungry" (after eating his dinner and a brownie)

Me: "Well, then you'll need to eat more dinner (knowing very well he just wanted more brownie)

Tucker: "NO, not two dinners!" :)

Weirdo Here

Funny...I was praying about what to do with my kiddos' naptime today. A few thoughts of what I wanted to do: take a nap, throw in some laundry, make my hubby chocolate chipless cookies (yes, he likes them without the chocolate chips...he's the weird one!), read a book, work on my daughter's birthday party plans, etc. But, then I hopped over to "Ordinary Mother" and knew I had my answer: write a blog post with 7 weird things about myself. Ahh, yes...the divine does speak through Laurie Reyes...(actually, I do believe that to be true, but in this instance I'm being very sarcastic). :0

So, because I cannot disappoint my dear friend, here are 7 (am I limited to 7?) weird things about myself:

1. I LOVE the smell of my boys' breaths when they wake up from their naps.

2. I LOVE watching QVC...seriously, I will say to my hubby at night before we go to bed, "Can I just go downstairs quickly and get my QVC fix?"

3. I love to run and even moreso if hills are involved. In fact, if it was possible, I would have only uphills and no downhills.

4. I have this thing for pain some would say> I was nearly distraught when my midwives were pressuring me to have an epidural in place for the delivery of my twins (which I didn't comply to and ended up with a spinal instead for my emergency c-section with them). If at all possible, I will choose not to be put under anesthesia for a procedure just so I can know what they're doing to me. I've had a novicaine shot into my eye rather than being put under and was so close to asking my midwife what the doctor was doing procedurally during my c-section. **For those of you who have never seen a C-section or had one, they place a sheet at your mid-section so you can't see what they're doing...this killed me during mine because I was so curious. I think the only thing that kept me from asking was when I saw smoke arising from behind the sheet and I thought, "hmmm, maybe I don't want to know." Later, I did ask my midwife and she obliged me by telling me step by step what really happens during a C-section.

5. I must have my bedsheets straightened and tight in order to go to sleep at night. There have been times I have actually woken up my husband because the sheets had gotten all "sloppy" and I couldn't sleep.

6. I have to have the toilet paper coming from the top of the roll. I have actually turned the toilet paper around at other people's houses if it's put on with the paper coming from the bottom of the roll.

7. I would actually get a thrill out of being left home alone to clean all day.

I tag Melanie L. (because I know you have sooo much time on your hands), Lydia E. (even though you don't have a blog..email me your list and I'll post it here if you're okay with that. I'm thinking you'd have a pretty good list), Jessi and Jen Brewer.

Snow Babies

Tucker funnies

There are days I can't write things down fast enough because my boys say the funniest stuff.

The boys really wanted to eat bananas out on the deck the other day, so I bundled them up in 3 layers and sent them outside. I took care of some laundry and when I came back, Tucker was without his banana. I inquired, "Tucker, where's your banana?"
Tucker: "The birds will eat it, mom."

I knew then that he had chucked it over the deck railing.

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Yesterday, the boys' Abuela (Lawrence's mom) came to stay with the kids while I had a doctor's appointment and ran some errands. She has a habit of bringing small containers of applesauce with her when she comes to visit. The boys love applesauce and look forward to having their own container of it when she comes. She was getting ready to leave and Tucker said, "Abuela, can you come another day and bring applesauce with you for me?"
I sought to instruct him that it's rude to ask others to bring things for oneself when they come, that Abuela brings the applesauce to bless them, but when they ask for it, it takes the blessing away from Abuela.
Tucker's response to my instruction: "Abuela, can you come another day and bless me?"

I think he missed the point!

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The squirrels love to skip around on our deck, and the boys are always fascinated by them while they eat their breakfast in the morning. This morning we were watching a squirrel, and it ran quickly away when Tucker approached the window. I asked Tucker, "Where did the squirrel go, Tucker?"
Tucker: "It went to find its nuts."