From the Mouth of Babes

It's amazing how quickly little toddlers pick up on new thoughts and ideas, and repeat it back to you. They're like little sponges! It brings me to tears often, sometimes because it's so sweet, and others because I think of the things that slip out of me that I DON'T want repeated by a almost two-year-old!

Case in point, Kendall spent a few hours at her friend's house since her mom was so sweet to watch her so I could run a few errands. Kendall knows the mom who is our MMO director, so I was confident she would be fine. She put a video on for Kendall while her girls napped. Though I'm familiar with the video series, Ms. PattyCake, Kendall had yet to see one. Well, the next day she was doing some motion I didn't recognize. It took another friend, Kendall's Sunday school teacher, to tell me it was from a Ms. PattyCake video. She had only seen it one time and not only did she remember it, she was rehearsing it all week!

Anyway, here's evidence that all I'm trying to teach Kendall is soaking in. (Ever feel like you repeat yourself over and over and it doesn't seem to be going anywhere?) Today, Sophie (our poodle, our disgruntled and belligerent poodle) was not in her best of moods. She let Kendall know with a warning growl when Kendall tried to play with her. I've told Kendall many times that a growl is her way of saying "no" so leave her alone. Today I added, "Sophie doesn't always do the right thing. The Bible says to be nice, and Sophie is not doing what the Bible says." Kendall seemed to nod in understanding and went on with her play elsewhere.

Fast forward a few hours. Kendall and I were sitting around talking to friends at church. Kendall found a Bible, brought it to me, and pointed to it and said, "Nice!" It was so sweet that my heart melted into a puddle right there. My friend asked her, "Kendall, what does the Bible say?" and she replied, "Nice!"

From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise. Matthew 21:16

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is My Word that goes out from My mouth. It will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:10-11

Be kind to one another... Ephesians 4:32

Kendall-isms

Kendall has finally begun to say some words. It took her a while to get the hang of it (she moves at her own pace, like her daddy) but she is now beginning to communicate with words, half of which I have yet to figure out. And the way she says them are so cute that though I don't baby-talk her, I don't really want to correct her either. It's just too precious. Therefore I will record them so that I can remember all the cute stuff she said when she was a toddler.

Momas - her friend from school and church, Thomas

uler - color

peese - please

bana - banana

oder - water

nacks - snack

bobby - music (huh?) This one stumped me for a while since she doesn't know a Bobby. Her music teacher at school is Mrs. Holly. We finally realized that she was saying her name when she pointed to a picture of Mrs. Holly at the end of the year presentation and said, "Bobby!" And since Mrs. Holly teaches music, it just makes sense to her to call music "bobby" as well.

Nen-nuh - Kendall

There are others, I'm sure, but these are the ones I remember most.

You Say Tomato!

This weekend we went to visit my family for Father's Day. Nana has been hard at work growing tomatoes, which happen to be Kendall's FaVoRitE food. So Nana took Kendall out in the backyard so she could pick some tomatoes to bring home. I'm glad Kendall, a 21st century child, can learn that tomatoes can come from other places than Kroger.

Kendall liked showing off her pickings. (Notice Nana's herb garden in the background. Mommy came home loaded with fresh mint and basil. mmmm! And that's also Annie in the background, by the way.)

Hello? Is Bob the Tomato there?

I just had to include Nana's attempts to keep the birds away, which also happened to shoo off and freak out more than just the birds. Daddy had a "close encounter" with one of these freakish, slithery things. We all had a good laugh from it, including Daddy himself. HA! Good thing it wasn't me; I woulda scaled the seven foot fence in one clear jump and been halfway down the block before you coulda caught me. Daddy just settled for a high octave squeal.

Friends, Sun and Summer Fun 2

Last week VBS took the place of our Thursday summer play dates. And the week before, it was just too plain hot at the park to bust out the camera. This week everyone came over to our house and we set up pools and a slip-n-slide for the kids. Kendall is still checking it all out, all the while watching (and trying to figure out) the swarm of boys who had just descended on her backyard. I think it's good for her, though, since we're all girlified at our house. A little rough and tumble can do her some good.

Jonah, Conner and Kendall are still trying to figure the whole thing out. No one is brave enough ready to slide at this point, though.

One other girl, besides Hannah who's six weeks old, showed up with all the boys, and that's Kendall's friend, Abbey. She wasn't as intimidated, though, since that's her big brother to the far right. Any takers to be the guini pig, guys?

And speaking of warming up, the mamas parked it under the shade. We had a great time relaxing while the kids entertained themselves.

My littlest buddy, Collin, has the right idea, chillin' and hanging out. I could kiss this sweet little fella all day long.

And precious little Hannah celebrated with a nap in high style.

The boys showed Kendall another thing or two about her slide. She never knew such things could be done. Such brave big boys!

And Patrick gave everybody a lesson in how to SLIP and SLIDE. It didn't take long for a few others to join in.

Kendall? Nah, not so much. She preferred the safer end. It was all just a little too dangerous looking for her. Tisk, tisk, tisk...those boys!

She got a much bigger kick out of watching them.

Even fearless little Collin was ready for his mama to let him loose. This bundle of wild energy here is the bravest little thing I've ever seen. He already rough houses with his big brother and loves every minute. Ugh, just the thought scares the begeebers out of me. Whatever would I do with a boy?! (Probably love him to pieces all the while making him run around in a helmet and safety harness.)

Anyway, I had a great time visiting with my friends today, and Kendall did as well. Just waiting for next Thursday now.

Little Fish

This week was Kendall's second time this year to swim in a big pool, and her first trip to swim with Gigi at the country club pool. Kendall was a little slow to warm up to the idea, but when she saw the "big" boys (ages 4-7) splashing around and having fun she decided it would be fun for her as well.

She liked the kiddie area where she could stand on her own. She thought it was hilarious to watch those boys dive under water to retrieve a toy and then pop their heads back up. And she especially liked their goggles, which made her laugh every time.

Eventually she agreed to go to the deep end with Gigi for another swimming lesson. Sorta.

And after about 20 minutes of coercion, Gigi successfully got Kendall to "sit jump" to her in the pool.

But Kendall insisted on holding on to her bracelet she had found. Hey, whatever.

I'm sure there are more fun trips to the country club ahead of us this summer.

Mommy Day and Wendys

Sometimes, life's most precious moments are the little things like a simple lunch at Wendy's. Can't believe Kendall is now old enough to sit in a big chair and dip her fries in the catsup. (Thanks, Papa, for introducing her to that red stuff.) I thoroughly enjoyed watching such child wonder and excitment over a simple kids meal and a book. Kendall had me read the book she got to her twice as she dipped and licked her fries. I loved every minute. And I was reminded how precious these little moments are when the guy sitting at the next table, who obviously was on his lunch break from the car dealership/auto shop next door due to his uniform, sighed and told me he had "five of those [kids] at home". After another little sigh he told me his baby is now 15, and he cannot believe where the time went. I think what he was telling me, really, was to cherish the sweet little moments like those because one day, all too soon, she'll be too big to sit with mom. And she will no longer need my help nor welcome all my lavished attention. She'll need my attention all right, but not as lavishly as I love to give it. And you know what? I'm going to take his word on it.

Saddle Up for VBS

Howdy, Partners! Mommy and Kendall have not been MIA, we've been gearing up our saddles for a great adventure in the wild, wild VBS land. Last week was crazy with all the preparations, and this week has been wild with all the fun. Kendall has had a blast so far.

Not sure why these pictures came out so small, but I'm not sure how to fix 'em. I copied them from our church's fb page. Here's Cowpoke Kendall and another little ranch hand getting a wagon ride.

I just love VBS every year. I can scratch my teacher itch for five-year-olds. I can never muster up the enthusiasm for it until the week before when I really dive in to all my preparations and lesson plans. I miss teaching kindergarten, and I just get a rush from planning writing centers, art activities and all the other fun stuff that comes along with kindergarteners. Honestly, it was therapeutic for me to sit-alone-in a quiet classroom and just cut, glue and make activities for our week.

But most importantly, I love teaching these children about Jesus and His love for them. I have a much smaller class this year, so I have found more opportunity to pour in to each child with one on one attention instead of merely refereeing and providing crowd control. I am amazed by the Bible knowledge of these kids this year. Our sharing time lasts longer than I had planned because they have gotten so into the lessons. Their eyes are just locked on my as I teach them about how God loves them. God made them for a special purpose, and God will always be with them no matter what they face in life. I can just see God's Word, which never returns void, seeping down into their hearts.

I'm purposely going beyond the story to the truth God reveals of Himself. WHY did Jesus feed the crowd with just the five loaves and two fish? WHY did Jesus dine with Zaccheus? WHY did Joseph treat his brothers with love despite what they had done to him? Because God loves and cares for each of us beyond what we can even imagine. And He has plans for our life no matter if good stuff or bad stuff happens to us. (It sounds so simple when phrased in five-year-old language. So why do we as adults sometimes struggle believing?)

One sentence from the daily teacher devotion has stuck with me. VBS is high energy and fun, and you just can't help but get pumped up and excited to teach these kiddos. And honestly, I'm glad it's only for one week because my energy gets absolutely drained by Friday. Most of these kids only know me as their VBS teacher who teaches them one week and provides alot of fun stuff to do in addition to learning God's truths. So here's the question that was posed for me: If the children saw me outside of VBS with my family, in my workplace, or in my other personal relationships, would they still see Christ in me? May it be so. Long after the week is done, the crafts have been made, the Bible verses memorized, the paint has dried, the glue sticks have been recapped (and hopefully the markers too!) and all those fabulous decorations taken down from the walls, will my life still reflect the truths I am teaching to our next generation? Will I pour the same truths into Kendall the other 51 weeks of the year that I have tirelessly done this week? Basically, will I walk the walk and not merely talk the talk? I want to be just as good a mother and wife as I am a VBS teacher.

Here are the pictures that I pulled up from my sweet class...