Brotherly Love

The other day, when it was nice and warm outside, I let the boys go out and play. Abby loves being outside too, so I went out with her. Ben came and sat on the porch swing with Abby and me and said, "I love Abby and I love you Mama." Ahhh...what a Norman Rockwell moment! That is, until I said, "I love you, Ben and I know that Abby does too. And you love Sam, right?" To which he replied, "I don't love Sam...we're brothers!" I have no idea where they got this notion in their heads (Sam had said something similar) that brothers don't love each other, but I thought it was humorous! I know that they do love each other, but I'm not sure why they can't admit it!

You never know what they'll come up with...

This morning I asked Sam & Ben to clean up some toys. Ben obeyed but Sam didn't so he had to go to his room. About 10 minutes later I went to talk to him and when I walked in he was "reading" his Bible. I asked him if he was ready to obey and he said, "Yes". Then I asked him if he wanted to come out of his room and he said, "No, I want to read my Bible". What's a mom supposed to do with something like that? It was so sweet, but I can't help but wonder if he wasn't trying to manipulate me in some way. Maybe I was just feeling guilty that I hadn't read my Bible in too long. Anyway, he and Ben sat and read the Bible for another 10-15 minutes. Abby was napping so it was a nice break!

Let it snow!

I know that everyone around these parts has been updating their blogs with snow pictures, so I kind of feel redundant in doing the same. However, this blog really is for me to help remember what happens around here so I'm going to do it anyway. The boys ask me about snow fairly regularly when it's cold out. I always tell them that it will probably never snow here in College Station, but that if it does, I promise they can go out and play in it. Well, it actually happend! We got about 2 inches of snow on Dec 10. The paper the next day said we haven't had more than 1 inch of accumulation in CS since 1973! Of course I had to let the boys go outside. The day started with some slushy snow on the ground and I figured it'd melt by noon so I let them go out in their footy PJs and cowboy boots. They were only out for a few minutes before they decided it was cold. Well, it started snowing for real around 4pm and it just kept coming! The best part was that Joe, who had been out of town and wasn't due back until 10pm, caught an earlier flight so he got home around 4:30. We were able to enjoy the snow as a family. Everyone went outside. This time the boys had their cowboy boots (the only boots they own) and both their jackets on since we don't have heavy coats. We could only find one pair of mittens so each boy had one and kept his other hand in his pocket. At first I was just going to carry Abby around, which is why she has bare feet in the picture below, but then she wanted to get down and play too, so we got her all bundled up as well. It didn't take her long to decide she didn't need to walk around on her own. Every time she fell down, she'd put her hands in the snow to stand up and then just sit back down and start crying. Of course snow balls were involved. Even Puki, our dog, was going nuts! It really was a blessing to all of us and the kids enjoyed warm baths and then sitting by the fire to warm up. It was a rare taste of the winter weather I grew up with. I have discovered, however, that living in Texas for 13 years had made me a cold-weater wimp! Oh, and yes, those red blobs on the table in the picture above are cherry tomotoes that Joe had just picked. After all, it was 80 the day before!

Magic School Bus

One of the boys' favorite shows is Magic School Bus. I'm amazed at what they learn by watching it. Not that I think TV can replace other learning, but here's an example. This morning I was reading the paper. The boys had already had breakfast and juice. Ben came and sat down at the table with me and said, "Do I smell apple juice molecules?" They had learned that we can smell things because molecules go into our noses. Amazing! I must admit, I don't know if I've ever really thought about why we can smell things.