On the Road

The kids and I are in Macon right now because Greg has a very big week in youth ministry coming up.  On the way to my parents' house from the interstate, we always pass this store, and I finally had my camera handy to take a picture.  Note the writing on the sides of what clearly used to be an Eckerd's or something.  (You may have to enlarge it.  Do not note my dirty windshield.)

Beauty Queen:  your one-stop shop for human hair, mattresses, school uniforms, scrubs, home decor, and beauty supplies.  Nice.

In other news, before we left, the kids each had a marshmallow bunny from their Easter basket, and Luke announced that he was saving the last one for Gaga.  Then, as I pulled into town, I called Gaga, upon Luke's request, to ask if she had her electric train set up.  She told me that she hadn't yet, and Luke might have to help her.  I relayed all this to Luke, who said solemnly, "Okay.  If Gaga wants me to help her, I WILL help her."

He is always Gaga's defender and protector. 

He then told me that he had two things to tell Gaga when he got there:

"I have to tell her, 'Gaga, I saved a bunny for you,' and, 'I will help you set up the electric train."

He concluded by busting out a new word:  "Gaga has two options!"

Umm, close.  Good first try.

He then continued, "But I only have one option."

"And what's that?"

"To pee-pee."

The World According to Luke

"Chug, chug, chug. Puff, puff, puff. Ding-dong, ding-dong. The little train rumbled over the tracks. She was a happy little train for she had such a jolly load to carry."

This is, verbatim, what Luke said to me the other day. It is also, verbatim, the opening lines of The Little Engine that Could. As you can tell, the book has had quite an influence.

For example, it uses the word, "suddenly." The other night, we were all looking for Anna's toothbrush. (She likes to take that thing and run!) I was in the bathroom, and Luke came running in, triumphantly holding the toothbrush. I congratulated him and asked how and where he found it (in his room, under the chair). He described the process: "I was looking and looking, and--suddenly--I found it!" So cute.

A few other silly quotes:

We walked to the pond the other day, and someone had painted the words, "Duck Crossing," on the road, with little sponge-painted ducks going across. He asked me what all those letters said, and I explained that they said, "Duck Crossing."

He thought about it, and responded, "Did a duck come and do this during the night?"

Regarding theology:

Me: Luke, where did the wise man build his house?
Luke: On the rock!
Me: That's right. And where did the foolish man build his house?
Luke: On the sand!
Me: That's right. And where does God want us to build our house?
Luke: By the street!

Me: Luke, what did you learn about in Bible class tonight?
Luke: Moses!
Me: Yeah? What did Moses do?
Luke: What?
Me: I don't know. I wasn't there.
[Luke hems, haws, finally grows weary of my repeated questioning.]
Luke: When I go back to Bible class, I'll ask them what Moses did.
Me [laughing]: Okay, you do that.
[A solid two minutes pass in silence.]
Luke: Oh, yeah! Commandments!

After Luke's Sunday school class on Easter:

Me: Luke, what did you learn about in class?
Luke: Jesus!
Me: What happened to Jesus?
Luke: He got dead.
Me: Oh, no. Then what happened?
Luke: He was alive.

(Well, I think he got the gist of it!)

Lastly, the other day, Greg said, "Luke, how did you get so smart?"

Luke: I just is.

Enough said:).

A Trip to the Columbia Zoo

On Sunday Night, Earl asked us if we wanted to join a few other families in their life groups on a trip to the Columbia Zoo on Monday. We are so glad we decided to go with them. The weather was absolutely beautiful and the kids had a blast both seeing all the animals and playing with the other kids. The highlight for Luke came at the end of the afternoon when he got to ride the little train. He was such a big boy and rode it all by himself. Mac, the engineer was really nice and let Luke sit in the "engine" for a minute after the ride, but unfortunately our camera battery died before we could get a picture of it. To top everything, we got to see a real freight train passing by the parking lot when we were exiting.

Spring!

Can I just say that I LOVE spring? Every year, I forget just how much I love it until it comes, and then I get to fall in love with it all over again. We have had two BEAUTIFUL, absolutely gorgeous, God-is-just-showing-off days, and, after a week of rainy weather, they have amazed us even more. They have even inspired me to get out and run, and so after languishing for an embarrassingly long time at 25, my "Days Run in 2009" count is up to...27:). Woo-hoo! I only have to get 100 to meet my resolution, but since the year is over a quarter over (that's crazy to me), I need to get going.

In other news, we went to our town's yearly festival yesterday, and it was wonderful.

Anna rode her first ride, and wasn't a huge fan.

Anna tried to act all big and bad, but she was out like a light.

Then, today, we "summer-ized" our back porch by scrubbing it down and giving all Luke and Anna's porch toys a bath: Then, we grilled chicken and asparagus for dinner, which we had along with fried potatoes. And for dessert:

Our milkshakes have two ingredients: chocolate ice cream and whole milk. They. are. amazing. And they more than undo any exercise you did that day:). But they are so worth it.

Lastly, we played with the kids in the yard (look at Luke's hand in the picture on below. Gotta love it)...

...and enjoyed our newly cleaned porch.

Did I mention I love spring?