Due to the Olympic Fever that’s hit our home, the boys have been exposed to new aspects of sports.

We’ve been swimming before, but they’ve never seen Mommy or Daddy do competitive swimming starts or flip turns. (I wonder why?! )

I won’t even begin to describe their fascination with parts of gymnastics. I’m just thankful that they can’t reach the rafters in the garage.

Anyway, the swimming thing hit new heights this week when Nate and I witnessed our boys trying to “take their mark” off the arm of the couch and dive onto the cushions. We pretended not to notice because it was oh-so-funny. We let it go, while wathcing out of the corner of our eye(s) again and again.

I suppose doing this in just their underwear was their nod toward Speedos.

We finally had to stop them when Andy and Brady decided to race and start off the “blocks” at the same time. Being older and wiser, Mom and Dad knew that their couch cushions  pool wasn’t wide enough to catch both of them!

Thankfully, they never tried it from opposite ends of the couch.

FYI, I really wanted to post photos of this Olympic event, but the aforementioned team “uniform” prevented me from doing so.  

My boy Andy accepted Christ as his Savior last night. It’s something we’ve been praying for for quite some time. We’re so excited for him as he begins his life as a child of God.

He came bounding out of VBS last night and said, “Mommy, I got saved!” He was grinning from ear-to-ear as he told me the story about how he and Daddy prayed together in the church library. What a sweet time for him!

I kept hugging him and told him that a year from now, we’d have a birthday party at home for him. “Cause you’ll be one in God’s eyes then!”

“A birthday party? Will I get presents?” he asked.

I laughed. “Um, maybe. We’ll have to wait and see.”

“Can I get shin guards?!”

Leave it to my five-year-old to capitalize on a life-changing decision… apparently his new-found faith still has room for baseball.

And I’m so glad.

I had the van full of kids today as we went through the drive-up at the bank. Andy likes this particular branch because they usually put Tootsie Rolls in the canister.

He asked, “Mommy, is this the bank that gives us Tootsie Rolls?”

“Usually,” I said.

Brady piped up from the second back seat: “I can’t have Tootsie Rolls, remember, Andy?”

“Oh,” said Andy. “Well, you can have Skittles.”

I’m laughing to myself in the front seat, wondering how Andy plans to resolve this dilemma.

“OK, Mommy,” Andy continued. “Tell them Connor wants Tootsie Rolls, Brady will take Skittles, and I’ll have… um… M&M’s!”

Oh, my… Next time I’m ordering a cheeseburger and fries with my deposit.

You know your in for it as a homeschooling mom when your five-year-old mischievously asks, “Mom, do ‘grow-up’ and ‘throw-up’ rhyme?”

So far, we only have one picky eater. Though Andy’s picky, he’s easy to figure out. He really only dislikes raw, crunchy things . . . and cooked carrots. But the things he does like, he really loves.

Like my sloppy joes.

I really think the boy could do a happy dance in a vat of my sloppy joes. They aren’t anything spectacular, but they aren’t any goo out of a can, either. I make mine from scratch and there are even a few secret ingredients.

Today, I was making them and he came into the kitchen.

Andy:“Mommy, you make the BEST sloppy joes. They smell so good and they taste so good. I can’t wait!”

Me: “Why, thank you, bud.”

Andy:“You should make your sloppy joes for a food game!”

Me: slightly puzzled, “You mean, like, a contest?”

Andy: “Yeah! On TV.”

Me: “Oh! Well, that’s sweet of you, honey.”

Andy: “You would even beat Bobby Flay!”

I told you, when he likes something, he really loves it. I guess he can take it a bit too far. I mean, my sloppy joes would neverwin a Throwdown against Bobby Flay.

But, thanks, Buddy. Next you’ll be telling me I’m skinny and I have great hair.

Andy and Brady have recently grown interested in presidents. It’s nothing outrageous, but the idea of one man being “in charge of” the whole country is intriguing to them. (Nate loves all things presidential, too, so this could be part of it.) Anyway, the boys have a placemat with presidents on it and they often ask questions about different ones. They like that Geroge Washington was first and that we now have another George. Somehow the matching set makes it fun for them.

This morning the boys and I were watching the news. The anchor was explaining how George W. Bush was at the G8 Summit, so a small photo of President Bush was in the upper right hand corner of the screen. They hadn’t said his name — just “the President” — so I asked, “Who’s that guy?”

Andy piped up first, “George Washington.” He was just sure of it.

I corrected him and he said, “Oh, yeah… The other George.”

So I reminded him, “George Washington was the first president of the United States… a long, long time ago. More than 200 years ago!”

This sparked Brady’s interest. “Like when you and Daddy were little?”

Gulp! I tried not to laugh. He’s only four and all of his siblings have been born under one president! So, I explained it the best way I could think of that he might understand. “No, Brades. No one we know now was alive when George Washington was president. He was alive way before even Nana and Poppy were born.”

“Oh,” he said. “That’s a really, really, REALLY long time ago!”

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about ways to get my children to see the importance of service, specifically Christian service. We’ve been doing tiny things here at home, like actually serving dinner to siblings, etc., but I wanted it to sink in outside the home, too.

There’s a sweet older lady at church who has quietly been responsible for pulling all the weeds around the landscaping at church for years. She was so meek about it that it never even occurred to me that someone did it or even that it needed to be done! Anyway, she recently had surgery, so I volunteered our services. Friday, I loaded up the van and the six of us went to pick weeds while Daddy was working. (OK, really just three of us… Connor and Evan were easily distracted and Ferris was no help at all! )

Andy and Brady did fairly well for the first hour, but then their focus started to waver about halfway around the church. I decided to teach them a new song to keep them interested. Here’re the lyrics, just in case you’ve never heard it. It’s an echo song.

“I sing a new song …
Since Jesus came…
Serve a new master …
Wear a new name…
Walk a new road…
Have a new goal…
Know a new peace…
Down deep in my soul.”

Every single time we sang it, the boys would start to giggle about halfway through… Yet they asked me to sing it again and again. I couldn’t figure out what was so funny. Finally I tried to listen to exactly how they were singing it. Here’s what they sang:

“I sing a new song …
Since Jesus came…
Serve a new master …
Wear a new name…
Walk a new road…
Have a new goal…
Knowin’ who pees…
Down deep in my soul.”

What?! “Knowin’ who pees?!”

I had to try really hard not to laugh as I corrected them and explained what peace is. What’s even crazier, though, is that we don’t even use that word. (We’ve been a “potty” house since we first had kids.)

But what can I say? They weren’t completely wrong. God does know all.

Our house is in an uproar this weekend because the Cubs and Sox are playing the Crosstown Classic. Around here, it’s equivalent to the Civil War.

Though we live southeast of Chicago, we’re die hard north-side fans. We bleed Cubby blue.

We’re currently going through another round of the elimination diet to determine Brady’s food allergy. (We’re making progress finally!) While eating a carefully chosen lunch (void of the milkshakes Andy and Connor wanted,) Andy said, “Mommy, I think I’m allergic to the White Sox.”

I tried not to laugh. “Oh really? What happens if you get near the White Sox?”

“I stink!” Andy said, giggling hysterically.

Don’t worry, buddy, I’m sure more than half of Chicago has the same allergy.

PS– For those of you who give a hoot, Cubs won game one of the series. Game two is being played now. The Cubs won game two also. Can you hear us singing the “Go, Cubs, Go” song?!  :)

… what the world’s cutest catcher looks like?

Well, now you know.

Special thanks to Andy’s fan club from last night! He had seven additional fans there aside from his family. One team mom even joked that all our chairs looked like a campsite and asked if we were going to make s’mores, too. It sure made Andy’s day to hear all the cheering, though. Thanks, guys!

You know how, when you can’t sleep, you’re supposed to count sheep?

Around here, we count sleeps.

Like most moms of toddlers, I’ve taught the boys to count the number of “sleeps” (overnight and nap-time) until their next long-awaited event. It may be a visit from family or something special at church. Here recently, though, it’s all about baseball games.

Andy played a game Thursday and doesn’t have another game until this Friday. Eight days (16 sleeps) is a LONG time in pre-school world! Poor Brady only has games on Saturdays.

Just for the record, my system has worked! The boys no longer ask how long it is until their next game! You’d think that was a major triumph, huh?

Now they just keep asking how many sleeps.