Living Up to His Name...

"Mom can I help you clean the bathroom?" asked Sawyer.
"Sure!"
"What can I do?"
"You can clean the shower."
He happily entered the shower and began spraying and scrubbing away with his nifty tools. These contented sounds soon attracted another sibling.
"Hey, Sawyer, what are you doing?" asked Tristan.
No answer.
"Sawyer, I'll point to the dirt and you spray."
No response.
"Wait, Sawyer, let me help. You spray for a little while and then I'll spray for a little while."
"No."
"Sawyer, it's not fair. You do half and then let me do half."
This scene reminded me so much of Tom Sawyer painting the fence that I had to laugh to myself.
I'm not sure if Sawyer ever acquiesced, but the shower got as clean as two boys fighting over it can get.

Where They Get It....

I finally figured out why my boys are bouncing off the walls. It's been trained into them from an early age.
You'll notice the game they made up after playing with Daddy was let-me-swing-you-around-until-you-knock-over-the-targeted-blue-plastic-chair. Next time it could be the tv.
This is why we will never be mistaken for composed, reserved, quiet and polite Canadians.
We're keeping the American reputation alive and well, way up north.

What They're UP to Now...

The further chronicles of Munch and Flash:
I'm in the kitchen and I hear these words through the open garage door--
"Sawyer, you can go now, I'm holding it."
In an instant my brain translates the meaning of those seven words.
It means trouble.
It means mischief.
It means a getting into of something adventurous and probably dangerous, so I ruuuuuuuuuun to the door to see what Tristan is "holding" so that Sawyer can "go".
.

Oh.
It's just Sawyer on a ladder.
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Said ladder being perched on a workbench with Tristan far below.
Everybody freezes when they hear the Mom Voice command: STOP.
I love the Mom Voice. God gives it to you and you don't even have to figure out how to use it because it's instinctive. I'm sure it's saved many a life.
Including the life of Munch and Flash--
until the next adventure comes along.

Not a Good Sign...

Even if you don't speak french you can probably figure out that this sign means turning is allowed from the center of the road. You can figure this out because the sign communicates it's purpose simply and clearly.
But let's take a closer look at it's sister sign down the road.
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Do you see it there, just beyond the bushes?
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Is it simple?
Is it clear?
Does it communicate it's meaning?
I see these often and I've yet to see an information center straight ahead. So, tell me, WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
You'll bring a glimmer of hope into my tormented head if you just answer that question.

Heavenly Questions

On the way to church yesterday the kids riddled us with questions about heaven (Hey, now that I think about it that picture from the post above would fit in here. Maybe I've discovered what that sign is good for after all):
Will you and Daddy be married in heaven?
Will we be brothers?
Will we have a mansion?
Will we have to share, or will we get our own mansion?
How old will everyone be in heaven?

But my favorite question came from Sawyer:
"Mom, will there be stores in heaven?"
"No, there won't be any buying or selling."
"Then how will God make the macaroni?"

They're in the Trees..

Yes, being a mom is the hardest job in the world, but when I think of the endless piles of laundry, and the endless hours of homeschooling ahead of me, I'm suddenly reminded that someday it will end. And THESE are the simple moments I'll remember.

Just a slice of everydayness that I'll want to grasp after it's slipped through my fingers years from now. He has no idea my heart is aching to scoop him up and squeeze him in two.
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Of course I had to go back and take a picture of him in the trees.
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This tree was hiding a surprise.
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Every time he reached for a good limb, a rush of mosquitoes came forth to feed.
He named it the Mosquito Feast Tree.
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We quickly found one more suitable.
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One that everyone could climb.
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No mosquitoes allowed.

The Bourne Duplicity

CIA Command Center. With just about everything you could ever need.
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He was wandering around all afternoon collecting these things.
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I saw him slinking about the back door with a huge black pack over his shoulder.
What are you doing?
"I'm doing dat fing, in duh movie, duh spy fing."
Ah.

He makes it look so real. I wish I was five and could play dat spy fing too.