Quotes and Such

One of the books I used to read to AK at night was a book of lullabies and nursery rhymes, the last of which was the song "All through the Night." Well, the illustration on that particular page is a whimsical drawing of a baby sleeping in his cradle in the middle of a field with rolling hills and trees. Every single time we would get to that song, AK would start to cry. It took me a while to figure it out, but finally I realized that she was troubled because the baby's mommy was not in the picture. I would start to sing, and AK's lip would tremble and she would whisper, "Where's his mommy?" So I started trying to skip that last page, but she would not let me. I would put the book down before we turned to the last page and she would pick it right back up and say, "No, sing the last one," and then proceed to cry and worry about that lonely baby in the field. Anyway, it's been a while since we have read that book, but the other day I was singing to AK in bed and she asked for one more song, so I started singing "All through the Night" AK's face got serious for a moment, and then she smiled at me and said, "His mommy's in the kitchen cooking oatmeal." Then she rolled over, put her thumb in her mouth, and went to sleep as I finished the song.

Recently the girls and I have been going through a devotional book called "Long Story Short." At the end of each day's devotional, the readers are encouraged to pray and thank God for whatever the Scripture was about that day. My girls love to sing so much, that I always tell them, "You can either say your prayer or sing your prayer." Most of the time they choose to sing it. Well, the other day the lesson was about creation and Claire prayed first. She made up a beautiful song about how God made all things and how sad it would be if He didn't make the trees and how thankful she was, etc. Then it was Averi Kate's turn. She sang these words: "God made the world...God made me...And then He fell off the stage but He did not cry..."

Claire has come up with some pretty heavy questions lately. Like this: "Does God know what choice we make before we make it? Did He already knew we would choose to listen to Him?" My sweet, curious, logical, wheels-always-turning child! She is keeping us on our toes for sure!

Claire has been involved in a program called Classical Conversations this year. It is a homeschool program that follows the classical model of education, focusing heavily on memorization in the early years. Anyway, this semester she is studying human anatomy in the science portion. It has made for some humorous moments for me...

For example, a couple of weeks ago Claire and AK were getting in the van when Averi Kate apparently hit or pushed Claire. When I got in the van Claire was crying. I asked her what was wrong. She patted her chest and said, "Averi Kate hit my...my...my cardiac!"

And then this weekend as I was walking and Claire was riding her bike, she looked up at me and said, "Mom, I am really using my connective tissue!"

I like this conversation I had the other day...
AK: One time I ate a little tiny grape.
Me: You did?
AK: Yeah and she had her mama with her.
Me: She did? Did you eat her mama too?
AK: Mmm hmm.

And another one...
C: Do you like sour apples?
Me: I like pretty much any apple, as long as it's really crispy.
C: Oh. I don't know about sour apples. They freak me out a little bit.

We are working through a catechism for kids, and the question we were working on last week was this: Can you see God? Answer: No, God is a Spirit, and He doesn't have a body like man's. But here was AK's version.
Me: Can you see God?
AK: No, God is a Spirit, and He doesn't have a body like Nan's.

Speaking of my free-spirited, unpredictable but always entertaining 2 year old, the other day we were running late to get somewhere (as usual) and I put AK's clothes on and then said, "Here, Averi Kate, put your shoes on." Then I went to fix Claire's hair. When I got back, Averi Kate had one shoe on, and was working on getting the other one on. Oh, but she had taken all of her other clothes off.

(When did, "Put your shoes on" turn into "Put your shoes on and take everything else off"?)

On Sunday at church we were singing "He is Exalted." Claire heard the first few measures of the song and then turned around excitedly to me and whispered, "Mom, it's 'He is Exhausted'!!!"