Blue And Gold

I realized I have been super post negligent when I revved up the camera for my church group meeting last night. Nothing says "Bible Study" like 4 glasses of wine. Anywho, I needed to clear my content and get ready for our travels to D.C. next week. Oh yea, 12 plus hours in a car all night long and waking up to the 11 a.m. White House Tour! Nothing says 'Family Time" like a good long road trip.

Anywho, a few weeks ago we had Jack's blue and gold boyscout dinner function thingy. It was real classy, with a buffet table of hot dogs and pizza.


Here is Jack onstage getting ready to do his bit in the skit. He's a natural in front of others. This was pretty much Nate's expression during the ENTIRE dinner. He has decided he's not doing Boy Scouts. Ever. He even refers to it as "Bunny Scouts" (from Max and Ruby cartoons).

Jack and Maddie had fun sitting next to each other, until another family came to sit with us and then Mads had to sit on my lap. They were people. She doesn't like people.

The boys. Nate's face=nuff said.

Awww look. 2 peas in a pod. Really.

I can't tell if John was more annoyed at my photography skillz, or if he was annoyed at the whole boy scout event. In any case, that's usually the face I get when I make him pose.

As I mentioned before, we are getting ready for our trip to D.C. I have never been there, so I am excited to see some ruby slippers and the Archie Bunker chair. I hear there are Cherry blossoms this time of year, but nuts to that. I wanna see Michelle Obama's inaugural ball gown.

We actually got lucky enough to get tickets to the White House, which I hear are damn near impossible to get. I have been reading various D.C. books to the kids, and Nate thinks he is going to meet Baruh Bamamba. When we told him we couldn't meet him, he was truly disappointed. I think he's wondering what the point of even going to his House is?

Leaving it to Nate to get into the gore of any situation, after our Lent service on Wednesday, I was reading him a book on D.C. There was a picture of the British burning the first White House during the War of 1812. The following is a recap of our rather morbid conversation.

"Mom! Are those the guys who shot and KILLED Jesus?"

"No. Jesus was not shot and killed."

"Well. How did he die then?"

"He was hung on a cross'.

"Yah, so. Then what?"

"Then nothing."

"Well Someone had to shoot and kill him. (pointing to a photo of Abe Lincoln): Maybe this guy did it".

"No Nate, That was Abraham Lincoln."

"Oh. Maybe SHE shot and killed Jesus"

"That's Clara Barton. She founded the American Red Cross. She didn't shoot and kill anybody".

"Well, what, he just hung there?"

At this point I had to give in a little. The morbid factor was not being satisfied on any level.

"Well Nate, a soldier did stick his sword in his side."

"Yeah, and then he bleeded all over".

Okay...time to shut this one down. I read the blurb next to Lincoln's photo about his assassination and got this:

"Mom! If he was shooted in the front of the face instead of the back of the head more people could have seen his blood because it would have been more everywhere."

People ask me what I let my kids watch on t.v. Rest assured we are not watching gruesome shootings and crucifixions, unless they are now showing these things on PBS and they've been imbedded into random episodes of Sponge Bob (which I hate, but it's not bloody and gory. It's just stupid humor). Rather, I think this is how boys are wired. At least my boys.

The grosser it is the better. That's a good motto for life.

I think.

Busted By the Pastor

On Wednesdays during Lent, we (meaning the kids and I) have been regularly attending a lecture series. The kids have their program, I have mine. This Wednesday was about getting your affairs in order, such as a Medical Power of Attorney, Will, etc. Great info. I made John go, because we really should have a will. We just should. And we don't. Which is beside the point.

There is always a dinner served, soup and sandwiches, spaghetti, and the like. Anyone who knows John knows he just does not eat soup. Soup is NOT a meal. He cannot understand why/how people can eat soup and be full, as if soup were a real meal. Because it's not (keep in mind, soup is one of MY favorite meals, so I think he's a little crazy, but whatever. Opposites attract and all that blah de blah).

Well, remember the presentation I gave a couple of weeks ago? My friend Steph and I brought in some food samples-she made stellar brownies using applesauce instead of oil, and I brought in some Vegan grape salad, and some cornbread made with tofu. I have found many uses for tofu lately so we've been eating more and more as I can substitute it for dairy products in some recipes.

Following is an actual conversation between John and my pastor (who keeps trying to get me to run a marathon with him, but I keep saying that not even God can convince me to go that crazy).

Pastor: John, you really should eat something!
John: No, it's okay. I'm good, really.
Pastor: It's soup....the soup is good. The sandwiches are good.
Me: Yah, John's not really a soupy kind of guy.
Pastor: You really should go eat. It's better than tofu anyways.

Seriously? He busted me out. Totally.
And John could not stop laughing. Of course.

My Next Biggest Kick

Well, last week's presentation went very well, if you read between the lines. Tonight, our friend is presenting on the topic, "Now is the time...to get your affairs in order". Very timely, as it regards getting your will and all that other unthinkable stuff in order just in case. It makes me a little queasy to think of it, but I'm making John come to this presentation. It's just that important.

That being said, I'm going to backtrack a bit. This stream of consciousness typing is really too diffiuclt for anyone to follow, including me. But...

While Steph(not my sister) and I presented last week, she pulled up a great website for local CSA's. This stands for "Community Supported Agriculture", and basically the premise is you pay a certain amount of money for a season, get a box of a pre-determined size, and basically own a share of locally produced, oftentimes organic produce for the season you have paid for. We are so doing this this summer. I LOVE Farmer's Market's, but sometimes they are a bit expensive. This way, you get a good deal.

Don't just take my word for it. Check it out:
http://www.localharvest.org/

Discover a CSA near you, and enjoy the benefits of eating local!

Some Lessons Learned

This week I learned a few things. Like, I'm not very organized as I'm cleaning out every room in the house and my palace looks like a bomb dropped.

I also learned that there is some super duper strain of strep going around that is somewhat resistant to antibiotics and my daughters tonisils look like two golf balls stuck in her throat.

I learned how to use power point...sort of. And insert pictures with only the thumbnails to look at so wording on "You Go Girl" signs looks small and innocent.

And most importantly, I learned that when giving a presentation about health and fitness at church, when you're talking about doing a triathlon and how important it is to have a support group and awesome signs, sometimes you should really make those thumbnails bigger.


I also learned my pastors have a GREAT sense of humor. And they thought it was funny.