Today’s writing prompt from The Daily Post was to write something incorporating the number 26.  I started out this morning with the intention of recording 26 funny things that happened in my house throughout the day.  However, it is the end of the day, and I could only come up with 5.  

Sorry, but I am sick, and I was just trying to survive the day.

Some funny things did happen, though.

At least, I found them funny, but I am taking heavy doses of Mucinex, which tends to make things funnier to me…

1. Charlie runs into the bedroom with Maddie’s magic wand, points it at the TV and says, “There will be no more grown-up cartoons on this TV!”

2. Jason, who has been into coin collecting lately, says to me, “Honey, did you know that coins made after 1965 are worth much less than coins made before 1965?”

“Yes, of course I know that.  You didn’t?” I respond sarcastically.

 “Quit being phaeanicious,” he says. (I am still not sure if he was telling me to stop being like a Phaeacian or if he meant facetious.)

3.  Charlie, upon finding an empty popsicle wrapper on his dad’s nightstand:  “What happened here?”

4. Maddie has been replacing random words in songs off of her Sunday School Songs DVD with the word “Poopy.”  Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and poopy, poopy!  I have to do something about that…soon, I think.

5.  Baby Kitty, who I didn’t know was in the house, suddenly appeared in the kitchen, covered in dust and dust balls.  I need to figure out where he was hiding, because obviously that place needs to be cleaned. 

So I didn’t reach my goal of 26, but I think my five are pretty good.  Have a good night, everyone!

Good morning everyone!  I hope your week is going well.

I missed last week’s installment of “What They Said Wednesday” so I have something extra-cute for today.

Yesterday on our way to our Tuesday morning Bible study in Sanford, we passed by a car with a flashing light on top. Charlie asked me what it was.

“It’s a mailman,” I replied.

“No it’s not,” He told me confidently.

“What is it then?” I asked him. I thought maybe I could have been wrong, but I was pretty sure it was a mailman.

“It’s a mail girl.  Mail girls drive mail cars, and mailmen drive mail trucks.”

Hmmmmmm………

The Chachinator!

#Dear Congress,

Hi!  My name is Laresa and I am a middle-class stay-at-home-mom from North Carolina.  I am a conservative Republican and a Christian.

At this point in  my life, I feel very removed from the goings-on in government.  I do take the time to research candidates and vote every 4 years, but other than that I don’t care too much about you.  I have a feeling that you feel the same about me.

I do catch snippets of news and read some news articles, so I am not totally ignorant of the behavior of my elected officials.  I have been paying a little attention to your latest tantrum and the resulting government shutdown, and I ask you this: What are you thinking?

My nephew Aaron, who is 12, is spending the day with me.  I asked him what he thinks of your shutdown.

“I think it’s stupid,” he answered.

“Why do you think it’s stupid?”

“The government can’t just give up because it’s hard.  This is the future of our country.  And that’s all I am going to say.” Gotta love Aaron!

I really appreciate what Aaron said, because he is the one who is really going to be effected by your current actions.  This is his future that we are talking about, and the future of all of our children.

This is hard, isn’t it? But there you are, throwing your tantrum, unwilling to talk or compromise, getting your paychecks, giving up.

You are so removed from normal American people that you have forgotten what hard is, and some of you grew up in such a privileged lifestyle that you never knew the meaning of hard in the first place.  You don’t know what it’s like to wait at hospitals and doctor’s offices and urgent cares, or what it’s like to go to the grocery store with a 2 and 4-year old and try to use your coupons to stay on a budget, or what it’s like to not go somewhere because gas is too expensive, or to decide which bills you can pay on time and which can wait until the next paycheck.

And I’ll tell you, because you have forgotten, that what I have just mentioned is nothing.  My life, what may be hard for me, is not hard compared to others’ struggles.  There are mothers who have hungry children and no diapers and can’t keep their families warm or clothed.  Those are difficulties that I cannot comprehend, so I know that you can’t! Keeping our government running is too hard for you, so you would never be able to survive what normal people go through every day.

I do have hope, but it’s not in you, Congress.  My hope is in Jesus.  He cares about us, about the people who know what hard is.  He understands what we are going through because He goes through the hard times with us.  He shares in our tears and our struggles.  He will judge you harshly one day, as He will all of us, and that’s when you will learn the meaning of hard.

I don’t worry too much about you or think too much about you, not because I am not concerned or because I don’t care, but because my ultimate trust is in Christ Jesus, not in humans here on Earth.  He will take care of me in ways that you cannot, and He doesn’t want me to spend my time worrying.  That’s not how life is supposed to be lived. That’s not why Jesus suffered and died on the cross.

“I am leaving you with a gift — peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn’t like the peace the world gives. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” John 14:27

Jesus’ gift of peace of mind and heart is for all of us: Democrats and Republicans, rich and poor, EVERYONE.  Please claim that gift today, then go and do the hard work that we elected you to do. 

Thank you for your time,

Laresa

Related articles

• Dear Congress: You had one job. Sincerely, Twitter (pennlive.com)
• Stop being so stupid, voters tweet to Congress (kansascity.com)
• SHUTDOWN: Congress Fails to Reach Agreement Before Midnight Deadline (theblaze.com)

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/10/07/weekly-writing-challenge-and-now-for-something-completely-different-2/

Hi there! I hope you are all doing well.

We are enjoying the gorgeous fall weather.  Well, every one but Charlie, who threw a little tantrum this morning when I wouldn’t let him wear shorts to the park.

He began his tantrum on the stairs.

Maddie likes to do everything Charlie does, but with a little more drama.

Maddie bringing me a leaf she found on our walk.

…while Charlie continues lamenting the end of summer.

Maddie building a rock castle on the trail.

Charlie stops on the bench to whine a little more. He apparently REALLY hates his pants.

He finally snapped out of it and became his usual sweet Charlie self.  I guess we all need a little time to whine every once in a while, don’t we?!

Anyway, the real point of this post is to give you my second installment of What They Said Wednesday! So here goes…

I have been paying close attention to what the kids have been conversing about over the last couple of days so I could write this post, and I will say once again: the children are hilarious.  Absolutely hilarious.

Charlie (one afternoon as he played with his “doh-doh” and I worked around the kitchen): “What can make a house blow up?”

Me: “Lots of different things, I guess.”

Charlie: “Can fire make a house blow up?”

Me: “Yes.”

Charlie: “What about water?”

Me: “No, I don’t see how it could.”

Charlie: “What about shooey?  Could it make a house blow up?”

Me (at this point, I had all kinds of things I wanted to say, but I didn’t want him scared to use the bathroom): “No, I don’t think so.”

And one funny convo with Maddie as she ate breakfast:

Maddie: “I am a princess.”

Me: “You are a princess. What does a princess do?”

Maddie (flapping her arms like a bird flapping its wings): “Flaps her wings.”

Me: “Oh!  Why does she do that?”

Maddie: “To fly in the sky.”

We’ll have to let Princess Kate in on that one!  I don’t think she knows that she is supposed to be flapping her wings.

And just one more from Charlie.  He snuck this one in during lunch today:

Charlie: “Can God turn into a fridgerator?”

Me: “If He wanted to.”

Charlie: “Could God turn into a house?”

Me: “Uh-huh. Why do you think God would want to be a refrigerator?”

Charlie: “Maybe so he could get some food out of it.”

He has been really into conversations like this lately.  He asked me one day where he would use the bathroom in Heaven!  Now that’s a tough one to answer!

Hope you have gotten a few laughs out of today’s post!  Have a great day, everyone.:)

I have seen lots of different blogs who have themes for different days of the week, and I figured out the perfect theme day for Mommy in Bonlee-“What They Said Wednesday”!

The children in this house talk CONSTANTLY! Sometimes I can understand what they say, and sometimes I can’t.  I found out at the dentist today that Maddie has a very tight frenulum and may have a lisp because of it, but I think that most of her problem is that her brain is moving faster than her mouth!

They are hilarious.  I am always thinking, “I have to write this down.”

So I am going to.  Every Wednesday, I will share a bit of the children’s wisdom with you.

Here’s today’s.  I was getting Charlie dressed for our dentist appointment.

Charlie: “I want to wear shorts!”

Me: “Well, it is cool and we are all wearing pants.”

Charlie: “But I want to wear shorts!”

Me: “Well, I want some stuff, too!  I want a million dollars.  Do you have a million dollars you can give me?”

Charlie: “No.”

Me: “Well, something else I want is a chocolate milkshake.  Do you have a chocolate milkshake you can give me?”

Charlie: “No, but I have a broken crayon!”

Me: “That is really sweet of you, but I don’t want a broken crayon.”

Charlie: “But I don’t have that other stuff.  All I have is this broken crayon. You can have it.”

Is this not the sweetest thing you have ever heard? I swear I could eat that boy up.  He was trying to give me all he had at the time, which was just a broken crayon, but to him it was pretty important-he was coloring with it! I had to go give him a big hug at this point, and I probably would have let him wear some shorts if he asked again.

This just made me think, am I willing to give everything I have? I’ll be honest, I have some things I am holding onto pretty tightly, even though God is telling me to let them go.  We all have something, don’t we?

Then he added, “Pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given—and you will receive even more. Mark 4:24

We (I) need to HEAR God’s voice and LISTEN and ACT.  We (I) need to be willing to give it all up, like little Charlie and his broken crayon.

Children are so wise in their innocence, aren’t they?

And just so you know, Charlie did put on a pair of pants!