Dreaming of Cheese
Million Dollar Moment #14
Of all the things that we look forward to as parents – first smile, first tooth, first steps, first words – there are so many things along the way that you never realize will be memorable milestones – like the first time they attach a real name to a toy, or the first time they tell you about a dream.
The other day, T-Rex told me about a dream he had while sleeping in the car. It’s the first time he’s ever re-told a dream to me, and it had me and Little Miss in stitches.
T-Rex: When I was in the car and sleeping, I was dreaming about a man, and every time he opened his mouth, cheese came out. It was like when a dragon breathes fire, but it was a man and he breathed cheese.
Little Miss: He was a cheese breathing dragon?
T-Rex: No, he was a man. He was a cheese breathing man.
And by this time, all three of us were cracking up. I knew he loved dragons. He apparently loves cheese too!
Filed under Funnies, LOL, T-Rex, million dollar moments, motherhood | Tags: dreams, family, kids, million dollar moment | Comments (2)Drama bandage
#13 Million Dollar Moment
Little Miss tends to over exaggerate. I have no idea where she gets it from *cough* but I think she’ll be a great storyteller someday. In fact, we’re so used to her drama exaggeration that last summer we didn’t realize she had a fractured arm for a week because she made practically zero fuss. Bad mama.
This week while visiting my parents, she got a teeny tiny scratch that barely broke skin. This minor scratch caused major ruckus, I think mainly in an attempt to get her brother in trouble. Mom and I were fixing dinner. We inspected it, told her she was fine, it didn’t need a bandaid, it wasn’t even bleeding, and so on. When my Dad got home, we made him deal with it. So he took her upstairs, and she returned, rather proudly, with a bandage to fit the drama. It’s nice to see his paramedic skills put to good use. He was rather proud of himself.
Of course, then the bandage caused more drama because she couldn’t get it wet. But then Mom told her that meant she couldn’t go swimming, and the scratch was miraculously healed. That’s some serious medicine in that bandage!
Road Trip
I made the 5 hour trip to my parents house this week with the kids. We pulled into the driveway a little earlier than my mom expected. She came outside and greeted us with, “Wow! You made good time!” It was at that point that I realized I had arrived at a new destination in my parenthood journey. The Roadtrip Without Stops. I had driven 5 hours with my 2 children (mostly) happy in the backseat. They fed and watered themselves from a lunchbox I had pre-packed. They snacked when they needed to. I only heard about a half dozen rounds of “HOW MUCH LONGER??” We made no potty stops, and I didn’t have to stop to change diapers/find pacifiers/spoonfeed/nurse/change outfits from blowouts or leaks. The car even cooperated and I made it on 1 tank of gas. It was amazing.
It seems it wasn’t that long ago that I would make the 1 hour trip to my Grandma’s in Florida with fear and trembling. I’d pack a bag for the day that would make you think we were staying a week. Then I’d strategically plan the trip so that the little ones would not be hungry and would be sleepy, but not so sleepy that they’d get so upset they couldn’t actually fall asleep. After adhering to a carefully masterminded plan to avoid screaming infants in the backseat that I could do nothing about whilst travelling at 70 mph, I’d turn around and head for home that afternoon hoping for the same. One infant would scream as soon as it got dark. Another infant would scream….just to scream.
So as I unloaded the car, and the kids unloaded their own stuff, that they had packed themselves, I smiled and thought. “Priceless,” and “I could definitely get used to this!”
#11 MDM
Filed under million dollar moments, motherhood | Tags: family, kids, million dollar moment, motherhood | Comments (3)My cuddle bug
T-Rex has developed a habit over the past six months of climbing into my bed around 7 a.m. and then falling back asleep for a little while before he starts the “I want brefast” chant. I didn’t realize how important this new routine was to him until a couple weeks ago. I decided to be a “good” mom and get up and shower and be dressed before the kids woke up. I stepped out of the shower, and a very red-eyed, poochy-lipped T-Rex was at the door trying to hold his composure. “What’s the matter, buddy?” The floodgates opened as he cried, “I didn’t get to cuddle with yoooouuu!!!” Break. My. Heart. I scooped him up and reassured him that we could still cuddle for awhile. And so we snuggled until he was satisfied and started the “brefast” chant.
This morning, he climbed in as usual around 7 a.m. and fell right back to sleep, but he grabbed my arm and wrapped his little arms around it as if clinging for dear life, and snuggled his head into my shoulder. He was fast asleep, but everytime I shifted, he grabbed my arm tighter and buried his head deeper.
I know our mornings are going to be seriously rocked in six weeks when Little Miss starts kindergarten. So in the meantime, I’m soaking up every second of summer morning snuggles while I can.
#10 MDM
Filed under T-Rex, million dollar moments, motherhood | Tags: family, kids, million dollar moment, motherhood | Comment (1)Song Prayers
Over the past year, the kids have started doing “song prayers” at bedtime. Little Miss loves to sing, and one evening she asked if she could sing her prayer. It was beautiful, spontaneous and heart-felt. T-Rex will occasionally join in as well. Unscripted singing seems to unleash their little souls of gratefulness with angelic musical adoration.
On a recent 45-minute drive home from my in-laws, Little Miss started singing a prayer. I clicked off the cd I had started playing to help me stay awake, and tuned my ears instead to the backseat, trying to remember as much of her verse as I could. Here’s some snippets:
We are singing praise to God, We are singing to Him.
Praise Him, All praise to Him.We are His little sheep.
Let us run to Him and not away from Him.
We love Him so much and want to be with Him.And even when we go far from home and miss our mothers and fathers and all sorts of grandmas and grandpas, He is always with us, telling us not to be afraid or sad.
And when bad things happen He is there with us, He never leaves us.
We want to praise Him, praise Him all the time.
We love Him so very very much and want to be with Him in Heaven, Amen.
The sun was sinking just below the treeline casting a fire orange glow across the fields. My soul sighed with deep contentment as the little amen left her lips. She asked me if it was good. I told her it was very good and so beautiful. In fact, I don’t think a whole host of angels could sing more beautifully or please Him more than the sincere outpouring of a child who wants nothing more than to love Him and be with Him forever. And as a parent – to get a glimpse into your child’s beautiful heart – that’s worth way more than a million dollars.
#9 MDM
Filed under Little Miss Sunshine, faith in action, million dollar moments, motherhood | Tags: faith, family, kids, million dollar moment | Comment (0)Glo-Stick Grandpa
It’s been fun over the past 5 years to watch our parents turn into grandparents. I’ve gotten a kick out of my parents especially. There’s just something special about watching your own parents turn to mush with your kids and do things they never, ever would have done for you as a child. Two popsicles? Sure thing honey! A stuffed animal at the zoo? You betcha! A zoo umbrella, ok! Zoo sunglasses, yeah! (They go to the zoo a lot, mainly because they have passes to one of the coolest zoos in the U.S.) A little stuffed animal to remind you of our trip, of course!
My parents came to visit recently. It was their first visit in our new home. We were delighted to show them around our new town, which happened to be having its annual festival. The weekend concluded with fireworks. For a small town, we were rather impressed with the show – not to mention that we didn’t have to fight traffic, we weren’t crowded on the lawn, and it took us exactly 5 minutes to get to our car and drive home. None of the above would have been true in the big city we moved from.
We arrived with just enough time to claim our patch of grass and spread a sheet with a good view of the open sky. There were groups of people with sparklers, and a general spirit of celebration in the air. My Dad said he was going to go check something out. I watched him as he headed over towards a group of young people and I thought at first he was going to go inspect the riff-raff – maybe make sure they didn’t have something illegal that they were lighting up. But then I saw the very brightly glowing young man, and I knew that was where he was headed. Sure enough, Dad walked back with two glo-stick necklaces for the kids. I laughed. It did make it much easier to keep track of them on the walk back to the car.
It’s funny how something so little and simple makes such big memories. I get a fuzzy warm feeling every time I eat a red hot because my great-grandpa always had them at his house. I chuckle every time I see a scratch-off lotto ticket at the gas station because my Grandpa bought me one once and I won $5. Maybe in their 30’s, my kids will smile and think of my Dad every time they see a glo-stick necklace. You just never know what those Million Dollar Moments will be.
#8 MDM
Filed under million dollar moments, motherhood | Tags: family, kids, million dollar moment, motherhood | Comment (0)Fast? Food?
Who knew that a fast food restaurant could be so much fun? Or that you could spend two hours there when you just went for dinner? And no, I’m not talking about waiting for your food at Arby’s! I’m referring to the ever-fabulous Chick-fil-a. It’s become a new favorite around here. We don’t eat out that often, except when Nana and Papa are here and need to get their fill of Chick-fil-a since they don’t have it at home (one visit we went FIVE times, and it was FUN!) Closed on Sundays because the owners believe in a God-ordained Sabbath, I’ve always respected the company. Now, I appreciate them even more. I’m sure it’s part marketing, and partly genuine belief in investing in their community and families, but they know how to draw a crowd. Of kids.
The Narrator was out of town and I didn’t feel like being home or cooking, so after a swing through JoAnns (he was out of town, right?) and dropping off T-Rex’s prescription for an ear infection, we did an early dinner at Chick-fil-a. I have learned my lesson. Go early. They get busy. Especially on spirit night and family night. Little Miss Sunshine ate all her chicken, so we split a shake. And then they played in the play area. Or rather, they watched the older kids run around and scream and burn off all their pent up energy from sitting at a desk all day long. T-Rex tried to mimic but he couldn’t keep up. Thankfully. Then we topped off our two hour dinner fare with free face painting by a lady who really face paints, not just stencils a pink flower. No, Little Miss Sunshine got a purple care bear complete with the outline and shading. Just like the older girl in line in front of her. She wanted a butterfly until she saw the care bear. And so, it was a (fairly) cheap night of fun. Everything was free except for dinner. Beats cooking.
I’m all about free, cheap and fun experiences for the family. Be on the lookout for more of our experiences that will hopefully spark ideas for your own family!
Filed under cheap & fun | Tags: cheap, dining, family, free, fun, kids | Comments (6)