TTT - The Holy Ghost, a Tomcat, and a Misplaced Prepositional Phrase

~ David at the Frontier Culture Museum last week

We have a friend, Kevin the Painter, who likes to tease a lot; and as a result, he himself gets teased in return.  I think if Gary Chapman ever revises his love languages book, he'll have to add Teasing as #7 (right behind Food, which is #6...Jeff knows that if he really wants to show me his love, he can bring me a carton of blackberries and let me eat them ALL BY MYSELF).  :)  Anyway, we've eaten with Kevin at Cracker Barrel a few times; and you know how they put all that old stuff--farming tools, signs, family pictures, etc.--on the walls?  Well, there's this old portrait of a stern-looking couple on the wall at our Cracker Barrel, right by the table that we always seem to get; and Jeff started teasing Kevin that the people in the picture were his parents.  My boys haven't let the joke die yet.  That led into this conversation:
David (age 5) to Kevin:  When my mom and dad die, do you think they'll get their picture up in Cracker Barrel?
Kevin (age 54):  Yes, and I want to be the one to take the picture.
Josiah (age 8):  You won't be alive any more.
David:  You'll be with the Holy Ghost!
Only with Kevin could I let my boys have this kind of conversation!

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One evening around the supper table, David blurted out this question about his 2 year-old brother, "What do you think Tobin will be when he grows up?"    Jeff and I and my parents were all wondering how to answer that, "Uh, maybe he'll be a fireman...or a doctor...or a construction worker...or a...?"  But then David added, "A tomcat?"  What???  All we could do was laugh.

Turns out he was thinking about his own experience of playing soccer this season for the Cheetahs; and he was assuming that when Tobin gets a little older, he'll want to play soccer, too.  David was asking which team we thought Tobin would be assigned to.  It had absolutely nothing to do with occupation, but the way he phrased the question made all of us adults think in one direction...while his own thoughts were traveling in a different one!

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Jeff's mom flew in from California recently for a four-week stay with us; and the boys' excitement, in the days leading up to her arrival, just grew and grew.  When we pulled into the parking lot at the airport, Josiah said, "My heart feels like it's going to burst!"  David one-upped his brother by exclaiming, "My heart feels like it's going to come out of my tongue!"

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David LOVES affection.  Spoken words of love, physical touches of love--both of these make him thrive; and you can almost see him soaking it in like water into a sponge and positively glowing as a result.  Every once in a while, he and I play the "I Love You More" game, where one of us says, "I love you so much," and the other says, "I love you more," and the first one says, "No, I love you more," and back and forth--a silly, but endearing, argument.  One day recently as we went around and around, I thought, "I'll clinch this argument once and for all."  I told him triumphantly, "I loved you before you were born!"  Undaunted, he retorted gleefully, "I loved you before you were born!!"  Hmmm...and how exactly is that possible, wise guy?  :)

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The next two are not exactly Tiny Talk Tuesday conversations--more like Not-So-Tiny Talk Tuesday.  But they are spoken things from my household that made me laugh, so I'll break all the rules (sorry, Mary!) and include them here.  :)

For those who don't regularly read my blog and don't know this already, my parents live just down the hill from us and eat supper with us nearly every evening.  Here's a fact that very few of you know:  my parents consume huge quantities of vitamins (and have for years...that's literally how I came about!...but that's another story), so every evening at supper, they pull out a pill bottle for each of them that holds their allotted vitamins--and a few "regular" pills--for that meal.  One evening, a pill was randomly discovered on the table at the end of the meal, and it wasn't immediately clear whose it was.  I couldn't tell if it was "real" medicine or a vitamin, but apparently Dad quickly ascertained that it was a vitamin and he said to Mom, "It might be mine, but you can have it."  Generous of him, wasn't it?  I thought to myself, "That's such an old people thing to do!"  I don't consider my parents old!!  But watching them made me think ahead to the days when Jeff and I, Lord willing, will be an old couple together:  missing teeth perhaps, maybe a little hard of hearing, tottering around with canes.  I want to have the kind of easy companionship that can spot a roll-away pill and say, "It might be mine, but you can have it!"

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This one points out my own shortcomings.  First, let me say that I LOVE grammar, and I entered college as an English major (and exited with a music degree, but that's beside the point).  Jeff takes special pleasure in catching me making grammatical mistakes; and I sure made a doozy the other night.  He was wrestling with the boys on the couch; and I, knowing that intense wrestling/tickling sessions sometimes lead to a loss of bladder control in young bodies, asked, "Does anyone need to go to the bathroom on the couch?"  Oh, the danger of misplaced prepositional phrases!  Let me try that again:  Does anyone on the couch need to go to the bathroom?  Ah, yes.  Much better.  And please don't take my earlier question literally!  ;-)

Check out Mary at Not Before 7 for more Tiny Talk Tuesday.

TTT - Slobber and an Unbiblical View of Retaliation

In just a few days, David will officially be five and a half, a wonderful age for Tiny Talk Tuesday fodder!  :)  Like these things that escaped his mouth recently and made me smile...

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David: "Why do you put slobber on me..." (at this point, I was thinking, "WHAT are you talking about?!") "...when my face is dirty?"

Me: "Because that's how mommies clean their babies. Think about cats. And lions. And...and...other animals. They lick their babies to clean them. So when your face is dirty and I don't have water or a wipe or anything else to clean it with, I use my saliva on my finger."

David: "It's called saliva?"

Me: "Yes."

David: "I thought it was slobber."

Me: "Well, saliva is the proper word for it. When I need to clean your face, would you prefer for me to use some of your own saliva on my finger to do it?"

David: "Yes!"

Me (in my thoughts): "Whew, problem solved. Whatever floats your boat, kid." :)  And for the record, it's not like I often clean his face this way!!

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During a dispute (with Tobin, I'm sure...they are currently the Sandpaper Boys, rubbing each other abrasively so many times a day)...

Me: "What did Jesus tell us to do? When someone hits us on one cheek..."

David: "Turn around and hit him on the other cheek??"

Well, not exactly. In fact, not even close.


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Check out Mary at Not Before 7 for more Tiny Talk Tuesday.

TTT - That's Heaven?!

It's been ages (Josiah, my literalist, would correct me and say, "No, Mom, you haven't even been alive for ages.") since I did a TTT post.  I just haven't had my ears tuned into my boys' conversations...or my pencil ready to jot down their comments before they slip my mind.  But this past week, I did happen to notice--and write down--a few things that David said that made me smile.

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Take a little Bible knowledge and a little scientific knowledge, mix them in the brain of a five year-old, and this might come out:  David asked, "When Jesus goed (he still needs to remember to say "went") through the clouds, did He get wet?"  I wasn't sure what angle to use in my response so I employed the classic you've-got-me-stumped-but-I-don't-want-you-to-know-it response.  "Hmmm, that's a great question!" I answered.  "What do YOU think?"  This answer is second in popularity only to the profound, "You'll have to wait and ask God when you get to heaven."

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Speaking of heaven...

We just finished reading The Jesus Storybook Bible together (and I loved it, by the way!); and when we got to the last story about John's exile on the island of Patmos and his vision of heaven, I opened the book to that page and read the title, "A Dream of Heaven."  David took one look at the picture and burst out with an incredulous, "That's heaven????"  It was obvious from his voice that he was keenly disappointed; clearly it didn't even come close to his expectations!  He was mighty relieved when I (laughingly, I couldn't help it) explained that it was actually showing the island where John was imprisoned.  And yes indeed, heaven will be far better than that!

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Check out Mary at Not Before 7 for more Tiny Talk Tuesday.

TTT - Christians in the Bible?

Both Josiah and David attended Vacation Bible School last week, and the theme was Paul in Rome. One day as Josiah was reporting to me what he had done and learned, he said in a tone of genuine wonder, "I didn't know Christians were in the Bible!" I nearly had a coughing fit as I tried to hide my laughter, and I was so surprised by what he said that I asked him to repeat himself three or four times to make sure I heard it correctly. By way of explanation since I kept wanting to hear his comment over and over, he added, "I didn't know Christianity stretched back that far!" Oh, dear boy, what would the entire New Testament be about, if not Christianity??? :)

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"Ooooo, that's DISGUSTING!" Josiah exclaimed from the backseat of our van as we drove through town yesterday after I had picked him up from soccer camp.

"What is?" I asked, since I had no idea whatsoever what he might be talking about.

His answer made me laugh. "That guy's pants were falling down, and his underwear was sticking out!!!"

"Did he have a shirt on?" I wondered.

"No. And his pants were down to HERE!" Josiah replied. I couldn't see, from the driver's seat, where his "here" was, but I could imagine.

For Josiah, the thought of anyone seeing his underwear is horrifying at this stage of life, so it's no surprise that he was shocked by such a blatant display. :)

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As we were driving in the car this morning, having dropped off Josiah at soccer camp, I took the opportunity to have a little motherly chat with David about appropriate behavior and boundaries between boys and girls. That led to a discussion about what is OK and what isn't, and I realized that it's an entirely different thing to be asked "Is it OK to kiss a girl?" by a five year-old than by a 15 year-old! At one point in the conversation, David was reminding me that he is going to marry Joelle; and he said the sweetest thing: "I've really kind of fallen in love with her." What do you know of falling in love, my sweet Romeo?? :)

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Also in the car today, David said loudly, "Millie [one of Jeff's co-workers] is part cow!!"

"What in the world is he talking about?" I thought; and I was getting ready to reprimand him for being so unkind, when it occurred to me that I'd better dig deeper to see what prompted that comment.

"What did you mean, David, when you said Millie is part cow?" I asked, in what I hoped was a casual, sweet voice.

His explanation made perfect sense. "Remember when she had that surgery, and they put a piece of a cow in her?"

Ah, yes! I do remember! She had heart surgery, and they put in a new valve. I hadn't remembered that it came from a cow, but perhaps it did. He must have heard someone mention that for it to stick in his head that way. Regardless, he'll have to learn that it's not the most tactful thing to talk about someone being "part cow!" :)

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Check out Mary at Not Before 7 for more Tiny Talk Tuesday.

TTT - Texicans and Arber Bops

Josiah recently read a book about the Alamo; and as he was telling me about it, he kept referring to the "Texicans." Hmm...now which side exactly did the Texicans fight on? And who was their leader? Regardless, I'd say Texicans is potentially a very useful term. In the same spirit, I think I'll start telling Josiah, who was born in California but now lives in Virginia, that he's a Caliginian. Or maybe a Virfornian. :)

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Tobin's language skills are blossoming, reminding me daily how much I appreciate this stage of childhood, when suddenly the child can communicate and, for the most part, make himself understood. It eliminates so much frustration!

I know this isn't highly significant to anyone else, but I want to remember how he says certain things. Here are some of his common mispronunciations:

moomie = movie

beb = bed

bap = lap

it bap = sit on your lap

my urn = my turn (and when he says this, sometimes he pats himself on the chest to add emphasis to his statement)

ah-er = water

beep = Jeep

gook, Mommy = look, Mommy

ake urt me? = snake hurt me? (prompted by our snake encounter a few days ago)

Daddy home = Daddy home (of course!)...this is what he says whenever he's sad or gets in trouble...at this stage of life, Tobin's world revolves around his daddy; and if anything goes wrong, Tobin longs for his daddy to come to the rescue!

And my personal favorite:

arber bop = barber shop

With each of the boys, there is a word or two they said that becomes an ingrained part of our family consciousness. For example, Josiah said "ickabee" for ambulance, David said "gwink" for drink, and now Tobin says "arber bop." I've been having fun teasing Tobin about how he says it, and so far he doesn't mind a bit but gives his big charming grin when I talk about the "arber bop." If it starts to bother him, I'll certainly stop...but in my head, I think I'll still hear "arber bop." :)

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A few days ago, David was looking in a church directory that has our family picture in it (although it's outdated, since it only includes three sons!). He told me quite calmly and cheerfully, "Whenever Daddy dies, or whenever you die, I can just look at this picture, and--there you are!" Ah, yes, if only grief was that simple.

Often when we read books from the library, I'll open the book, stick my nose in it, sniff deeply, and say, "Smells like a book!" That wonderful smell is a treasured part of my childhood. Whenever I do that, whichever boys are close by have to also smell the book; and they usually have the same remark. David, however, went through a stage when he was younger in which he would smell the book, then enthusiastically exclaim, "Smells like an apple!" What?? Anyway, today I was holding Shav on the couch and David was right beside us, snuggled close as is his habit. Out of the blue, he leaned over, sniffed Shav's head, and announced, "Smells like a Shav!!" Well, that's a good thing. But what exactly does a Shav smell like anyhow? :)

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Check out Mary at Not Before 7 for more Tiny Talk Tuesday.

TTT - Women, Eggs, Mammals, Oh My!

On the morning of Josiah's 8th birthday, Jeff took him along as he climbed Mole Hill (Jeff's favorite prayer spot). As they went along, they enjoyed the beauty of nature, read some scriptures from Jeff's ever-present pocket Bible, prayed, and had a little father-son talk: a follow-up to this conversation I had long ago with Josiah.

Jeff and I felt like it was time. We wanted Josiah to hear the information from us (meaning, obviously, from Jeff!) before he discovered it in other ways. Jeff wanted the ability to give Josiah some information without going too deep. And so, as they walked, they talked about the birds and the bees.

I was very curious, of course, about how the talk had gone; and I was grateful for Jeff's report about it. The funniest part though occurred when Jeff told Josiah about women's eggs. Josiah was puzzled.

"If women have EGGS," he queried, "how are we mammals?"

I still smile every time I think about it. Smart boy! :)

Check out Mary at Not Before 7 for more Tiny Talk Tuesday.

TTT - Josiah's Mispronunciations

Josiah will turn eight next month; but he still has some mispronunciations that crack me up. Case in point:

~ We were studying the 50 states during this past year of homeschooling; and Josiah mentioned one I hadn't heard of before - New Hamster!

~ When referring to the last book of the Bible, Josiah calls it Revolution.

~ After coming home from Sunday school recently, I heard him singing to himself, "I may never march in the Calvary..." (instead of cavalry, in case you're unacquainted with that song).

~ During dinner with friends recently, Josiah was referring to his own mathematical abilities; and instead of calling himself a mathematician, he said he was a math magician.

~ Josiah knows my big summer project is completely organizing my kitchen, and today he asked me something about one of the cabinicks. He heard himself pronounce it wrong, then concentrated to correctly say, "Cabinets."

~ The substitution of "ick" as an ending occurs every time he says the word "pregnant." Recently he came to me while I was sitting in my glider rocking chair in a quiet moment with no one else around. He leaned his head on my arm and said, "I wish you were pregnick." I laughed and asked him why, and he replied that it's just so special to have a new baby growing. I agree, but I also realize that adding another one to the family means less time for the ones already born, so we talked about that for a bit. He told me that one time, he had a hard time with us having a new baby; and that was when Tobin was born. He said that the neighbor girls came over and didn't pay attention to Josiah because they were too busy looking at Tobin; plus, I wasn't as available for Josiah's needs as I had been previously. He remarked that he thought the hardest transition after a new baby was the one we all had to do after Tobin's birth...which was really interesting to me because if someone had asked me that question, I wouldn't have hesitated at all before saying that the adjustment after Shav was by far the most difficult! But I'm realizing that, probably because of the stage of life Josiah was in, Tobin's birth was the hardest for him, though not for me. Anyway, our conversation continued as Josiah earnestly told me that he wants...

...A SISTER!

Hmmmm...I'm not sure I can grant that particular request of his. He'll have to speak to One much more powerful than I to make that happen. ;)

Check out Mary at Not Before 7 for more Tiny Talk Tuesday.

TTT - Tobin Talk

As Tobin gets more verbal, I'm finding myself more and more amused by what comes out of his mouth. You just never know with a two year-old, do you? :)

Today I was getting the boys ready to go to the library and was telling Tobin about the adventure we were going to have. Tobin announced, "Mommy likes adventure!", a rather long sentence for him, but also an indication that, so far, he hasn't figured out that "adventure" is the word I use for events-that-I-think-will-be-challenging-but-I'm-trying-to-keep-a-good-attitude-about-it. If my fake enthusiasm helps me to approach difficult outings with a more cheerful heart, that's a good thing. And if my forced cheerfulness contributes to Tobin's happy heart, so much the better. After all, "Mommy likes adventure," right? Right? :)

On our way to the library, we pulled into Jeff's barbershop because David was going to stay there and help Jeff by sweeping hair (and give David the benefit of some one-on-one Daddy time). Tobin got excited and kept repeating, "Daddy home? Daddy home?" Whether that meant that he thought Daddy was coming home or that he thought the barbershop was indeed Daddy's home is still a mystery. :) When we simply dropped David off and didn't stay, Tobin cried and cried as we headed towards the library. He wanted so badly to see his daddy.

When we returned to the barbershop after our library jaunt, Tobin again said, "Daddy home?" And when we went inside, he was very glad to see Jeff.

Last evening when I was putting Tobin to bed, I went through a little ritual I have with him. It's my shameless attempt to get him to say to me, "I love you," something he's never done unprompted. I tell him, "Say 'I'," and he will. Then I go on, "love," and he says his version of "love." I end with a jubilant, "you," and he usually repeats it like a parrot. Last night, however, he repeated the "I" and the "love" just fine; but after I said "you" and was waiting for him to say "you" back, he grinned in his rascally little way and said...

"Daddy!" ;)

It's a wonderful thing to see how much this little one that I adore loves the Big One that I adore!

Check out Mary at Not Before 7 for more Tiny Talk Tuesday.

TTT - Girls' Belly Buttons

As we were finishing up a Bible Q&A book recently, the question came up about which island the apostle John was exiled to. Josiah's quick response was, "Passateague!" Uh...not exactly...but I can tell you've been studying Assateague Island recently...and I like your unique mixture of that with the correct answer of Patmos...so you win points for creativity at least...and also bonus points for making me laugh (and that goes a long way when you're a homeschooling mom!).

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One day over lunch, David announced out of the blue, "I'd rather have someone else die than me."

To clarify and expand on his thoughts, I probed further. "So, if it was a choice between you or me, you'd rather have me die?"

He nodded yes, and then added, "Plus, you're older."

Bonus points to you for honesty!

That led to a longer discussion about heaven which is always interesting because it's so subjective. David asked questions like, "Do you think we'll be able to walk on the sea?" and "What does 'walking with God' mean?" He brought up being like angels and having wings, then remarked about how all the angels wear all-white clothing (I'm not sure that's the case, but in his mind at least, it is). It sounds like it's going to be quite a sea of white, but David interjected, "Well, they might have name tags - so everyone can know which is which!"

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And the one that made me laugh the most:

We must have been looking at a book that had a picture of a girl with her belly button showing because somehow the conversation of girls' belly buttons came up. Josiah was sitting across the room, but his ears perked up at that, and he exclaimed in a voice laden with genuine shock, "I didn't know girls have belly buttons!!" With no daughters in the house, we're apparently a little shaky on our basic facts about girls. We're going to have to work on that... :)

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Check out Mary at Not Before 7 for more Tiny Talk Tuesday.

TTT - Jesus in the Barbershop

I was originally planning to spend a longer chunk of time blogging tonight, but using my "free time" to help my parents clean up their office basement after it flooded yesterday was more important (and fun, too!). So for now, I'll just post a quick TTT and call it a night.

For the past two years, Jeff played the part of Jesus in the Easter play of the church we were a part of; but this year, it's not being held - not because of Jeff's absence (there are other people who could play Jesus, after all) but because of other factors. Josiah and David were discussing this over lunch yesterday, but didn't quite have all the facts straight. It made me smile to hear this:

Josiah: They're not doing the Easter play.

David: Why?

Josiah: Because Jesus isn't around.

David (emphatically): Yes, He is! He's in the barbershop!

What a high compliment to Jeff that David so easily interchanges him and Jesus. :)

~ pictures of David taken during our "family Christmas" on Saturday

Check out Mary at Not Before 7 for more Tiny Talk Tuesday.

TTT - Your Mother's Flowers

Josiah is nearing the end of his second grade work, and one of the books we're finishing up is a Bible Q&A book that my parents gave him for Christmas. One of the pages we did recently had a fill-in-the-blank exercise, using some verses from Proverbs. He was doing great with this verse, "My child, listen to your father's teaching, and do not forget your mother's_______." However, instead of the correct answer "advice," he creatively came up with "flowers." Ah, yes, apparently God thought it was important enough that we remember our mother's flowers that He put it in the Bible. I like this new RJV* version!

* Revised Josiah Version

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This doesn't really qualify as TTT because it involves something the big man in my life said to me, rather than the little ones; but if I don't jot it down now, I'll probably forget it, and I don't want to do that, of course!

Last night, Jeff went to bed before I did, since I stayed up really late to try to catch up on some emails and other "urgent" matters. When I finally crawled under the covers, Jeff was on his side, facing away from me. He started moving around restlessly, turned over towards me, and then said in a scratchy, drunk-old-man voice, "It's not nice to get into bed when my back is turned!" Even though his voice was mumbly, I could understand him and assumed that he was actually awake. Through my laughter, I answered him, "What did you expect me to do? Sit here for an hour and wait for you to turn over so I could get into bed with you facing me?" He didn't say much, so I just laughed some more and then fell asleep.

Today he claims he doesn't remember anything about this conversation! Imagine that! :)

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Check out Mary at Not Before 7 for more Tiny Talk Tuesday.

TTT - A Girl Baby

David's prayer one day this week: Dear God, please help a girl baby to grow in Mommy's tummy!

My thoughts: I wouldn't want to damage his faith by praying directly opposite his request; but Lord, could you take your time with this one? We're in no hurry. No hurry at all! :)

Check out Mary at Not Before 7 for more Tiny Talk Tuesday.

TTT - Z's, Bless-You Boxes, and Milk Supply - Oh, My!

It's been a long time--too long--since I did a Tiny Talk Tuesday post. That, however, hasn't stopped my boys from saying the sometimes silly, sometimes wise, sometimes touching, sometimes hilarious things that are prone to come forth from the mouths of little ones. I wish I had been more faithful during the past weeks to jot down the things they say, things like...

...David asking for pecans one evening while we were eating supper. There were no pecans on the table and none in any food we were eating, so I was a little confused about his reason for asking for them. He knows that we don't treat our kitchen like a restaurant, with everyone free to order whatever they want to eat. We did have some pecans downstairs in the freezer in the garage, but I didn't plan to rush right down there and get some for him--at least, not until he ate everything on his plate. My confusion disappeared when he said, "Pecans! Like in the salad!" and gestured to the salad bowl in the center of the table. Aha! You mean CROUTONS, David Dear! And yes, you may have some. :)

...David saying a little wistfully one evening over supper as he was anticipating his soon-coming bath, "I wish Grandma and Grandpa could have a bath." The thought of my parents crowded into the bathtub with all of my boys made me giggle, but I laughed even harder when I saw the picture David drew of Grandma and Grandpa in the bathtub. He only put the two of them in it, and they were facing each other and had big smiles on their faces. I wish I could have taken a picture of it to post here, but his stick figures were much too anatomically correct to be shown here. That boy loves to crack us all up, and he certainly succeeded that night!

...David declaring with determination, "I'll never write 'Z's' all over everything again!" If you remember the infamous Zorro incident, you'll know why this was such a relief to me. :) Whew, at least he's learned that particular lesson well!

...Josiah telling me about a piece he had been playing on the piano. That day, he had been practicing "Jesus Loves Me" and "Mary Had a Little Lamb," so I guess it was no surprise that when he opened his mouth to announce the song, he jumbled it and it came out, "Jesus Had a Little Lamb"!

...Josiah discussing what we should do when we sneeze. I was reminding the boys that they should aim into their elbow to catch the germs, rather than letting their sneeze spray out into the room or even sneezing into their hands. Josiah piped up and said, "What we need is a Bless-You Box!"

...Josiah announcing earnestly one evening, "When I grow up, I don't want to have too many electric things." Earlier that day, he had been playing outside with "the girls" (our next-door neighbors who happen to be Old Order Mennonites), so I knew his statement was motivated by his admiration for them and desire to fit into their culture. I decided to just go with it though, so I said, "I'd like to live a simpler life, too! What do you think we could get rid of? What would you like to live without?" He hemmed and hawed and came up with TV (we don't have one) and video games (don't have them either...not an X-Box, a Wii, a PlayStation, or even an old Atari). I could tell he was really searching his brain to find something to say. He quickly looked around the kitchen, saw my trusty ol' crockpot on the counter, and said, "The crockpot! We could get rid of that!" :)

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Since I'm on the subject of humorous conversation, I have to write down something that happened tonight during supper because in years to come, I know I'll need to read this and laugh all over again, even though it's slightly humiliating. This particular conversation didn't involve any of my sons, just my dad and I.

Out of the blue, I heard Dad ask me, "How's your milk supply?" I was a little surprised and puzzled, but I didn't hesitate long before saying, "Uh, it's fine. I haven't been pumping recently, but..." And then it dawned on me. Dad was NOT inquiring about how many ounces of breast milk I've been producing recently. No, not at all. Instead, he was simply wondering if we had enough milk--cow's milk--to last through this next snowstorm; and if not, should we go get milk tonight? My answer caught him as off-guard as his question caught me! The worst part of it was that we had a guest here for supper. Kevin, the painter, was sharing our meal of Santa Fe Chicken Soup, so he got to hear this nice little exchange. I was SO embarrassed! I immediately threw my apron up over my face, not only to hide my flamin' beet-red color, but also because I was laughing so hard I was crying. I definitely should have been "slower to speak" in response to that particular question, at least until I understood what my dad was actually asking me!! :)

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Check out Mary at Not Before 7 for more Tiny Talk Tuesday.

TTT - A New Name for the Sit and Spin

On our way to Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving, I was sitting beside David (age 4) in the van; and I enjoyed the chance to spend some time talking with--and listening to--him. At one point he said, "I had a dream about a daddy deer and a mommy deer and there were cubs and a nest..." OK, so baby deer are called cubs, and they live in a nest? Looks like we need to spend a little more time on science in our homeschool curriculum!

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We were discussing the plans for our next family night; and since it's in honor of me, I need to decide where we'll eat. David was surprised that I started mentioning restaurants and questioned me, "Aren't YOU supposed to be the cooker??" The pressure cooker, maybe. ;)

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Somewhere along the way as we were riding along he said sweetly, "I want you to live close to my house when I grow up." That boy melts my heart on a daily basis.

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On another occasion, the boys and I were playing in the living room together one evening while we waited for Jeff to get home from work, and Josiah (age 7) blurted out, "Tobin's been too long on the Spit and Sin!" The Spit and Sin? Hmmm. Now that's a ride I wouldn't want to spend much time on!

Check out Mary at Not Before 7 for more Tiny Talk Tuesday.

TTT - What Beautiful Is

David often has a song on his lips, and I love to hear the music that pours forth from him. Recently I heard him singing a unique version of the Doxology: instead of "Praise God from Whom all blessings flow..." he was singing, "Praise God, all Mumaw, blessings flow!" This is understandable, considering that the Mumaw family goes to our church and is good friends of ours. I'll have to tell them that David's been commanding them to praise God! :)

At lunch one day, my boys and I were sitting around talking about things that are beautiful. David suddenly turned to me and said almost gruffly, "I'll show you what beautiful is..." Then he smiled his trademark grin, jabbed his finger straight at me, and said, "You!" Goodness gracious, where does he come up with this stuff? I asked the little sweetheart where he had learned that line, and he said, "Nowhere." If he's this romantic at four years of age, what's he going to be like when he's 17??? He must take after his daddy... ;)

Check out Mary at Not Before 7 for more Tiny Talk Tuesday.

TTT - Sometimes Funny, Sometimes Serious

It's been a while since I've written a Tiny Talk Tuesday post, but this boy...

...hasn't stopped opening his mouth and blurting out things that I want to be able to read about when I'm 85 years old, drinking iced tea, and sitting in a rocking chair on my front porch.

Things like...

"When you pass gas when you're pooping, you don't have to say 'Excuse me'." He said this from the bathroom where he was...ahem...taking care of business; and as his little voice drifted out to the kitchen where I was, I thought, "Well, at least he's getting this etiquette thing figured out." :)

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A few weeks ago, my parents' car broke down, so we picked up my mom to take her to run a few errands, and my dad stayed with the car until the tow truck got there; we reconnected with him later. As we were making our way through Walmart, Mom was pushing a cart with David and Shav in it, and I had Josiah and Tobin with me. We happened to meet an old friend of mine, Maretta, and we stopped to chat for a few minutes. She remarked to David about how nice it was that Grandma was with him and was pushing his cart, and then he proceeded to explain to her the reason Grandma was with us: namely, that her car had broken down. All of us adults had basically tuned him out and were doing the "smile and nod" thing to him as we tried to continue our grown-up conversation, so as he went on with his explanation, Maretta absentmindedly said, "Oh, that's nice." He got our full attention quickly when he blurted out with a significant amount of indignation, "No, that is NOT nice!" We had to smooth his ruffled feathers and assure him that Maretta didn't think it was nice that the car had broken down, but that she did think it was nice that Grandma could be at Walmart with us. :)

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On another day, our friend Robin Zook was here to practice a piece of music with me. Josiah and David were having quiet time; but after Robin and I finished practicing, I told them they could come down and say hi to her. "Hi" turned into an extended conversation which covered quite a few topics; but at one point, David was sitting on her lap and asked her if she would marry him. (I guess he forgot that he's supposed to be engaged to Joelle!) Robin laughed and told him that she couldn't marry him because she already has a husband (not to mention the fact that she has children that are 4 and 5 times older than David). David's innocent reply: "You can have TWO husbands!" Oh, dear David, polyandry is really not an option. :)

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Besides the humorous stuff that David says, recently there have been plenty of serious conversations as well; and these are just as precious and note-worthy to me as the lighter quips. For example, David has talked a lot about good guys and bad guys, the good side and the bad side, etc. I couldn't help but think of Star Wars when he asked me one day, "Will you promise me that you'll never go to the bad side?" I smiled a bit as I earnestly promised him that I would never, ever do that.

Another conversation along these lines came about when he asked, "Are there bad people becoming good every day?" I answered him that yes, there are bad people making the decision to change and follow God every day; but I also added that people are being born every day, and they will have to decide when they grow up if they are going to follow God. Like Shav--he will have to make that decision someday to stay on the good side and be part of God's family. David was worried about Shav making the wrong choice, so I stopped what I was doing and we prayed for Shav to decide to follow God so he can go to heaven, too. We started talking about missionaries and how David can be God's messenger to the lost and help bad guys become good guys. David had one concern; he asked, "If I'm a missionary, can I still play-fight and have plastic swords?" :)

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And here's a conversation that touched my heart in a very deep way...

Out of the blue on our way to Josiah's violin lesson one Wednesday afternoon, David spoke up from the backseat of the minivan and asked, "Why doesn't God give us a shorter life? Because I want to go to heaven pretty soon!"

We talked about how some people DO have a short life, like Rein, the grandson of our interim pastor. We talked about how old he was when he died: four (just like David).

Then David said, "I wish I was him."

I told David about how God has a special job for him to do here on earth, like maybe there is a special lady for him to marry, special children for them to raise, and people that David needs to tell about Jesus so that they can go to heaven, too. David wanted to know if God had a special job for Josiah, too. I assured him that God has a special job--or purpose--for everyone, even Shav, little though he is; and when our special job is done, God lets us go to heaven.

It's interesting to me how much David thinks and talks about heaven; heaven is very real to him. It was also interesting to me that, while many people were mourning Rein's death, here was David, ENVYING him. May I have such simple, childlike, confident, eager-to-see-God-face-to-face faith!

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Check out Mary at Not Before 7 for more Tiny Talk Tuesday.

TTT - Old Grannies in Heaven?

One night as he was getting ready for bed, Josiah asked me whether there was an even or an odd number of people in the United States...except instead of using the word "even," he said "equal," (as in, "is there an equal number of people in the US?") It took me a moment to figure out what he was talking about. "Equal to what?" I wondered; but after I realized his meaning, I thought that it really did make sense for him to say "equal" because in other situations, "even" and "equal" could be used somewhat interchangeably--for example, I divided the candy corn evenly between Josiah and David means that I divided it equally. Anyway, to answer his question, I told him that I had no idea whether there was an even or odd number of people in our country right that moment because it was changing every second. Babies were being born, people were dying, travelers were leaving and entering the US--only God could possibly know the answer. Kids are so creative and out-of-the-box in what they wonder about and ask!

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One day when we were talking about our favorite instruments, David said, "All I want to play is the drums...and the guitar...and the violin...and the piano." And then he added, "Oh, and the microphone." The microphone? He held an imaginary one to his mouth as if to help me get the concept. Nice. Yes, my boy, with your flair for entertainment, I can see you "playing a microphone" very skillfully.

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David: I don't want to be fingernail-cutted!

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While looking at a family picture that hangs on our wall and includes a picture of David when he was a few months old, David said in his funny mixed-up grammar, "Who looks like Shav is that little guy." It was a statement, not a question. I asked, "Who is that little guy?" And he answered, "Me, but it looks like Shav!" I guess he's just agreeing with the blog readers who have remarked on the similarity between the two of them.

Later that day, David said with feeling, "I just wish Shav was a girl so I could mmmmmmarry him!"

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David inquired of me, "Do you think in heaven, we'll be kids or old grannies?"

Not desiring at the moment to delve into the impossibility of him ever being an old granny, I fell back on my standard answer when confronted with such important questions, "I don't know; what do you think?"

"I think we're going to be kids because old grannies would be like, 'No, I don't want to play'," he responded.

I pressed further, "So we're going to play a lot in heaven?"

"Yes!" was his enthusiastic reply.

Of course.

Check out Mary at Not Before 7 for more Tiny Talk Tuesday.

TTT - Marriage, a Milkstache, and Lovin' on Shav

One day recently, David and Josiah and I were having one of the "who am I going to marry?" discussions that occasionally occur around here. The first thing we had to establish was who they COULDN'T marry: specifically, sons can't marry their mother (although I think it's so sweet that they would even want to). :) Josiah was pretty clear on this point because we've had this conversation before, so he was helping David understand that moms are off-limits when it comes to marriage. I was trying to plant good seeds in David's head and heart by telling him that when a man likes a woman, the first thing he needs to do is make her his best friend, like Daddy and I are best friends. He very seriously nodded and said, "I'll try to." And then it was asked by someone (I can't remember who asked it) who his best friend is, and his response--of course--was Joelle Sacra. Then someone suggested that he could marry her; and again, so seriously and intently, he nodded and said, "I'll ask her." Maybe he's forgotten that she already asked him (in Sunday school, as a matter of fact). ;)

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David was drinking some milk and wondered aloud whether any of it had stayed on his upper lip to give him a milk mustache. But when the question came out of his mouth, he came up with a cool little abbreviation, saying, "Do I have a milkstache?" Makes sense to me! :)

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This afternoon Shav was fussing, and David got down beside him to comfort him. He began talking to him and started by using something he learned straight from my dad whose phrase of choice when crooning to fussy little ones is, "It's not all that bad." I say, "It's OK, Shav," but Dad says, "It's not all that bad"...and today, David followed suit, saying in a loving sing-song voice, "It's not all that bad, Shav." Then he added, "I'm your brother! I'm your brother!" Words of comfort indeed. :)

David has come up with a nickname for Shav. He calls him "Shavvie" or "Shavo." I'm not sure if either of those will stick or not, but I do believe I heard Jeff saying "Shavvie" the other day. :)

My nickname for Shav (well, one of many silly names I call him) is Sugarlump Shav. Why? Because...he's just so sweet!

Here are David and Shav a few days ago, doing some brotherly bonding. David LOVES to get in the playpen with Shav and entertain him. I love when he does it, too. :)
Check out Mary at Not Before 7 for more Tiny Talk Tuesday.

TTT - The Ten Commandments

Last Friday evening, we were sitting around the supper table with our visiting friends Steve and Claire and their two children James and Brielle. Jeff, as is his custom, read a short devotional before we prayed and began to eat; and the topic on that night was the Ten Commandments. After we started eating, I asked the boys if they could name one of the Ten Commandments. I knew Josiah would be able to come up with something; but it was David who spoke up first with this reply, "Ummm...brush your teeth?" :) Well, no, not exactly, my dear boy; but I am glad that you realize the importance of good dental hygiene!

My amusement continued when Josiah said, "That could go under 'Honor your father and mother'!" True, true. It certainly could. :)

My parents were eating with us, of course; and as soon as Dad heard the conversation, he said, "Sounds like a TTT to me!" I laughed and reached for a pencil and paper to write it all down. These bits of conversation are too precious to let slip away.

Check out Mary at Not Before 7 for more Tiny Talk Tuesday.

TTT - Like a Snake!

David, being four years old, is at that wonderful age of expressing himself so freely that I'm consistently provided with plenty of Tiny Talk Tuesday fodder! Here are some things I jotted down from this past week...

One evening we were playing outside; and as I was pushing him on the swing, he suddenly burst forth into jubilant singing. The lyrics of his homemade song were...ummm...inspiring? He sang joyfully, "Oh, I wish I could scratch my back!" :) Well, my boy, it's a good thing you're just wishing that and not doing it, because if you were, you would probably fall off the swing. David's frequent musical outbursts often remind me of something that one of my music professors, Dr. Landis, used to say: if you don't spontaneously have a song in your mind at least once a day, you shouldn't even think about studying music or trying to make a career of it. With David's regular pattern of making music--whether composing his own little ditties, singing something he's learned, or simply humming a tune he's heard before--I'd say he could meet that qualification of being a musician quite easily!

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Over supper one evening, David was trying to get Jeff to guess the name of a new friend David had met that day. He said, "Guess what his name is! You have 10 guesses." So Jeff started saying various names; but before he had even gotten to 10, David wanted to give him a hint so he helpfully said, "It starts with..." But then he stopped, because he wasn't sure what the first letter of the name really was. Suddenly he blurted out, "What does Kevin start with?" Fortunately David wasn't offended when we all burst out laughing at how he had given his secret away, and he even joined heartily in the merriment. He likes to make us laugh, he does!

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On Sunday evening, Jeff killed a snake in our yard. That's a whole other story, and I hope to post about that someday soon...but I do want to record here that David, being the brave adventurer that he is, wanted to touch it. He must get that part of his nature from his daddy because the very thought of touching a snake makes my heart rate escalate--and not in a good way. Anyway, after he touched it, I asked him what it felt like, wondering what kind of a descriptor he would use for it. With an enormous amount of excitement reflected in his eyes and his voice, David exclaimed, "Pretty much like a snake!" Profound, my boy; that's profound. :)

Here's the fearless boy, actually holding the snake by the tail--holding half of the snake, that is, because Jeff chopped it in two in the process of killing it. At this point, the body of the snake was still wiggling around like they do after they're dead; it didn't freak David out too much though. Josiah, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with touching that creepy thing. See how he's in the background, armed and dangerous with a hoe, ready to attack the vile creature again if it should suddenly come back to life? He's a boy after my own heart. Jeff struck the snake three times, convincingly killing it--it was in two pieces, after all. I would have struck it at least 50 times--and more, if it needed it. :)

Check out Mary at Not Before 7 for more Tiny Talk Tuesday.