Say it again, Mommy

Tonight I realized that I needed to spend some quality time with my son. Isaiah and Melora have been going to vacation Bible school every morning for the past five days, and they have had a blast. They have come home happy and exhausted, singing songs about David and Goliath and showing off their awesome crafts. But they have also been showing some strain from being away from home every day, which they aren't used to. Melora is really good at letting us know when she is beyond her limits. In fact, she's almost too good. It only takes one missed nap or a day's worth of being overlooked at home for Melora to break down and demand our attention in any form and by any means necessary. It's often frustrating in the moment to have so many tantrums over tiny issues, but I am truly glad my middle child isn't willing to let herself be overlooked. That's a gift from God when you are the in-betweener.

Isaiah, on the other hand, does not really let me know when he is being neglected or ignored. He trudges on and goes with the flow even when I have been giving 90% of my attention to his sisters. So it finally dawned on me tonight that since Melora has been demanding my snuggles and attention and reassurance, Isaiah probably wants it too, but he's just too darn polite to ask for it. So after I got the little girls to bed, I whispered to Isaiah that we were going to stay up late and play with Lincoln Logs.

We built a pretty awesome Fort Apache, if I do say so myself, and giggled together as Isaiah got sillier and sillier. Finally, when he was no longer doing anything but knocking down towers and collapsing in paroxysms of laughter at my pretend-angry came, we climbed into his bed and prayed together and then snuggled for a while. Finally, I kissed his forehead and told him goodnight. Then I said,
"Isaiah, I love you. And I will love you every day that you live."
He was quiet, and I got up to turn out the light and leave. Then, before I closed the door he said,
"Mommy? Will you say that again tomorrow?"

We aren't tapeworms

We have been without internet for almost a week here in the Walz household. Almost a week without internet seems like a year in some ways (like when I look at the mountain of e-mails waiting for me in my in-box,) but in other ways it's not quite enough. Our internet was knocked out during construction on our house, and so at first it seemed like nothing but an inconvenience. However, as the days passed without the lure of facebook and mindless clicking, I began to see it as a blessing forced on us. We have been playing more board games, puzzles, hide-and-seek, and tackle. We have gone outside more, become more creative and productive, and we've just talked more. My goal for the summer is to use the internet in more moderation to wean myself away from the parts that suck my time and intentionality away.

So, in light of the fact that I have a lot of catching up to do about our week plus since I last posted, I'll just write down a few highlights and some of my favorite kid quotes:

We visited our pediatrician for Clara's 15th month check-up and my regular confidence booster shots. I absolutely adore our doctor for so many reasons, but one of the big ones (and I feel pretty silly admitting this) is for how much she gushes about the kids. Even though we are in for visits every two to three months, she always acts floored by how cute they are or how biiiiig their eyes are, or how smart they are or how strong or how well behaved or talented or sweet...and she has nothing but compliments for my parenting. I have to say that complimenting a mom and her kids beyond all reason is a very smart trick. She wouldn't even have to be a good doctor for me to like her, but luckily she is also great at what she does.

Melora and Isaiah began VBS (Vacation Bible School) on Monday and have been spending the mornings away and playing with their friends while learning some of the cutest Bible songs I've ever heard. I bought the CD in the hopes the my kids would memorize the hilarious pop-rap that lists the books of the Bible. It's called the Bible bop, and if they get it down, I promise to post a video of them singing it...wearing rock-star sunglasses. For now, Melora won't sing any of the songs to me because she's "not really a good singer of those songs." She also doesn't tell me much of what she does during her time there, although she was quick to point out that they did not watch any movies. This was unacceptable. I pointed out that she doesn't get to watch movies every day, and she gave me a look that was plainly exasperated because I just don't understand. Get used to it Melora.

Isaiah was playing a word-finding game with Michael on his i-pod and discovered the Gid is actually a word. We felt compelled to look it up in the dictionary, and found out that it's a pretty disgusting disease that sheep get when tapeworms plant their larvae into a sheep's brain and/or spinal cord. Of course, then Isaiah needed to look up the definition for tapeworm, and he couldn't stop giggling as he read it. Now one of his favorite jokes it just to blurt out "tapeworm" and watch for my cartoonishly disgusted face or horrified jump backwards. Apparently he has discovered, like so many little boys before him, that gross things are funny. He did want to reassure me, though (since he's not quite sure how weak my constitution is, I guess) and so he sweetly wrapped his arms around me and said, "Thank goodness we aren't tapeworms." Yes dear, thank goodness.