Change Please

My good friend came to visit me this weekend as both our husbands are away at the moment. Tonight after taking the girls to Children's Choir, we came home and I was in the process of yelling at them to get into their pajamas. It was at that point that my friend and I had not participated in our tradition, a trip to Yogurt Mill...

Being the cool mommy, I told the girls to put on shoes and get their coats on, we were going somewhere... Katie was sporting her peace pjs with her black over the calf boots and her winter coat... she rocked the look... Kassie was sporting her pink night gown, and tennis shoes and her winter coat. I didn't tell them where we were going so the girls turned into little detectives. Katie grabbed her notebook and red pen and both started asking me questions...a million questions... all the way to Yogurt Mill... Such a good memory moment.

As normal, there is always a person begging for extra change as you exit. I told him I didn't have any change but... I reached into my purse and pulled out a gift card to McDonald's. As we walked away, Katie looked at me and said, "mom, good job loving your neighbor!" This made me smile more than the act of giving the gift card away... and then a dialogue was then opened for us to talk about how God had put it on my heart to buy gifts cards and the reasoning behind them...

See at church we have been doing an in depth study of the Jesus Creed.

Here oh Israel, The Lord our God, the Lord is One
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul,
with all your mind and all your strength, the second is this
Love your neighbor as yourself, there is no commandment
greater than these.

As a parent, I strive to teach my children life lessons and have the responsibility to mold them spiritually. Little did I know that one simple act of kindness would have resonated so well in one little 8 year old's mind, life applications, the best way to teach a lesson. Katie made me a proud mommy to see her notice a Jesus Creed moment. Love that child:-)

It was a Flat Stanley Kinda Day!

We started the day today in any sort of normal Saturday style... kids getting up too early for my taste for a Saturday morning. Luckily they are old enough to be able to turn on morning cartoons and fix a limited breakfast... Except, Kassie HAD to inform me that she slept into exactly 7:11 AM... Yeah for her, but I wanted to sleep until 8:30...

We have this sort of silly, yet fun assignment in 2nd grade where we have to take Flat Stanley around with us and write down his adventure... I had grand ideas, but always kept forgetting to take him with us... so today, we were venturing to the park with friends so what a fun it would be to introduce Flat Stanley to. So we packed up the car with our bikes and headed out.

Our first stop was to the bank... he was so excited to leave the house... of course I asked the teller before taking his picture with Katie. I didn't really want for anyone to think we were up to anything bad:-)

Our next stop was to the ever famous McDonald's. I had promised the girls that since we had been so good the last week about cooking and eating at home they could have a treat for lunch. Flat Stanley was thrilled to see this famous place. Kassie was quick to show him the toys that go into the Happy Meals, and Katie explained what he could order, but decided one of our chicken nuggets would equal about 20 in his size so he would pass.

We took our lunch to the park where we had a picnic lunch. Flat Stanley loved the nibble of nuggets and fries, and enjoyed laying in the warm sun.

Wait, he found friends at the park... It was a Flat Stanley play date! So much fun they had playing in the sand, sliding on slides and chasing each other around!

The best part for Flat Stanley was being able to ride in the front pouch of Katie's bike. Katie was extremely scared and nervous and didn't want her mommy to let go of the handle bars. After several melt downs, mommy had to just let Katie and Flat Stanley play on the playground.

When it was almost time to leave, Katie's friend Audrey said, "hey, let's ride our bikes to the car"... and guess what? Katie did... all by herself, on 2 wheels alone!!! Flat Stanley was happy to be back in her front pouch sharing in this historic adventure... AND Katie had such a proud mommy too!