Eat, Pray, Love

Disclaimer: This is not a Christian book.

Those who know me best know I don't read a lot of Christian authors. Mostly because I don't prefer Christian fiction, and I am by nature a novel lover. I have started reading a little more non-fiction by Christian authors, mostly because the older I get, the more I realize how clueless, helpless, (insert another synonym here), and lost I am when it comes to the fact that I am actually responsible for 2 human beings on this earth.

Anyway, I just finished reading this non-fiction piece of secular writing and I couldn't put it down. It was an adventure. It was eye-opening. It was a lot of crazy world views. Although there is so much I disagree with in this book, I have to say I agree whole heartedly with 2 major themes:

1 -- Food is divine (and I wish I could experience more)

2 -- Everyone should discover their purpose and their place in this lifetime

A Perfect Afternoon

We had a fabulous day last week. I haven't mentioned much about it here, but I've started babysitting my neighbors' kids fulltime, and because of that, I don't get out anymore. Having 5 kids everyday makes it impossible to be on the go the way I once was. But it's only temporary, so it's okay for now. Anyway, I had a day off last week because Jake had a Kindergarten visiting day. It was only a couple of hours, and since I had the entire afternoon off, my friend suggested we go to the park for a picnic and then over to Slate Run Historical Farm. I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend my one free afternoon! We had the best day. First of all, it felt so good to be out in the fresh air, eating a picnic lunch, which the kids and I love to do. It was our first one of 2008 and I'm looking forward to lots more. Second, I've been hearing about Slate Run since I got to Columbus and we just hadn't made it there yet. It's the coolest place for my kids ages and they had a blast. I felt like the day was our kickoff for spring and summer this year.

Rowan (the little guy), Ella, Rory, Jake, Silas, and Quinn

These are our new friends. Their middle two kids are the same ages as Rory and Jake, so we have fun together. Jake and Quinn claim to be best friends, which is very cute.

Kid Conversation

Pretty much the only thing that could drag me from watching The Office last night was my kid losing his first tooth. This really snuck up on me. I've never even mentioned teeth falling out, tooth fairies, or anything else on this topic. It started yesterday afternoon during lunch when Jake was crying telling me his mouth hurt. We've had a house full of criers lately so I was pretty unsympathetic and told him to just keep drinking water to make it feel better. Then yesterday afternoon, Jake found me to tell me that his tooth "broke." HAHA! Meaning it was loose cuz he was showing me how he could move it around. And by the way, OOPS, about the unsympathetic lunch. So I acted like it was so cool and tried explaining how teeth fall out and then grow back when you're a little kid. Who knows how much of that he actually comprehends. The 6 yr. old I baby-sit everyday told Jake that if he put it under his pillow the Tooth Fairy would bring him "3 dollars or 4 dollars or 5 dollars or 6 dollars." Huh? Things sure have changed since I was a kid! So I told McKensie that I was pretty sure the Tooth Fairy was still working with coins, not dollars in the Chapman house. Anyway, last night Jake calls downstairs from bed and tells me he has something to show me so he comes running downstairs proudly carrying his tooth in his hand. Mark said we should put it under his pillow right then, but I, of course, needed to give this auspicious event its due, so said we'd hold off until tonight instead. I have a fun book to read called "The Night Before the Tooth Fairy" by Natasha Wing that I've been saving for this very occasion. And we need to make a big deal and have fun with it all day. Any chance I get I have to make some magic around here. So this morning Jake was all excited when he woke up and told Mark again that his tooth "fell off." It kills me what wording kids come up with on their own. So Mark mentioned putting it under his pillow tonight and asked if Jake knew what would happen. Jake said, "the tooth fairy will put my tooth back in!" Again, HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

A New Day

I think spring has sprung here in Columbus, Ohio. We've had two gorgeous days and a couple more are on the way. There's also a ton of rain, which is fine with me because I like my surroundings green! My windows are wide open and fresher air I've never breathed. Maybe the germs we're fostering in here will be gone with the wind and all the crazy sicknesses we've been dealing with will leave with them.

With the spring comes the bi-annual task of sorting through kids clothes, finding what still fits, and of course, re-stocking flip flops. Since they're all my kids wear througout the spring and summer, we go through quite a few pair by the time fall comes around again, but it's okay with me because they're wonderfully cheap. And of course with flip flop weather comes toenail polish, so Rory and I took care of that paint job yesterday afternoon.

The other thing I'm especially thankful for today is my deck. We built it on at the end of last summer, so we barely used it before winter hit. I feel like we have another room on our house now that we're out there so much.

It's nice to know that tonight during the kids' soccer practice, instead of shivering on the bleachers for an hour, I'll actually enjoy it.