His Heart Will Go On...

My oldest son's newest obsession is the Titanic.  Yes, the boat that hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic in 1912.  He can tell you all about the ship's smoke stacks, boiler rooms, size, and elevator.  And he has repeatedly told my husband that if our family had been on the ship, that Daddy wouldn't have been allowed on a life boat.  Morbidity aside, it's pretty funny to hear my 4 year old's version of one of the most famous ships in maritime history.  Of course, he always follows up his story with the assurance that new laws have been made since the shipwreck.  Now ships are required to carry enough lifeboats.  (I predict that this child has a future in risk management.)

These days, the boys are no longer bombing ships and reenacting Pearl Harbor.  Instead, they're pretending to be the captain of the Titanic.  It's pretty funny to hear the horror in their voices as they hit the iceberg and start taking on water.  And all of a sudden, they now want to sleep with their door shut so that they can keep the ship airtight and not let on extra water.  Don't you just love little boys?!

You can imagine the excitement that my son felt when our local Children's Museum hosted a Titanic exhibit.  He was so thrilled when Grandma told him that we could go to the museum to see the Titanic. Unfortunately, I forgot to clarify that the Titanic is still at the bottom of the North Atlantic (currently being consumed by metal-eating bacteria) and was not going to be available for us to see in person. He was a little bummed that we didn't get to see the real ship, but visiting the exhibit was still a hit. He really enjoyed the opportunity to touch a piece of the ship's hull.  Plus, the exhibit definitely gave him some more insight on how to "play Titanic" at home.

I can't wait to see what he chooses as his next historical obsession (the Alamo, Civil War, Paul Revere?).  And I can't wait to save the above picture to include in his senior photo album!!!

Hold Mommy's Hand

 

Sometimes the easiest way to get a point across to my boys is to be overly dramatic.  For example, at the museum last week, the people running an exhibit warned us not to touch the glass because an alarm would go off.  Upon hearing this, I feared that my boys might intentionally touch the glass just to hear the alarm.  So, Mommy told them that if they touched the glass, the police would have to come.  This threat seemed a little more serious to them.  And they behaved quite well, considering the exhibit was mostly artifacts and text.

I also tried using scare tactics recently to convince my boys that they must hold my hand when we cross the street.  I explained that a boy who lived near us was recently hit by a car and killed when he ran ahead of his mom's stroller and wasn't holding her hand (true story).  This story seemed to have the desired effect on my son.  He suddenly got serious, and he asked me what happened to the little boy.  So I repeated the story and said that the little boy died and is now in heaven.

Upon hearing this, my son perked up and got all excited. Suddenly I was flooded with questions like, "So he's with Jesus?" and "Do we get to live forever in heaven?" and "Isn't that little boy better off?" All of a sudden, it occurred to me that my plan had backfired.  Not only had my son missed my point that he needs to hold my hand so that he won't get hit by a car.  But my son was also teaching me a theology lesson.  What I had interpreted to be a sad event--Death--is actually something that believers should look to with joy and anticipation.  And my son, who apparently had a better grasp on this concept than I did, kept assuring me that the little boy in my story is actually much better off now that he's with Jesus.

Wow!  What kind of mother am I that I would make death seem like a scary thing?  And what kind of Christian am I if I'm not celebrating the joy in death?  It seems so backwards to celebrate death.  This world doesn't do that.  I've been raised with the understanding that people are supposed to go through a period of mourning and are supposed to get sympathy cards when death happens. I've grown accustomed to focusing on the loss of the person who died.

But my son is right! Death is actually a good thing for believers.  It means that our period on earth has ended.  It means that we get eternity in heaven. It means that we shouldn't sob and cry when other believers go home to be with Jesus.  We ought to be celebrating! On the other hand, death is something that every unbeliever should fear as it is the beginning of eternity in hell.  From this perspective, death is frightening.  

Death is a serious topic that should be had with my children in an honest manner. In future discussions with my children, I'm going to have to rethink my references to death and dying.  I've learned that I shouldn't attempt to use "dying" as a scare tactic to get my children to be safe.  In the future, I'll have to stick to stories of bodily injury, pain, and suffering.  I guess the advantage to having a Mommy who is a personal injury lawyer is that she has lots of stories about that!

The Painting Process

I haven't blogged much in the past few weeks, because I've been a little busy with work and paint.  Yes, paint!  

Dear Husband and I are NOT spontaneous people.  We work in a career field where we have deadlines that are straightforward and created by statute.  Practicing law isn't like Perry Mason where the smoking gun is discovered at the last second.  In reality, the cards are laid out on the table by both parties during the discovery process (defined by statute or judicial order) and then motions and mediation occur so that most clients can avoid trial altogether.  Civil litigation is a great field for type "A" people who don't enjoy spontaneity.

Unfortunately, when those type of people attempt to do something spontaneous and out-of-the-blue, life gets disrupted and it takes awhile to get back into a normal routine.  That's what happened to us this month.

We randomly found what could have been the "perfect house" for our growing family.  Out of curiosity, we walked through an open house one Saturday afternoon.  And we met a realtor who informed us that she had the perfect house to show us.  Of course, she nailed it.  It was a great house with a reasonable price tag in an ideal location.  But it was 12 months ahead of our planned moving schedule. We had planned on dealing with our housing situation in 2014.  We have other plans for 2013.

Anyway, for a brief 24 hour period, we got serious about getting our house sale-ready.  So we painted and painted and painted.  We cleaned and cleaned and cleaned.  And of course, we changed our minds about selling our house and didn't finish our painting and cleaning projects.  Since that crazy weekend, we've had difficulty getting caught up with our normal routine and getting our house put back together.  But, at least we have peace of mind.

Peace--my word of the year actually came into play this February.  We realized that even though we could do something, that definitely didn't mean that we should do it.  And if you don't have peace about the process and haven't prayed about it, then you should wait.  I'm not sure if good things really do come to those who wait, but at least those who wait can have peace.

And it looks like we're going to have a freshly painted house!

Happy Valentine's Day!

May your day be filled with chocolate and flowers.

May your hearts be filled with love and joy.

May we all remember that "We love because [God] first loved us." I John 4:19

Hummus Cupcakes

My boys are on a health food kick.  Not because I necessarily planned to put them on a healthier diet, but because I made the shocking discovery that they love vegetables.  

I made this discovery in December when we had lunch at a friend's house.  She steamed some broccoli for the kids, and my boys acted like it was a delicacy from a 5 star restaurant.  It was pretty funny to watch my friends' kiddos tinker around with their broccoli while mine cleaned their plates.  Who knew that my husband could produce offspring that like vegetables?  (He's doesn't eat green things.)

After the discovery that my children actually like vegetables, I decided to stop buying sweet snacks and to start trying to feed my boys healthier snacks.  About the time I made this decision, we discovered that someone in our family has a sensitivity to dairy products--not just lactose, but all dairy!  So now our diets are being turned completely upside down.  And we're trying new things.

Today the boys had hummus cupcakes.

 

I actually copied this idea from a picture I found on the internet of a hummus relish tray at http://www.madebyleah.com.

What possessed me to try hummus snacks?  Well, I'm supposed to be helping create a hummus tray for an event at church in March.  To this point, my only experience with hummus happened about 5 years ago at a Lebanese restaurant during law school.  We attended a party in the Hukkah lounge when I was pregnant, and it's safe to say that hummus didn't settle well on my sensitive and pregnant stomach.  Since then, I've done a pretty good job avoiding hummus.  Until today.

When a friend and I were asked to prepare a hummus tray for a party, I started doing some research. And then I decided to copy the tray pictured above.  To make these "cupcakes," I peeled and sliced cucumbers to make the bases.  Then I swirled artichoke and spinach hummus on the cucumbers and topped them off with pieces of red bell pepper.  I obviously need to purchase a larger tip for my icing bag so that I can perfect my icing skills before my party, but I apparently perfected the flavor already, because my boys loved my cupcakes. 

Who knew vegetables could be so much fun?  (And yes, in addition to eating the cupcakes, he's eating slices of raw bell peppers!!!)