He really IS my child

 A long, long, LONG time ago, whilst working at camp, I ruminated to my future husband and another male coworker that I'd figured out the problem between men and women. The other coworker quipped, "you mean there's only one?" 

The problem is that women have so many thoughts so quickly that we edit them internally to bring the pertinent information to the conversation, which explains how we get from "eggs" to "shoes" in our heads but leaves the fellows completely stymied because we didn't fill in all the points in between. If we did, we would NEVER stop talking and every explanation would overwhelm all male sensors. The next time a woman says something that doesn't make any sense to you, know that it does make sense to HER, and probably any of her girlfriends in the area, and question whether you have the time to go through a point by point explanation, because she CAN give you one. I promise. 

To my amazement, Thing Two had a moment like that this morning. He'd asked me if we had an unopened grape jelly as he'd finished a jar yesterday. Never mind the facts that A) it should have been on the grocery list days ago if he was that low and B) he should have looked for it when he finished yesterday's jar to confirm we did indeed have another. 

I told him to get crackin' on his other morning jobs to get him out the door on time and that I'd find it. I found it, brought it out, and handed it to him. He states, in his morning voice, which is lower than low:

I dunno why we hung people for witchcraft cuz it's clearly useful.

I think I blinked twice and kept going with the corralling of Thing Three who was moving slower than molasses (these last few days of school are killing us. Just killing us. We will never make it past Memorial Day.) 

It wasn't until I sat down to confirm his above quote that he gave me the second half which tied it all together:

I dunno how else Mom found the grape jelly.

Aha! He mastered the "say the first part, skip the rest, and say the last!" WooHOOOOOOOO! 

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Also, let's go, people. I've only received one guess as to what he purchased in a gift shop in DC. 

NOT a yellow version of the White House, but good guess!

The word of the day

Some words and phrases endure the test of time. Just this morning, I learned that in Biblical times they used the phrase "from Abel to Zechariah" to sum up the deaths of the martyrs. One would think it was from A-Z, but it was actually because 2 Chronicles came at the end of the Hebrew writings and that's where Zechariah is murdered in the temple while Abel is the first innocent human death. My Bible notes that it was equivelant to our "from Genesis to Revelation"... interesting!

My brother is a victim of an enduring name. Long, long ago the little brother of his friend across the street couldn't say "Andrew" and coined "Hinrew." It stuck, and we've shortened it to "Hin". Even my kids call their uncle "Hinrew". In fact, my brother doesn't even answer me when I call him "Andy" because he doesn't think I could be talking about him. We've called him Hin for years!

A few springs ago, Liam coined "flowerful" to describe trees in bloom. We've used it ever since. Carrie once commented on "little beeps of hurt" when describing an owie. That's also endured.

I think Damon just coined a keeper this week. He got out of the tub and declared "my piddies are pickley." I asked if he meant "prickly" and he said, "no, PICKLEY." I think I like pickley way better than pruney.

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Carrie is with my parents this week while she attends day camp. She's doing a stop-motion photography class again. I can't wait to see what her Legos are doing in her movie.

The boys and I joined friends first thing yesterday morning and picked strawberries for an hour. We tried a new-to-us farm called Hoen's and came home with a flat of beautiful, flavorful berries for less than $16. I've got a tray of frozen berries and more to still process, if Damon will stop sneaking them and let me get through them before he eats them all.

We started Splash week at the Y yesterday, also, which means that for half an hour every day this week we'll all be in the pool. Liam is in a class while I'm in the water with Damon in a separate class. Perfect for a super hot, humid week!

Last night after my Y class, I had the boys hop on their bikes and they rode around the parking lot adjacent to our neighborhood. Liam moaned and groaned the whole way there, then did awesome in the actual parking lot. We only had one spill (Damon, accelerating too quickly down the slight downgrade into the lot) but there wasn't any blood and he got back on, rode, and then made it the whole way home without mishap. Once we got home, they had popsicles, I dropped a plastic container of lemonade all over the kitchen floor, and everyone went to bed.

Today brings a karate lesson for Liam, a walk with Zita (Rita) for Damon and I, more Splash lessons, and a trim for Liam's fuzzy haircut that's no longer fuzzy. Oh, and the rest of this:

Swiffer kitchen floor
Run dishwasher
Bathe boys
Mail camp paperwork
Email Girl Scouts about registration
Mow the cilantro back down
Register for summer Y classes
Scrub downstairs toilet (already soaking, yay!)
Find Damon's reading log and record books
Chess with Liam, finish game we started 2 days ago


And Liam has laundry to put away and a sink to scrub. I should probably brush the dog so she doesn't melt. She can't wait to get back inside where it's air conditioned.

Please remember to pray for all the families affected by the downpours and tornadoes across the country. Those twin twisters in Nebraska looked terrifying. I can't even imagine. I'm sure we'll be hearing in the next few days how to help- Red Cross, perhaps. Check in with your churches.

Have a wonderful week and be careful in the heat!