Bath and Bible Time

I joined a study group at church. Together with a bunch of cool ladies I am reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan.  One of the gals decided to also read thru the Gospels, and invited anyone who wanted, to join her.  So I did. 

I have been using Alex's bath time for my reading. I can sit in the bathroom with him to make sure he doesn't manage to drown himself or flood the house- and I get my reading done fairly uninterrupted. Anyway.

I finished reading the chapters in the book, and am on to the Gospels, about the middle of Matthew. As I sat down, Alex was curious about what I was reading (this is new). So, I told him I was reading the Bible.

Alex: Like God!? (eyes w-i-d-e)

Well, yes, it's the book God wrote so that we can learn about him.

Alex: Oh

Do you want me to read it to you?

Alex: Uh-huh. (nodding)

I read a chapter and he played quietly the whole time. The whole time. At the end, I asked him if I should keep reading.

Alex: Uh-huh.

I read another chapter and again asked him if I should keep reading.

Alex: Uh-huh.

I read a total of 3 chapters - he didn't interrupt me except for repeating the occasional word. Like Beelzebub. I warned Stan there may be a stuffed animal named Beelzebub that crops up in the near future... Stan laughed and said that was fine so long as it also went to show-and-tell. (haha- he has a sick sense of humor)

And I loved it. I loved every moment of it. Toward the end, he wanted to see the pages - I'd guess he was looking for pictures, but I got to explain to him that the red letters are what Jesus said.

I told Alex that if he wanted me to read more, that next time we would read about Jesus feeding 5,000 people with just 1 little boy's lunch, and about Jesus walking on water - to which he immediately grinned ear to ear and replied "Mommy, Jesus can't walk on water... that's silly! (as he floated his foot on the surface of the water in his tub for effect)" And I got to explain to him that he DID... and that he invited his friend to walk with him.

Talk about experiencing the Bible in a new way. And here I thought we were still in the picture book stage, the Old Testament bible story stage. 
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Lollipop, lollipop...

Alex stayed dry all day (all week now, actually, with no accidents) His reward has been a lollipop. He loves lollipops!

Buzz Lightyear

We just retired Tigger... Happy boy, if you couldn't tell by the ear-to-ear grin (and thanks Daddy for the tip of where to get it).

$3.01 with tax, Kwik Shop, woodland & K-10 - woody, rex and martian too.

I want a flamingo

At random, driving thru the neighborhood, Alex would tell me "Mommy, I want a flamingo".  I hadn't seen a lawn flamingo to prompt this, but his eyes are much more keen than mine.   I dismissed it with positive comments, like "oh, they are neat aren't they"... and we would both drop the conversation there.

As a reward for getting ready on his own one morning, I offered Alex a lollipop.  He immediately jumped up and down and exclaimed "I want a flamingo one"...

Mango. 

He wanted a mango lollipop the whole time.

He's so patient with me sometimes.
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"poop bubbles"

In the bath the other night Alex told me that it was fun making "poop bubbles" (farts) in the water.

It was all I could do not to bust up right then and there, instead reminding him that we don't want the poop bubbles to turn into poop and if he pushes them out, that's what will happen.

He replied "oh... yeah..." (cause we've had that fire drill before, ick). 

What am I going to do with my little boy?

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Love is... muffins.

Alex asked me what I was doing in the kitchen.  I told him I was making muffins... his reply... 

"Because you love me very much!"  (with a grin and a little hop)

I make about a batch a week.  Good healthy breakfast for my boys.  

Modified from my M-I-L's Pumpkin Chocolate Chip muffins, usually made in mass around Thanksgiving time. For Stan, Thanksgiving is not complete without them. I liked the base recipe because it didn't require butter, like a traditional banana bread.

Don't be afraid to experiment with these. I've tossed in yellow squash, butternut squash, wheat germ, almond flour, chopped dried cherries, almond extract... Pretty much, you can't go wrong with these muffins!

Banana Split Muffins

Preheat oven to 350, line or lightly grease muffin tins.

Combine in microwavable bowl and warm, but don't cook (1 minute on power 8):

1 c oats

1T multi-grain hot cereal mix

1 c milk

Add to oat mixture:

2 mashed bananas ( or 3/4-1 c squash, applesauce, pack pumpkin)

2 eggs

1/4 c oil (I use olive)

1 t vanilla

Stir with a whisk, then combine with wet mix above:

2 c flour (half all-purpose and half whole wheat or other)

1/2 c sugar 

1 T baking powder

1/4 t salt

1 t cinnamon

1/4 t ground nutmeg (especially good with the banana)

Stir until just combined then add:

1/2 c chocolate chips

1 c chopped walnuts

Stir less if you like cakier muffins. Stir extra for a chewier, bread-like texture. 

Fill muffins 3/4 full and bake 20 minutes at 350F. Remove from pans immediately and cool on wire racks. Once cooled, store in airtight container. Makes 23... yes, 23... I'm always 1 shy of 2 dozen. I'm not about to screw with the recipe to make it 24.

I've been enjoying the "If You Care" unbleached muffin liners in the health market at HyVee. They act like parchment paper - have excellent release and stand-up. And they're a lovely brown-wrapper sort of color. I won't buy anything else now. I'm spoiled!

friends

Monkey, Mickey Mouse, and black puppy. All bundled up in their bed and being admired by Alex (he asked me to take a picture of them).