School + Fish

Oh kindergarten, first and second grade how wonderful you are...
You love to encourage kids to bring show and tell.
Oh K, 1 and 2... you push kids to stand in front of classes and tell their crazy stories,
You, oh you, bring mothers to their knees.
(I know this doesn't rhyme - I'm not a poet and I know it)

Taking a fish to school seems not so hard.
But it is.
It is hard to take a fish, that needs water to live, to school.
BUT when your dog is too crazy, your cat is too shy and your chickens are just too much. You want to bring your fish to school. And you convince your mother that it is the best pet to bring to school and that it won't be hard to do at all. And then you realize in an instant that you ride the bus. And then you beg your mom to bring your pet fish, Bruce, to school because it would be a little tricky on the bus.

And then your mom agrees. Because your brown eyes are so big. And your voice is so sweet. And you won't stop bugging her. But most of all because show n tell doesn't last forever.

Luckily, the boy with big brown eyes, sweet voice and determined little spirit has a very nice, careful and wonderful sister.

Fish holder

And so Bruce took his longest trip yet and went all the way to Freeman Elementary School.

Where he had his big break on the TV screen!!

You have to look close, but so cool to see it this way!!

And the boy was happy.

Do they do show n tell in third grade??!?

Caleb, I love you so much, I would bring Bruce to school, again, if you really wanted.
~Ms. Simplicity

Our Father In Heaven

Sometimes I like one of my kids more than the others. It's true. I'm being honest. The good thing is that it always changes. So one week it's one kid and the next week it's another. Probably over my life time they will all be my favorite equal amounts of time. ... I hope.

Anyway, the point is that right now it's Nathan.

He's just so dang likeable right now. He empties the dishwasher without a fit. He folds his clothes without having a shouting match with me first about whether or not he should have to fold clothes before stuffing them into his dresser. He takes showers without arguing. He asked recently if he could start wearing deodorant (aka; he doesn't stink). He likes getting his hair cut occasionally.

He is also super compassionate and kind. He puts on Titus shoes for me when we are trying to get out the door. He plays with Titus outside without pushing him, yelling at him, or getting frustrated with him (well once last week Nate did stomp into the house and said, "Mom, none of my bribes are working on Titus, he will not come in the house."). He reads books to Titus and Alena. He doesn't hog the whole couch to himself.

Tonight I heard him say, "Good-night KB, I love you," after they finished their ritual nighttime talking sesh. It melt my heart. And that's why I remembered this picture I took the other day and I just had to blog about my boy.

Nathan has been reading through his Bible recently. We have The Action Bible and it's pretty cool with kid-language and awesome animations. He's been working on getting through the whole thing and he is so excited to tell us about each thing he reads. It's amazing when your kids love Jesus, on their own. Anyway he came upstairs a few weeks back and said, "Mom! Did you know that Jesus taught his disciples how to pray! He did, and I have to memorize what He said. I want to pray like Jesus taught them." So we started brainstorming how he could remember the prayer. Finally he decided he would write it down and carry it in his pocket so he could say it whenever he needed to pray. ..... Have your kids ever challenged you to be a better follower of Jesus? ... Obviously mine have. Wowzers. Well, I was just awed every time he'd pull out that little piece of paper and read it. So I had to, of course, snap a quick picture of the piece of paper so that it will forever be a reminder of how precious his sweet little heart is. Plus, I will have something to look back on the next time he freaks out because he actually has to pick up all his Legos.

If you need a refresher on the Lord's Prayer, or just a reminder of the simplicity of it, check out the picture below.

Love my boy Nathan forever ~ Ms. Simplicity