I've come so far

It was August 2000.  I'll never forget the sound when the light flashed.  What is that orange thing?  I was driving in front of Wal-Mart on Tunnel Road in Asheville having just left Applebee's.  

"Chris!  What do I do?!  We need to get to a mechanic!"

"Leslie, that's the gas light.  You need to go to the gas station."

I'd driven for seven years without having any idea what the gas light was.  I lived by the "half tank is an empty tank" rule until I got married.

Fast forward to Wednesday of this week.  I'm taking the babysitter home when I hear a familiar ding.  That's not the gas light, that's the transmission light.  Panic.  We just rebuilt the transmission (we is used quite loosely) two years ago...not again...

We make an appointment for this morning at AAMCO.  I head down, all three kids with me, to sit for an hour while I wait for the bad news.  (Samuel has a meltdown because as he says, "That man take your van, Mommy!"  Simultaneously, the girls found the water cooler.  This just says disaster all around.)  The man finally comes in and says our transmission is fine.  Relief.  THEN he tells me that there's no such thing as a transmission light.  That was my check engine light. Oh dear...panic again.  

They ran the diagnostic and he was pleased to tell me it was caused by my not screwing the gas cap on tight enough.  I'll bet he was pleased.  I'm guessing they'll be talking about me for a while, the lady with the transmission light (laugh) whose kids were adorable but not pleased with the waiting room for an hour (snicker) and who just didn't screw on the gas cap (hearty belly laugh).

Just think

It occurred to me today that Samuel is older now than Anna was when Samuel was born. Looking back, it's nothing short of a miracle that we've survived the last few years. I can't imagine Samuel being the oldest of three at his current age. Perhaps that's why he was last.

Close, but not quite

The kids all helped me make chocolate chip cookies this evening. They did a remarkably good job. Acutally, they always do and it always amazes me. Anna turned the mixer on and didn't get it stopped at the level she'd intended (stir). It went a little wild and she said, "Oops, I didn't mean to turn it onto high definition!"

We read about astronauts tonight before bed. When I tried to explain that things floated inside the shuttle Anna said, "That's remarkable!" No, child, you are remarkable!

Gross me out!

McKenna runs into the house this morning on a mission--straight to the bathroom. With the help of her Pops, she thankfully makes it to the toilet on time and even manages to keep her pants dry. (We've regressed this week, ugh.) Pops goes about his business but shortly sees McKenna walk out of the bathroom. Hmmm, no noise.

"McKenna, did you flush?"

Sheepish look.

"McKenna, did you wash your hands?"

Another sheepish look...then a look of enlightenment.

"No, buy my hands are clean! I lick-ed them!"

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Move over, Miss Manners

Samuel is on his way to a syndicated column in your local newspaper.  When I prayed with him tonight, I said, "Thank you, Jesus for today."  As I paused...to breathe...Samuel interjected, "No Jesus say you welcome!"  He was genuinely upset that he didn't audibly hear Jesus say "you're welcome."  All I could do was laugh and snuggle with him a little more!

Secrets revealed

While eating an ice dream cone from Chick-fil-A recently Anna admits that the treat is exceptionally good.  She whispers across the table, "It must have some special ingredient.  I think it's cinnamon.  Or maybe sweet tea!"  

The things we do for love

I ate at Golden Corral tonight. Other than Jimmy's Seafood Buffet (OBX, baby!) I just despise buffets. But tonight, because it's Chris' birthday, we ate at the new Golden Corral. Like any good (??) buffet, it did have popcorn shrimp and softserve ice cream. I guess since I'm still alive to write about it, it must not have been as bad as I imagined it to be.

The things we do for love...

What do you do?

Grrr, Jayhwaks

It's pretty bad when in the family NCAA bracket competiton we can go ahead and figure out who won. Mind you, the final game hasn't yet taken place. It's just that only two of us (Chris and Laura) even have one of the final two teams. And neither of them have chosen the overall winner. It looks like my nap on the beach won't happen (that would have been my prize, had I won).

Next year's my year...I can feel it...I'm going to get the entire bracket right...

Anna had a fun week with April Fool's Day. We may have to rename it April Fool's Week, or even Year. She's starting to understand some simple jokes and today showed appreciation for the Amelia Bedelia book series. I'm glad I was paying attention when she picked out books at the library today. Amelia Bedelia, OK. Duckling Days, OK. Seek and Find, OK. Marijauna: Fact or Fiction, NOT OK. Right there in the science picture books. That's just not a conversation I wanted to have today.

McKenna was her observant self while fingerpainting today. The yellow paint...it looks like "yellow ketsup". "You mean mustard?" "No. Yellow ketsup."

Samuel is going to bloom into quite the director this summer. He absolutely loves to encourage anyone within earshot (a long distance, I promise) to do the motions that Diego suggests as he rescues the animals. When you do it right you (OK, I) get lots of praise. "Good job, Mommy! Good job!" If I drag my heels at all..."No, Mommy. Try it. Try it. Try it. Try it..."

Life is good...