Great Paint give away!

Henry wants to paint his new room four different colors, so I'm very glad that Glidden is giving away a FREE quart of eggshell finish paint!

To request yours, choose a color at this site.

In honor of Henry's last T-ball game...

Melodic Monday--I was there to hear your borning cry by John Ylvisaker

"I was there to hear your borning cry,
I'll be there when you are old.
I rejoiced the day you were baptized,
to see your life unfold.
I was there when you were but a child,
with a faith to suit you well;
In a blaze of light you wandered off
to find where demons dwell."

"When you heard the wonder of the Word
I was there to cheer you on;
You were raised to praise the living Lord,
to whom you now belong.
If you find someone to share your time
and you join your hearts as one,
I'll be there to make your verses rhyme
from dusk 'till rising sun."

In the middle ages of your life,
not too old, no longer young,
I'll be there to guide you through the night,
complete what I've begun.
When the evening gently closes in,
and you shut your weary eyes,
I'll be there as I have always been
with just one more surprise."

"I was there to hear your borning cry,
I'll be there when you are old.
I rejoiced the day you were baptized,
to see your life unfold."

Wordless Wednesday

Melodic Mondays--Reflections

This was one of the songs done in Harmony's recital this weekend. The girls did a beautiful job! And even though I'm in my upper thirties, I still struggle with this (substitute wife for bride, though :))

Look at me
I will never pass for a perfect bride
Or a perfect daughter
Can it be
I'm not meant to play this part?
Now I see
That if I were truly to be myself
I would break my fam'ly's heart

Who is that girl I see
Staring straight
Back at me?
Why is my reflection someone
I don't know?
Somehow I cannot hide
Who I am
Though I've tried
When will my reflection show
Who I am inside?
When will my reflection show
Who I am inside?

Top 10 reasons to take the train

We took the train to Chicago this weekend. Patrick went on Wednesday for work; we joined him on Friday.

10. No traffic jams (unless you get behind a freight train :))
9. No driving in the city.
8. No parking in the city!
7. No car seats required!
6. No stopping to go potty or get snacks.
5. You get to interact with your kids instead of saying "Quiet please, the driver needs to concentrate on the road."
4. It's cheaper than driving-- parking alone would have been more expensive than the train tickets.
3. The gentle swaying and sounds of the train are very calming.
2. It's better for the environment (the train is going whether you're on it or not!)
1. You might make new friends with your fellow passengers. Another five year old that was on the train with us in both directions declared Harmony her "best friend."

Nightmare on Elm Street

So I had my own personal nightmare on Elm Street on Monday.

Mondays are "run around" day. Henry has T ball practice from 5:30 to 6:30, Harmony has dance from 6 to 6:45, and Patrick has City Council at either 6 or 7, depending on the week (this week it was 7).

Patrick dropped off Henry, then Harmony. Once Hope woke up from her nap, we went to watch Henry's practice at the middle school field and pick him up.

I had been chatting with Patty, one of the other T-ball moms. Her son Dillan used to go to the same daycare as Henry and Harmony. We talked about kindergarten since her son would be starting this fall with Harmony. She was nervous, since they had planned for him to go to the Catholic school (which just announced its closing). We talked about a playdate for the boys sometime--Dillan had been asking to play with Henry.

It was 6:40, and practice didn't show any signs of wrapping up. Patty volunteered that Henry could come home from them--they lived just diagonally across the street, on the other side of the school, on the corner by the railroad tracks on the south side. Hesitantly I agreed--this was the second time she had offered. We knew the family from their interactions at preschool, and knew we had similar parenting values.

So I picked up Harmony, and discovered that I had forgotten about picture day (which would have been hard anyway, since we also picked up the costume for the first time). Got the insane schedule for recital week, and went to get Henry.

So we went to the other side of the school. There was one house on the south side of the tracks, and knocked on the door--no answer. Tried again--no answer. Walked around the house--there was a playset in the back yard, good sign, but no kids. Tried the back door. No answer.

Took several deep breaths, since I had both girls with me. We saw a nieghbor working on a car, and asked if there was a kid named Dillan that lived nearby. He said yes, and pointed to a tan house on the north side of the tracks. It didn't match the directions, but I didn't have a lot of options, so we tried that door. All that happened when we knocked is that we activated the large, scary dog in a crate.

By this time, Hope was screaming, and we were all sweaty. So we sat in the car with the air on, and Harmony and I prayed that we'd find Henry, and that he was safe. We drove around the block with the school in the middle, to see if they'd stayed late...not there either.

We parked and tried the first house again...still no answer. Knocked on several other doors on both sides. Several people knew that Dillan lived in the scary tan house, so we tried there again.

By now it was 7:45--we had been looking for 45 minutes. I didn't have my phone with me, so we went back to the house and got the phone. I called Henry's coach and got their phone number, and left a message for the preschool director, asking for their address. I tried calling, but the number was busy...several times.

We got back and started knocking on doors again. And as we were going to the scary tan house for the third time, Dillan's dad drove by, looking for us.

They lived a block over, on Water Street...not Elm, where we'd been looking. Henry was hot, sweaty and happy from playing with Dillan for an hour...I was hot, sweaty, and on the verge of tears.

That was the first and the last time my children will go on a playdate to a house I don't konw. And I will always get the cell phone numbers of the parents!

Thanks, Lord, that You knew where Henry was the whole time he was gone, and for protecting him.

Melodic Monday--Here Kitty Kitty by Justin Roberts

We saw Justin Roberts at the Chicago Lit Fest this weekend--three times! The second performance on Saturday was called for rain, but Harmony got a personal performance of her favorite song, from the "Songs from the Hebrew Scriptures" CD...

Overheard today...

Who needs TV when you have kids? They're much more entertaining :)

The argument in the car this morning:
Henry: Sam, how much older are you than Sarah?
Sam: I'm 7.
Me: Sam, your birthday isn't until July--you're six and a half.
Sam: But I'm 7! We had a party at school!
Me: Henry, can you figure out how much older Sam is than Sarah? Sam is six and a half, Sarah is four.
Henry: So...Sam is two and a half years older than Sarah.
Sam: I am not two and a half!
Me: Sam, you're two and a half years older than Sarah.
Henry: That means you were two and a half years old when Sarah was zero. Right, Mom?
Me: Yes, Henry.
Sam: I am NOT two and a half!

Later:
Me: I'm glad we picked strawberries today! They look yummy. We'll have to eat some for lunch.
Harmony: Can we have Strawberry Shortcake? Please??
Me: Sure.

Back at the house, after Harmony and Sarah helped mix up the cake batter...
Harmony: Where is her hat?
Me: Whose hat?
Harmony: How are we going to make Strawberry Shortcake's hat? And where is her head?
Me: um...We're having the strawberry shortcake that is a dessert, not the cartoon character...
Harmony: (very dissapointed look on her face)...oh.