Brakes, Tires, & Squeals, Oh My!!

Well, today we had our tires on our minivan looked at and priced.  We knew they were getting to the end of their “life” so there wasn’t any surprise on this.  Once again, I took time this morning to check Consumer Reports regarding tire quality, to find out what size tire our minivan uses, and then to price tires.  We also discovered that we don’t need to have anything done on the brakes.  After all that pricing and calling around, a friend told us that he didn’t see any evidence for needing to replace our pads and rotors.  He did recommend a brake specialist looking at the brakes.  We did.  They agreed with our friend so we don’t need to spend any $ on brakes. Yeah!

It is very interesting trying to talk to auto mechanics on any details when I am being interrupted by a baby crying, Drew crying because his big brother hit him, then the boys crying because they wanted snacks, then needing to intercept them because they got into snacks without permission.  Whew!  Never a dull moment…!

Praisin’ Pentecostal?

Today as the boys and I were eating our lunch, Will lifted his hands into the air and exclaimed, “I praise you, Lord!”  It is so neat to hear him learning and expressing more about our faith.  We continue to pray for the boys’ salvations.

Saturday Fun!

This past Saturday, Jonathan and I had fun helping with a singles’ conference at our church. It was great to see everyone who came, to watch their fun, to converse with everyone, to hear the good messages, and to taste the delicious cooking! We were both very encouraged! This was our second singles’ conference at our church, and we are hoping it continues to be a blessing throughout the years. We already have our speaker scheduled for next year. Getting ready for the conference and the conference itself was our Saturday so I don’t have a whole lot more to write about. 🙂

A Cross in the Commonplace

Last evening as Jonathan was mowing and the boys and I were watching him mow, Will exclaimed, “Daddy is making a cross behind the swing set!”  Sure enough Jonathan’s mowing pattern had crossed over each other behind the swing set.  Will showed me with his hands the cross pattern it formed and said, “It made a cross like Jesus died on.”  How precious to hear him grasping more truths!

Precious Words

During supper tonight, Will turned to Jonathan and said, “You are precious to me.  I love you!”  As I left the boys’ room tonight, they said, “I love you!”  Ah!  Those are the words that every parent wants to hear!

Singing Sons

My boys love to sing!  Yesterday in the car, Drew was singing Jesus Loves the Little Children.  Later that day, he also sang Happy Birthday to himself, then to Will, and finally to Daddy.  Will could also be heard singing, “Jesus loves me.  Jesus is in my heart.  Jesus is in my heart… Jesus is in my heart…”  How precious!

“Look At Me, Jesus!”

Last weekend, Jonathan was explaining to Will that God sees everything we do — even if Mommy and Daddy don’t see everything.  Will said, “I am going to make silly faces for Jesus to see.”  He then started to make some silly faces and said, “Jesus, look at my silly faces.”  How precious!

Deceptive Desitin

This past Saturday, Will kept saying that he needed sun lotion to go outside.  I told him that was true but that we weren’t going outside right then.  I checked to make sure the suntan lotion was out of his reach.  It was still.  When he said the same thing again, I decided to check on him.  Sure enough, mischief…!  He was covered in white stuff — it looked like suntan lotion, but it was Desitin.  I had to clean the sticky white stuff off his face, hands, and clothing.

“Bog” of Brakes

After playing and weeding outside with the boys, I called around to get prices on replacing the brake pads and rotors on our minivan.  I educated myself on quality, labor, and parts through calling NAPA, a Honda dealership, repair shops, and reading Consumer Reports.  It’s always interesting to talk with more knowledge when questioning auto mechanics.  The result?  We haven’t made our final decision, but the cost difference is $281-$650 for parts.  Quality is supposedly similar between these two price ranges (between NAPA and dealership).  Grateful for our vehicle, but costs quickly add up with vehicles!  I probably bored all of you ladies with talk of brake repair.  I thought it was interesting though!  🙂

Modesty Mishaps

Today was one of those days when I just had to shake my head and say, “All in the life of little boys!”  As I was getting ready to leave the ladies’ Bible study and was finishing buckling Son-D into the stroller, another lady came out of the ladies’ bathroom and asked me if I had a diaper for my son.  She said that he told her that his mommy was bringing him a diaper.  A bit surprised I said that I didn’t even know he was in the bathroom and was getting ready to get him from his play area at the gym.  (He is watched there, the younger boys are watched in the nursery, and I get to attend the Bible study.)  Apparently, Son-W1 got “loose” and decided to go potty on his own.  I quickly went into the restroom and saw him standing at the sink, washing his hands.  That was innocent enough, but his pants were still around his ankles, and his clean diaper was lying on the sink counter.  No modesty in a three year old!  The ladies were chuckling at my little boy who very innocently stood uncovered while washing his hands.  His hands were very clean!!!  Oh dear!  I guess that we need to focus more on modesty now.  I did try to address it, but I don’t think he understands why he should be “modest.”  Never a dull moment!