Forgive me if I'm a tad bit sarcastic tonight. Consider yourself warned.
Apparently this blog has taken a back burner once again. I'll not make any excuses for my absence, except it might be that I've had nothing to say.
"Nothing" might be an exaggeration, as I've had several one-liners in mind, but as you've noticed over the duration of this blog, one-liners on this blog are not common.
Would you be surprised to know that I am actually a woman of few words? Those of you that don't know me in real life might find that hard to believe, considering the posts that run on forsweetever around here, but it is true. I am not one of those women that have 10,000 words per day. 2,000 might be more accurate.
My husband, on the other hand, takes up the slack. That man can talk, y'all!
I can pick on him right now, because he's in bed with the flu. Actually, the flu test came back negative, but how else do you explain body aches, chills, and fever?
I better not pick on him anymore, because I have been praying that the Lord would protect the boys and me from this illness. As a result, I might oughtta mind my p's and q's tonight.
As the boys and I ate dinner this evening, Liam asked, "Mommy, if a stranger ever tries to take us, do we scream and punch?"
(I must pause here and let my mother know that she doesn't need to worry that some traumatic circumstance brought about this topic of conversation. Mom, he's fine. Nothing happened.
Liam is actually thinking of next school year, when he will pick up his brothers from their kindergarten classes and bring them to me. He thought that meant that they, the three amigos, were walking themselves all the way home, but I quickly informed him that I will be at the school's front door next year, just as I am this year.)
"Boys if a stranger ever tries to take you, you scream, kick them in the privates, and run for dear life," I said.
That statement brought the house down in roaring laughter from three little boys. Liam literally fell from his chair to roll on the floor.
The next 15 minutes were spent with each boy repeating, "Scream and kick them in the privates," and new bursts of laughter.
How's that for a one-liner?
I'm thinking that I didn't make much progress in the stranger danger talk tonight, so I need to relocate our DVD.
What is it with little boys and their fascination with such potty talk? God must find it quite funny to have given me three boys.
Very funny.
I believe I've now used my allotted 2,000 words for this day, so it must be time to curl up with my pillow and a book.
Good night.
More Than A One-Liner
For Posterity's Sake
I often wonder what I will forget about my boys' childhood when they are grown and gone. I like to think that I have a good memory, but then I remember that I can't remember my own age without the use of my driver's license. So I guess it's a good thing that I use this blog to journal my boys' childhood.
What is of utmost importance to every young child? Their mommy and daddy, yes. Their favorite comfort food, yes. But what about their bed buddies?
In case I can't remember these details when they're 30 and married and sleeping with their wives, I better reveal their favorite nighttime companions at this stage.
My mother-in-law gave Liam this boy version of a Groovy Girl doll back when we first adopted him. 
"Kalvin" is the name given him by Groovy Girl, and he sat in Liam's bed from day one. Once Liam was old enough to grab toys, Kalvin was never far from his reach. Once Liam began talking, he renamed Kalvin as "Chachi".
I would love to tell you that Kalvin still looks that great, but the above doll is actually a second doll that I bought "just in case" we ever lost the original.
This is the original, bless his heart:
Chachi has had a hard life.
My mother-in-law made Jack a bear of minke when we first brought him home. Originally, Bear was 100% minke with arms. Recently, Bear was missing an arm, so my MIL amputated the other arm and gave him a new belly.
Jack is fine with the new creation, because he falls asleep rubbing Bear's right ear. I, however, find the bear with a bat's body rather disturbing, so let's move on.
When Garrett was a baby, he didn't really attach to any particular toy, but he loved to chew on a cloth diaper. Mmm, good.
When he was ten months old, I saw a small blue minke and satin blanket at Target that I thought might interest him enough to replace the cloth diaper. It definitely worked, and here's Blanket four years later.
Blanket has also seen better days.
In the past year, each boy has added numerous buddies to their bedtime routine, but they each still prefer their first love.
Before I go check my driver's license for my birthdate, what do your kids need for sleeping?
Rainy Days
If you've paid any attention to the nation's weather over the past few days, you've probably heard of the heavy rainfall that has fallen over most of Texas. From Friday through Monday, we received about 6.5 inches of rain in our area.
Apparently that rain has hampered Garrett's outdoor play time, because he built his very own playground yesterday.
That's a slide coming down the front and monkey bars on top. I honestly couldn't explain the rest of it.
He spent a good 30 minutes and a roll of tape on that masterpiece, and he is quite proud of it.
When it rains, I'm reminded that my mom often fixed breakfast for dinner when I was growing up. Rick doesn't usually care to play along with that nostalgia, but when the cat's away, the mice will play.
Because I was a single parent last night, the boys and I had breakfast for dinner! They weren't too thrilled about the idea, until I added hot chocolate to the menu. Why not? The temperature finally dipped below 102.
Jack doesn't really like eggs. Can you tell?
Liam loved his biscuit with apple butter.
And Garrett loved his hot chocolate. Who wouldn't?
(Yes, my baby requested his curls be cut off over the weekend. I'm trying to look at the bright side, which is the time we save every morning in not having to detangle his hair, but I still miss his curls.)
We are so glad for the rain and for what seems like the end of the horrible heat.
Babbling About Babel and Babies
I'm sorry I didn't inform you that I needed a blogging break for the past two weeks. I would have told you, only I didn't know it myself, until, lo and behold, it's been nearly two weeks since I've laid eyes on this blog.
It's not so much that I needed a blogging break, but a better description would be that I had writer's block. My mind and heart have been full of some heavy stuff lately, and there are some things that I just can't write about here. At times, it's too hard to look past all the stuff to write about the simple pleasures of my life.
How do you like the vagueness in this post thus far? It reminds me of Charlie Brown's teacher...blah, blah, blah.... In a nutshell, the CupRunnethOver family is fine, and we are all glad the last two weeks over and done!
Moving right along.
Where Rick typically leads us in a family devotion in the evenings, I was flying solo tonight. I picked up my favorite children's Bible, The Jesus Storybible Book, and asked Liam to choose a story from the table of contents. He chose "A giant staircase to heaven", which is the story of the Tower of Babel.
You can find the adult version of the story in Genesis 11, but here's the gist. After Noah and his family left the arc, they multiplied a few times over (Okay, maybe more than a few times over, but I haven't looked up their family tree.), and they were living in one area and speaking one language. They decided to build a tower tall enough to reach the heavens.
As you can imagine, that was quite the undertaking, and their hearts were not in the right place. We cannot simply walk to heaven of our own accord; we need salvation through Jesus in order to reach heaven.
God was not happy with Noah's descendants' plan, because it was not His plan. Therefore, He chose to change their tongues. Instead of everyone speaking and understanding the same language, suddenly they each spoke different tongues and no longer understood one another.
Can you imagine the frustration of awaking one day to not understand the people that you spoke to the day before? Suddenly, everyone around you sounds like a babbling idiot! And they think you're the babbling idiot. I'm not sure about you, but I think I might get a little angry.
And they did. They fought a great deal, until they finally began dispersing themselves and starting new lives in different areas of the world. This is why we have different languages today, but that isn't the point here.
As I explained to my boys, the point is that we must remember to follow God's plan. We can't simply take a map and walk to heaven. We need to seek Jesus, and there we'll find our salvation. Once we're saved, we have to seek Him through prayer, Bible study, and Christian fellowship, in order to keep ourselves in line with His plan.
Our own plans will fail us, but God's plan is best. "'For I know the plans I have for you,' delcares the Lord. 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" (Jeremiah 29:11) I want my boys to desire nothing less than seeking His plan.
Somehow, this discussion of the Tower of Babel led us into a discussion of baby #4. Liam said, "Mommy, I really want a baby sister."
(Has anyone else noticed how these difficult topics come up at bedtime? My boys' timing is impeccable.)
"Well, Liam," I said. "I don't know if we're going to adopt anymore kids. Daddy and I feel pretty blessed with three boys, and we're not sure that we're supposed to have anymore kids."
"But I really, really want a baby sister, " he begged.
"Then, you need to pray to God and tell Him what you desire. But if He chooses a different plan for our family, then we need to be content with our family the way that it is. We are very blessed to have two parents and three boys," I added.
The four of us talked for a few more minutes about various world crisis, such as hang nails, scratchy throats, and frigid room temperatures. (All of the world's problems seems to arise at bedtime, I tell you.)
Eventually, I had to wrap it up and asked the boys to each think of their own prayers for that night. I reminded them to think of something to thank God for and something to ask of Him.
After a moment of quiet reflection, we closed our eyes, and I called on each boy to pray.
Jack: "Dear God, thank you for the trees, the grass, and the earf. Will you please give us a baby, because I really want a baby. But if you don't want us to have a baby, then that's okay, because we have a good family. But I really want a baby. Amen."
Liam: "God Jesus, [Yes, he addresses God that way every time.] thank you for this day and for all the food and for this house. If it's okay, please you give us a baby? If you don't want us to have a baby, then help us to be grateful for our family. Amen."
Garrett: "God Jesus, [He does pretty much everything the same as Liam.] thank you for this day. I want a baby. If you don't want us to have a baby, then help us to be happy with three boys. Amen."
By george, I think they understood the point of my babbling about Babel and babies, however it is we got there.
Plum Wore Out
Garrett was supposed to be thinking about an apology he owed me.
Either his thinking wore him out.
Or it bored him to sleep.
Or maybe he was just plum wore out.
