Conversations with a 3 year old

E: Mama, can we go to Heaven?

This was the question asked of me by my 3 year old on the way home from Sunday School today. It's her first time being in Sunday School and she LOVES every minute of it and apparently she's listening when they go to the chapel for song and story time. I pondered how to answer this for her as Heaven is somewhere that she should want to go, but is not somewhere that we can go right now. While I thought of how to answer her over our shared lunch of nuggets and fries she asked another question:

E: When can I meet God?

I tried to tell her that she sees God everyday. In the flowers by the side of the road, in the leaves that are now starting to change color, in the bright blue sky and the fluffy white clouds that are shaped by elephants. I tried to tell her where I see God; in her smile, in her brother's baby blue eyes, in watching them learn and grow every day. How do you give answers to a 3 year olds questions when you're not so sure you know the answer? How do you tell her that you don't know and she responds with "why?". How do you explain to a 3 year old who sees everything in matter-of-fact that you can't drive by Heaven just to see what's going on? Or that you can't schedule a meet and greet with God? I started to tell her that going to Heaven and meeting God are going to be direct reflections on how she lives her life. She sat and thought about this for a long time and then asked a question that I could answer:

E: When I go to Heaven will you be there?

Absolutely baby, absolutely.

AL CENTRAL CHAMPIONS!!!!

Most that know me, know that I am originally from Minnesota and a big fan of the Minnesota Twins. Especially when my dad used to take us to games in the Metrodome and watching my favorite player of all time #34 Kirby Puckett and being able to be in the state when they won the World Series in 1987 and 1991. Two years in a row now the Twins have come from behind to force a one game play off to enter the playoffs within the American League. Last year was a heartbreaker as the Twins lost to the Chicago White Sox 1-0. This year no one thought they would be able to catch the Detroit Tigers who had a 3 game lead heading into the last 4 games of the season. But with an amazing (17-4) record for the month of September my beloved Twins forced a playoff in the Metrodome. I must say that when Miguel Cabrera hit that hot 2 run shot off of Baker my heart sank a little but the way the Twins stuck with it and kept answering runs with runs of their own reminded me a little of how this game is supposed to be played. With a lot of heart. Both teams played with a tremendous amount of heart rallying from being down one run each and eventually forcing extra innings. In the end it was the Twins who came out on top 6-5 in the bottom of the 12th inning on a single by Alexi Casilla that scored Gomez from 2nd. I think that both teams played last night like the players of yester year and each would have deserved the win. Congratulations to the Minnesota Twins. Everyone else please pray for my hearing as my hubby is a NY Yankees fan (as is the rest of my in-laws) and it should be interesting in our household starting tonight.

My Everest

So the other day I got an email from active.com asking what my "Everest" was and it really got the wheels turning thinking about what I want to accomplish in my lifetime. I'm married to an amazing man (who can seriously drive me nuts but I know loves me for everything that I am and in spite of everything that I'm not), have two wonderful children (who I watch with amazement every day when they surprise me with how great they really are), and I'm really not looking to accomplish much more than raising my children to be the best they can be. So thinking with this in mind (and knowing that I want my kids to know that anything is possible) I've decided that I have two "Everests" 1) I want to run a 5K, followed by eventually running the NY marathon and 2) I want to complete a triathalon. Now for anyone who knows me I'm extremely stubborn and when doing something I usually do everything in my power to get it done and that I can be extremely lazy and working out is really not my cup of tea. But as I said before I want to show my kids that hard work and perseverance can overcome anything so here's to completing my Everest. What's your Everest?

Fall

I love fall. Just about everything about it, changing leaves, falling leaves, apple picking, the pumpkin patch, eating or drinking anything with the hint of pumpkin in it. Wearing sweaters and jeans and being comfy. Football Sundays and Mondays (and sometimes Thursdays and the occasional Saturday college game too which means then sometimes on Friday night as well), Sunday school is in full swing. But most of all I love it because it's a time when my kids are a little more likely to want to snuggle up to a warm body and because that means its time for fall pictures.

What a whirlwind

.....and I have loved every minute of it. Last weekend I took the kids to the Hyde Park Quadricentennial. This has importance in two ways for me especially first its a free thing to do with my kids, second it is believed that Henry Hudson anchored his ship in the Crum Elbow Creek in 1609. It was a nice day without it being too warm, fall was definetely in the air especially when the wind blew. It gave Emily a chance to go from table to table and come away with a souvenir from each. There was the paper rose she got to make (marking the rose gardens in FDR's lawn), the piece of wooden furniture stamped with Val-Kill (a la the furniture at Val-Kill Eleanor Roosevelt's estate), a wooden sailboat (to commemorate Hudson's Half Moon ship), and a dutch hat. It was a wonderful event and really got the kids and community involved.

Here are some of the pictures from the day:

Busy Saturday.......

So today is both the Hyde Park Quadricentennial and the Arlington Street Fair. Both are about the same time. The Quad is 1-4 and the Street Fair is 12-6. I've decided to enrich both my childrens lives by going to both. Alone. With a 3 year old and a 9 month old. God help me. Stay tuned for pics of my amazing kids having an amazing time!!

Free samples

I LOVE free stuff. Mostly because it's free. But also because it gives me a chance to try something that I most likely wouldn't buy without trying first. There's an that has amazing free samples. This site updates every day and always has something that I'm interested in. Below is a picture of just some of the samples I've received. The best part is I haven't paid for deodorant in over a year due to the free samples I get.





That's 10 magazines, a formula sample, a bookmark,a Betty Crocker warm delights sample, and three full size cans of Chunky soup......who can beat that????