Meggie wants to go to the movie ‘heater’ to see Madagascar 2. Funny. Michael had a hard time yesterday with ‘Pot Belly’, one of our favorite sandwich places. He kept asking for a chocolate shake from ‘Hot Belly’, even after we corrected him. I’m sure his focus was on ‘chocolate shake’; he said those words perfectly. Megan proudly declares herself a “‘naken’ girl” just before getting clothes or jams on. California Pizza ‘Chicken’ is a favorite restaurant of hers (in case you aren't familiar, it's California Pizza Kitchen). Hey, whatever works. We understand each other. Megan refuses to recognize ‘brown’ as a color. Maybe the way the Iran refuses to recognize Israel as a sovereign nation. Brown is ‘chocolate milk’. We color with the chocolate milk crayon, “I’m going to wear my chocolate milk shoes, Dad,” and so on.
Michael's bed is so comfortable. After books, prayers, and stories, I fell asleep beside him the night I returned from Iowa. And I stayed down. That means I went to bed at 8:00. Yes. I was exhausted from hunting. It was tough tromping this year as the weather didn’t cooperate. I can’t wait to bring Michael with me some day.
It isn’t even Thanksgiving yet but the catalogs are out and little brains are agonizing over Christmas lists. They're including tons of things, of course, way too many things, but there's always more to consider, more lego sets, more toys. What to add, what to leave off? How to decide? The agony!!! Contrast this with a story I heard from a hunting buddy this year. He said his great-grandmother had kept and passed down a letter to Santa written by his grandpa. So this letter was written by a little boy about a hundred years ago. The boy – who became ‘Grandpa Don’ to our friend and has since passed away – asked for a piece of fruit and new boots. That's all. He needed new boots because his old ones were worn out and he couldn’t go out to milk the cows in the morning anymore. Wow. But I'm not criticizing my kids, or even the times. No way. I shopped the catalog too at that age; I circled everything, dog-eared every page. I didn't get it all, but I got more than an apple and a pair of boots. And so will M & M.
