Why is my kid smarter than me?

We have a new Kroger down the street from us.  It's shiny and new and full of free goodies today for the grand opening.  They gave us cake and a cart for my boys to push around the store.  It was a wonderful experience.
Until the end.
When they broke our van.

You see, we have this new-to-us van that has changed my life.  Automatic doors and endless space.  I love it.

They didn't mean to break it.  I guess I should have told the kind gentleman and lady carrying out my ton of groceries that I WILL CLOSE THE TRUNK.  No, you do not need slam all your body weight on my trunk door in an effort to close it for me.  There is a button for that.  I got it.

I also have got the bill coming my way.
Rumor has it that it will cost us about $400+ to fix it broken doors that will not stay down.  Now, ironically, I have to slam all my body weight against it to keep it down.

I went back to the store with a sleeping child in my arms and another sleepy child carrying a bowl of cherries.  I explained my situation to a manager.
Apparently, she thinks it is my fault for not telling the bag carrier.
Seriously?  My fault?

Through my tears I tried to explain to Danny that we are not going to be shopping there again. It is too painful to shop there and remember this.  All I wanted was a little sympathy.  I get that you can't be liable for it and you can't pay for it.  I guess that makes sense.
But then my little man starts to get sad about the thought of not going to this shiny new store again.
What about those kid size carts?  What about the cake mommy?

Then he says something profound.
"Mommy, we need to get someone to apologize to you, so that you can say 'it's ok!'"

Son, mommy isn't ready to say that yet.  I am still grieving the pain to our budget as we have to pay to fix something SOMEONE ELSE broke.
I need to forgive.
At least that's what Danny thinks.
And he is right.


update: as of 8pm this evening, the van is fixed.  thank you to all who prayed.  And the best part.....it was free.  Scott just reset all the locks and it started working again!

Your biggest fan....

....can be your child.

I am sure there will be a time in our kid's lives when we no longer fill the top spot in their world, but for now we are as cool as a polar bear toenails.

Isn't that the way it's supposed to be? Why do we look at sports icons, actors, celebrities that are famous for who-knows-what as the people we follow? Those aren't really my heroes. My heroes are the moms that I spend time with who show me how to be a better one and juggle all their other life desires. My heroes are the dads that work hard to support their families while living up to all the expectations of a great dad. I want to start a fan club for the person who does the same things everyday as me and who loves the Lord in the process. In other words show me someone who is living my kind of life well, so that I can follow them. I want to be president of their fan club.

It is right that we are our kid's heroes. We are the people they look up too. My biggest prayer is that I can always be someone they can trust, someone they can follow, someone that they think is thebomb.com.

I made hash browns for breakfast this weekend and Danny exclaimed upon eating the first bite that I make the best hash browns in the world. They were pretty tasty. Yeah, kid, I am that cool.

But the best example I have seen lately of a "parent fan club" was at a friend's house for a recent cookout and play time. The boys were playing together inside when our friend decided it was time to take the meat out to the grill. One of his boys turned to our son and exclaimed "HEY, want to go outside and watch my dad grill. He is the best griller EVER!"

Do you have a fan club for your everyday activities? Who are your heroes?

Something new in our life....

I really like doing titles that will make some of my readers think we are announcing a little bundle of joy. 
It cracks me up how my generation goes there so quickly.  While we would love to have another rascal, now is definitely not the time. 
An example of how quickly we go there? 
So, at church this week I talked to more people than average due to the fact that my new part time job was announced in both services.  I got to stand up front while our pastor said some kind words about myself and the sweet friend sharing this job with me.  We are thrilled to be starting our jobs as children's ministry coordinators.  My friend will handle the Sunday morning routine and all that happens in our terrific 2nd- 5th grade program.  My part is more about communication and furthering of the "family ministry" perspective.  It is all about equipping parents to reach their children with the truth and for them to know how much God loves them.  I am so excited to take on this new role as Coordinator of Family Ministry and I was really touched with the encouragement I received from people after they heard the news.
I was standing with a friend when another lady come up and said congratulations to me.  She turned and said "For what?"  I knew she already knew about the job, so this was old news for her and it didn't click right away what we were talking about.  After I responded with something about my new role, she said "Oh, I thought maybe you were expecting or something."
Seriously, why do we always go there?
I know that having a child would be the most wonderful news and worthy of many many congrats, but why do we always think that first?
Is it because we have had two kids so close together in age that it seems like we are due for another? 
Yes, we know how they get there and yes, we are attempting to keep from another one coming so close to the first two.  We need a little break.  A break from diapers and sippee cups and car seats with 3 things to click and bottom wiping and cutting up food so tiny that you wonder what it was originally.  We need to introduce school and booster seats and buckling yourself in the seat and being able to swim without floaties.

We love being parents and we are pretty content with two.  For now.

conversations with a former me...

Have you ever thought about having a conversation with yourself in another time? 

Here’s my question.  Am I going to look back at my “now” self and say “that girl knew nothing?”  Sometimes I look back at myself 5, 10, 15 years ago and I think about what I didn’t know, what I still had to learn about life.  I am thankful for growth and change and all the things that go with maturity.  I know that we are supposed to be ever changing in our choices and that life presents different challenges at each age.  I didn’t have kids 4 years ago, I didn’t have a husband 8 years ago, and I was still in high school a mere 12 years ago.  All those life steps have taken me in new directions.  And these new directions have brought tremendous growth.

But what about so many things that I used to think about life?  Silly stuff.  And the things I believed about truth and who God is? Seriously, I was often full of judgment and ignorance.  Oh, and there is that little thing about thinking the rest of the world never felt depressed, doubtful, and without hope the same as me.  That was ridiculous.  What a turning point in faith when I realized that the rest of you get insecure.  You doubt your faith.  You sometimes wonder what life is all about.  And through it, God is faithful and He is unchanging. 

This thought process leads me to wonder about looking back 10 years from now.  Will I continue to change as much?  Will I look at myself, the “now” me, but in 10 years and wonder “what was up with her?”  Did she seriously tell people that?  Did she really think that was the way it works?

Ok, this is the point where my husband says that I think too much.  I often wonder about weird things like this so much that the only way to get it out of my head is to write it down, talk about it, chew on it for days. 

Does this mean I am crazy? 

Of course.  Was there any doubt? 

That is another thing, like God's faithfulness, that hasn’t changed in the past 30 years. 

At least there are some things we can hold true and consistent.

I'm not bored

A quick reminder to head over an read my guest post from yesterday on thestubbornservant blog.  Looks like a comment on one of the mothering posts from the week might bring you a chance to win a book?  I never pass up a chance for free stuff!

So, we are in the car yesterday and Danny is telling me about all the drivers and passengers he sees in the cars around us.  He is a big fan of the word passenger and likes to use it on any occasion possible.  He was telling me that the man he saw must be going to pick up his kids from soccer practice or art camp or something so that he could have a passenger.  I told him that it was possible, but it also could be true that this man was not a daddy.
It's a shocker, I know.
Not all men are daddies.
Then Danny proceeds to tell me that "They must be bored."
That's about right, kid.
Before you, my life was boring sometimes.
Now?  Not boring.

Here is a "not boring" moment inspecting a frog in our yard. 

I have a friend you should know....

...named Nicole Unice.  She is the director of women's ministry at my church, a published author, counselor, leader and friend to many, a mommy to three adorable children, and definitely a model to me on how to balance a career and a family with great skill.  She has a terrific blog http://www.thestubbornservant.com/ where she tackles some deep issues and also presents some really great questions about what it means to be a believer.  You know when it is refreshing to meet people who seem to really understand that being a Christian doesn't mean having all the answers and living a model life.  I want to be the kind of person that is honest about the struggles and issues I wrestle with daily.  And through my friendship with Nicole, I am learning more about what that means.
SOOOO, when she asked me to be a guest blogger this summer for a series she was doing,
I was thrilled.
I was seriously flattered.
And since she had visited my site before, I realized that maybe I have more than one reader for this gaskillrascal blog(thanks mom for being faithful!) 

I would love it if you would head over and read what I wrote.  Maybe even comment?
And then add thestubbornservant to your list of daily reads.

His favorite song

Recently, a friend of mine posted a video of her little girl singing Take Me Out to the Ball Game.

Since that is Danny's favorite song, we had to share our rendition. I have had to sing this as our bed time song many times. I am guessing we have a future love of sports in the works for our boys.



He is such a cutie!

Please let me out.

I need to get out of here. I NEED a slushy.

Today is 7-11, so all 7-11 stores are offering free slushies.
In my best Homer Simpson voice: mmmmmm. slussshhhhiess. freeeee.

The boys and I dressed up as cows for free food this week. I love free stuff.

So does Sam(my brother, the dog). Here he is grabbing a few "free" licks of Joshie's ice cream drips. That dog knows where it's at....that kid can make a mess. And he is happy to share with the dogs. He might even think he is one, the way he plays with our sweet Pollack. I am certain I will have to clear that up at a later time. No Josh, we do not lick water out of a doggie bowl. Humans use cups.
And we get to drink slushies from 7-11.
Maybe I should take them with me and introduce them to this terrific tasty treat?

Go get yours before this day ends.

Missing Mr. Gaskill Rascal?

I really want that hubby of mine to start blog on here again.
Here and here are some examples of his funny posts. And you can't forget his one about literally. It might "literally" make you fall off your seat in laughter.
If you think Mr. Gaskill Rascal is funny and would like to see him post again, please leave a message for him in the comments.

Thanks for your help!

This picture is clearly unrelated, but I think 5 sleepy children in a bed watching movies is totally cute.

I can't believe what just happened

The rest of the world may not be as impressed as I am, but something amazing just happened.

Thanks to my sister-in-law's great idea, my oldest son .....dressed....himself....this morning.

Like all his clothes on with out even coming in my room. I seriously just slept for a few more minutes past normal wake up time, while he put on his clothes for the day and went to the potty. All by himself.

Ok, so here is the great idea. For 9.99 at BB& B, I found the under the bed shoe storage things that you see on TV. It has 12 spots, which is perfect for each day of the week minus Sunday, because I get to pick church clothes. I filled one side with Danny's clothes and the other side with Joshie's clothes for the rest of the week. This morning Danny slid out the container from under his bed and pulled out his outfit. I heard Josh calling for me, so I went into their room and was shocked to find him all ready for the day. Since this was the first time, he accidentally picked from the wrong side, but who cares. We switched shirts, but my "solid" 2 year old can easily wear Danny's shorts, so all was well.

I am so proud of my D-man!

Check out these two little stinkers in one of the fish tanks at the GA Aquarium.

Our latest summer plans....

....include laying in bed until 8am(that's late here), riding bikes to the pool, then lunch poolside, home for quick nap, and back to the pool until Daddy calls us asking why we are not home.  We have gone from 2 weeks ago crying when we went in the big pool and strangling our mommy out fear of being let go....to now we BEG to go in the big pool and we get angry when mommy grabs us by our float ring. 
I like this way much better. 
Except I am not a fan of the screaming that happens every time we leave. 
They are turning into little fish!

Photos from our trip to come soon....

This is children at their best.

sleeping. 

seriously, parents and teachers and all people who have or work with children. 

you know it's true.