el mariachi

Thank you Jesus . . .

Serif always gets a sheet to take home from his class on Sundays. This week, he learned that Jesus is his friend! The sheet had an exercise on there that we can help him with this week. It said to cut out hearts and keep them by the bed and when it's time for the bedtime prayer, help him pray and thank Jesus for being his friend and let him tape a heart to his bed.









I was putting Serif to bed last night and went through our normal bedtime routine. Then we got our heart and said our prayer and just before walking to the bed, Serif points up to the Jesus over his bedroom door and said, "Jesus. Hamburger!". Nice.








I guess he thought the heart looked like a hamburger. Unless he was hungry and thought if he prayed he may get a one. Or as jeff said, he knows Jesus loves hamburgers. He he.

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Bow

I had to go to birmingham today for work on the way back we stopped at a gas station. When I went in, they had a case with vintage toys and another aisle with sort-of retro style toys. I quickly picked a few things to bring home to Serif.

One thing I got him was a toy bow and arrow. When he saw it he squealed with excitement and immediately wanted me to open it. When I did, he took the bow and said, "Violin!?!" and wanted his guitar.





I did buy it in the spirit of Uncle Don but I must admit I was ecstatic at the fact that he immediately thought of music rather than hunting. Sorry Uncle Don.


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Photo of the Day

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Typical Day

A typical morning at daycare as Serif is being dropped off.


A typical afternoon as Serif is being picked up from daycare. He stayed in the car and played for 5 minutes after I got there. Absolutely no rush to leave.


This is his buddy, Grant. He's 2 weeks younger than Serif and started daycare at the same time.



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A new form of whining

Serif has started a new form of sadness where he will cry and say "Mommy, Daddy, ahhhhhh" repeated several times. This generally happens when we close his door at nap time or if he gets time out or some times if he doesn't want to go in his car seat.

This morning, we were loading the car for church and he did NOT want to go in his seat. I finally got him turned around in his carseat and he immediately burst in to tears and began his whining, except this time it was, "Daddy, yellow gum, ahhhhhhhhhhhh. Daddy, Mommy, ahhhhhhhhhhhh. Mommy, Daddy, ahhhhhhhhhhhh. E-I-E-I-O ahhhhhhhhhhhh.".

It was so hilarious that I felt really bad for laughing at his sadness but . . . aren't you laughing?


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A New Experience

Jeff and I have had a heart for the homeless for a long time, but have never really gotten involved; nor did we really know how to start. Well, tonight, as I was doing my nightly internet surfing, I saw a post on our local Listserv that the homeless had their tents swept up and demolished and these people were trying to help gather all their things and get them washed so they could redistribute everyone's belongings. All the stuff was damp from the rain last night and they were needing help washing everything before they mildewed in the plastic bags. We offered to help and just spent about 5-10 minutes talking with these sweet folks about how they're involved. They basically are there to share their love and be an ear for these people. Often times that is what they need to the most. However, it was interesting to hear them talk about everything. Here is what we learned:

1. According to their experience, it's typical when events are happening downtown that these camps get torn up. They said it is thought to be Metro that does this to help "clean up" our city for those coming down to enjoy all the events. The sad part of this is, these camps are where these homeless people live and all of their belongings are in them. As they cleaned up this torn up camp, she said there were family photos, photos of their kids, papers with personal information, and all kinds of personal belongings that anyone would be devastated to lose.

2. The Nashville homeless do not go hungry and are actually well fed. Many times food actually goes to waste due to all those helping hands and donations from all the friendly people that live in this grand city. A big THANK YOU to anyone that helps with this!

3. In general, they have a lot of stuff, but they live and plan their lives one day at a time. They can only carry so much and the rest gets left behind for the the next person.

4. There is a bus that is set up like a shop (basically) that they can go to and change clothes in and all the dirty clothes that are 'swapped out' are washed and put back in the cycle so everyone benefits. This was amazing to me and I am so grateful for those who were not only clever enough to set this up, but those who are involved to help in such a personal way.

5. Things like toothbrushes and toothpaste are hard to keep up with and other things such as mouthwash may get consumed as a beverage from those who may have an addiction. So be careful with donations like that. Please note ALL donations are appreciated and they are needed!

6. All in all it sounded like the best things to give right now are blankets, clothes, coats and (although we didn't discuss this, I would guess . . .) shoes. Make sure any donations given are washable and not 'dry clean only': This ensures that they do not just get trashed but they are able to use them over and over again.

This experience has been interesting. It's kindof weird to think that I have a two bags of blankets sitting in my house that belong to these poor folks. They did recommend that I use gloves as I transfer everything from the bags to the washer, since they are unsure of anything that might be in them. I am definitely using gloves and I am also cleaning the floor with wood floor cleaner to make sure it is all cleaned up before Serif starts running around in the morning.

As I answered the door tonight I felt the bitter cold wind blow through the door and I got a quick reality check. I saw a quick vision of these people living out there tonight and not having shelter from this weather. I am so blessed to have shelter and personal space to truly call my home, to have the ability to drive myself to where ever I need, to have my husband and child next to me and knowing they are both safe and secure. I am feeling incredibly blessed and incredibly sad for those experiencing such a downturn in their lives. I am feeling thankful for the people involved in all that is offered to these poor souls. Thankful for the couple that made the post tonight who are dedicating their own time to delivering bags of dirty soiled clothes and linens in order to help make someone else's lives better.

Although I am not involved like these other folks, I feel good about being able to wash a couple of loads of laundry for them. I realize it's not much, but when I think of the 4 blankets that are in my dining room and washer, I think about those who may have a little less shelter tonight. I pray that they find better shelter tonight and that when they receive these blankets back, it will be that much warmer for them.