Here are the first five things that come to mind as I see this photo from this week.*
1. This scene is an iteration of a scene that happens a lot, and it warms my heart every time. I love watching Jason read with Alex.
2. Here's the setup - the four of us were in the kitchen mapping out the night ("What are you fixing to do?" "E needs to shower, Al needs to read..."). Then Alex came up with the game plan: "Angela cooks dinner, Ethen showers, and I read with Dad! Then after dinner, we'll all watch Friday Night Lights!" There are two things I love about his solution: 1. J encourages the boys to fix problems. Fix problems is a motto at our house. So for one of the boys to come up with the solution is cool. It's working. 2. Alex used to put off reading as much as possible. So for him to voluntarily put it in his plan as a top priority is pretty amazing. It's working.
3. Alex is standing on a square ottoman with wooden legs. It didn't even cross my mind that he must be standing on something (because he's not 5' 6" tall) until much later.
4. I made tangy chicken for dinner. (As Kathleen would say, I could eat my way out of a bathtub of that sauce.) The first time I made it for the boys, E said that he didn't really like the sauce. So this time, I left the chicken out of the sauce for E's portion. During the meal, I nodded to Ethen and pointed towards his chicken, which naturally meant, "How do you like the chicken without the sauce? Is it alright?" He nodded back to me, which naturally meant, "Good." Fix problems.
5. Right before we sat down to dinner, I moved my favorite mason jar of flowers off of the table and onto the bar. And that's when I discovered the ottoman under the bar. Fortunately, it was more of a kick than a trip, and more fortunately, I did not drop the jar or smash it into the granite. I hobbled back to the table and said, "I think I broke my piggy toe! Somebody bless it!" So Alex prayed, "Dear Lord, thank you for this great day. Watch out for Angela's piggy toe, that it doesn't hurt anymore. Uhh...Amen."
*Author's note: I wrote this post last month. : /
