The other day I took the kids to City Barbeque, still one of our favorite places to go (without mommy). The collection of sauces was on Jack’s side of the table, and as I reached in front of him, I said, “Sorry, Jack – please excuse my reach.” He didn’t say anything, just kept piling the mac & cheese in. A couple minutes went by and he says, “Oh, I’m sorry, please excuse my nose picking, guys,” jams his finger in his nose, and busts out laughing.

All of my Christmas shopping in one place, a list of the 5 best toys:

You may want to avoid the smallest sizes — I’ve found that they break easily and are impossible to repair. Talk about planned obsolescence. But at least the classic wooden version is biodegradable so you don’t have to feel so bad about pitching them into your yard waste or just using them for kindling.

[Just got out of the car, heading into church]

JACK: Look, Dad! I got a quarter!

CHRIS: Oh yeah, look at that. Are you going to put that in the giving globe in your class?

JACK: No, it’s mine, I’m keeping it. I’m putting it in my pocket [puts quarter into pocket].

CHRIS: Well, maybe you could talk to God about that and ask Him to help you.

JACK: Oh sure!

God, please help me keep my quarter and not give it away. Amen.

CHRIS: ? ? ? …

Yes, this happened this morning, almost verbatim, as best as I can remember. I was speechless. It was awesome. Best thing about it was how naturally the prayer came to him.

We’re just back from a quick and fun getaway to Toledo, where we saw an actual, real-life (real-dead?) mummy, ate some yummy Hungarian food, and swam ourselves silly in air conditioned glory.

The mummy was part of the Egypt exhibit at the Toledo Museum of Art, which was excellent. In addition to an actual mummy, there were lots of relics and artifacts looted recovered from tombs of both royalty and commoners. It’s always striking to see a work of art created 5000 years ago, and made even more so when your 4 year-old careens off the case displaying it. Keeping a close check on him made it all the more challenging to sidestep the rules against photography in the exhibit, but somehow we managed. In addition to that exhibit, the TMA also has a fantastic Family Center, a free art room with all sorts of activities for the kids.

All that painting and crafting worked up an appetite, so we headed to a Toledo landmark, Packo’s. The dogs with sauce were amazing, as expected, but the real surprise was the other stuff: chicken paprikas’ with Hungarian dumplings and warm kraut simmered with tomatoes. Awesome food, well worth the side trip to an industrial part of town.

All of this was but a warm-up for the main event: a trip to Splash Bay just outside Toledo. There was plenty for both of the kids to do, and we really did have a blast swimming, splashing, jumping, sliding, and squirting. Of course, no trip would be complete without finding some candy and ice cream, which we did in style in lovely, Uptown Maumee. The kids even had their own little space in the room, with bunk beds and their own TV. It was, obviously, the “High Roller’s” room.

Jack: Mommy, you have hairs inside your nose.
Jenn: Yep, everybody has them, even you.
Jack: Why?
Jenn: They keep yucky things from going up our nose.
Jack: Like what?
Jenn: Oh I don’t know, like dust, small bugs…
Jack: …spoons…
Jenn: ???

I’ve been meaning to write some of these down forever and never remember it when I have the chance, so I’m just going to start a post now and add to it whenever I notice or remember a new one.

• thinger:
  Owww! That hurt my thinger! This one remains one of my very favorites, and I love that even at 4, he still thinks they’re called thingers.

• hold off
  As soon as we get across the street, he pulls his hand away and insists I hold off his hand. Makes sense that this would be the opposite of to hold on.

• the under
  Now tickle the under of my foot!

I got into a conversation with Jack at bedtime tonight about plans for the garden this year. I’m planning to get things set up and ready this weekend, and maybe sow some lettuce and greens. Here is what Jack would like us to grow this year:

• carrots
• apples
• onions
• salad
• cheese sticks

Jenn pointed out that “salad” means “ranch dressing coating any edible object.” And I am totally going to sneak out one morning and hide some cheese sticks in the ground for him to harvest.

The kids can say amazing things sometimes – hilarious things that make me laugh until my belly hurts. Take tonight, for example. We’re watching the end of the Buckeyes Rose Bowl victory and playing with Play-Doh, when Jack yells, top of his lungs, “GO BUCKEYES! LOOK AT MY MEATBALL!” which he had just rolled himself. It was a pretty good meatball, by the way.