The Holy Ghost

We are a Christ following family.  We're not perfect, but we follow a Jesus who is.  We, however, speak a lot of "Christian-ese".  This sometimes kicks me in the butt.

I had driven out to my best friends house.  It was late on a Friday, maybe 9:30.  Siri (6) had fallen asleep in the car.  Gannon (10) went inside to clean his friends room and play video games.  Annika, however, wanted her mom.  I did not want to hold Annika.  I wanted to sit, quietly, and talk with my friend about life.  Annika would have none of it.  She is a threenager if there has ever been one.  She is strong willed, smart, and sassy.  This works both for and against me.  Most of the time, she can be reasoned with.  She makes smart choices most of the time, but sometimes (and ONLY sometimes) she out-logics me.
My best friend lives out in the country.  On a farm.  With animals.  They make funny sounds sometimes.  So she and I were sitting outside, and Annika was in my lap.  I was desperately trying to get her to go inside to play a game, go to the potty, get a drink....SOMETHING to give me a moments rest.  I asked her why she didn't want to go inside.  "It's dark.  I'm scared."  I "Christian mom-ed her.  "Sweetie, it's ok.  Jesus is with you.  You're safe."  The house is MAYBE 200 feet from where we were sitting.  There were lights on.  She was being obstinate.

Suddenly, she took a sharp breath in, jumped a little, and clutched her chest.

"Annika!  Are you ok?  What's the matter?"

She did it again.

"Annika, WHAT is going on?"

"Jesus keeps scarring me!"

My friend and I looked at each other.  We tried not to laugh.

My friend asked "Annika, where is Jesus?"

"In my HEART!" came the retort with a sideways look that clearly meant "DUH!"

"But why is he scarry?"

In the most precious way possible, Annika tilted her head to the side, her curls framing her sweet little face. She put both of her hands out to emphasize her explanation...

"Well.  SOMETIMES, Jesus puts a sheet over him.  That's because He's being the Holy Ghost.
Then He scares me!"

*repeat action of sharp breath, hand over heart, little jump*

Really Jesus...

Gannon, tequila, and a Mexican jail

I love to travel.  Loooovvvveeeee.  I love to plan experience, to meet new people, taste new foods... I have wanderlust and I have it bad.  You should check out my travel blog The Jolly Camper.  It's less funny and more camp-ey.

Tonight, we had a great time with our friends, the Warrens.  They are our pastors, our dear friends, our kids best friends....really more like family.  We like to do stuff with the Warrens, and we refer to it as the "WarNig *event*".  We've had the WarNig Christmas, the WarNig Camping Trip, the WarNig Thanksgiving, a WarNig 4th...The WarNig "bottomless cup" hockey game.....you get the idea.  So tonight, there   were drinks, laughs, and trip planning.

The kids played upstairs while the adults brainstormed. We had initially tried to plan a camping trip for the first few weeks of October, but we kept having "oh, yah, we have *insert event here* that day.  So, no October camping trip.  Somehow, Mexico came up.  Mexico.  I've never been to Mexico!  I think running the Beach to Bay Marathon Relay in Corpus Christi is the closest I've been to our southern neighbors.  Mexico came up, and somehow, between 4 exhausted adults, a bottle of McAllen 18, a cup of coffee, and midnight conversation, a camping trip to Padre Island National SeaShore with a day trip to Playa Bagdad was scheduled.  SQUEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  A trip to put on my count down!  (Yes, we're leaving the continent for Spring break, and YES we're finishing up the lower 48 states this summer...but a CLOSE trip!  Fewer than three digits in the number!!!!!)

We departed the Warrens with as much excitement as two families totaling 12 people can muster at near midnight.  Lists were swirling in my head.  Packing...weather in Mexico in November...food....leaving on a Friday after school....Kids birth certificates, I probably need to order a few more copies...I started thinking out loud.  I think out loud, loudly.

Gannon caught on.
"MEXICO!?!?!?!  WE'RE GOING TO MEXICO!?!?!?!?!"

So, the way Gannon processes things is unusual.  If you've read more than one of these blog posts, you've probably figure that out.

"Yup!  All of us!  In November.  With the Warrens."
It wasn't immediate excitement.  You could almost hear the wheels turning.  What. Would. He. Say.

"Well, I hope I don't end up in a Mexican jail from drinking too much of that drink you warned me about."

I have no recollection of warning him about tequila, but I can honestly say, I
feel like this was a parenting win.    

SIXTY NINE DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Breakfast

Mornings in my house are hard.  I know I've mentioned before that Mr. Koenig has a hard time waking up, so I count on him for bedtimes.  Mornings, well, that's all me.  Between the Siri throwing fits about her outfit,

(She wanted to wear her skirt inside out.  I said no.  Then I said yes.)

Gannon needing to work on his 6-pack

(Teeth were't brushed, please note he is not wearing socks.....yet)

And Annika with her........Siri-ness

Most of the time, they don't get breakfast at home.  Sometimes, I am a stellar mom and make instant oatmeal, but cheerios in a cup are the staple.  No milk, just plain, dry cheerios.  Driving to school this morning, 2.5 days before Christmas break, I won the mom of the year award.  I TOTALLY forgot food for ANYONE.  Whoops.  Fortunately, I think we were out of the house in enough time for the kids to eat *gasp* school breakfast.  

I got a rapid response of extreme enthusiasm, which surprised me.  Siri cleared it up.

"Mommy!  You are the best mommy in the world, do you know why?  Because at school, they have my favorite kind of Cheerios!  They are my favorite because they RAINBOW Cheerios!  They are EVERY COLOR, mommy!"

I was a little confused, trying to think of the specific type she was describing when Gannon pipped in, annoyed as his sisters excitement.

"Fruit Loops, Siri.  They're Fruit Loops".

Creepy.....

There has been a post circulating on Pinterest/Facebook/Buzzfeed/insertsocialmediasitehere about creepy things kids say.  I read it and laughed and laughed!  When other peoples kids say creepy things, its hilarious!  When your kids say it.....

We were sitting in the driveway getting ready to leave, waiting for Gannon to put his shoes on or grab his tablet charger, and having random conversation.  Siri, who is four, looked at me and Alia (16).  She had a serious expression on her face, and I was concerned she was going to have  a melt down (this happens VERY frequently.  You can see one here)

I investigated.  I wish I hadn't.

Me: You ok, Lou?

Siri: (Smiles slowly) The people under the bridge are awake now....

Yikes.

Fired

As heard from upstairs:

Gannon: SIRI, If you don't get in here right now, I'm going to fire you from helping me clean my room!

Siri: mumble mumble mumble, UGH!

Gannon: MOM!  SIRI JUST FIRED ME FROM PLAYING WITH HER, AND NOW SHE FIRED ME FROM LOVING HER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Siri: *Sweetly sings song in background.

Hump Day

I was hoping for a nice kids in bed early night.  We had mac-n-cheese for dinner, everyone had a bath, teeth brushed, and into bed.  SCORE.  I settled down in the living room, looking at memes with our dear friends Jenifer and Christian when we heard a noise...

"EXCUSE ME!!!!!!!!  EXCUSE ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

We sat puzzled for a moment, wondering where the noise was coming from.
It continued.  We ventured out the front door.
We looked around, perplexed.

"EXCUSE ME!!!!!!!!!!!!  HAVE YOU SEEN MY DAD!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!"

Gannon.  Screaming out his window.  To no one.

"HEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!  DO YOU KNOW WHAT DAY IT IS?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?  HUMP DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Mystery Solved.

Speak English!

Tonight is our friend and amazing hair artist DeAnnas

sons 15th birthday.  

QUINCE!!!!!!!!  

We were explaining it to Gannon in the car, and what a special birthday this was going to be for David.

"When I turn 15, can I have a quince?" he inquired.  "No, sweetie, its a Hispanic tradition, and we aren't Hispanic," Gordon and I explained.  "What is Hispanic?" he continued with his inquisition.  "Kind of like Spanish, but Mexican."  I felt totally ill prepared for this conversation.  Ask me about sex, drugs, and rock and roll, but please don't ask me to explain a cultural origin.

"Oh, well if it is Spanish, then I'm ok.  I can totally speak Spanish."

"You CAN?"  We knew he was big into Diego when he was two, but didn't think he'd retained any of the language.  He proved us wrong:

"Yes!  Listen Mom.  'Hola,' 'Si,' 'Bonjour'...."

I'm Leaving on an Airplane

What would happen if a capuchin monkey were to board an aircraft and fly halfway across the United States without a handler?
Southwest Airlines got a close taste when Gannon, in his glorious 7 years of wisdom and knowledge, boarded a few Tuesdays ago for a week long visit with his California Grandparents.

I was ENORMOUSLY scared for my little guy.  Yes, yes, I know that kids fly all the time and that RARELY things go wrong.  I knew I was going to be a train wreck regardless, so I took my fabulous friend Sharee with me to help calm my nerves, re-assure me, you know, be a friend.  

The drive to the airport was .......loooooooonnnnnnnggggggg.  We always joke about "are we there yet", but I had never actually encountered it.

G: "How much longer do we have to drive?"

M: "Well, we left about 15 minutes ago, so 45 more minutes."

G:  "How 'bout now?  Now how much longer?"

M: "Honey, it's only been 3 minutes, so 42 minutes left."

G: "Now?!?!?!"

M: "41 minutes."

This went on for the e.n.t.i.r.e. trip.

When we got to the airport we got his boarding passes (he stood on the luggage scale, then zeroed it for them.  What a helper), went through security (he wondered out loud why a grown man was kicking his bag through the line.  That was poor stewardship), and found his gate.

I was kissing and hugging him, and telling him to pray for the flight, the ground crew, and for his mommy.  I was loving on him, already anticipatorily missing him

"I'm sorry I choosed to go, Mommy.  I'll miss you very much." he said, reassuring me.  He felt he needed to keep going.  "And I shouldn't say the word BOMB, right?!?!?!"

I gave up after that.

I prayed, I cried, I had some wine.

At 1045pm, I got the call.  HE LANDED and was OK!  Thankfully the flight attendant did not let him order a Bud Light per his request, and as it turns out, "Strangers aren't scary!  They are REALLY nice!"

Ice Sculpture

Gannon froze a chunk of ice in a plastic cup in the freezer.

He wanted to make an ice sculpture with it.

He wanted to use a butter knife.
He said "Just with a butter knife"

I said No.

"WHAT?!?!?!  WHY NOT?"

No knives, I replied.

"But I'm allowed to use butter knives!"

"For food, not carving."

"Then I will use a spoon.  Spoons aren't sharp.  And I will make my ice sculpture.  So there."

Happy 4TH!

Me:  Gannon, stop picking your nose!

Gannon:  Mom, why did God make our fingers fit in our nose and ears just right if we aren't supposed to pick them?

Honestly, I got nothing....

Comments Appreciated! 

Subway

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Everyone enjoys a Subway sandwich every once in a while...some more than others (Jarod?).  Yesterday, our good friend Jordan celebrated his last day in SATX with us at, you guessed it, Subway.

I've never in my life had an exciting trip to Subway.  It's always been fairly benign.  Maybe once an unexpected pepper found its way into my meal, but thats the extent of the excitement for me.

Until Yesterday...

Somehow the Koenig Kids have an adventure everywhere they go.

It all started with a power chair.

Siri had to use the restroom.  Unfortunately, she was horribly distracted by a red power chair and its occupant.  They (chair and occupant) were in line for food.  Have you ever noticed that when children say something embarrassing, they are louder than normal?  AND, the volume tends to raise a few decibels when in a VERY public place.  And they sometimes point.  No, they almost always point.

"MOMMY, THERE IS A CAR IN HERE!  WHY DID SOMEONE DRIVE THEIR CAR IN HERE!  CARS DON'T GO IN RESTAURANTS!"

Jordan, his lovely girlfriend Cassie, Gordon and I turned red.  We giggled to hide our embarrassment.  We re-directed Siri and moved on with life.

Until the man with the power chair parked.  Right next to us.

Que Gannon.

"DOES THAT MAN HAVE ONLY ONE LEG?  WHY DOES HE HAVE ONLY ONE LEG?  WHY DOES HE NEED A CHAIR?  DOES IT HAVE A HORN?"

There was a moment of horrible embarrassment, then a good two minutes trying to hush Gannon, and explain different reasons a person might need a chair.

"HE SHOULD GET A METAL LEG!  THEN HE WOULDN'T NEED THE CHAIR ANYMORE!  THAT'S A GOOD IDEA!!!!"

What a little problem solver.

Fortunately among the embarrassment, laughter, tears, and explanation, the man was gracious enough to show the kids his chair, explain why he only had one leg, and even let the kids honk the horn.

On Broadway

Today, my dear friend Cristy, our friend Danna, and I, along with a 3, 4 and 5 year old, went to see Beauty and the Beast Jr.  What a fabulous show!  The kids all did a great job, and of course the girls loved sitting so close to a real live princess.  After the play was over, they begged to meet Bell in person.  It was our great luck that she was in the hall, greeting loyal subjects!  HOORAY!
Thinking it would be fun for a Broadway like experience, I pulled out the playbill and three pens, then explained to the girls what an "autograph" was.  Everyone was jazzed!

After we got the photo op of the year, the girls pulled out their programs and pens.  They waited to patiently for their Princess to sign...but somehow, Siri missed the point of the exercise...

As our friends had their bill autographed, Siri stood to the side.  When I inquired as to what she was doing, and instructed her to give her program to the princess, she hesitated.  Like any good princess would, Bell offered her assistance.

"Here, give me the paper and I'll write my name in it!"  She knew how to woo a fan.  Siri was fast to respond "No, no, its ok.  I already know how to write my name."

And so, Siri autographed her own playbill.

Bell never had a chance against Princess Siri.

Ephesians 4:29

Every parent has one of those moments.   The one where that not so "wholesome thing" comes out of your mouth?  Had one?  I did.  I've paid for it every day since.  I was a sailor, so I come by it naturally, but Ephesians 4:29 has weighed heavy on me to be more considerate of what I am saying.  This was ONE EPIC FAIL.  I said the "S" word.  Loudly.  I can't remember the reference, but it was said.  In front of Gannon.  Well, you can imagine how that went.  I tried to repent to him.  He didn't understand but thought the word was basically hilarious.  Then he though it meant hurricane, so every time it rained, it was "$#!#"ing.  GRRRRRRR.  We talked.  We prayed.  We discussed Ephesians 4:29.

Things were under control.  Until last night.

We had the pleasure of Jacob and Jenna Walkers company for dinner.  They were explaining their band "Davy & Amelia" and I asked what kind of "shiN dig" it was going to be.  LAWD MERCY.  He thought I said the forbidden word, and he called me on it.

"YOU SAID THAT WORD $#!# , MOM!!!!!  YOU AREN'T SUPPOSED TO SAY THAT WORD $#!#!!!! DON'T YOU KNOW THAT $#!# WORD IS A BAD WORD??!?!?! $#!# IS NOT A WORD YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO SAY!!!!

Unfortunately, we were all laughing too hard to do anything about it.......

Ephesians 4:29

New International Version (NIV)

29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

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Maternity Ward

Pregnancy is a time of joy for a woman.  There is anticipation of new life, excitement, tiny outfits, and blankets.  When I was pregnant with Gannon, my first, I was thrilled.  My husband touched my belly to feel his son move, we got the nursery ready, and we had joy.
My pregnancy with Siri was similar.  We had total joy without reservation, trusting that everything would be OK, and they were.  She was perfect.
After Siri, we suffered a loss early in pregnancy.  I was shaken more than Gordon was, but it was early, and we knew that 50% of pregnancies end in early loss, but we trusted God and tried again.
Our early loss was in July of 2010.  Things went down hill horrifically from there.  We had a second trimester loss of a little boy which was devastating from start to finish, but I won't bore you with those details.  This is about the things Gannon has said and done.
After that loss, we became pregnant again, February 2011.  We were seeing a terrific group of midwives, a dynamite perinatologist, but had fear.  Pregnancy isn't supposed to revolve around fear.  For our peace of mind, we rented a Doppler heart rate monitor so that we could check for life on a daily basis.  This is not how you are supposed to experience pregnancy.
March 31, we went and saw our specialist.  20 weeks, and it was a boy and he was doing beautifully!  We named him Seth after Genesis 4:25.
Gannon was thrilled to be a brother!  He was planning how to decorate his bedroom.  June 2nd, the planning stopped.  There was no heart beat.  We looked everywhere over my swollen belly for the sound of that sweet cadence, but there was nothing.  We called the midwives, checked into the hospital at at 7:35 on June 3rd, I delivered our beautiful, sweet baby, born sleeping.

I was devastated.  My heart literally broke.  Gordon didn't know what to do with me, or his grief since I left him to deal with the other kids.  There is nothing to do with a woman who goes to the hospital to have a baby and leaves with a box.  Somehow, Gannon knew.
I know most of the things on this are silly, humorous things he had done, but I want to show you a side of that little boy that will give you a different perspective.

Gannon snuggled me, and snuggled me and snuggled me.  "Are you sad about baby Seth?' he would ask when I laid in bed crying.  "Don't cry, mommy!  You are beautiful!"  He prayed with me.  He prayed that we would see baby Seth in heaven, and he listed to Revelation Song, and he told me that our babies were in heaven with Jesus singing "Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God Almighty!"  I understand that it is not the job of a little boy to be an emotional piller for a grown up, and I don't think he knew he was.  Gannon always knows the things to say that help me know there is still purity in the world.  That despite everything that is ugly, and hateful, and extreme, there is an innocent little boy that wants his mommy to be ok.

In reading about his quirky antics and his humerous pieces, his words are beautiful and healing as well. Thank you, Gannon, and happy 2nd heaven birthday, sweet baby Seth!


P.S. when baby Annika was born and Gannon got to meet his baby sister, the first the he said was "Is she breathing?"  What do you say to that!?!?!?!

And now for something completely different....

My kids normally take gymnastics.  They normally take them on Thursday nights if you remember from the "almost" post.  J&R Gymnastics has a great program for kinder (Siri's class) and for boys only (Gannon's class).  They were doing really well with it!  They liked their coaches, they like learning the skills....

...but the I listed to a sermon Pastor Zak.  DARN BIBLICAL TRUTHS!  He said that their family enjoys family time instead of extra curricular activities....and then I started thinking.  Anyone who knows me knows that is a dangerous thing.

I started noticing some patterns between Gordon and my tendency to be work-a-holics and our kids activities.  I saw gymnastics as our only extracurricular activity, but looking deeper into things, thats not the truth.  They go to church with Gordon and I two days a week to volunteer, they have school, playdates, homework, chores at home, summer vacations and more I'm sure I'm forgetting!

MY KIDS ARE OVERBOOKED!  

So I googled "are extracurricular activities bad?"

Here's what I found:

NO, they aren't, but too many are.  Check out this page from Psychology Today and tell me what you 
think. Here are a few snippits to get you started:

"Time to Play in a Natural, Creative Way
Unstructured play allows children to pursue their interests, express their personalities and learn how to structure their time. Play is the natural mode of learning for young children, but when their lives are dominated by adult-organized activities, there may be little time left to just be kids.

Family Relationships
Children need downtime with parents -- time to relax, talk, read, play games and just hang out. Families that are constantly running from one extracurricular activity to the next have little opportunity for these experiences. 

Why do we push so hard?
The truth is, most parents have good intentions. They enroll their children in activities because they want them to have a rich, happy childhood. They sacrifice their own time to make sure their children are at practices and competitions. Of course, these parents love their children, and the last thing they would want is for them to feel stressed."



Long story short, we quit gymnastics. I would LOVE to hear what you think about this, so leave comments. I know for us, roasting marshmallows and making S'Mores in the driveway beats gymnastics!

From the husband perspective...

This weekend I was in Corpus for a run with my oldest and some friends.  While I was gone, Gordon was in charge of the three little ones.  This is a quick piece that he encountered with Siri.  Hey, got to mix things up occasionally....

"Was laying on the sidewalk looking at the moon with Siri. She gets up and asks "dad, do you need help getting up"? So, of course, I say yes expecting to engage in the ever fun game of trying to pull dad up. 

Instead, she says "ok, just watch me dad", and then proceeds to lay back down and give me a step by step tutorial on how to get up! 

You can give a man a fish...."

Matthew 9:20

Gannon has made a lot of steps towards spiritual maturity in the past few months.  Less than a year ago, he decided that "Jesus is his #1 Guy" and he wanted to be with Him in heaven.  As parents, obviously we were elated.  We prayed with him, talked to him, and then just a few weeks ago, I had the total privilege of seeing my husband baptize my son.  PRAISE GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Since then, the boy has been very interested in the stories in the Bible that are less familiar to him.  Today in the car, he asked if there were any stories of  "bleeders".  Before you start judging me, keep in mind he IS a 7 year old boy and blood is basically awesome, and his mom is a nurse, so we don't gross out easily.  Well, the only story I could think of was Matthew 9:20, about the woman who was bleeding for a long time and had spent all her money on being healed.  He was quiet for most of the way to school, presumably reading the story.  Nothing wrong with this.  I'm actually excited that my kid is exploring God's word!  Nothing was wrong till 7:49 am.  That is when I got the text.  The text from Gannons first grade teacher.

The entire first grade class.

Yup.

Photo Shoot

So, I know the kids have a lot of "moments", but I wanted to add some of these pictures done by the AMAZING Jenna Walker to give a face to some of the names....