Evening Prayers

"Now I lay me down to sleep

I pray the Lord my soul to keep

Guide me safely through the night

and wake me with the morning light"

Those are the prayers that our kids have said since they were old enough to speak.  Through the years the annunciation, emphasis and alliteration have changed.  The overall message, however, was the same and, frankly, I think that the heartfelt mis-speaks make God smile.

For years Brianna would end her prayers with:

"God bless mommy and daddy, nafan, madeline and ben-german."

When Jackie was pregnant with Grace, Bri's prayers changed to:

"God bless mommy and daddy, nathan, madeline, benjamin, kameron 

and help the baby in Aunt Jackie's tummy to grow big and strong"

When it looked like Grace was going to be a "large" baby (Thanks to ultrasound technology) Jackie kindly asked Brianna to remove the "Big" from her prayers.

 Tonight Jeff was saying prayers with Nate and he was correcting some "mistakes" that Nate made.  I know that all too soon Nate will have mastered the prayer and I just know I need to capture the way he said them tonight:

"Now I lay me down to sleep

I pray the morning light

God Bless Mommy and Daddy

Grandmas and Grandpas

Aunts and Uncles

Breezy, Maddie, Benny and Kam

Help Gracie to Grow Big and Strong and

help the babies in Aunt Sara's tummy to grow big and strong

and help me not to have any bad dreams like lions or tigers

Amen"

Ready to Go

Each morning as we are heading out the door, Nate yells:

"Ready go Chokey Chokey!"

This started with Bri always saying "okey dokey chokey chokey".. Now Nate uses it to declare that he's ready to head out.

Joy!

Brianna (at the top of her lungs): "Joy to the world the Lord is come ...... and Heaven and Manger Scene, and Heaven and Manger Scene, and Hea----ven and Hea---ven and MANGER SCENE!"

Apples the Giraffe

This morning Bri asked for a Giraffe.

"Mommy, I would like to have a giraffe for a pet. Do you know what I will name him? I will name him Apples. Know why? Because he has a long-long-LONG neck and if I find an apple tree he can reach up and get me an apple to eat".

Brianna-isms

Brianna was running through the living room with a knitted scarf, twirling it above her head. She was busy playing pretend.

"Bri, what is the scarf for?" asked Grandma

"It's a lasso" responded Bri.

"Why do you need a lasso?" Grandma persisted

"Baby Jesus got out of the grave and he's running away" was Bri's simple answer.

Oh Boy! I think she missed somethign in the Easter story.