Today was a GREAT day. First of all, my cleaning lady, Mrs. Lee, was scheduled to come clean my house. What a blessing. I have enjoyed her services so much. Secondly, the kids and I were planning to get out of the house for a few hours, which is usually nice. Today they were all so well-behaved and sweet.
We started out by driving by our new house site. Not much was going on, but it was nice to go out there and take a look. Next, we drove to the local GOODWILL. I had to find something to wear to our Sunday School Class Christmas party…the theme is “Christmas Past” and tacky dress is suggested. I found a sweater for me from 1992 that has a huge Christmas tree on it with teddy bears and gifts. It must weigh ten pounds. I found Josh a red shirt that looks like a retiree’s shirt, a yellow polyester pair of pants, and a nice pair of white shoes. Oh my goodness. I asked the girls what they thought and Molly said, “Is Daddy gonna wear those LELLOW pants?” I am not sure he will, but that is the intent. Pictures will come soon if he follows through! The girls found a toy in Goodwill that they really wanted…a talking and moving Simba tiger for $2.00. It is very close to Christmas, but I gave in. They were very appreciative and shared the tiger so well in the car.
Next, we went to Waffle House for lunch. I am SO TIRED of Wendy’s hamburgers and fries, so I thought we would try Waffle House. The kids loved it as well. They ate eggs, hashbrowns and waffles, of course.
There is a busy road by the WH sign, so I didn’t dare let Mack stand there for a picture. He’d much rather be sitting in the “golf cart” driving.
Our next stop was Hobby Lobby (writing this is making me impressed with myself…this is a lot with THREE kiddos!!). At Hobby Lobby I just needed some wrapping paper and a few decorative ornaments for my gifts. As we were leaving, there was a lady standing at the checkout stands. She had something wrong with her eye and was carrying a cane and just looked different than most of the people we are around. Well, the girls were totally staring….bodies turned and eyes glued on her. I said, under my breath, “Ruby, Molly, look at ME.” They wouldn’t turn around. I pinched Ruby’s shoulder, trying to get her to stop staring, but it didn’t even work. Then, Molly says TO THE LADY, “What’s wrong with your eye?” OH MY WORD! Did that just happen? Oh no!!!! I look at the lady with an “I am so sorry she just asked that” face and then whispered crisply into Molly’s ear, “Do not ask her that.” But the lady looked at me and said, “Don’t worry about it…they’re just curious. Kids are just curious.” Then, she looked at Molly and said, “I had an accident, baby.” Then, the lady said that she was needing to get some prescriptions filled and then she started crying. (I think the manager of HobbyLobby was trying to get her some help, but I am not sure he could…they are a Christian company, so that may be why she was stopping in there for help…not sure) Anyway, I gave Ruby some money and told her to go give it to the lady. She did, and the lady cried and said, “God Bless you and Merry Christmas.” It was sad, but I am glad we were able to give her some money. I don’t know what she will use it for, but that is ok. I knew I was supposed to do something. Molly continued to stick her foot in her mouth by asking rather loudly, “Why did we give that boy some money?” I whispered, “That is a lady, Molly.” She wanted to argue about it, but I quickly ushered them out of the store.
Ruby asked me why we gave that lady money, so I was able to explain to her that the only reason we would want to give anything is because Jesus gave Himself for us, which by the way, is their Cubbies verse that we had been working on all morning, “Christ also has loved us, and he gave Himself for us…” Epheshians 5:2 I tied it all together and it was a beautiful moment…a beautiful moment that got interrupted by Molly. “That wasn’t a woman. That was a man.” She kept pressing the point, and I kept trying to explain to her that she was a lady….then, it finally came out. “BUT MAMA, she had a candy cane like Papa Mac does, so that he won’t fall!!!” She must have thought that just because the lady had a walking cane, she was a man since the only person she has seen with a walking stick is Papa Mac, who is a man. I explained that even some women use “candy canes” to help them not fall down.
And another giving moment….we stopped at the Salvation Army pot outside of Hobby Lobby to put in some money. The girls were asking why we were doing it, and I was, AGAIN, able to explain why….telling them how we have so much and some people don’t have anything, etc, etc and all about how Jesus gave Himself for us, which is the only reason we would want to give to others, etc, etc….we started walking to the car and a lady walking by said strongly, “Good job, Mom” and she smiled at me as she walked by. It was just nice to get that little encouragement from someone…I assume another mom with grown kids…a mom who knows it isn’t easy to take the time to teach your kids about giving and why we give. I definitely appreciated it.
We walked in to a clean house that smelled WONDERFUL. What a great day. Now I am off to wrap some gifts to put under the tree…..all in hopes that Mack just won’t notice them….yeah, right.
What a great day! I’ll give you more encouragement. If I searched the world over I could not pick a better Mom for my 3 wonderful grandchildren or a better wife for my son. I don’t know how you take three kids shopping. When I took Jason and Josh I was ready to tar and feather by the time we got home. They couldn’t seem to keep from chasing each other around the clothes rack or playing tag through the aisles. You done good!
You are a brave woman – and it’s freezing cold outside on top of all of that! Jackets off to buckle up, jackets on to get out of the car, jackets off in the store. Thinking about it wears me out!
man, your mother in law’s post brought tears to my eyes!
ok, this story cracked me up!! a quick story about the bakers…
when alex was about 4, we started talking about the importance of brushing her teeth properly. i explained to her that if she didn’t do a good job, then her teeth would turn black and gross….trying to make it real dramatic. wouldn’t you know it, every time we went to walmart, we got a cashier that had teeth missing up top or they had yucky teeth. she would lock her eyes on that person and it was like she was in a trance. i would do the same thing…alex, look at me…then it would always come. mom, is that what will happen to me if i don’t brush my teeth?!?!? overly loud of course!
reading this made me not feel so bad!
I LOVE your stories! You guys are so fun and your kids are too cute! Wish I was as disciplined as you to record the funny things that go on. I’ve enjoyed reading all of your posts today!
Another great post. I was laughing histarically the first half and crying by the end. 🙂 You’re a great mom! And yes, the embarassing, yet painfully true, things that come out of our childrens’ mouths can completely drain the blood from the entire upper half of my body sometimes. Like when I had all three of my children at the doctor’s office last year because all FOUR of us had the flu, and Jesse (3 at the time) stood up in his chair in the waiting room and loudly announced, “Mommy, that man has a baby in his belly and it looks like it’s about ready to come out!” If I hadn’t been on the verge of death, I would have ran out and found a new pediatrician! 🙂