Paid to Play

This morning:

Ari to her older sister, "Teja will you play with me?"
"No."
Ari pleaded, "Pleeeeease."
"Uh-Uh."
Ari bargained, "I'll give you a dollar."

And just like that, her sister was persuaded. Playing together ensued.


I'm still processing this one.

Just Like Her Mama

This morning Mateja said to her dad:

"Every night at midnight I get up and get dressed into my super hero clothes and fly to Hotel Valencia to hang out with my super hero friends. And sometimes the police need our help to get the bad guys. It's not a dream Dad. I really do that every night."

Wow. So super! She gets it from her Mama ;)

Good Gifts

Baby girl was crying all morning (I'm beginning to think she has started teething). Teja was "stressed" (her words, not mine). Once I was able to get baby girl calmed & down for her nap I connected with Tej. You'll enjoy this:

I returned from putting baby girl in her bed. Teja was sitting on the piano bench waiting to play me a song. The first words out of her mouth,"MAN! I am sooo stressed out! I'm trying to get rid of this stress." I knew why and offered Mom's understanding, "That was kinda stressful wasn't it? Let's just give our stress to Jesus. He'll take it if you want to give it to Him." Without missing a beat, she said, "Jesus, here is my stress! Please take it!!!" She acted as if she was grabbing at some pesky mosquitos and thrusting them upwards. I further encouraged her, "Now you can ask Jesus what He will give you in return for your stress. He likes to give us gifts." She continued, "Jesus, what will you give me back since I gave you my stress?" Silence followed as she draped herself forward over the piano bench. I was the expectant onlooker wondering what she might receive in return. Her long legs and arms swung slowly back and forth for a few seconds. Squeals and giggles burst forth as her arms, legs and hair began to boogie. I wanted to know why the sudden change. "What did He say?" She whipped her head up and exclaimed with enthusiasm, "He said Joy & Love! Mom, I'm sooo excited!! Woo Hoo!!!"

Now those are good gifts!

We laughed together and then we played a duet on the piano.

Let her stay there!

After a morning saturated with events that labeled the entire day "one of those" I retreated to my bedroom while Tej & Ari cleaned (so I thought) the kitchen. The area in the kitchen where they had been busy was in chaos. They had been counseled to play with their creations as long as they wanted but once they were finished they would need to clean it up. They were finished; it was time to clean. I exited the scene to let them figure out how to manage the task while I regained my sense of well-being (I can't even begin to go into details).

Some time later Tej arrived in my doorway. She was obviously a bit miffed about something. I questioned her. She replied with something like, "I cleaned up the entire mess all by myself. Ari didn't help at all." Hm. I offered my sympathy for the way that had worked out for her and then a praise for her completing the job.  A few especially quiet moments went by as she reflected. I knew those moments were especially quiet because while Mateja was rethinking her mopping skills, I was listening for little-miss-I-got-out-of-helping-my-big-sister-again. She's not the quietest child, unless... well... you know.  Finally, I asked the question: Where's your sister?  And her response: "OK. Well, she didn't want me to tell you, but... (a deliberate pause) she's stuck on top of the refrigerator!"

I let her stay up there.

(she figured out how to get down shortly after Mateja ratted her out)

A Perfect Husband

This is completely share worthy.
I overheard the two older girls playing together this morning (something they do quite well, HALLELUJAH!):

4 year old to 6 year old: "I found a husband for you."
6 year old questioned: "Is he perfect?" The 4yro answered: "yes"

Q: "Is he handsome?"
A: "yes"

Q: "Is he loving?"
A: "yes"

Q: "Is he kind?"
A: "yes"

Cousins!

Jet, Ari, Tej, Hava, Maya

Agree or Disagree?

Tej and her Dad were having a discussion the other day.  After disagreeing about whether or not Daddy had made a certain promise to Mateja (Daddy insisted I did not say that while Mateja insisted You DID say that.) Daddy finally said: "Let's just agree to disagree."  Mateja responded, "No. Let's do eenie-meenie-miney-mo."