"Mommy, my pee pee turned black."

Wha...what?! What does that mean? I don't even know what to say to that. Did I hear you correctly? Did you just calmly say to me that your penis somehow turned black? Like a fungus? Or you got marker on it? Or you managed to bruise it (is that even possible?!)? All of the previous thoughts came streaming through my brain the instant I heard my almost 10 year old say these extrememly strange and disturbing words to me. I was brushing my hair and he was peeing in the toilet (not sure why I felt the need to specify that part). I froze for a second and just murmured something like, "Um...what did you say?" He repeated his statement and added that it looked like there were fuzzies on it too. OH!!! Now it makes sense - he had just gotten new underwear earlier in the day, black ones, and had been playing outside. Whew, I felt soooo much less freaked out. I explained what it probably was and he just shrugged and said, "Oh, okay," and walked out of the bathroom. I was glad we had gotten to the bottom of what could have been a most perplexing situation. But then I started wondering why he wasn't the least bit shocked...

"Just don't touch strangers."

Or... "Don't frisk any strangers." Or the more panicked... "You're not touching other people, are you?!" Take your pick. The three of us moms happily listened to our girls talk about their 'checkpoint' in the road, glad they were having fun at the campsite and creating beautiful chalk artwork, but were all suddenly and equally concerned when they got to the point where they patted us down. I'm not sure who said what but I know for certain that we all had a moment of great fear. Once they assured us that no actual touching was involved, that they did that only to us for effect, we took a collective deep breath and went on our way back towards the campfire. You can never be too careful, especially when camping...

Be ready to rejoice...

My last post was about Lucy, my friend's niece whose cancer had returned, whose parents were desperately trying to deal with chaos, whose life was hanging by a thread. And this post too is about Lucy, who now can see, whose parents now have renewed strength and hope, whose life now has been given back. If you haven't had a chance to read about this amazing story, here again is the link: erikandkatekrull.blogspot.com (or search "2 Kids, a Mini Van and a Mortgage". While we've been out camping, biking, playing in the water, this family has been going on a wild roller coaster ride that now seems to be slowing down a bit. They are not home free, by any means, but these last 10 days or so have been an incredible lesson in miracles, hope, and faith. Now that I've caught up on their latest adventures, I feel better about sharing our own craziness again. And after 6 days of camping with our own 3 kids, with 3 days together with 2 other families with 3 and 1 kids each, respectively, that's a lot of crazy. (my hubby's a math instructor so all those numbers are a shout out to him). So tomorrow, perhaps, I will relive some funnies from our trip. I will, that is, if I can get the laundry under control, the house back in order and the kids and myself cleansed of the lingering scents of campfires, food, and good ole b.o. Ha, who am I kidding?!

Be ready to cry...

This post is not funny at all, it's not about my kids, it's not full of fluff. It's about a little girl, it's about a family in pain, it's about strength and faith and helplessness. A dear friend from high school has a brother and her brother has a little girl and that little girl is fighting for her life as her mommy and daddy hold her and love her and tell her everything will be okay. As you know, I don't usually post about serious things but I figure that a few extra prayers for this family can only bring good. I've never met this little girl or her mommy but I feel their pain and my heart hurts for them. This story really touched me, maybe because I know half of them, maybe because I have a 5 year old too, or maybe just because. If that's all you need to know, then thank you for a moment of thought and reflection. If you would like to hear the full story, then stop by here: www.erikandkatekrull.blogspot.com ...but have a box of tissues at the ready. (for some reason I can't get the link to link, so if you search for "2 Kids, a Mini Van and a Mortgage" you'll find it) I'm going to go hug my kids now and thank the heavens for our health and return to our end-of-school busyness. Oh, and take a shower.

"Did you hurt your nose on your way upside down?"

Yeah, I'm not even sure what I just said, but it seemed fitting at the time. And my little guy knew what I meant because he nodded slowly and came over for some cuddles. Sometimes it doesn't really matter if you make any sense, (thank goodness), it just matters how you say the gibberish. And that's my lesson for today: don't worry about how ridiculous you may sound, just own those words and work that tone and no one will question what the heck just came out of your mouth.