Black Friday

You know how much I love shopping? NOT. So what spectacular deal could possibly entice me out to the mall on Black Friday?

Breakfast with Dad. Yep. My wonderful Dad, all to myself, albeit in a myriad of shoppers, albeit under the guise of his Christmas shopping for Mom, but yes, time without anyone but my Daddy.

Black Friday does bring interesting things to light. As you know (or you may not--you blog surfers know who you are), my dad is blind and carries the white cane. This does allow the crowds to part like the Red Sea for Moses, and the clerks are much more helpful. I can also say that I did not touch shoulders with anyone (except Dad) all day. And, who can say that while shopping on Black Friday?

But still, one of the most interesting things I noticed was while Dad and I waited in line. I saw a man who seemed out of place in the department store with his ball cap and Carhart jacket. Sure enought, I spied a tape measure at his waist. He held a nice pair of ladies pants up and looked them over front and back. Then he laid them on a display and pulled out his tape measure. He measured the waist, nodded and then flipped the pants over and measured the other side! He smiled approvingly, zipped his tape measure shut and returned it to his belt without looking. He waltzed off with an air of satisfaction about him. I thought to myself, "sizes, schmizes, all ya need is a good tape measure!" I also thought, what a guy! completely out of his element, and finding a present for someone he loves, isn't that sweet?

When I shared this story with my grandma, her reaction was completely different than my thoughts. She said, "Well, I sure hope he measured the inseam!"

Have you ever seen that classic movie "Overboard" with Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell? She's a rich debutante who treats the sweaty carpenter terribly, but then she falls off her boat, loses her memory and the carpenter picks her up and claims her as his wife. He lives in a disaster zone with four boys, and she is so lost, it's hilarious. There's a scene where she is attempting to cook a chicken in a pot on the stove and half the body and toes are sticking out of the pot. She keeps rearranging the feet and mumbling, "I feel as if I've never done this before in my life."


Today, I am roasting my first turkey. I've read lots of articles, and been properly intimidated by Lynn Casberger's splendid table and the GOOD EATS scientist guy, so I think I'm ready to unwrap the package in the fridge. I don't relish the idea of touching raw meat. I read about how to rinse and even rub the turkey to clean off any bacteria. Ugh...I need gloves. I read about giblets (disgusting) and found the meat thermometer so this is it. Gulp. That scene from the movie keeps floating through my mind. "I feel as if I've never done this before in my life."

Things Kids Say

Things kids say

Marcus the Pirate, "Mom, Mom! Can you draw me the Jolly Robert?"
"You mean the Jolly Roger." "Yes! Draw it! Please!"

Lucas accidentally scratched Marcus while they were getting into their PJs, "Ow! He NAILED me."

I told Lucas it was time to put the game on the shelf. "Can you do it, Mom?"
"No, you are a Westphal, and you are going to be helpful."
"I don't want to be a Westphal," he said as he sadly walked away with the game, "I want to be an INDIAN."

Finding a Solution

I love it that I am teaching my kids to "find a solution" to their troubles.

I like it that they are becoming self-starters. They can formulate and implement ideas with an end goal in mind. They learn to think about their questions and investigate the answers. These things are important to a child's education.

As a parent, I love to watch this process develop. Usually.....

This morning I heard a crash from the bathroom, I heard, "uh, mom..." from my eight year old son. Then I heard water. I am very grateful for the water shut off valve to the toilet. This stopped the water from pouring onto the bathroom floor. While we used four bath towels to mop up the mess, I got the rest of the story.

"For some strange reason, mom, the toilet would not flush. So I decided to see what the problem was. But the lid was very heavy, and it fell into the back of the toilet and now there's a big hole, and all the water fell out."

Yes, this is our only toilet. Thankfully, I have a very intelligent father-in-law with loads of life experience. My husband explained to me that the toilet works on a siphon and if I simply dump a large bucket of water from the tub into the toilet, it will flush. My skeptical mind imagined a disaster, but I had a dancing beep boy next to me and an encouraging husband on the phone, and lo and behold, it worked. Yeah!

Five Things (in the cupboard) Five Things is my weekly (supposedly) interesting (supposedly) tidbit that sparks five things in your life that you are thankful for today.

1. Chocolate chips (need you ask?)
2. Coffee (see number 1)
3. A CPR chart for infants (hmm..twins are four..maybe I should take that down now..)
4. Cream of Tartar (you need this to make play-doh)
5. The calendar (a must-have, at least I feel organized)

Thirty Dollar Trip to the Children's Museum

Thirty? Isn’t that a little hefty? It is when you have a membership and you were expecting to pay nil. Last Christmas, we got some money from Grandma. So we bought a membership at the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum. Grand Rapids Children's Museum - A place where learning is ...

Not that expensive, really, and a fun place for all. Today, we finished school and off we drove, over the river, and through the city to the Children’s museum we go… A fun time was had by all. They all dressed like firefighters. Mark also dressed as a horse, a farmer, and a beekeeper, but I digress…

The tough part about the children’s museum, as with most things downtown, is the parking. We parked at a meter. It’s two hour parking. So it was either feed the meter or head for home. We headed for home, but by the time we said goodbye to all our favorites, returned the firefighter jackets and hats to the right place, picked up craft projects and went potty, we’d lost about 20 minutes. Sure enough, I had a bright chartreuse envelope stuck under the wiper.

It screamed the words Parking Ticket in all caps, in a font of 72. So, I opened it. Do you know how much a parking ticket is? I’m thinking maybe 8.00. Noooo…the city is bitter about how those college kids keep ripping up their tickets. It’s 20.00! Yes, twenty! I almost ripped it up in protest. ( You all know that’s not me.)

It’s payable to the county clerk treasury. So I called the treasury to get directions to the building, (after all, we’re already downtown and in ten days, the amount due will DOUBLE!) We promptly got lost, turned the wrong way on a one way street, turned around and called again. No, the number is not on the building, you have to go into the parking tunnel. Is there a sign? I think so. What does it say? I don’t remember, just turn into the tunnel. The tunnel? You can’t miss it.

We crossed the river (twice), Oh look, kids, the river! We missed the tunnel and turned around. Showed our bright chartreuse folder to the parking attendant. She smiled and nodded. We were in the right place, sort of. There were about six exits from the parking area, and none said “treasurer”. We asked the attendant. She still smiled a little as she pointed us toward the green double doors, can’t miss those.

Two information booths later, and two elevators (yes, two), we arrived to pay our ticket. Mark got his shirt all wet at the drinking fountain. Do you know what my kids do when they get wet? Yes, Marc lifted his shirt and was bare-chested for all to see. Put your shirt down. I can’t! IT’s WET!

Paid for the ticket. $20.00 please. Found our way out. Could not find the ticket for the parking tunnel. Talked to the attendant. She did not smile. $10.00 is the lost ticket fee. Ten! We’ll look for it. Hmm.. Back inside the green double doors we went, both elevators, asked at information to see if we left it there, asked at the pay ticket counter. Nope. Officially out of luck.

Parking attendant asked if we found it. Nope..no one was smiling now. Put my $10.00 in the machine, (at least it’s not $20.00) Left the parking tunnel.

Now, how do we get to our highway? It was actually above us. There must be a way. We crossed under our highway twice….I wonder how we get up there…we crossed over a historic bridge. Oh, look, kids, the river…(again). Finally found an entrance ramp. There was a yield sign at the end. (somebody let me in....)

Ok, we are on the highway. It’s 5:00 traffic, and look, construction ahead. The sun was sinking low on the horizon and we were headed, yep, you guessed it, west.

Four tired kids and one tired Mama made it home before dark (Praise the Lord! I can’t drive in the dark) and in time to make a quick noodle supper.

Five Things

Five Things on my “To Do” List
1. Pick up Ryan’s pants.
2. Bathe the kids.
3. Get wedding card and birthday card
4. Make cookies
5. Check Email

Five Things on the “I Did Today” List
1. Cleaned a spider out of a spy scope (Hot water works best).
2. Made a high chair from waffle blocks (It takes 9 blocks).
3. Sang like a pirate.
4. Shared the Thanksgiving Day story of when I sat in the blueberry pie (twice).
5. Found out “crayons aren’t born, Mom. They are made in factories.”

Thinking

“Mom, is God bigger than heaven?” My eight-year-old asked me this question. “That’s a very interesting question,” I replied (which is my standard I-don’t-have-an-answer-response,) “what do you think, Tim?” (That’s my deflection tactic).

“Well, you said when you’re in heaven, you’ll be praising Jesus so you won’t even miss me. Then when I get there, I’llI tap you on the shoulder. Then you’ll point at Jesus, and we’ll both praise Him. If you can point at Jesus, then you are in the same room or area or whatever it is. So if Jesus and you are both in heaven, then heaven’s bigger. But Jesus is God and he’s in our hearts too, so maybe God’s bigger. What do you think Mom?”

This got me to thinking, “ When we are on earth, Jesus lives in our hearts, but when we are in heaven, we are with God. Heaven is God’s presence. In heaven, it’s like we are living in the heart of God, so I suppose that if heaven is the heart of God, then God truly is bigger than heaven.”
What do you think?