Reruns....

Sunday morning.... trying to wake Christopher up to get ready for church... I rubbed his back for a few moments, then I went to his closet to pick out his clothes... all the while talking to him and asking him questions, trying to help him wake up gradually.

Christopher, mumbling: "Will you just hum whatever you need to say? You just ruined one of my really good dreams that was almost over."

Mommy: "What were you dreaming about?"

Christopher: "Gilligan's Island."

Comparisons

I recently explained to Christopher that his allowance was tied to his completion of his chores -- so if he didn't do his chores, he didn't get an allowance.

"That's not fair," he whined.

My angle: "You know how Daddy gets a paycheck every week? (Yeah.) Do you think they would keep giving him a paycheck if he wasn't doing any of his work? (No.) So, it's the same principle. You do your chores at home -- that's your work -- and then you get your allowance -- that's like your paycheck."

Christopher's response: "But it's still not fair! We have a lot more to do than Daddy does!"

I give up....

A Little Protein

When Sarabeth was six, I told her all about a Bible meal my mother had prepared for me and my siblings when I was a little girl. I explained, "We had grapes and Fig Newtons and olives and bread and honey" -- at which point Sarabeth interrupted, "Did you have locusts?"

Milestone Birthday Blessings

I took Sarabeth to Chicago on Saturday, to kick off the celebration of her tenth birthday, which is happening later this month on November 25. We left the house about 8:30am, drove to Michigan City, Indiana (about 1.5 hours away), and caught the commuter train into Downtown Chicago. The train left Michigan City at 9:27am Central Time, and we arrived in Chicago at 11:12am Central Time.

Sarabeth loved the train ride. She had brought a variety of games for us to play together -- Crazy Eights, Old Maid, Go Shopping (similar to Go Fish), as well as a make-up-a-story-as-you-go game. We had fun together! After arriving at Millennium Station in Chicago, we walked several blocks up Michigan Avenue toward the American Girl store. I had a hard time convincing Sarabeth that the walk up Michigan Avenue was an important part of the experience of going to Chicago! She wanted to take a taxi straight to American Girl -- and I wanted to enjoy Chicago. So, I promised her a taxi on the way back to the train station (especially since we'd have our packages then, and it would make more sense).

We finally made it to the American Girl store, and she was immediately in awe! She didn't want to look around -- she wanted to make a beeline directly to the two items she wanted to buy (the Bright Highlights Set and a lovely new doll outfit, complete with dress, hat, necklace, and shoes), and then go to the Lego store to purchase the two items she wanted to buy there (the Lego Friends Dolphin Cruiser and Andrea's Bedroom set). We got a little Lego set for Christopher, too -- a Lone Ranger on a horse, along with three Union soldiers and a Lego cannon that really shoots! Sarabeth also just had to have a Lego Wonder Woman keychain, since she is currently passionate about Wonder Woman. So, all birthday money spent. Now what would we do for the next several hours until it was time for our 4pm tea??

I really wanted to look around the American Girl store slowly -- and the Lego store, too. Sarabeth was more willing to browse once she had her birthday purchases in hand, but she was still a little Energizer Bunny, not slowing down much at all. We ended up sitting at a table outside the Lego store for a while, as she built "Andrea's Bedroom." Then we went to a cupcake place called "Crumbs" and shared a cookies & cream cupcake with Oreos. Then we sat in the American Girl store for a while as she changed her doll's clothes and looked at American Girl books. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting.

Finally, four o'clock arrived! Time for tea in the American Girl Cafe! We had a lovely table for two -- well, three -- as there was a special seat for Sarabeth's American Girl doll, Marie-Grace (who was wearing her new tea outfit). We talked through a box of conversation starters on our table as we waited for our food: miniature cinnamon rolls, scones and fruit kabobs, and then four different types of tea sandwiches, and then three miniature desserts... actually, Sarabeth got four, because they also gave her a little heart-shaped cake with a birthday candle in it -- and our server sang Happy Birthday to her.

After tea, we collected our coats and bags from the glorious free coat check in the American Girl store, stepped outside and across the street to the John Hancock building, and caught our taxi. Our driver was a 70-something Indian man who had been driving a taxi in Chicago for many years. He was hysterical! He kept honking and yelling at other drivers, saying "God bless you very much!," and generally keeping Sarabeth in giggles the whole way back to Millennium Station. He was worth the whopping $8 tab (for just a few blocks, but very slow-moving traffic) for her first taxi experience.

We got our train ticket and sat down to wait for our train. The man sitting near us talked with Sarabeth the whole time we waited. He told her to make sure to play outside a lot and not watch television. He said she should always use her imagination and not let television shows tell her what to think and do. I was personally thrilled with his advice! Our train left Chicago at 6:22pm, and Sarabeth used the train ride to try out her new Bright Highlights set on Marie-Grace, as well as play cards with me and generally bug me with her over-the-top questioning and teasing. We were late getting into Michigan City because we sat on the tracks for a few extra minutes outside Chicago waiting for a freight train to pass. Once we actually got to Michigan City, we then couldn't get to our van for another 15 minutes due to freight train stopped on the tracks across the road. Those freight trains!

We finally got to our vehicle and began our drive home by looking for a Culver's in Michigan City, to no avail. I knew there was one in Stevensville, Michigan (on our way), so we headed toward home. We got to Stevensville at 10:30pm Eastern time, and Culver's had closed at 10pm. Ugh! However, I happened to look up and see a Cracker Barrel sign across the street a ways, so we drove there to see if they were still open. Hooray! Their kitchen was open until 11pm, so we got our table right by the roaring fire and ordered our pancakes, sausage and bacon, and biscuits and gravy. After a fun and delicious dinner, we hopped back in the van for our last leg toward home. We had been listening to the tape series "Captivating," by Staci Eldridge, throughout our drive, and that continued to entertain and bless us the rest of the way home. We pulled into the garage at 12:30am and fell into bed around 1:00am (even though we got to turn the clock back an hour, it was really, really late!).

I was still in a coma on Sunday morning when Sarabeth woke me up saying she was going to start building her Lego Friends Dolphin Cruiser, and then Christopher woke me up again wanting his surprise. I stumbled downstairs to get his Lego present out of the closet, and stayed a moment longer to enjoy his shouts of pleasure and gratitude. Back to bed and a return to my coma. Christopher woke me up again not too much later, to show me how his Lego cannon would really shoot Lego cannon balls at me. I only vaguely remember this....

I will always remember, however, this wonderfully special, amazingly exciting day trip to Chicago with my little girl to celebrate her milestone tenth birthday!