He Couldn’t

A powerful man named Benjamin,
Was elected and sat as an alderman.
He could influence men,
He said “jump,” they said “when?”
But he couldn’t make the dog or the cat come in.

I realize those rhymes are reaching a bit, but sometimes you just go with it.

The storms had us up late last night waiting to see if they were as severe as the watches and warnings were telling us. Honestly, it was not very exciting. I’m very tired this morning. Extremely tired. I probably should drink some coffee. It’s not too late for that right?

We’ve had a busy week. We saw another free movie on Wednesday after a futile trip to the zoo. They are having Member mornings every couple of weeks and the boys were excited about it but Ivan had a bad morning. We left the house late because of Ivan, and we left the zoo early because of Ivan. I really don’t know what was bothering the poor boy, I don’t think he knows either, but he was not a cooperative fellow. His tears and remorse were obvious and I knew he was not trying to be obstinate, he just could not get his own desires to fit in with the plan for the day.

After a long talk in the van we drove to Opry Mills and watched Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium with Becky and her gang. We took little Hope with us afterward and she and Owen were able to spend the afternoon together until church that night.

Kris and I were scheduled for nursery duty at church and that night we were assigned to the three year old room where Ivan is. He was SO excited. As soon as all were registered and tagged and indoor playground socks were donned, he had me by the hand and was excitedly leading me to the “big slide.” The remarkable thing about this is that Ivan doesn’t ever want to go down the slides. He usually avoids them at all cost, so there was no turning back on my part. I climbed and climbed in and out of the vast maze of obstacles that is the playground, and when we got to the slide he practically pushed us down himself in his excitement. The electricity had gone out in the building we were in so the AC was not working and the sun still shining into our playground haven was great for light but not so great for people to run around after three year old children. We survived, and after a very brief outdoor church service we picked up the kids and headed home before dark.

Yesterday was our day to go get milk, but we didn’t have to go all the way to Kentucky this time. Becky and Bobby volunteered to make the trip (their last opportunity for the summer since they will be in Canada for quite a while) and I only had to go to their house to pick it up. We also had to stop at the church to pick up tickets for the Sounds baseball game we are going to tonight, so it worked out well to head north of town. We did all of that after we enjoyed a program at the library. They had a balloon artist who entertained the boys very nicely and we left there loaded with reading material for the week.

Last night Kris had a farewell dinner to attend for a guy he has been working with for quite a while and whose job he is temporarily filling. He was out pretty late so I had the boys entertained, fed, bathed and in bed long before he came home. We ate dinner early so we could make marshmallow, chocolate chip, caramel brownies and eat them before baths. Ivan’s request. Owen was not thrilled with them. He is very simple in his desires. Plain. No clutter. No lace, no lace, Mrs. Bennet, I beg of you! Sorry, I got carried away.

The stomach bug I was dealing with earlier this week seemed to touch a few others in the family but not too severely and has gone away now. It is wonderfully refreshing to feel better. The boys are completely unaware that we are going to a baseball game tonight and I love surprising them with little things like that. This is going to be a good day…if I can wake up…where’s that coffee?