"2nd Graders Talk Politics"

(Driving home from school)

Rina: Mommy, who are you gonna vote for? Rock Obama or the other guy? I can't remember his name. 

Me: You mean Mitt Romney?
Rina: Yeah, Mitt Romney. I don't want to vote for Rock Obama. 

Me: Why not?

Rina: Jessica said he's gonna make people pay too much money. Like, maybe $360 or something. 

Me: Wow. That's interesting!

(Whoever Jessica is, I guess it's pretty clear which way her family plans to vote! Lol)

Tough Love...

Dear Mark: Today we had to show you "tough love." And it was very hard to do.

Your History project was due last Friday. You know, the same project that you've had all quarter to complete. The same project that we've frequently reminded you to work on, spacing your time wisely.

But, like many kids your age, you procrastinated. You spent weeks wasting away your afternoons with playing video games. You waited until the night before it was due to tackle this beast. It took you until 1:30am before you finally had it done. Well, mostly.

Friday morning you brought your report to school on a flash drive, and you asked your study hall teacher to allow you to print it off. But, study hall ended before you could print the entire thing. So, you brought what you had to History class and turned in an incomplete project.

Today (Monday) you printed off the rest. And then you asked your History teacher if you could still submit the remaining printouts. He reluctantly allowed you to add them to the stack. That is when you noticed a very poor grade written on top of your packet. You suddenly realized you had also failed to turn in a packet along with your report. 

All that last minute rushing around had ultimately led to your making lots of mistakes, forgetting pieces of the project, and ultimately earning a bad grade.

Here is where the tough love comes in.

You came home with a sad expression and feeling very stressed out. Why? Because we had already told you that if you do not earn an A in the class (due to missed or late work), we will take away your video games until you bring that grade back up...no matter how long it takes.

Tough love says, I know you are stressed and very sorry for your mistake. But your punishment still stands.

Tough love says, it is worth teaching you this painful lesson for the future. More important, in fact, than making you happy today.

Someday you'll look back on this entry and hopefully appreciate our decision to show you tough love. We do love you so very much. We know you'll do better next time, buddy. We really do.

Can I take your order?

Today began a brand new phase in our family life! Last week I said goodbye to 3.5 years on staff at Calvary, Children's Dept. It was the best job I've ever had! Tough to say goodbye. But I know that I know that I know it was God's will for me. I feel Him leading me to chase after a writing career. So, after I complete my current course (through the Christian Writer's Guild) in November, I plan to dive into writing my first novel! 

In order to make cash on the side, I have begun serving at a pizza joint.

Can I just say WOW! What a brand new experience! Nobody cares that I was in a position of authority in my last job. They don't care that I managed up to 50 volunteers, scheduled and trained Coordinators, and ran games from stage in front of a room of 1,000 people at camp. When you start training to be a server...the playing field becomes completely leveled all over again. 

So, here I am, a server in training. I earned my very first tips today. Woo Hoo! And it was so nice to be able to leave the job responsibilities behind when I came home for the day. This is going to change the dynamics of our family in great ways! I'm super excited!

One obvious change = resuming the blogging!!!!

Lots more family stories to come...

Xoxo - Karis

Proud of you, Buddy!

Mark: the other night, you attended a sleepover with a bunch of boys from school. We had reminded you before you left that you may call or text us at any time. Even in the middle of the night. We always want you to know that we are available to pick you up or walk you through uncomfortable situations if your morals are being compromised.

So, why were we so surprised to receive a text from you at 2:30am?? We are so proud of you for texting us to ask if you could watch a questionable movie (Tomb Raider). Most kids your age would not have called their parents to get permission...especially in front of a roomful of friends. But you did the right thing. And incidents like this continually build our trust in you. We LOVE you so much!!!!

Long day of school.....

Palm Sunday 2011

Poor Rina learned that the Jesus riding in on a donkey each year at church is not the real Jesus. She is heartbroken and refuses to give eye contact to this "imposter"!!!

Kids say the darndest things!!!

Ahh!!! I miss blogging! And I miss recording all the funny things my kids say. Here are some of my recent favorites:

January 2011

(Marina goes on a date with Daddy. She gets all dressed up for the date, with a cute outfit, pretty hair, and lip gloss. She brings along a purse containing a book to read together on their date. They go to Starbucks for hot chocolate. Then come home. Daddy gets out of the car, but Rina remains in the back seat with arms crossed and a pout!)

Daddy: Rina, what's wrong?

Marina: That date wasn't long enough!

(Daddy gets back into the car and takes her out to lunch!)

February 2011

(There is an uneven amount of M&Ms. Someone will end up with more...)

Mommy: I'm going to see who will put others first!

Reese: Rina, will you please "put others first" so I can have more?

February 2011

(In a discussion about Mark wanting to return to Christian school next year)

Mark: You see, it's like a gas station. Sometimes you just gotta fill up.

March 2011

Marina: Mommy, when Ava's little baby Gavin gets big..... (I'm waiting for some profound question about Gavin) ........will Ava be in all day school with me?

(Haha! Um, no Rina. You don't have to wait for Gavin to grow up for that).

March 2011

(Mark's wisdom on dating...explaining why he likes to keep girls guessing)

Mark: Dad, it's like a roller coaster. If you just go up and down, that gets boring. You have to have big drops to keep it interesting!

March 2011

(On the way to Ava's birthday party)

Marina: Are we going early to help set up?

Mommy: No, they will set up. We are just going to have fun.

Marina: (giggle) That's cuz we're the customers!