News Items

"I know how you like news."

Mr. Knightley to Emma in 1996's Emma

"Well, I can't help feeling, Doctor, that you're making a mistake

 not allowing the woman to talk.
If she'd been around at all, she might've picked up some interesting news items."

Elwood Dowd to Dr. Chumley in Harvey

There were several mildly interesting/funny things that the kids did or said today, and I thought I would try to sift through my brain tonight in an attempt to remember them.  I make no promises.  The above quotes always flash through my mind when I think about "news" or "new items."  So...here we go.  

1. Ella was sitting up in a chair in our living room this morning playing with Princess dolls and suddenly asked me, "How do I look?  Do I look like a woman?"  What she wanted me to notice was the fact that she was sitting with her legs crossed.
2. James ate what I believe to be a nice-sized helping of charcoal ash this morning.  We were going outside to enjoy the sunshine and cool breezes.  I grabbed a snack and prepared to sit in the grass and read, If God is Good:  Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil.  I took a bite of granola bar as I was walking out the door and looked at James, waiting for him to ask for a bite.  When he opened his mouth it had a huge wad of blackness.  He kind of had a confused look on his face, too.  I went into freak-out mode because I thought it was bird feces (where was my faith in the midst of the evils of an adventurous eater?) and started a vigorous finger-sweep.  James commenced crying and carrying on, and I honestly think it was more because of my finger in his mouth as opposed to the bad taste of whatever he was eating.  He's behaved normally for the remainder of the day, so I suppose he's fine.
3. Ella and I read P.D. Eastman's, Go, Dog.  Go!, together this afternoon.  I read the words she didn't know.  Later tonight she re-read it by herself.  I was really proud of her.  Every so often when she got stumped on a word she would yell, "Mo-om,"  because I was back in James' room cleaning.  Then she would ask me about the word.  From that point on James began to mimic her calling for me.  Mo-om was quickly followed by, "Ma, Ma, Ma-aaa" ad infinitum.  It was only cute because he just knows a handful of words.
4. James really has been attempting a lot more words today.  He attempted nose, mouth, eye, as well as saying, "What's that?" and "All done."  Also lots of Ella's and Mama's.  He was a communicative little booger today.  
5. I don't remember what brought this conversation on, but Ella said today, "Mom, you can have another baby if you want to.  Elizabeth's mommy has a LOT of children.  She just keeps on having more and more kids."  Hmmm...
6. James obeyed me several times today.  The wind kept blowing our gate open while we were in the backyard.  He looked longingly at it and then looked back at me.  "No, no, James."  He looked at the gate and looked at me.  After a few minutes of staring out at the great unknown, he looked back at me, and I said, "Come to mama."  He dutifully trotted over to me and gave me a hug.  I was so proud.
7. After going through a couple of other Bible story books at bedtime, we brought out The Church History ABCs again.  Truthfully, it just came back by popular demand.  The first night Ella had forgotten that, "A is for Augustine," but she remembered that "B is for Anne Bradstreet."  Tonight she had them all down and before we got started said, "D is for John Donne."  I have to admit that this is my favorite family time book, too.  I especially love reading the extra historical tid-bits located in the back of the book.  I have to share tonight's, and then I'm done.  (Did you catch that pun?  I did not do that on purpose.)

"John Donne was poised for quite a career in London politics.  Then he fell in love with and married Anne More in 1601, against her father's wishes.  He happened to be Lieutenant of the Tower of London and had Donne jailed for a short time, prompting Donne to write:  John Donne, Anne Donne, Un-done."

Are you kidding me?? The guy's father-in-law put him in the Tower of London for marrying his daughter.  I just googled it, and this really did halt what would have been a successful political career, because he fell out of favor with all his father-in-law's peeps.  Wow.  I found that interesting.  But, perhaps Donne wouldn't have become a pastor at age 45 if it hadn't been for that little incident.  God is the ordainer of our paths, is He not?