Amali-Tales Part 3

1) Back Seat Driver!!
Me: (I decided to take a different way back from soccer one day and I was thinking out loud to myself) Hmm, I don't know if this is the right road. I can't remember the name. Well, I'll just try this one.
Amalia: (pipes up from the back seat and says very confidently) Nope, this is the wrong way Mama.
Me: (still unsure of myself and almost willing to believe a 3 year old) Really Mali? You don't think this is the right way?
Amalia: (extremely confident) Nope, you're going the wrong way!
Me: (now sure I was going the right way afterall) You know, I really think we're going the right way. I remember that building!
Amalia: No Mama, you're going the wrong way.
Me: How do you know?
Amalia: Because there's a sign back there that said, "Nope, You're Going the Wrong Way!"
Me: hahahahahahaha

2) Amalia is really starting to wrap her head around the concept of family and marriage and has been talking about it more lately. The other day we were sitting at the kitchen table when she pointed to a flyer for a jewelry store and said, "When I get married, I want that necklace." So I asked her who she was going to marry and she said Papi. "But," I said, "He's already married." So she said Tito (her grandfather) . . . I decided to let it go.

3) New Word - Frusturated
I was playing blocks with Amalia and when I turned around, I accidentally knocked her tower over. Amalia furrowed her eyebrows and said, "Mama, I'm sooo frusturated with you because you knocked my blocks over!" So I said, "I'm sorry Mali. I didn't mean to." So she said, "That's ok Mama, I forgive you, but go play over there with those blocks and don't get too close to mine."

4) Sometimes Amalia is like an old lady. We were in the car and I asked her if she wanted a lollipop. Amalia says, "No thank you. I've already had a lot and I'll get sick if I eat too much candy." and in the same breath she said, "It looks like its going to rain today."

5) When asked when she was going to turn 5 years old, Amalia matter-of-factly replied, "After I turn 4."

6) We were eating supreme pizza with green peppers on it and Amalia started to say she didn't like the the peppers, but I told her that it is better to say, "I will try it" instead of "I don't like it." so a few minutes later, I noticed her picking the peppers off her pizza saying, "I like these, I'm just saving them for later."

7) She woke up with an upset stomach and said, "Mama, my belly's angry today."

8) Apple Juice Addiction
Let me just begin by telling you that I think my daughter has a serious addiction to apple juice. If she could have it her way, that is all she would ever consume. And to think that I don't even give it to her straight. I only give her 1/2 juice to 1/2 water. Nevertheless, she LOVES apple juice with all of her heart. So, we're in the parking lot of the store the other day and she tells me out of the blue . . .
Amalia: Mommy, I love apple juice.
Me: I'm thinking, "Ok, thank you for stating the obvious" and wondering what it world made her think of that. I said, "Ok Amalia, thanks for telling me that."
About 10 minutes later, we're in the car on the way home . . .
Amalia: "Did you hear that Mommy? Did you hear that?"
Me: "What?"
Amalia: "My apple juice is calling."
Me: "Really? Are you sure? I didn't hear anything."
Amalia: She says in a high pitched, far-off away sounding voice, "Amaaaliaaaa . . . "
"Did you hear that Mommy? Did you hear that?"
I think she was trying in a oh-so-suttle way to tell me she wanted some apple juice when we got home . . .

Never Say Never

Its happening . . . I'm officially turning into a boring adult. I went on a date day with my hubby to Universal Studios theme park on Saturday and was perfectly content to mosey along, taking in all the sites, watching shows, sitting at the tables with umbrellas with all the old people eating ice cream, and then to top it all off, we left the park early and went out to eat!! Don't get me wrong, we did go on some roller coasters, but we were in no hurry and were perfectly content only going on once. There was no rushing from ride to ride, no bragging at the end of the day how many times we went on all the rides, we even skipped Doctor Doom's Fear Fall all together!! For shame! Oh and get this . . . I became annoyed at all the teenagers whizzing by everyone, almost knocking people over. I used to say I would never become like this . . .

Yes, this is the book I stole my profile blurb from. Isn't it such a good title? It just sums up life all in one phrase . . . marvelous! I just finished the book actually and I really enjoyed it! So much so, that I started a book club with it.

Amali-Tales Part 2

1) One morning Amalia told me she is getting big and will soon be big like me. I said, "That's right Amalia. You are getting big. But Amalia, don't get big too fast. Mommy will miss her little Amali-Bear very much." Amalia comes over, puts her arms around me and says, "Its ok Mommy. Don't cry."

2) We use the spanish word for kisses sometimes which is "besos." But the other day Amalia said she wanted some "kissos" before bed.

3) Random Conversation with a 3 Year Old - This Scares Me!!!
Amalia: (proclaiming out of the blue) I love Noah.
Me: (after getting over the initial shock) Really. What Noah are you talking about?
Amalia: from soccer
Me: Oh. Why do you love him?
Amalia: Because he loves me and he's a nice guy.
Me: (trying not to laugh) How do you know he loves you?
Amalia: Because he thinks about me everyday.
Me: (trying REALLY hard not to laugh out loud) How do you know?
This is where she conveniently changed the subject on me. Where does she get these things?!?!?!?! I honestly don't think she has ever even had a conversation with this little guy! Crack me up!!!!

4) Amalia's Prayer Last Night:
"Dear Jesus, thank you for my family and friends and for a fun time at soccer. But God, we didn't go to the park today and Riley couldn't come over, but that's ok because it was too late anyway and she can come over tomorrow. Amen."

The Header

This morning I woke up with a million things on my mind and to tell you the truth, the thought of it all stressed me out, and right away I was already looking ahead at my day with a sort of dread. There were things waiting to get checked off the "to do" list, so I started in on them full steam ahead, and the tyranny of the urgent consumed me. You know when you're reading along in a book and you see a small number beside a word, you go down to the bottom of the page, find that number and voila, there's a little footnote to explain that word or sentence. A reference. It's always helpful, but very minute and not actually part of the main document. That's God in my day sometimes. An, "oh yeah, and this is where I squeeze God into my life" kind of note. Right in the middle of all of that, God told me to stop and spend some time with him, and I have to admit, this is the last thing I wanted to do. I was telling God, "Oh God, do I hafta? I've got a million things to do today and this is really going to slow me down." But I sat down to spend time with my God. And as I was praying, the world I was just consumed in started to fade. The urgent didn't seem so urgent anymore and God's agenda which was farthest from my mind a minute ago came to the forefront.

The God of the Bible is certainly not a footnote. He is the header in our life's story. He is the main idea, the bottom line, the meat and potatoes, the essence, the conclusion and the crux. He is the nitty-gritty. He is the nuts and bolts. Deuteronomy 4:24 says He is a consuming fire. In John 15:5, Jesus says, I am the vine; you are the branches . . . apart from me you can do nothing." He is the bread of life (John 6:35). He is the light of the world (John 8:12). He is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). He is our life source. HE IS! Romans 11:36 says, "For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever! Amen."

That said, the whole of what it means to follow Jesus can be summed up in just one verse, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself . . . do this and you will live (Luke 10:27-28). We are to be consumed in God and his purpose to show his love to others. Try writing that in your daily planner each day. It changes your schedule just a bit, doesn't it? I know, there are still those day to day chores and troubles we all have to deal with, but it would keep us from getting buried in those things. Instead, be buried in Jesus Christ. "Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God" (Col. 3:2-3). It is like entering another reality. You're in the world, but not consumed by it.

When I plug into my life source (Jesus Christ), I am filled with peace and joy, and my day doesn't seem so daunting after all. In fact, I look forward to the adventure. It makes me think of that old hymn,

"Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace."

This is what God has been teaching me. What has he been teaching you?

Amali-Tales

1). When Adrian calls, I answer my phone, "Hey babe . . . " so after I got off the phone with him the other day, Amalia asks, "Was that babe?"

2). She LOVES the song "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt." She likes to sing it with me every night before bed.

3). I was teaching Amalia a 3 part song in which one of the parts goes, "one bottle of pop, two bottles of pop, three bottles of pop . . . " I sang it and then asked Amalia is sing it back to me. She piped in, "one lollipop, two lollipops, three lollipops . . . "

4). She loves to "help" bake cookies and do laundry

5). Amalia is a bit of a drama queen when it comes to bumps and bruises so when she hurts herself, I pick her up, dust her off, give her a hug and tell her, "You'll be ok. See, there's no blood." So the other day we were swimming and I was trying to show her how to do a back flip under the water and I smacked my face on the bottom of the pool. Amalia comes over and puts her arm around me and says, "You'll be ok. There's no blood."

6). The last two consecutive mornings the very first words out of her mouth were, "Mommy, I want to play Candyland." She LOVES this game right now. There is a character called "Gramma Nutt" but she calls her "Peanut Gramnut."

7). Amalia just told me this morning that she likes freckles and wants to someday have freckles like me.

8). While driving around doing errands yesterday, Amalia proclaims (out of the blue) from the back seat, "Mommy, the park makes me happy." I was wondering if this was a hint . . .

9). She loves broccoli right now. Everytime we're in the store, she wants to pick out her own broccoli. She also likes to help me wash it when I'm making it for dinner and later I notice little nibbles out of the top.

10). Yesterday, Luci and I were going over our grocery list of what we need at Costco. Amalia pipes in from the backseat, "And toys! They have a lot of toys."

Rain

I love this little video by Rob Bell. Rain always comes . . . in our lives. It just does. Its a fact. But atleast we know the Lord is near and that He can see the end and knows the way out.