The 1,000,000 dollar question

Xander (7): Is Santa real?
Millie (5): OF COURSE he is! If he wasn’t real, who leaves the presents on Christmas Eve?!
Xander: Well, what if when it’s really late, the parents put out the gifts from Santa and write “from Santa” on those gifts. Is that one theory?

Toenails

I was downstairs working when I heard Xander (7) suddenly screaming from his bedroom. I went running to him. 

Me: Xander, what’s wrong? Are you ok?

Xander: (panicked voice) I don’t know! I don’t if this is an emergency!

Me: What happened?

Xander: I put my toenail in my NOSE!

Me: (Laughing)

Xander: What? Is it bad?? Oh, no! Is it BAD?

Me: It’s not an emergency. Just don’t do it again. 

Napkins

Xander (7), coming out of a public women’s restroom with me:

Mom, this bathroom has free napkins and a machine for napkins that cost 25 cents. Huh. 

Live TV

Overheard at the Roebuck house this week:

Millie (5) looking at the PBS Kids App: Xander, what does this say?

Xander (7): That says “Live TV.”

Millie: What does it mean?

Xander: It means that this show is playing right now somewhere in a hotel. 

We primarily use streaming and DVDs for the media our kids watch. The only time they see broadcast television is when we stay at hotels. Apparently Xander thinks that’s the only place you can watch live television. Funny!

Poetry with Xander

Xander (7) had a school assignment to pick out any poem and read it. The lesson plan suggested nursery rhymes, but Xander insisted on reading Shakespeare because he heard his poems were really good. So we looked up Shakespeare’s sonnet 106 and read it together. 

When we finished, Xander sat there silent for a minute and then took a deep breath. 

“Well, that wasn’t too catchy.”

Show Me The Money

October 25, 2016

Maggie (9): Mom, are you proud of me? Are you proud of my hard work?

Me: Maggie, I am SO proud of you. You worked so hard, and you did a great job.

Maggie (with an enormous, charming smile): Well, how 'bout you turn that pride into CASH.

‘O’ is for Obey

Oct. 18, 2011

Just overheard Maggie (4) singing an interesting variation on the song 'O is for Obey' from BSF: "O is for obey, O is for obey, do whatever you want to do, O is for obey." (To the tune of “Farmer in the Dell”)

Good Point

Millie (5): But Jesus wasn’t married. Why didn’t He get married?
Mom: That’s a good question. Why do you think He didn’t get married.
Xander (7): Probably because He was 100% God and 100% Man.
Mom: Good Point. 

Conversations with Millie

Mom: Millie, What are the two most important things you believe?
Millie (5) : I believe that I was snuggling with Caddy as soon as they gave her to me. And I believe that God is. 

Tuck In

Xander (7) reaches up from his bed with a big smile to hug and kiss me goodnight: “You kiss me on the chin and I kiss you on the nose. It’s calculated.”

Conversations with Max

Max (12), bemoaning the introduction of yoga to his PE class: “You’re supposed to empty your mind and focus on the movements. But I’ve always been a person of the brain, not the body.”

Xander, Xander Space Commander

Mom: Xander, you really love thinking about science, don’t you?
Xander (7): Yes. Hey, Mom: Why do you think God made the universe to be always expanding? I think maybe it was to show us that we can’t get to heaven on our own.

Conversations with Maggie (10):

Me: Maggie, I’m considering letting you take an acting class this semester. Is that something you think you would enjoy?

Maggie: Yes, but what I really need is an agent. 

Gender stereotypes with Xander and Millie

Millie (5): Most times, boys are tougher than girls.
Mom: Well, sometimes girls are really tough.
Xander(7): Yeah, but most times ladies are more upset than men. 

Get the Word Out

July 3,  2012

Tonight Max (6) asked me if we could send Obama some cash in the mail as a birthday present to America "to help make America an even better place." Yesterday he asked if we could call Uncle Russell and see if he could help us put this message in the newspaper for everyone in Siloam Springs to see: "God created the whole world! You must believe in Him!" When I asked him what made him think about that idea, he said: "I heard the words "the whole truth must be heard" in a song, and I thought, 'YES! Jesus must be heard!'" He thought the newspaper was the best way to get the word out. Wonder what this little guy will be thinking about tomorrow?!

Work it out

Overheard in my backyard this morning:
Xander: Millie, Can Ladd PLEASE be an adopted alien?!?
Millie: No, Xander. “Ladd” means “A small man.” He can’t be an alien.
Xander: Ok, we will have to do rock, paper, scissors to decide.

Free Wheelin’

At our breakfast table this morning, Millie (4) suddenly announced: “You know the problem with sin? God gave people free wheels. I don’t understand that.”

The Potty Train

Mom: Let’s stop by the bathroom first. Look, that little friend is probably stopping here, too.
Millie: She is pretty little. I don’t think she is on the potty train yet. 

Xander and the Bible

Xander: Mom, What happens in the first five chapters of Isaiah?
Mom: In the year King Uziah died, The prophet Isaiah saw a vision of God in Heaven.
Xander: That was in Isaiah 6. I want to know what happened in chapters 1-5. 

Conversations with Xander

Xander (holding folded paper and pen, ready to make a new book): Mom, I’m going to write my own Bible. 

Me: I love it when you write books. But you know that God’s true Word is the only real Bible, so you can’t really write your own Bible. 

Xander: Ok. I’ll just write my own Septuagint.