Mr Clean...

I do homework with Eli every night. It's probably the closest I come to Hell and to losing my salvation...but a father's love endures! Tonight, after fighting over the need to write complete sentences, I noticed a new trend and it absolutely drives me bonkers. Eli does not erase his mistakes unless he absolutely has too. He just goes over the wrong letter or word with the right letter or word. This is in direct contrast to the way I am. I hated making mistakes on my paper and if I did make one, I would rewrite the entire page (just a little OCD) but my stuff was/is neat. I'm challenged!!

and now for the rest of the story...

I'm not sure if it's genetics or the cooler mornings, but this morning on the way to school, Eli started singing the Little Drummer Boy song. Well naturally I joined in and knew a few more words and verses. Eli stopped singing and said ...Dad, it's sad that the drummer boy lost his parents in the fire. I questioned the story and told him that I was not aware that he was an orphan. I thought that he was merely poor. Eli corrected my memory and told me that his father had died in the first fire and his mother in the second one. (The fires were set by thieves wanting to steal everything) The drummer boy was only able to save a camel, a donkey, and a baby sheep. This all happened when he was five. That's why he didn't have anything to bring. When Mary saw him she gave him some food and water and let him stay with them in the stable for awhile...(pause)...(thinking)...Dad, I think the drummer boy joined a band when he got older and became the greatest drummer ever!
Unfortunately, I didn't get the name of the band...the teacher opened the door and out he went...
Now that I have more understanding and the back story of the Little Drummer Boy it makes much more sense and is far more exciting...death, hardship, redemption, rock bands...I can't wait to watch it tonight!

Some kids love football and some kids hate football...Eli is of the latter group

just a thought...

I'm thankful for my son Eli, our fifth and final child. I love that he is a story teller, that he knows how to use his imagination and he creates fanciful things for the world to enjoy. I appreciate that he is a thinker and tries to find 3 or 4 solutions to the problem at hand. Eli is also a talker and can fill an eight hour car ride with as many, "Hey Dad, can I tell you something" (s) as there are miles to the destination. I'm thankful that he is still a kid...a big kid, but still a kid who still grabs my hand once in awhile, who still likes to skip through the parking lot of stores, and who still has innocence and purity. I'm thankful that with Eli I have had the joy of knowing what fatherhood really means.

uniform remix...

Eli got his football jersey tonight. He is number 44 on the Wildcats. He was very excited and as he came off the field from practice he was grinning ear to ear. His first game is a week from Saturday (12th). Once we got into the car, Eli started telling us about the new fantastical uniforms that all of the teams will be wearing.
The Wildcats will have a small mane coming off their helmets but there won't be a tail. The Rams are their partner team but older kids and they will have round ram horns coming off of their helmets and shoes. The Rhinos (which are not a real team) will have a small horn protruding from their helmet and black under their eyes. I zoned out as he went through about thirty teams complete with made up names. I focused my attention again when he started describing how the uniforms would light up as they run and the shoes would light up also...I guess kind of like football meets Tron. (I hope he really isn't expecting these things to happen...but then again, if Nike gets a hold of the little league uniforms, anything is possible!)

mirror,mirror...

Eli's question tonight: Dad can women grow beards and mustaches? I said, "Yes... Actually, today I met a mother and her daughter and they both had 5 o'clock shadows at noon."
Eli: "Do you think they have pictures?" 
Me: " I'm sure they do"
Eli (grabbing my phone and asking Google): "Show me ladies with beards" (as if the phone is a magic mirror)...then I hear... COOOOOOL!!! DAD, there really are girls with beards!! (I'm hoping that this is just a passing fascination and that my future daughter-in-law will not have ties to the circus!) (or Bigfoot!) (or the missing link!)

Happy Birthday, Ms. Beasly

Eli has deemed that September 1st shall henceforth be known as Ms. Beasley's birthday. Today the birthday girl received a can of special cat food (which according to Eli contained dolphin guts...and cats love dolphin guts...although I'm not sure how he or they would know that. I guess it's instincetual). Eli also included a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday! Beasley seemed to be touched by all of the fanfare, but kept her emotions in check and feigned indifference to the whole event. Ms. Beasley is now 12 or 13 years old, although she will tell you she's only 10. (But that was like 8 lives ago!!)