Don't Stop Believin', brought to you by Excedrin Migraine

I kid, I kid.


A little.


There are many things my beautiful children do well for ages 5 and 3.


I say this with my heart full of mother's love, but....singing isn't one of them.  


Both kids, particularly Nathanael, have been singing the refrain to Journey's Don't Stop Believin' this past week.  It has become our unofficial theme song around here.  The kids don't understand the lyrics, obviously, although Nathanael thinks it's cool that the guy singing the song took a train at midnight.  They hear the words "don't stop believin'," though, and their thoughts go immediately to Gran.  They refuse to do anything but be filled with hope and won't stop believin' that their fundraising efforts will help change the world, even Gran's world.


Nathanael asked me a few days ago if he and Savannah could have a "dance party" to Don't Stop Believin' to put on the blog so that they could remind our readers to "never give up hope."  How could I resist such a request?


Simon Cowell would not approve.  It's loud.  It's shrill.  But their intent is obvious, and the unexpected message at the very end comes from their mouths, their hearts, and is filled with inspiration that, in my opinion, is infectious..

On twisters, The Exorcist, and pennies

Recognize the bike?  It's a replica of the bike Almira Gulch rode in The Wizard of Oz.  It's been that kind of day around here.  Sweet children seem to have fallen off the wagon....er, bike, and turned into Almira Gulch and her male counterpart.  And who turns into that big ol' green gal who throws a fireball at a scarecrow, all because she sent them to bed early?  


Mom here.  


Whew Nelly, there must be a full moon, or something in the water, or maybe their cuteness was just a clever ruse, but I swear I was ready for pea soup to come spewing out of their mouths and at least one 360 degree spin of the head to happen.  My husband said they're just tired from being up early and that they're just being kids.  Psssh.  What does he know?


Some friends of my husband have been dropping off pennies for the kids to collect for the fundraiser.


Like the clever segue there?


...erm..  As I was saying, my husband knows some very thoughtful people who thought a "penny drive" might be a fun way of raising funds for the Relay.  Genius.  My kids love money.  Not in the the-more-we-have-the-more-we-can-buy way, but they love finding money in stores and stashing it in their piggy banks.  They each have their own bank account.  I wouldn't call them mini-Scrooges, but they are very frugal, and it seems to come naturally.  This is a good thing.  


"Penny drive" has blossomed into "coin drive," as we have begun to receive more than just pennies.  We took the kids to our bank today, which has its own coin counter, and they had a blast dumping in handful after handful.  At the end, they had $35.17.  Nathanael said we can call them "hope pennies," and thus, another fundraiser was born.  


Change For Hope, Hope For Change will start tomorrow.  We're going to go around to some of our local businesses, restaurants and stores where we're "regulars," and ask if we can keep a canister near the registers to collect any spare pennies any patrons may feel compelled to give, with a slip of paper on each canister explaining our story and where the money will be going.  


Mom, ducking in case the pea soup comes flying: So where do you think we should go tomorrow to ask if we can leave containers for pennies?


Savannah: Um, the mall.


Mom, already knowing the answer:  Why the mall?


Savannah: So we can stay for a few whiles (her trademark phrase) and so I can buy something. 


Mom: Well, maybe we can go to the mall another time for a few whiles and see what we see.  Let's see if we can think of something closer to home.


Nathanael: Starbucks!  They sure know us there!


Mom, having just been thrown under the bus by her kid:  Uh...yep.  They sure do.  We can see if they'll do something like that.  Anywhere else?


Nathanael: Salsaritas!  We go there almost every day!


We don't.


Mom: We do not!  But they know us there, that would be a good place.


Savannah:  THE. MALLLLLL.


Mom, ignoring Savannah:  That's a good start.  Maybe we can ask Laportas, too.  


Savannah: Mom.


Mom: Savannah.


Savannah:  MOM!


I swear, this is when I thought her head was going to spin.


Mom, in a sickeningly sweet voice: Yes, Savvy?


Savannah:  We can ask the bank for all the money back that we just dumped in the machine.


Mom, feeling bad for likening her innocent 3 year old to Reagan: Can't do that, kiddo.  We traded those coins for dollars, and now the dollars are going to be donated to our team.


Savannah: Ohhhhh.


I'd just like to say that, when we found out Savannah was a girl, we briefly considered the name Raegan.  


Nathanael:  Listen.  If this is going to work, we're going to need at least a thousand buckets and a thousand places to bring them.  I don't want to wait in the car.


Annnnnd.....cue creepy crab walk down the stairs?


I'm curious to see how this one turns out.  I frequently see plastic containers on market counters around the area, and while they're never chock-full, it does seem that people pay attention and plop in a few coins.  While a few pennies, nickels, dimes, or quarters won't cure cancer, together they're combined and put toward research and resources that will, hopefully some day, help to put an end to all cancers.  

Signs, signs, everywhere there's signs

Mom here.  We spent a long Easter weekend out of town with my parents, sisters, and their families.  It was a very tough, very emotional weekend.  The kids had a blast playing with their cousins from the other side of the country (also fellow Cave Crashers), but it was very bittersweet.

The kids' new favorite song from the last few weeks has been Journey's Don't Stop Believin', particularly the end, because they don't want anyone to stop believing in hope, to stop believing in the fight, to stop believing that Gran will get better.

It's spring break time around here for the schools, and, as homeschoolers, we tend to follow the public school schedule as far as days off are concerned.  Today, though, I wanted to get some reading, writing, and spelling in.

Mom:  Okay, kiddos.  Time for some work.  

Nathanael:  I'm drawing something.  Please please please can we wait until I'm done?

Savannah:  I'm ready.  Let's do it.

Mom:  Let's go, Natty.  Let's get it out of the way and then you can have your play time.

Savannah:  Yeah, let's go....Natty Bananers.  (She knows what buttons to push.  She's only 3.)

Nathanael: Do NOT call me that, Savvy-anna!  (So does he.)

Mom, losing patience:  I'm going to count to three....

Savannah: I can count higher than that.

Nathanael: I'm done anyway.  See what I drew?  It's a cancer crusher to help get rid of Gran's germs!

Mom, feeling like dirt now:  Wow, bud.  What a great drawing.  And what a great idea.  A cancer crusher.  

Nathanael:  Wouldn't it be great if we could just push a button, next to everyone with this sickness, and it just blasted the germs right out of their bodies!  When I'm 49 I'm going to invent one.

Savannah: Just like Mama!

Mom, seriously rubbing temples now: Savannah, I'm 35.  Not 49.

Savannah: April Fool!

Mom:  Ha ha.  Right.  Okay.  Let's get some work done.

Finally.  They humored me and completed their work, and when we were done I asked them if they wanted to stay at the table to draw and keep me company while I started dinner.   They both said yes, drew for a few minutes, started whispering, and then told me not to look. After maybe 20 minutes they wanted to show off their work.  Whenever the tell me not to look and then they want to show me something I get a little nervous.  This is what they were working on:     

Big bro instructed Little Sis on how to find the song on my iPod 

to make sure he spelled "believin'" the right way.

She loves her Gran, whom she used to call "Lady."  She wanted her picture taken wearing the purple flower brooch Gran gave her over Easter weekend.

This little one never ceases to amaze me.

Never ever.  

The two of them worked together on this one, but Savannah didn't want to be in the picture.  She wanted it written and asked Nathanael to write it.  She actually wanted "Cancer stinks like the cat's litter box" written, but Nathanael apparently vetoed that idea.

I know I'm biased, but I have pretty great kids.  Mom, if you're reading this, thank you for teaching me everything you did that helped me produce two amazing kids.  I love you.