a little ritual

Here's the kiddos smiling by their friend, Mrs. Stevens ...
yes, it's our "mail lady"!

This spring and summer, whenever the kids were playing outside during the afternoon mail delivery (which was often), they would hustle over to visit with the mail lady. A little ritual began where Foofie would "help" by opening and shutting the last three boxes. Mrs. Stevens would then thank her for helping. Next, Foofie would say, "Wanna race to the driveway?" Yes, the mail lady was always interested in racing and would call out ... ready, set, go. The kids took the race very seriously and would dash off at their top speeds. Mrs. Stevens always let them win ... and then she would say, "My, you're so fast! You won again!" Finally, the mail lady would loop around the circle at the end of the cul-de-sac ... and many good-byes were hollared back and forth as she passed by en route to her next destination.

a little correspondence

Here's a couple of letters that Buddy wrote recently. He gave me permission to publish them. It's just a small sample of the kinds of note I often find about.

Dear Friend,

Here is 1 handcuff key, 1 ID card, 1 sheriff badge, and 2 keys for the clubhouse.

Officer Buddy

His friend's mother read this letter to me over the phone and said her son was puzzled ... "What's an ID card?"

Dear Friend,

Do you have a LCPD Badge? If so we are starting a Lego City Police Department Watch for your neighborhood. Visit us on the web at lcpd.com and have fun. You will find out more about LCPD and badges.

Love,

Buddy

HERE IS A LETTER I STUMBLED UPON THAT HALO WROTE BACK IN FEBRUARY ...

She said that I could put it on the blog and that she's
"so past that now" :)

To Friend,

I have something urgent to tell you. I am now added as a member to The International Police Club. You have a choice to join the club or not. If you choose yes to join, so-and-so is our protector and spy. You are a jail watch if you want to be one. The rules are: fight off intruders and keep our prisoner in line. Try to stay away from them (bad apples). Don't show this to anybody. Okay? VERY dangerous. I am second watch.

Signature,

Halo

P.S. This is the stamp that means our club president has approved.

a little tune

I love watching my kids have so much fun together!
(AUGUST 10th at the cabin)

a little sweet tooth

Daddy was doing a Bible Study with the kids. They were talking about heaven.

"I think there's gonna be crowns there ... and suckers." Foofie contributed. "I think Jesus will have suckers in his pockets!"

~~~~~~~

All of my kids love treats ... who doesn't?!? Foofie, however, has the most demanding sweet tooth ... or perhaps the least discipline for delayed gratification. I'm not quite sure when she started doing this ... maybe a year ago or so ... but if she would receive some goodie and I'd say we need to save it for later ... she would start sucking on it anyway (perhaps on the car ride home) ... wrapper and all. The first few times I saw this, I asked what she was doing and reminded her that she wasn't going to have the treat now. "I know. I'm only having the wrapper." She would say. Okay, I thought, she is pretending to have it ... whatever. Anyway, at some point, I discovered that she was getting a hole in the package and having some of her treat without my knowing! I was finding sticky suckers ~ still in their wrappers, of course ~ peppermints that were no longer red and white, but pinkish ... you get the idea.