Jesus and the Strangling of Cats

It was suppertime. I was making PB&J sandwiches in the kitchen. Mark and the boys were all seated at the table, already eating. Normal conversation was happening.

Out of nowhere Matthew popped out this question.

"If Jesus was still alive would we have to strangle our cat?"

(uh...)

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at Matthew quizzically.
Matthew was asked to repeat his question.

"If Jesus was still alive now and he hadn't been killed, would we all have to strangle our cats?"

I was giggling so hard I couldn't turn around. What an interesting confusion of words.

I'm not sure who brought it to light - Mark or myself - but one of us said "Do you perhaps mean sacrifice?"

"Oooh... Yeah." says Matthew.

We all got a good laugh out of that one.

I got busy with other things and didn't think about it again until now, but I need to talk to Matthew and make sure he doesn't think people were strangling their animals way back when. Good to know he's thinking though!

Matthew's Homemade Megaphone

A bit of background before I go into this story...

One evening I was on the phone with my beloved hubby on his way home from work. He was in a less than wonderful mood. Something annoyed him, he was somewhat rude, I was less than pleasant back and he hung up on me. I said "Jerk". And that was that. I didn't think much of Matthew standing there.

(Really this was no big deal. By the time Mark got home the entire thing was long forgotten.)

Fast forward a week or so...

Matthew and I were sitting watching Orin's basketball practice. I had taken along some books and other activities to keep Matthew occupied. Among them were papers to draw on. Creative Mr. Matthew rolled up some of these papers into a tube-like form and began using them as a megaphone type of thing. This started out cute. He was saying things like "I saw Dad kiss Mom" and "I saw Mom hug Dad". He wasn't being too loud and actually seemed to be entertaining the other parents so I let it go.

Suddenly, I hear a huge booming voice beside me bellow out "Mom called Dad a JERK!" (emphasis on the word 'Jerk' of course.)

Everyone in the Gymnasium had to have heard it. As the surrounding parents erupted into laughter, I turned to this giggling child to try to take his homemade megaphone from him but he'd already slipped away from me.

Once again I hear "Mom called Dad a Jerk!". This time much less of a bellow, much more of a 6 year old giggly voice. Still, I had to get him settled down. Who knew what he was going to say next?!

It's a good thing I have a good relationship with my hubby. That gym full of parents could have gotten an earfull!

Shoppin' at Ots

We've been laughing about this for a while now. How bizarre is it that Save-A-Lot and Big Lots - located side by side in the same plaza, mind you, would both have lights out in the same way?

Gargantuan Snowman

It's not everyday you see a snowman that big!

(Unless it's winter and you live near Orrville.)

A Slinky Portrait

Pesho Family Christmas Picture. Notice the boy in the right hand corner. Yeah, the one with the slinky sneakily poised over his eye as though it were a monocle of sorts. No one realized Matthew had possession of the slinky while the portrait was being taken. That's ok. There's one in every family. (At least one.)

Trick or Treat!

Costumes, Costumes, Costumes

This year I got it into my head that I just HAD to make the boys their Halloween costumes myself. Quite honestly, I enjoyed it and I think they turned out great, but I'm not so sure I'll be doing it again next year.


Orin's mummy was by far the most difficult. Once we got the hang of how to keep the cheesecloth on it wasn't nearly as difficult. Of course I didn't get the hang of it until I was nearly finished, but that's how it goes. I don't know what I'd have done if Mark hadn't suggested using a spray adhesive to keep the gauze attached. As usual, his suggestion worked beautifully. Earlier in the day Orin took second place at a costume party!

Sweat pants, hooded sweat shirt, socks and an old broken umbrella. Sounds simple, right? I sure thought so. It always SOUNDS simple. But when I sit down to actually put it together I form some sort of mental block and nothing seems simple anymore. All in all, this one turned out great too. Matthew was thrilled with his bat and wants to be a bat again next year.

Loganstein. This costume was great. $5.00 for the suit jacket at Goodwill. And maybe another $1.00 for the green makeup. Oh - there were the shoulder pads too. And the paint. And the hair color. But still, much less expensive than a store bought costume and much more fun. Mark made wooden blocks to attach to his shoes and spray painted them black. The blocks made him walk weird - authentic. He looked great - right down to the bolts in his neck!

Somehow or other Macchi wound up wearing Loganstein's neck bolts. She didn't mind a bit. Maybe we should have painted her face green. Poor kitty.

Pumpkin Carving

I love pumpkin carving. The best part of it for the boys isn't the carving or even seeing their beautifully lit faces, it's the destruction that follows. When the shells begin to expire we have a contest to see who can roll their pumpkin down the ravine behind the house the furthest. They always become a smashed up mess.