thief in the night

dear emily,

like most children, ours would tumble out of their beds
as the sun arose.  if ever they slept in, i had a pretty good
suspicion about the cause.  one morning after an unusually
long quiet time, i looked around for an urchin.  not finding
any, i then sauntered back to my bathroom.

hans was sleepily shaving....hmm

"honey, do you think it's a little strange that every single
child in this house is still asleep at 7:15?"

he opened his eyes a little wider, pretending shock.

"is there anything you would like to tell me?"

eyes looking furtively left to right, head shaking
innocently, "no..."

"you know that when your little conspirators wake up,
all sweet and vulnerable, they will give you up in a
heartbeat.  you might as well confess now.  it will go
much easier for you that way."

he was beginning to break  into a sweat.  i had him right
where i wanted him.

"what do you think the neighbors are saying about you
sneaking out of the house in the middle of the night?  how
do you think that makes me look?"

"ok, ok, i confess!  the kids and i made a midnight donut
run!"

"did you bring me any of those cinnamon ones?"

oh yeah,
lea

ps.  "they feast on the abundance of your house."  psalm 36:8

route of delights

dear emily,

hans has an amazing gift to squeeze the enjoyment out of life.
if i have the record for giving the fastest baby bath or changing
the quickest diaper, then he has the personal best of making
those events the most fun.

when taking the children to school, i had a precise route that
took exactly twelve minutes.  each child had his coat, books,
and lunch and were always five or ten minutes early for class.
we would frequently recite bible verses on the way.  sounds
super fun, huh?

it never worked out that way if hans took them.  i would
receive calls from school that sunday forgot her math
assignment, hailey needed me to bring her lunch, or that
the kids had been tardy, again.

so, after a little investigating i discovered that hans had a
special route, too, that wound throughout the neighborhood,
stopping for a donut or checking on the bus stop kids. he
and his accomplices would shout out the windows, "hey
jimmy, have fun at school!"  and little jimmy would shout
back, "hey mr. h!"

donuts?  "well, the kids didn't really like the whole grain
muffins.", hans mumbled.

jimmy?  "just this friend we made one day.",  his conspirators
murmured.

it was way more fun if they thought they were in trouble.

love,
lea

ps.  "...You give them drink from rivers of delights."  psalm 36: 8