Happy Sunday!

David whisked Jack and Thomas away to the baseball fields to play baseball, Peter is taking a nap, and I have the house to myself for another 45 minutes until my gaggle of tired and hungry boys come home for lunch. It's a good opportunity to post a quick update and some photos.

Yesterday was David's first T-ball practice with his team, and Jack's first taste of team sports. It was so neat to see Jack in his baseball cap and little cleats run out the door to go play baseball. How is it possible that he's old enough for T-ball already?! It seems like I was just thinking that this day was soooo far off, and now it's here.

I stayed here with Thomas and Peter since practice fell right in the middle of naptime, and that went pretty well. Thomas was a little upset that he didn't get to go with Jack and David, but I think he realized that it's not too bad getting to be the big brother at home with me. It will be a good chance for me to spend some quality time with Thomas, since he rarely gets me all to himself!

David said Jack was a little shy at first, and didn't really want to participate, but he warmed up quickly and was practicing well with the other kids. David came home, got a snack, and promptly took a power nap --- herding 8 little kids through 1 1/2 hours of T-ball practice takes some serious patience, creativity, and mental energy! But he said it went well, the parents there said it went well, and the kids had a good time.

This morning, David told the boys he would play baseball with them after Mass, and Thomas would not let him forget it! On the way home from Mass, Thomas piped up from the back seat as clear as could be, "Wait a minute! Wait a minute! We're supposed to the baseball fields, Dad!". :).

Thomas and Jack have been saying lots of funny things lately --- they were talking about Jesus and how he is in heaven. Thomas said "He died and now he's in heaven". I said that yes, He did die, but He came back to life, and then He went to heaven to be with God. But he's not just in heaven -- we also see him every week at church.

I asked them "Where do we see Jesus at church?". Jack quickly answered, "The turnerbacker". I knew what he was getting at, so I asked, "Do you mean the tabernacle?". And he said "Yeah!". I asked what Jesus looks like in the tabernacle, and he said "Bread!". :). Not bad for a 4-year-old!

Then I told him that when we eat Jesus's body, which looks like bread, he becomes part of us and so he's also present inside everyone who eats his body. Jack, in his usual matter-of-fact style, made to sure remind me, "And his blood, Mom".

Lest you think that all my children talk about is Jesus and church and heaven :), I'll let you know that we're also struggling with our first taste of bathroom humor at the Campbell household. I get it, I get it --- words used to describe bathroom functions hold some sort of mysterious power to inspire giggles -- but I am tired of hearing songs about them, insults crafted using those words, etc. So I'm trying hard to remind the boys that those words aren't nice words, and they should really only be used in the bathroom or to tell someone that you have to go to the bathroom. My stance on these words has made them "forbidden fruits", however, so the boys keep coming back to them again and again and again.

I've tried ignoring the words (figuring that maybe the boys are feeding off the negative attention I give them), but really, I can take just about 15 minutes of singsong bathroom words before I lose my last shred of sanity. So now I've taken a very low tolerance approach -- one reminder not to use those words, and any utterance after that is a time-out or loss of some privilege. It seems to be helping, but let me tell you, the consistency required on my part is hard. It's hard on me. I don't feel like giving 10 time-outs a day. I don't like dealing with the temper tantrums and screaming that come with those 10 time-outs. (And don't tell anyone, but sometimes I pretend not to hear a bathroom word just so I don't have to enforce my own policy!). I think this past week or two that I've been dealing with this has helped me realize that consistency is probably the hardest part about parenting for me -- doing the hard things day in and day out, countless times a day, because they're right and because they'll help my kids grow up to be good, decent people. It's very much a delayed gratification kind of thing, or maybe an investment -- put in the hard work now and see them become good adults in ~20 years. Hoo boy!