Thirty-Eight Redone :)

I would just like to say that I'm quite thankful for the innocence of children.  Partially because childhood ends too fast and it's nice to see kids still being kids and not growing up too early.  And partially because sometimes those innocent comments make me laugh.  The reason I'm especially thankful for it today is because of the latter :)

After our kids' club ended, I drove Kendall Bendall (in case you're like me and read this and think, "Why would some parent name their kid Kendall Bendall?" I've just called her that since was two and even though she's almost 11 the name has just suck.  As I write this disclaimer I'm thinking that I'm probably the only person who would have thought that though haha) to her cheerleading practice since her mom was leading a monthly women's Bible study her at her church.  As we drove up Highway 27 heading towards Sebring she kept me entertained by giving me quizzes in some tween book she had just gotten.  She got to one quiz and the question asked something along the lines of would you rather spend the afternoon with a friend, your parents, or the hottie down the street.  

I repeated my options and when I got to "the hottie down the street" option, Kendall Bendall simply replied, "Yeah, that's a dog."

I glanced at her quizzically and said, "Kendall, I'm pretty sure that's not referring to a dog."

Then her in most matter-of-fact, like-oh-gosh-duh-Caitlin voice she stated, "A hottie is a dog.  See the dog is saying it!"

I looked over and sure enough on the page coming out of the mouth of a dog in one of those comic word balloons it stated, "The hottie from down the street."

I sighed and just kind of left it.  But as we drove further I kept thinking about it and couldn't contain myself from giggling just a bit. 

Kendall Bendall in a timid, sweet little voice said, "I'm sorry.  I'm not a good reader."

Now feeling like an absolute jerk, I quickly and apologetically blurted out, "Kendall, I wasn't laughing at your reading.  I'm laughing about the hottie down the street."

Now she looked at me quizzically.  

I said, "A hottie down the street isn't talking about the dog.  It's talking about a hot guy."

And with the most grossed out look upon her face and in the most grossed out, overly-exaggerated voice (You know in the way only a 10-year-old girl who thankfully still believes boys have cooties could produce) Kendall Bendall screeched, "EEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWW!!!! Why would they put that in my book?!?!?!"

Let's just say I love that kid and this is only one example of why I am thankful God has blessed me with knowing for her for the past 8 years :)

The following pictures are from our Explorers' Christmas Party :)  I'm thankful for these guys, too!  They may have driven me crazy today (but then again what can I expect when I fed them way too much sugar, told them just be kids today, and let them play some silly games haha) and we may have had to have a short little come-to-Jesus meeting in order to continue to play our games...but I sure do love them and the fact they remind of how important it is to have passion, fun, and excitement in this life that God has blessed me with :)  

Oh and in case you're wondering about the title, I wrote one blog post, published, and then decided I wanted to add the story about Kendall Bendall.  So I wrote it at the end only to decide I didn't really like what I had written in the beginning, so I deleted the original post, copy and pasted the Kendall Bendall story and republished haha