Kids say the darndest things!!

Finally, something worth blogging about!!

My family(my Father and ALL of his brothers, sisters, their kids, friends, etc..) likes to see each other and we like to eat. So we decided to make it a monthly goal to do both of these things at the same time. So, this past Saturday was that day.

My husband had to work so it was just me and the kids. We loaded up the van and made the 45 minute trip to my uncle's house to eat home made barbecue and chips...and yummy chocolate cake! (I didn't count calories that day...) We had a lot of fun and Emmelyn really enjoys seeing all of them. She particularly likes to attach herself to her much older 2nd cousins. They enjoy having her attention as well, so it works out fine.

So, we had a fun couple of hours and packed up the van again and headed for home. We weren't 2 minutes down the road when she started in with her usual array of questions. "Mommy (ok, let's get truthful, she has pretty much all together quit calling my mommy), how is Daniel my cousin?" (Daniel is my 19 year old cousin. He and I have always had a special bond, perhaps that is due to the fact that we both lost our mothers at the age of 15...or that we practically lived at each other's houses when we were little...) So I proceeded to explain that Daniel's dad (who is also named Daniel) happens to be Poppie's brother, which makes Uncle Daniel my uncle and little Daniel (we call him little but he is far from it) my cousin. He is my 1st cousin and because she is my daughter that makes him her 2nd cousin. Crazy thing is - Emmelyn followed my thought process and began to explain how everyone else in the family was related. I was truly amazed.

After this trot down our family tree Emmelyn proceeded to ask why she didn't have a bunch of 1st cousins like I did. I had to explain that Poppie (my dad) had a lot of brothers and a sister and that made for a big family. She told me that she wanted a big family. She decided that we should have at least 2 or 3 more kids so that she could have a big family. (Funny thing is... God's placed a burden on my heart to grow a big family, I'm just waiting for him to work out the details of how to pay for this family or house and feed this big family.) Anyway, I began to explain to Emmelyn that we couldn't afford to have any more kids right now. I told her that right now we only had enough money to take care of her and her brother. I told her that maybe one day we would be able to afford more kids.

Emmelyn fell quiet for quite some time. I could see in the rear-view mirror that she was deep in thought and that something was troubling her. Finally, I heard her from the back of the van.

"Mom?"

I smiled, "Yes, Emm?"

And with the most troubled and serious expression she asked, "So, you have to actually pay God a lot of money before he will give you a kid?"

Wow... I'm still laughing out loud and wiping tears from my eyes when I think about this moment. This is definitely one of those stories you tell for years to come.