This evening's Penny Thought is brought to you by: My Book of Bible Stories.

So, we were at meeting and I was encouraging Penny to be quiet and still by opening up her Bible Stories book, turning to the pictures of Paradise, and pointing out each of the children in the pictures who look like my children. 

Mommy: There's Penny, Evy, Seren and Xander is on this other page...

Penny turns to a different page altogether, one where a woman is lying on her back and her mourning husband is cradling her head.  Penny says:  That's you, Mommy!  You're DEAD!

Penny flips over to another story, the one where Paul is shipwrecked on an island.  she points to a picture of a man with a cloth wrapped around his hips and says: AND this man is wearing a diaper!

Mommy: *sigh*

Tonight's Penny thought is brought to you by: Me, Myself, and I:

Penny (does something cute).
Mommy:  You're cute, Penny.
Penny: Me?
Mommy: No, the other you.
Penny: But, I'm the only one.
Mommy: Yes, you are.
Penny: I'm the only cute little girl!
Mommy (thinks of Seren, who was being a brat and Evy, who has been whiny): Yes, you are.
Penny (smiles with ear to ear grin): And, Mommy, you are MY servant!
Mommy: *sighs*

Tonight's Serenism is brought to you by: corporations and politics as we know it.

Seren says at dinner: Mommy, can I have the artichoke heart?
Mommy:  If you want to eat an artichoke heart, you have to eat the leaves first.
Penny: I want some artichoke!
Seren delegates all of the leaves she doesn't want to eat, which is the majority, to Penny to eat.
Once Penny eats all of the leaves, Mommy takes over to clean off the heart so Seren won't hurt herself with the 'choke' part and Penny can benefit from her hard labor.
Seren takes stock of what's leftover, which is half of the heart, and whines: This is ALL I get???
All the while, Evy sits and eats an entire artichoke on her own, leaves and heart, reaping the fruits of her labor in quiet enjoyment.

Seren will be an awesome executive for a corporation, Penny will make a fantastic employee (so far), and Evy might just be a successful sole proprietor.  Xander is still on the welfare program.  I will be happy when my term as Governor is over.

Evanese

We have Serenisms (life as Seren, my 6 year old, sees it), Penny Thoughts (the world according to Penny, my 3 year old), and now I'll post some Evanese (stuff that makes sense to my 9 year old).

While riding in the car with locked electric windows (so younger children can't play with them), Evy says to Mommy: "Could you scroll down my window?  I'd like some fresh air..."  Too much time on the computer?

Tonight's Serenism is Brought to you by Mommy, I have a surprise for you!

Seren: Mommy, I have a present for you. Me: (opens present and finds this picture). Seren: It's a picture of you, Mommy! Me: Am I smiling with my teeth? Seren: No, you're surprised! Me: Did I see a bug? Seren: No...Me: Am I surprised at how nice this picture is? Seren: No, Mommy, you're surprised that I CLEANED my room today! Me: Yes, Seren, I AM surprised!

Yesterday's Serenism was photographed!

Evy, Seren, and I went to the beauty parlor to get our hair done.  Seren found a bowl of Hershey's Kisses and took one, then hid it in her hand the entire time her hair was being shampooed, then cut.  She was still hiding it when I took pictures of her cute little haircut. 

The pictures show her, "I know something you don't" face.  Then I noticed chocolate dripping from her hand, which she had hidden behind her, during the photo shoot...

Friday's Serenism is Brought to you by Dodge Caravan

We drive a Nissan Quest minivan as our family vehicle and we took it in for some warranty items before the warranty ran out.  The dealership is nice enough to provide a rental car to use while ours is getting fixed.  We really enjoy this part because we get to experience a variety of vehicles and judge how well they fit our family and our needs.

I was excited about getting the Dodge Grand Caravan.  Other than the Quest, in my opinion, it's the only other attractive minivan with a large engine I would consider for our family (although I'd consider Toyota Sienna and Honda Odyssey, but they're not attractive).

Mike was excited until he got in the Dodge and began to drive it.  He expected more of a 4.0 liter engine.  The Quest has a 3.5 liter and exhibits much more response.  It handles better overall as well.  And, the Dodge was slow.  Mike reminded the rest of us of this very fact every time he had to accelerate. 

We had to use this loaner vehicle to get to our all-day convention, which was a half an hour away.  On Friday morning, Mike pointed out that we would be an hour and a half late by the time we arrived.  Seren reminded us why this was: "Daddy, we're going to be so late because this van is SOOOOOOOOO slow!"  That wasn't the reason, but it works for me :)