Boys Will Be Boys

"Dad will love this!" David grabbed the navy blue t-shirt off the rack and shoved it under my nose.

Had my teenage son lost his mind?

"Oh, son, you've got to be kidding me. Your father would never be caught dead in that." Visions of my 80's high school years and a parade of muscle-shirt-wearing teen males flashed before my eyes.

"Awww, cmon' Mom. We could get one for Sam too." Master manipulation at its best. He knew to include his little brother (who thought he hung the moon) into his diabolical plan. "We could match out on the beach."

"Yeah Mom! Cmon." Samuel stood by his big brother pleading.

"You're father would not look good in that, David. It is SO not his style."

My son walked up and put his arm around me, whispering loudly in my ear, "But, you know how good I'd look in it." He smiled, flexing his one free arm for me.

His newfound muscles were getting lots of attention lately. "Law and Order. That's what I named them, Mom." David smirked, unwrapping me from his hug and kissing each bicep.

Three days later...

Unpacking in the hotel room, the boys knew I'd had a weak moment at Walmart and were so excited they could barely stand it. I grabbed the secret bag and opened it up, tossing navy blue t-shirts to all the boys.

My husband unfolded his, "What's this?"

"You're beach attire." 

I'm married to an amazing husband and father. Amidst the audience of snickering and laughter, he put on his new shirt and I snapped a photo.

Two hours later we were all at the beach.

Eight hours later he was nursing the most ridiculous sunburn I've ever seen.



What about you? Do you ever step out of character for your kids? How have you surprised them lately?

Guest Blogger - My Teenage Son

When my teenage son, David, read me his A.P. English assignment this afternoon -I asked him if I could share it with you. As you can tell, he said it was okay.

A junior in high school, he doesn't enjoy writing all that much, but when a topic is this close to his heart, he rises to the occasion.

What's in a Name?

I've grown up with one minor difficulty. It does not concern my height, weight, or hair texture. It is my name - David Joseph Kraft.

Now, don’t get me wrong, David is awesome and Joseph is superb. It's my last name that's the real problem.

When I looked up the meaning of my name I came up with these results: David means beloved, Joseph means prince… and Kraft means Mac n cheese. I am the Beloved prince of Mac n cheese. Not so awesome.

I can survive with the meaning of my name, if I never had to share it. Yet,inevitably I'm asked for my name on a daily basis. Since I do it so often I have come up with a foolproof routine:

Hello, my name is David, David Kraft with a K.

You would not believe how many times people still spell it with a 'C'. Then I'll get the comment, "Like the Mac n Cheese?!?" "Yes it is, how original." They ignore my sarcasm and respond with, "Oh sweet that is so awesome."

They ask the next question, "Are you related?"

"Well, if I was related do you think I would be buying this .99 cent cheeseburger from you?"

I mean really, I know I'm not supposed to hold a grudge but there's this one kid...

Every day in the hall he purposely catches my eye and goes “Hey Mac n Cheese!" He who shall not be named really chaps my hide. It might have been funny the first or maybe even second time, but after 2 years it really starts to get old.

Then I get the nick names. They include Krafty, Kraftubee and my favorite Kraftibulator! I personally do not mind these nicknames because I have a sense of humor. But, I sure feel bad for my little sister. She is going to have a rough time.

I guess all in all, Kraft is a cool last name after you get past all of the misspellings, annoyingly repetitive people, and the crazy nick names.

Thanks a lot Dad.

BBQ Snake Anyone?

"Mom, have I got a great blog story for you..."

There are moments during this parenting journey where time stands still. One of those moments came for me tonight.

"Can I keep a snake in our refrigerator tonight if I promise to bag it up real good? Mr. Wells (Our friend and neighbor.) said he'd cook it up for me tomorrow so I can try it. He says it's delicious. And, just think, you could blog about it."

As soon as my world stopped spinning and my son's face came back into focus, I had that moment.

"Yes, go ahead. Just make sure you quadruple bag it. I don't want it touching anything in my refrigerator."

Did those words really just come out of my mouth?

Later Paul came into the bedroom and asked, "Did you really just tell our son he could keep a dead snake in our refrigerator?"

"Yes. I did. Do you think I've lost my mind?"

"No, but I have to tell you what he said to me. When David came back into my office after talking with you I asked, 'So, what did your Mom say?' Expecting full well you'd tell him no. He was smiling when he told me, 'Dad, I knew how to get Mom to say yes. I just told her Boy, do I have a blog story for you...it gets her every time.'"

A Mom Has Braggin' Rights!

Do you see this handsome chap below? (The one without the hairy face.) He is my son David. And, today, my heart is overflowing with mom-pride.

When friends from Australia encouraged us to come out for a trip last year, we were thrilled. While our hearts screamed, "YES!", our bank accounts screamed, "NO!".

"Dad, would you and Mom let me go if I raise enough money for myself?" David asked.

Seeing a great hard-working lesson in the making, Paul took full advantage of it. "Son, the trip is going to cost more than you think. The passport will be over $100.00 and your round trip ticket will be close to $1000.00... and David, we aren't going to give you any money. If the Lord has opened up this door for you, you will have to figure this out together."

That's all it took. At fourteen years old last summer, David was too young to officially get a job, so he worked as a referee for soccer games and babysat every child within a five mile radius of our home. With those earnings he purchased his passport and later bought a pig through his high school F.F.A. to sell at fair this summer.

Rightly naming his pig, "Australia", thirteen of our friends and family crowded the bleachers and cheered our son onto victory as he placed third overall at the fair, ranking above one hundred other pig entries. Earning enough money to pay for his whole Australian experience plus another $40.00. (God always gives us more, doesn't He?)

Three days later David was on a plane headed for the land down under.

At fifteen years old, just shy of sixteen, David stayed with our friends in the outback on their 3,000 acre sheep ranch. Our son was in time to take part in their sheep-shearing week, thus the picture above with his hairy friend.

After three weeks, David arrived home on his international flight. Joy doesn't even describe the feeling of having him home again and in our arms. Our son learned quite a few lessons this year. He learned that when the Lord opens a door, our part is to work alongside Him to make it happen. He learned to say "How can I do this?" instead of "I can't do this." He learned he belongs to a God who does exceedingly abundantly more than we can ask or think.

And, he learned why Vegemite will NEVER be a hit in America.

We are so very proud the Lord gave us this young man to raise.


Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.
Ephesians 3:20 NLT






Online Users

Lemonade Dreamer

My son was talking to my husband today at the coffee shop. I thought I would let you listen in on a quick snippet of their conversation:


David: Hey Dad, you know what I want to do one day?

Dad: Funny, I was sitting here just thinking to myself, "What do you want to do one day?"

David: Well, one day, I want to have a $100 bill on me when I drive by kids selling lemonade. I want to walk right up to them, and when they tell me the price I want to slap down my $100 bill and walk away.

Dad: Wow David, I really hope you get the chance to do that one day.

David: (Pausing) Hey Dad, you know, if you're feeling generous today, I'm really good at selling lemonade.