• Home
  • Meet Michelle
  • #ContagiousContentment Series

Michelle Nebel: Words to Spare

Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.

Make A Stand

April 16, 2016 by Michelle Leave a Comment

Abigail and I were in the van a few days ago, and she told me that when she grows up, she wants to work at Orange Leaf (it’s a frozen yogurt shop where you can put as much froyo as you can fit in your cup, top it with lots of crazy candy toppings, and pay by the ounce – pretty much heaven to a four-year-old).

“What job are you going to be, when you grow up?” she asked.

“I’m already grown up, and I already have a job,” I answered.

“What!?” She started to laugh. “You don’t have a JOB.”

“Yes, I do. My job is taking care of you kids. I think it’s a lot of work.”

“That is not a job, Mama. You have to go somewhere and get paid for a job.”

“Well,” I said, “maybe one day I will get paid for being a writer. Can my book be my job?”

She shook her head at me, hardly believing that I needed these details spelled out. “If you want to be a AUTHOR, you gotta make a stand.”

I was not sure how to process this. Does my kid want me to write a book about a hard-hitting social justice topic? Is she telling me to take a stand for something important and honorable?

“What do you mean?”

“You need to get some boards and nail them together and stand there with your book and people give you money. Like when girls sell lemonade!”

Ah, of course. An author stand. How silly of me.

Filed Under: funnies, writing

Solving the Mystery of Susannah’s Poofs

May 29, 2013 by Michelle 1 Comment

After baths, I always blow-dry Susannah’s hair. She almost always asks me to “make it poofy.” I have tried everything I can think, over the months, only to have every hairstyle rejected. Some with crying, even, and heartbroken wails of “that’s NOT poofy!” 

Tonight I had an epiphany when she made her request. I stopped the dryer. “Susannah, do you want your hair to look like Bella’s?” 

Susannah grinned. “YES! That’s it, poofy like Bella’s poofy hair!”

So I had to explain that Susannah’s hair is like mine, and I can make our hair can lay straight or stay curly, but I can’t make it “go like Bella’s.”  
((Bella is a younger toddler at PDO, maybe two years old. She wears her hair in beautiful, natural, Afro-puffs {do they still call them that?!}). ๐Ÿ˜‰ How sweet and funny is that?

Filed Under: funnies, Susannah

At least she was being quiet.

October 22, 2012 by Michelle 1 Comment

When I opened Susannah’s door at the end of Quiet Time today, I quickly noticed a strange bright yellow spatter pattern all over her white bookshelf. My brain raced to process this: not pee, not vomit, what IS that? Then I spied a similar spatter pattern on the other end of the shelf, in bright pink.

“What….. what….?” I started to ask.

“Oh, Mommy,” she started. Her tremulous voice told me that she was excited and proud of herself, but afraid she was about to get in trouble. “It is amazing. I can TRANSFORM my spit! See!”

I just blinked.

“Did you know that? If you chew up a crayon…. It will transform your spit! Into paint! Hey!!!” she got louder, exuberant in this discovery. “Jonas! Come see! I have transforming spit!”

I left to get a towel. We cleaned the shelf; we brushed her teeth. I’m still a little stunned by this one. What possesses her?! All I can say for today’s QT is: at least she was quiet up there.

Filed Under: funnies, Susannah

Susannah on Marriage

June 28, 2012 by Michelle Leave a Comment

On the way to pick Jonas up from karate, I had another great conversation with Susannah. This time, her thoughts turned to marriage. She said something about marrying one of her friends… and when I suggested that might not be possible (since the friend is a girl), she rebutted with: “Well, if I find a boy to marry I will marry a motorcycle boy. Or a truck boy.”

“What,” I asked, “makes you like motorcycle boys and truck boys?”

She grinned and beat her eyelashes at me. “Mama! They are fast!”

“Hmmm. I guess they are. How do people know which boy they are going to marry?”

“Well, Mama, they just like him and then they dance.”

“I see,” I replied. “So when you get married, what are you and your motorcy le boy going to do?”

“I will kiss him and make a wish.”

“A wish?!” 


She gives me that coy smile again. “Boys like to kiss and wish with their girls!” 


I must know: “When you get married, what will your job be?” 


“A princess!” 


A-ha. And his? “Just… go work at his work.” 


Indeed. “And how old do you think you’ll be, when you get married?” 


Without a moment’s pause, she throws out: “Ten.”

Filed Under: funnies, Susannah

And Then On The Way Home…

March 27, 2012 by Michelle Leave a Comment

(for the conversation I had with Susannah after we dropped Jonas off at karate, click here)

When I picked Jonas up from karate, he told us all about learning the next eight steps of his kata. And then the conversation turned to building a tower high enough to reach the clouds. Which reminded me to tell him the story of the tower of Babel. Which led to the topic of the invisible nature of God, and that we can’t see or reach heaven. And then:

“So what happens when everyone, every person, everyone, is just dead and in heaven? What happens to our Earth then?

I tried my best to explain the New Heaven and the New Earth, not that I’ve got a perfect theological grasp on it myself. But I figure “A+ for effort,” right?

“So. We get new bodies… Will it have skin?”
“Will… your body have skin? Hmm. I don’t know, exactly. I’m not sure what our new bodies will look like. The Bible says they will be glorified bodies, like Christ has in heaven….”
“I hope we have skin. What color will it be?”
“I don’t know.”
“I hope my new skin is brown. And a little ‘fleeesh.'”
Then Susannah chimed in, “And I hope mine is blue! And purple!”
“You guys are awesome.”

*Jonas’ word “FLEEESH” is how he pronounces the color-word on that Crayola crayon that’s sort of pale pinkish. I think I like his version better, since it always struck me as unfair to call that one “flesh-colored” when actual human flesh comes in such a beautiful array of shades.

Filed Under: devotional thoughts, funnies, Jonas

Stuff My Kids Say

February 27, 2012 by Michelle 4 Comments

Susannah left Sunday School with some kind of white paper craft. I saw markery scribbles and stickers but had no idea what it was. In the car:
Me: Susannah, what did you make today?
S: It’sa emma-lote.
Me: Oh, that’s a nice envelope! What are you going to do with it?
S: I’m gonna put monies in my emma-lote.
Me: Money?
S: Yep, I’m gonna ask Daddy for monies. And put the pennies in the emma-lote. And say a prayer to give the emma-lote to God.
Me: Oh, you’re going to give the money to God? That’s wonderful, when we give our money to God.
S: Yes. I give the pennies to God. But not to Jesus. He’s dead.

Jonas was raving about some object – I truly have no idea what he was talking about at the start of this conversation, but then he said:
J: …And it’s orange! I love orange! Orange is my favorite color.
Me: Really?! I thought green was your favorite color.
J: [peers at me over his glasses] No, mom. Orange is my favorite. Green is my malainus color.
Me. …. “malainus”? What is malainus?
J: You know. Like my toys that don’t go with any other toys. Mah-lain-us.
Me: Um. Miscellaneous?
J: That’s what I said. Green is my miscellaneous color.

Filed Under: funnies, Jonas, Susannah

Kids Say….

November 28, 2011 by Michelle Leave a Comment

Susannah: I want more couscous!

Jonas: Hey! This rice stuff…. is made from GOOSE?!
Me: No, babe, it’s “couscous,” not “goosecoose.”

 

 

 

Me: [making coffee]

Susannah: Oooh, can I smell that? [smells package of coffee beans] Mmmmmmm. Hey mommy, when I am an old mommy, I will drink lots of coffee all night.

(to be continued…)

Filed Under: funnies

I will reference this story at his wedding.

August 19, 2011 by Michelle Leave a Comment

A few days ago, we watched “The Business of Being Born” — well, I fast-forwarded to the births in the movie. Jonas and Susannah are fast becoming experts in all this baby stuff. After we watched the scene where the lovely woman with curly hair squats in the middle of a quiet, dim living room and births her baby on the wood floor, Jonas and I had one of the best conversations ever.



“Mommy! Did you see that?”
“Yes, I love it.”
“That’s what YOU’RE GOING TO DO??!”
“Yeah, babe, that’s the plan.”
He sat in awed silence for a moment. Then he bounced his rump on the couch and exclaimed, “Wow. Daddy and me are going to the store, and we are going to GET YOU A PRESENT.”

His future wife is a lucky woman.

Filed Under: funnies, Jonas, pregnancy

We are white. We are nerdy. This was bound to happen.

April 3, 2011 by Michelle Leave a Comment

Filed Under: funnies, Jonas, video

We need to consider some career counseling for this kid.

July 21, 2010 by Michelle Leave a Comment

While we were watching the news after dinner this evening, the local sportsdude started talking about opening day for UGA football. Jonas recognized the logo behind his head and pointed it out. “That’s Georgia! I’m a Bulldog!”

“Really? You’re going to go to the University of Georgia for your college?”

“Yep.”

“What are you going to learn about there – what job are you going to get ready for?”

“Bees.”

“Bees?….like, bumblebees?”

“Uh-huh. Bees.”

“Jonas, you’ve gotten stung by four bees in four years. Maybe working with bees isn’t a great idea for you!”

“No, because if I wear ear-puffs they can’t sting your ear.”

“Ear-puffs?”

“You know. Those big things on your ears to play your music LOUD! Ear-puffs keep the bees out of there.”

“How are you going to earn money at this job with the bees?”

“I’m going to feed them.”

“Feed the bees? And then they will make honey, and you can sell the honey, right?”

“Nope. Just buy them bee food and feed them. They’ll be happy and they won’t sting me with my ear-puffs.”

Filed Under: funnies, Jonas

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • Next Page »

Subscribe by Email

Get the latest posts right to your inbox!


Loading
Loading - Please wait

Get Twitterpated:

Tweets by @MichelleNebel

Archives

Recent Comments

  • Joacu on Twenty(ish) Years Later
  • Tough Decisions on Self-Care for Moms
  • Tough Decisions on Fresh and Shiny
  • Trina on Self-Care for Moms
  • Donna aka Nonna๐Ÿ˜Š on Self-Care for Moms

.

Copyright © 2018 Michelle Nebel · Customized by Springboard Creative