This morning the little guy and I had kind of an interesting conversation on the way to school, and since I really wanted to continue the conversation after school, I decided that once I picked him up this afternoon, we’d run an errand or two and then stop by a frozen yogurt place for a little post-school food and fellowship.

So that’s what we did. When he jumped in the car around 3:30, I told him that we needed to run by the UPS Store, and oh, by the way, I thought it might be fun to try that new yogurt place that’s in the same shopping center.

Make no mistake: I was trying my best to be kicky and casual. But I figured that approach would be better than looking deep in his eyes and saying something like, “I really want to hear about how you’re processing this particular issue. What are your deepest thoughts and feelings? Can we please talk about lots of emotions while I ask you approximately thirty four questions?”

A little bit of earnest goes a long way around here. And really, what we were discussing wasn’t anything difficult; he’d just been unusually candid about one particular topic on the way to school, and, well, we all know that mamas EAT THAT STUFF UP.

So we went to the UPS Store, and then we walked down to the yogurt place. We each picked up a styrofoam cup for our yogurt, and I made a beeline for the cappuccino while Alex walked over to the chocolate. We got to the toppings bar about the same time, and since the toppings were three-deep and the containers were pretty squished together, I asked Alex if he needed any help with scooping since the odds for spilling / slinging / cross-pollinating were pretty strong. He assured me that he had everything under control, and he carefully sprinkled some Oreos over his yogurt while he kept an eye out for his second topping.

I, on the other hand, was firmly and fully committed to the crushed Reese’s peanut butter cups. It was a total no-brainer for me.

Alex (who, by the way, gave me his blessing to share this story – I try to be mindful of his bloggy boundaries, you know) eventually camped out in front of the Twix / cookie dough / Snickers portion of the toppings bar, and after a few seconds of deep contemplation, he picked up the plastic ladle in the cookie dough container. He slowly stirred the pieces around, still unable to fully make up his mind, so I intervened.

“Buddy?” I asked. “Do you want to try the cookie dough, do you think?”

Now of course I meant “try” in the sense of “Would you like to put several pieces of cookie dough on your yogurt and then sample those pieces once we pay and sit down?” But I didn’t really make myself clear, so after I asked Alex the question about trying the cookie dough, he nodded, scooped up a few pieces, replied with, “Oh, yes ma’am” – and then y’all, he put that plastic topping ladle right up to his mouth just like he was standing in our kitchen and about to chow down on a big scoop of peanut butter.

I managed to stop him before he actually ate any of the cookie dough, but oh my word we got so tickled. I bet I laughed for five minutes. I also told the girl who was working behind the counter that she might want to run that ladle under some hot, soapy water before it returned to service in the cookie dough bowl.

And do you know what two words kept running through my mind when I was trying to compose myself?

HOME. TRAINING.

Yes ma’am. We’ve got it. Clearly we are all kinds of fancy at our house. And even though we really do try to emphasize having good table manners, we might be due for a little tune-up / maintenance call. Or maybe just a reminder that it’s not a good idea to eat the peas straight out of the pot, so to speak.

After we finally sat down, we did end up having the sweetest conversation – one that I’ll hold tight in my heart for a long time. We finished our yogurt, made a quick trip to the bookstore, and then we headed home. Alex had homework to do, and I needed to start supper.

It was around 5 o’clock, I guess, when the doorbell rang. Alex ran to answer it, and when I heard him yell “Thank you!” in the general direction of the driveway, I knew that someone had delivered a package. I could hear Alex trying to pull the box into the foyer – but it was so big that he was struggling a little bit. I couldn’t remember ordering anything that would be that heavy, but over the span of several seconds, something occurred to me.

BOOKS.

And sure enough.

So that was a little bit of a Family Moment. Very surreal. And fun. But make no mistake: deeply surreal.

A half hour or so later, we finished our supper, and I faced the sobering realization that there was no way to avoid a trip to Walmart. Why, you wonder? Well, because apparently the good times never stop and sometimes you can’t put off buying shampoo and razor blades for even one more second.

But in the end, I was so glad that I went to Ye Olde Supercenter. I’m a sucker for a good sunset, and tonight’s was the prettiest one we’ve had so far this spring. The sky was so beautiful, in fact, that I made a quick detour into the Lowe’s parking lot, where I promptly put my car in park and grabbed my phone out of my purse.

I mean, seriously.

There was a man parked across from me who was also taking pictures, and after a few minutes I turned to him and said, “That sky is so pretty that it’s hard to understand why people would want to live anywhere else.”

He grinned. And then he said, “You look at that sky, and you really don’t need much more than that, do you? Even just a little bit of that – that’ll hold you for awhile, you know?”

And I did know. I do know. Because the God who created that gorgeous sky – He holds.

Today has been such a reminder of that.

And it’s been so sweet to remember.