The right tears

We had some of our dearest friends visiting this past weekend. These are the kinds of friends that I don't clean the house for, I throw dinner together based on what's in the deep freeze and we certainly don't need an agenda. So fun!
Our friends son is one of E's first friends and Etienne "played well with others!" It is a sigh of relief to see some progress that he can play with another child without totally losing control. Our friends are also the kind of parents that I can relax around, they get what we are going through and the genuinely love our son and us.
Having company and lack of routine led to lots of behavior problems toward this mama, but at this point, I have come to expect it. In the midst of friends and fun, we had some issues with lying. Etienne was sobbing after being reprimanded and Ryan asked him why he was crying. He said "Because I have been naughty." So now I am crying. THIS IS AWESOME! He had an appropriate response rather then a flat expression and he had tears for his behavior, not the consequence. It has always been tears for whatever he was missing ("I don't get to play with my brothers now" "I don't get to have a Popsicle" ) These are the things we are encouraged by.
On a funny note, I have to share the fish story. I promised the boys we could get goldfish for the pond. They each got their plastic bag with a fish and I made a big production of explaining to Zeke, and especially E, that if they played with the rubber band or the knot the fish would die. Fish heaven. So we are leaving the store and I hit a bump. Blake's bag somehow breaks open and he's screaming "Jack is gone!" So I frantically pulled over and climbed in the back row of the van to search. Blake is now sobbing (as his brothers quietly watch in awe), yelling "Jesus, please." I end up finding the fish under THE FRONT SEAT of the van. He launched from the back row to under the front seat. The poor thing isn't even flopping anymore but I put him in water anyway. At this point, Blake is now cheering, "Thank you Jesus!" Etienne calming and quietly says "I did not see that coming."
I could not write a life funnier than this stuff.
P.S. Jack the fish is somewhere semi-alive in the bottom of our pond. He is now considered "Super Human" by the boys. Molly says "He was never human to begin with."