Quill and a Song

So I'm getting ready to go outside and pull weeds when I hear a little voice, through the monitor, singing a little something like this:


"I want my grand-pa
I want my grand-pa
I want my grand-ma
I want my grand-ma
I want my mom-my
I want my mom-my
I want my dad-dy
I want my dad-dy
Yeah, yeah, yeah
I do, I do, I want my grand-pa!"


Jesse showed Sadie a feather from a bluejay on the porch this afternoon, and she brought it inside and asked for some ink. Then she proceeded to paint a fancy picture with her "quill" and some red fingerpaint. I asked her where she learned to use a quill, and she said, "It's like they used to do in the old days. A long time ago... you know, like Belle in Beauty and the Beast."

Taint tu for MUSTARD!

Last night Sadie informed Josie that, "The Muffin Man told me that I have to put you in the oven and bake you." Jesse laughed. However, I found this to be a little creepy! This was along the same time that the girls were playing hot dog, ie: Josie sprawls out on the floor and Sadie squashes her and yells, "You are da hot dog! I am MUSTARD!"

Josie and Sadie both like to sing our prayer before we eat... Josie's goes like this:

"God, Fa-der
God, Fa-der
Taint tu, we taint tu
For-or bess-ins
For-or bess-ins
A-la-mein, A-la-mein!"

Hair or There

Well, I am once again facing that age-old dilemma: cut the hair, don't cut the hair. The hair is pretty when it's long, I'll give it that. It's curly, and dark, and well, feminine. The question is, when I wear it in a ponytail virtually ALL the time, what exactly is the point in having it long? The saga continues.



The deer ate EVERYTHING in the garden. We got about 10 pieces of broccoli, some lettuce, 4 strawberries, and some collard greens out of it, and that's just about it. Here is a picture of the girls watching one of the varmints!

Other than that, there is not much drama going on in my life at the moment. A friend of mine from home is coming to visit this weekend, and I'm super excited about that! Other than my mom, no one has seen my house yet!

The kids are doing well... Josie went for her 2 year checkup and the doctor couldn't get over how cute she is - I wasn't surprised. :) Sadie has to go to the dentist soon, so that should be fun. I told her that he needed to count her teeth. She's all about counting, so maybe it will be okay. We'll see.

I'm the Best

The kids have been running on all cylinders for the past few days... they have SO much energy that I wish I could harness it to run the air conditioner or something else horrendously expensive. Josie, now two, makes it a point to tell me at least 20 times a day: "I do it! I do it! NOOOOO!!! ME!!! I DO IT!" concerning all things dangerous or with a mess-making propensity. She's also started asking Jesse to "Hold me up there, Daddy! Hold me up there!"

Today, Sadie yelled from her room, "Mommy! I love you so much and I want to marry you!" Later, after we went to the park, fed the ducks, and slid down the poles holding up the swingset (fireman style), she informed me, "You're the best, Mom!" Josie, not to be outdone, nodded in agreement and said, "Yesh. You, Mom!"

Summertime in His hands

This week was Bible School at church, and I was the coordinator. This took up our mornings and then I worked in the afternoons, so it's been a crazy, busy, tiring week. But all in all, it was rewarding. I think the kids had a good time, and I think they learned a lot. On the way to church Wednesday morning, we were singing Josie's favorite song, "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands." After a few rousing verses of "He's got Mommy and Daddy in 'He' hands," "Brothers and Sisters in 'He' hands," "The itty bitty baby in 'He' hands, "Sadie and Josie in 'He' hands," I threw in that "He's got Snoopy and Blankie in His hands...." Sadie was sitting in the back with Snoopy (who also has a rattle in his tummy). As I sang, I heard Snoopy rattle. I looked in the rearview mirror and saw Sadie throw Snoopy over her head as hard as she could and into the cargo part of the van. Then she said, "Well, He doesn't have SNOOPY in His hands, because I threw him in the back!"

Tomorrow is Josie's birthday. I cannot believe that she's going to be two already. It seems like it was just yesterday that we brought her home from the hospital. Now she's turned into such a little character. Her new thing is kissing. She LOVES kissing, and when she puckers up, it's hilarious. She sucks her bottom lip totally behind her teeth and makes a giant sucking sound before she gets you. And then she wants to kiss "Eyes, Mom." "Nose, Mom." "Cheek, Mom." "Other one, Mom." She is also the world's greatest hugger. I feel SO important when she throws her chubby little arms around me and squeezes for all she's worth.

Tonight, to celebrate the end of our crazy week, we went to dinner with Aunt Sarah, threw rocks into the marina (simultaneously scaring the heck out of me and Sarah, because there was no railing and the water was 15 feet deep and very sinister, alligator-looking), then got ice cream cones at "Old Donald's." When we got home, I decided to completely blow their minds and let them stay up until 10:00! The best part? We sat outside on a blanket and watched the stars come out. We made wishes, too. Sadie's was, "I wish Mommy and Daddy would not pop me all the time." I laughed when she said that, and then she did, too. Then she looked at me and said, "Well! I really do wish it!" You'd think that the child gets a daily spanking or something!! Good grief. My grandma used to spank my uncle every day whether he needed it or not. Heehee... my guess is that usually, he needed it. Anyway, I digress. We made wishes, looked for falling stars, Josie spotted the moon, then ran around our blanket in crazy circles, we caught lightning bugs (and let them go), group hugged, and had a GREAT summery time.

When Big Bird Attacks

Yesterday, we went to a big water park for the day. Sadie and Josie helped me pack a picnic, Daddy loaded up the wagon in the van, we picked up Aunt Lydia, and away we went! The girls both looked so cute in their little swimsuits and their pint-sized life jackets. Josie's kept creeping up on her neck until all you could see was her head and her squooshed little cheeks poking out the top, but boy, did we have fun! They both loved the wave pool and the water slides (Sadie would go down the huge tall scary ones if they'd let her). Then we had our picnic and Josie was attacked by a mean Canadian goose - it actually BIT her hand when it tried to snatch a chip from her. She was a little upset, as you can probably imagine... I mean, have you ever been bitten by a bird the same size as you? Anyway, after that, Sadie and Lydia took turns chasing the geese away, and Josie hid under the table with her chips. Sadie rode some of the rides all by herself, and Josie rode the spinning teacups with us... later we stopped for slushies and popcorn, and a good time was had by all!

Keep It.

Tonight after bathtime, I caught a baby mermaid (Sadie) who squeaked and said that she "sure could use a toy." I asked Josie if she thought I should keep her or throw her back. Josie pointed her little index finger at me and said in a low voice with all seriousness, "Keep it."

In His Hands

Josie now says, "Yesh." Ask her a question, and you'll get either an emphatic "NO!" or a sweet little "Yesh," accented by a nod of her head, crazy hair waving in the breeze. I was holding her during evening assembly the other night (we're at our Bible School convention thing this week) and I looked down at her and realized... My baby is growing up! Since Sadie is older, I always think of Josie as a little baby, I guess. It suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks (nevermind the tears that welled up in my eyes suddenly and without warning) that she is NOT a baby. She is rapidly becoming a little girl. Sigh. She's talking all the time, and I'm beginning to actually be able to understand her, too. Today she said, "Hey! Look, Mom! A ball! Got it at the zoo!" (which she didn't, but still... that's a pretty good sentence).

They have been having a great time this week, for the most part. I mean, sure, there have been moments of whining and crying and "accidents of the pant-nature," but they've run around, gone to class, sung, danced, played, done crafts, eaten ice cream, and made lots of new friends. Deanna braided Sadie's hair - Jamaican style - with tons of little beads on the ends and Sadie loves it. She's had it in since Sunday and loves to shake her head and point out her "beautiful beadies" to everyone. Josie likes to pull on them, but Sadie does not appreciate that, as you can imagine. I think Josie's favorite part of the whole week has been Deanna's "helicopter rides" in the lawn outside the cafeteria. Deanna picks her up, whirls her around and around and around in a circle, then puts her down in the grass. Josie sticks both her arms out for balance, staggers around, laughing, then inevitably collapses backwards into the grass in a dizzy, giggling heap. Fun! Her new favorite song is, "He's got the whole woi-old - His hands... whole wide woi-old... hand! Little little baby... HANDS!" She also liked playing with Daddy in the nursery - he took care of her there almost every day, after taking both kids to their Musical Praise class - and climbing in the tent and the tunnel (the child LOVES tunnels... I think she may end up as a spelunker).

Yesterday, I heard a giant ka-thunk and then a scream - oh wait, that was my OWN scream when I realized that Sadie had fallen from the top bunk bed into the floor!!! What is it about bunk beds that silently whisper to children... "Climb to the top! I am a wonderful mountain! There is nothing but joy at my summit! Climb, uncoordinated ones! Climb!" Sadie, at last, gave in and did it (unsupervised) and then decided to get down in the quickest - and most painful - way. It scared the heck out of me, but she landed on her butt and Aunt Becky (nurse's room next door, thank goodness) said that her tailbone wasn't broken. Jesse says that now at least we can be sure that she got HIS bone structure and not MINE. Thank goodness. She's had fun balancing on all the cement walkways and benches around the campus and playing hide and seek with her cousins. For 45 minutes the other day, they ALL hid in the closet, closed the doors, and snickered away while I counted to 10 and tried to find them OVER and OVER again. Apparently, this was hilarious to anyone 4 and under.

I'm sure I'll have more to report later, but now I must get to "Field Day" and practice my song for tomorrow... I think Sadie's going to get on stage in front of everyone and say the 23rd Psalm, but we'll see.