Bedtime

"I wanna hode you a second minute!" Josie likes to say... especially after I've put her to bed and she wants to get back out. "Wock me in de wockin' chair for a second minute, Mommy!" The Mommy guilt just about always gets me... I'm such a sucker. 8 out of 10 times, I "hode" her in the "wockin chair" and sing her another song.

Sadie, on the other hand, always wants to hear "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" just ONE more time. "And rub my back while you sing it, Mommy!" Which I do. "Will you tell me a story? I don't wanna read one - I want you to TELL me one!" Which I do - usually about a little girl named Sadie and her friend, SuperDuperSnooper.

I'm telling you... some of the things that I think about as I sit there in the dark with them are just plain scary. I haven't really talked to anyone about this, but with all that's happening in the Middle East and everything you see on the news, I can't help but think about all the poor mothers who are living in fear THIS VERY NIGHT... mothers who can't safely rock their babies to sleep because their houses have been blown to smithereens... mothers who can't hold their little ones in their arms "for a second minute" because they've been killed by some random bomb... mothers who can't tell stories to their little girls because their little girls can't hear them anymore. It just kills me to even think about it. And yet I do. And so I "hode" my girls. I sing them songs. And I pray to God that those horrible things that are happening to those other mothers and their children halfway around the world will somehow never happen to us.

Talking Turkey

We went to see the doctor on Tuesday, and when the nurse came in, she asked Josie where her boo-boo was. Josie told her a long string of uncomprehensible sentences, ending with, "I coughing!" Then I pitched in and told her that she'd been coughing when she's taking a nap or trying to go to sleep. Josie turned around on the stool she was sitting on, looked at me, and said, "Mommy. I was talking." Humph. I guess trying to teach her not to interrupt backfired on me! The nurse cracked up.

Thursday was Thanksgiving, and early in the morning, Mama and I got up to do some serious cooking. Sadie helped... she peeled all the eggs for the deviled eggs, and she did a lot of stirring. She and Josie both wore their aprons (Josie wore nothing BUT her apron) and went back and forth between helping and watching the giant turkeys, Snoopys, and Hello Kittys on the Thanksgiving Day Parade. Sadie said, "This is the greatest Thanksgiving ever!"

We spent the day over at Grandma and Grandpa's house with the family and the girls had a whale of a time running around like - well, turkeys - with all their cousins and Uncle Darryl, the man of the hour.

La Bamba

Yesterday, Jesse took the girls on their "Secret Squirrels" field trip for school. They learned all about the "secret lives" of squirrels... what they eat, where they live, etc. Sadie taught ME a new word when she came home: Dray. A dray is a squirrel's nest! Betcha didn't know that, did you? Josie told me that squirrels like to eat pinecones and coconuts. :)

Tonight, we met Grandma, Lydia, and Darryl at our favorite Mexican place (the one where the waiters and Josie have a mutual crush on each other) and we got to hear a real live Mariachi band! We were all so excited! Sadie and Josie thoroughly enjoyed themselves... so much so that they couldn't contain their excitement and they had to hop down on the floor and dance around with glee. When the band came to our table to play La Bamba, the girls could not tear their eyes away from the 4 guys and 1 girl with the Spanish instruments and bright red outfits. They thought it was something else! They both sang La Bamba all the way home.

Haircuts, Dentists, and Pigs

Grandma cut Josie's bangs for her last week - Jesse and I love her wild and crazy curls, but the poor kid couldn't see through her bangs anymore so we gave in and trimmed them. Well, Grandma did - I'm too much of a klutz to be trusted around my children's eyes with scissors. Josie held the mirror herself the whole time, and she was VERY still - now she looks so much like a little girl and less like a baby.... Wahhhh!!!

Today at school, Sadie told everyone all about her trip to the dentist yesterday. She loved it. Josie did too - she was a bit jealous that she didn't get to climb up in the big chair, but she still got stickers and a toothbrush, so she got over it. Sadie warmed right up to the hygenists, and they talked about their favorite colors, Snoopy (who was on her lap, of course), shoes, and thumbsucking. Sadie was completely at ease, and she opened her mouth and happily let them "count" her teeth and clean them with special "bubblegum toothpaste" and a "weird rubbery spinny thing."

After Show and Tell (or just "Tell," in this case), we read a story about kids turning into pigs when they didn't use their manners. As I said to the class, "And they all turned into PIGS!" Sadie piped up, "Which are also called SWINE!" and all the adults completely cracked up. What a nut.

We finally got some of the pictures back from Grammy's wedding, and here you can see how stinking cute the kids all were. The handsome guys are the girls' cousins Cameron and Caleb.

Her Best Friend Can't Drive

The other day we went to the dollar store to let the girls pick out some things to go in our shoe boxes to ship overseas for Operation Christmas Child (we ended up doing SIX this year... I went a bit overboard). Jesse took the girls out to the car to load them up while I paid for everything and proceeded to leave all 7 bags sitting there in the store. I didn't realize this until 2 hours, lunch, and a drive home later. It was time for Jesse to go to work, so I had to pack the kids right back in the car and drive back to the store myself (miraculously, everything was still there - they must've known it was for a good cause and I don't have any more money!). As I pulled out of the driveway, Sadie said, "Oh NO!" I said, "What?" thinking I'd forgotten something else of importance, like Snoop, Blankie, or my mind. She said, "You're driving! Mommy, you are not the best driver. Daddy is. He doesn't get all turned around and he always knows where he is going." Well, needless to say, I was a bit miffed (although the child does speak the truth - I get lost all the time). Jesse thought it was hi-lar-i-ous.

On the way home from our little escapade, I asked the girls to be quiet because I wanted to call Melanie... to which Josie replied, "But MOMMY! I am your best friend!" :)

Last but not least, when I got Josie up from her nap yesterday, she said in this tiny little squeaky voice, "Mommy!? Some-ti-imes, I have poop issues." She also speaks the truth, but it was weird to hear it coming from her.

I have been incredibly tired lately. Maybe it's the winter blahs coming on... it's supposed to snow here tomorrow! Sigh. I think I could go without another snow forever and not miss it after the last couple of years! Anyway, I must return to the laundry, the shoebox packing, and my "Yada Yada Prayer Group" book by Neta Jackson. If you haven't read the series, you should!