Nuthin!

Adelaide made up her first rhyme. First, she asked for one of her favorite snacks: "Prune! Prune!" Then she followed it up with a mischevious grin: "Boom! Boom!"

Yesterday, Sadie hid in the bathroom with the light off and waited for Josie to come by. When the unsuspecting victim walked by, Sadie jumped out and yelled "BOOGITY BOOGITY!" Josie answered with a terrified "AAAAAAHHHH!!! Don't ever DO that!" Next, while Sadie cackled and laughed down the hallway, Josie came stomping through the kitchen with a mean look on her face. I said, "Josie, what did Sadie do? Josie, without looking up, kept on walking and said, "NUTHIN!"

This morning we were reading about Cain and Abel. The girls were enthralled with this story of jealousy, murder, and punishment. At the end when Cain says that everyone will try to kill him as he's wondering the land, God tells him that no one will hurt him, because God will mark him, to protect him. Sadie immediately draws a parallel to The Wizard of Oz story (not the movie), when the Good Witch Glinda kisses Dorothy on the head and marks her so that no one will dare to hurt her. I was thrilled with her thoughtful comparison! That's my girl!

Made It!

Last weekend when we went to Chicago for the weekend (to stay with Norm & Deb and to get my new brace for my back issues) Sadie and Josie spent the whole weekend with Grandma. They had a great time. Well, the kids did, anyway. I think Grandma was pretty worn out by the end of the weekend, and who could blame her? They are high energy/high maintenance kids! They finished reading The Wizard of Oz, went to see the Princess and the Frog movie with Lydia, visited Aunt Cindy, helped cook, played in the playroom, slept in the Princess and the Pea bed, and generally had a good old time. Grandma Beth told me that on Monday morning, Josie came downstairs - crazy-haired and sleepy-eyed - and said, "Well, Grandma, I made it through THREE WHOLE DAYS without my mommy or my daddy." Grandma said, "Would you like to go snuggle in my bed?" Josie replied, "No, that's okay. I just wanted to tell you. I'll go back to my bed now."

Wonders

Yesterday in the car Josie asked Jesse if it hurt the skunk when he shot at it with the BB gun last year (we had a skunk lurking around our back yard for about a month last spring). He doesn't think he actually even hit it, but he said, "It wouldn't really hurt the skunk - wouldn't make him bleed or anything. It just scared him. It would be like me shooting cotton balls at you to keep you from coming toward me. Would that stop you?" Josie deadpanned: "It wouldn't stop me from LOVIN' you!"

Sadie learned about the 7 continents today. She also learned about some of the wonders of the world. When I asked her what natural wonder is off the coast of Australia, she replied without hesitation: "The Great Wall of Coral!"

Down Daddy!

Yesterday morning the driveway was ICY. I went to take the trash down to the end of the driveway and chickened out halfway down, leaving it there until Jesse could take it on his way to work. As I watched from the door at the kitchen, he said, "I think it's all melted off now," and he wheeled it down. When he got to the end of the driveway where it slants to the street, he slipped and his feet flew right out from under him and he landed right on his butt. All I heard was an echoing "WoooHoo!!" from outside, and from inside I heard Sadie and Josie chanting, "Daddy is down! Daddy is down!" while Adelaide snickered at the kitchen table (she is not one to be left out of a joke). I said "Why are you laughing?" She said, "Funny! O-key? O-key!"

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

After almost a month of waiting, we FINALLY got to have our Christmas celebration with Grammie and Grampie Don. Grampie got seriously ill with an infection while they were in NC, and he ended up having to have surgery and be in the hospital for a few days while still there. We were worried about him! We are thankful that he's okay now, and we had a fun time eating chicken corn chowder, opening yet another pile of presents, and showing off new toys.

Sadie's favorite thing? HAIR! Yep, Grammie got her some fake hair. Who would've thought? Josie's favorite? Her own bow and arrow! Adelaide's favorite? A bag of marshmallows! Grammie finds the best gifts.

No business like Snow business

Last week in the car, we did the Roll Call to make sure everyone was in the car. Josie performed the much-loved task, making a squeaky "He-uh" sound for Adelaide, then Sadie did an actual Roll CALL from her pretend cell phone to advise me that she was in the car. I loved her play on words.

We went to the bakery and Josie got a slice of delicious chocolate chip pumpkin bread. She went on and on about how great it was, and then I accidentally handed it to Adelaide instead of her when we were back in the car. When I tried to get it back, well, THAT wasn't happening! My little grown-up, sharing Josie said, "It's okay, Mommy, I already had some of that delicious bread. Adelaide can keep it." What wonderful sharing! I was so proud.

Sadie stayed over at Grandma's for a day and a night, having special Grandma time. Josie, bored and lonely (and without anyone to boss her around) said, "I miss her. I think I'm going to start calling her Ned." Where this declaration came from, I do not know.

We had quite a bit of snow last week, and after doing all the crafts any of us could stand, we all bundled up one day and went out for some snow fun. When I told her to
put on her snow pants, Josie clobbered me and laid one of "Josie's hugs" on me, which are quite possibly the best hugs in the world. She really throws herself into them. Is there anything better than a little kids hug? I can't think of anything. Anyway, we wondered out into the snow, Adelaide looking like Ralphie's little brother - you know, the one who couldn't put his arms down in his snowsuit - and Sadie and Josie finally free from the house and ready to burn some energy. First up: Rabbit tracking. They followed rabbit tracks all the way around the house back to the pond, then caught up with some deer tracks and followed those. Next, Sadie decided she was the world's biggest rabbit and she jumped all over the place, making her own trail and destroying the real one. Josie decided to make snow angels, and she did a pretty good job, too, but she gave up when she got snow down her neck. All the while, Adelaide is following me around saying, "Cold! COLD!" over and over. I ended up having to carry her around (the snow was so deep that her little boots weren't helping much) and THAT didn't last long, since she = heavy and my back = hurty. Sadie then decided to help me knock icicles off the gutters (without my permission) and proceeded to take one right on the nose... OUCH! She got a fairly big (and I know painful) scratch, so we decided to call it a day. A snow day!

All Done!

Adelaide, much to Jesse's delight, has learned the word "SI-DUR!" which she yells all the time, while jumping up and down and trying to get some of his drink. She's also started folding her little hands while sitting in her high chair and praying at the table. It's so cute! She also likes to wrap her face in the curtains NEXT to her high chair (usually with something gooey all over her face) and yell "Peet boo!"

Some things that are not so cute: Her SCREAMING bloody murder when she's mad. It seriously hurts our ears. I can't stand it! She also has started throwing things down that she doesn't want and yelling "NO! ALL DONE!" when she doesn't want to eat her veggies. She's VERY opinionated, and she doesn't care who knows it. It makes me SO MAD, but she's so cute and funny about it that I laugh anyway. I have to turn my head so she won't SEE me, of course, but I admit it: I laugh.

The other day I left home for about an hour to go to the grocery store. Jesse was in charge. When I came back, Adelaide had bright red streaks all over her face. I thought it was blood! Nope... worse. Permanent marker! DADDY! Argh!

Bonky

Adelaide, hitting her head on the headboard of my bed, yelled out, "Ow! Bonky!" Sadie and Josie found this incredibly amusing, and used this new word throughout the day yesterday.

Josie never ceases to amaze herself: learning to pour her own juice from the bottle, doing the laundry, using grown-up scissors... she said to herself, "I can't believe all this stuff I am doing! I'm just growing and growing every day!"

Sadie informed me that even if I DID put a rock on her head, she would keep on growing, maybe as tall as the ceiling. She said "The rock will just keep getting higher and higher on TOP of my head, Mommy" (complete with eye roll).

Toot toot!

Thanks to a terribly snowy day downtown, Jesse got to come home early (most of the businesses he needs to get to were closed) and we had a special day! The girls had all checks on their chore chart for the past couple of weeks (plus they did GREAT on the trip to NC and back home) so they were deserving of a special treat. We took all 3 girls, sans naps (gasp!) to the library to pick up "Where the Wild Things Are" which I read to them on the way to the theater to SEE "Where the Wild Things Are." We had to read it first, of course, and I somehow never got around to reading them that one before today. They liked the book, of course. What kid doesn't? I loved it when I was little. The movie, however, was a different story. THEY liked it, but I LOATHED it. I thought it was TERRIBLE. Yeah, the monsters looked good, but the rest of the whole thing was totally off. It makes me mad because this just happened to me with the "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" movie. It ticked me off, too. Why do these people insist on trying to improve on perfection? It drives me crazy! In WTWTA, they completely left out the whole concept of "imagination..." it was like Max ACTUALLY went to another land. And, worst of all, they left out that his room grew vines and flowers all over it and turned into a jungle! That was my favorite part! For Pete's sake, that part takes up at least 5 pages of the book! Sheesh. To top it all off, they weren't even IN a jungle; they were in a forest and a DESERT! Hated it. Plus it was dark and dreary and depressing. I could've done a better job than that and I've never written a screenplay in my life. Sorry. I digress. The kids liked it. The best part of the whole movie, in my opinion, was when Jesse tried to "sneak one out" while we were sitting there without anyone hearing it. Ol' bat ears Adelaide heard it, though, and began yelling, "Toot! Toot! TOOOOOOOOT!" at the top of her lungs. So much for going incognito, there, Dad.

The other great part was when Adelaide pooped in her diaper and I had to change her while she was STANDING UP. This was a first for me, when poop is involved. I felt like quite the accomplished supermom when I escaped from the bathroom unscathed.

To top it all off, Sadie finished exactly half of her giant reading book (we marked the spot and it's been her seemingly unreachable goal for at least 6 months). The reward? You guessed it. The dread Chuck E. Cheese's. It actually wasn't bad this time... we had a coupon, a ton of tokens left over from her birthday party in March (yes, we've been in recovery for the past 10 months), and we got there relatively early so it wasn't packed. When we walked in, the lady at the door asked if we were there for a birthday party, to which I replied, "Hah! That's one mistake I'll never make again!"

Anyway, we had a good time and the kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves (they found a new favorite game, the DOG POUNDER) and wore themselves out running around and trying to score tickets. Needless to say, everyone collapsed into bed when we got home... Mommy and Daddy included.

New Year's Eve Bash

On New Year's Eve, Grandma and Grandpa had their 2nd annual "Grandkids' New Year's Eve Party and Sleepover." It must've been sheer insanity, with 6 kids 6 and under at their house, but the kids had a blast. My girls looked forward to it for WEEKS; they still remembered the party they had last year. Grandma Beth goes all out for this thing: decorations, party hats, noisemakers, special crafts, special dinner and snacks IN the grown-up dining room, games, stories, AND a sleepover? Can it get any better than that!?

This year, the hit of the party was the "blindfold game," where Grandma blindfolded someone and they had to guess which stuffed animal they were holding (chosen from a giant pile of stuffed animals next to the party-goers). The best part was apparently when GRANDPA took a turn. Another hit was storytime- they read books for at least an hour. Grandma said their favorite was one about a little sheep, wolves, and a shepherd -a parable full of symbolism - when Grandpa asked if anyone knew what that meant, everyone said no except for Sadie, of course, who piped up, " I know what it means... it's like when God killed the devil, which is sin. I learned that at the Boar's Head Festival!" Yay, my future English major!

The next day, all the parents showed up and we opened our Christmas presents and had waffles. The kids loved their gifts from our Ohio family... a Mousetrap game from Aunt Sarah, books, teacups, and the next Little House Book on CD from Grandma & Grandpa, a paintable teaset & Shirley Temple movies from Aunt Cindy & Uncle Bob, a Sit and Spin from Beck & James, teeny dress up dolls from Lyd & Darryl, mosaics, ponies, and a keyboard from Lynn & Deanna... I can't remember everything. There was a lot! They loved it all and they were very good this year about saying thank you and giving everyone hugs. I was proud of them for their good manners!

Later we bundled up and trekked over to the sledding hill in the nearby park. I, of course, abstained from sledding, since I would probably end up in the emergency room or WORSE, but the girls had a good old time flying down the hill with Uncle James, their cousins, Aunt Becky, Aunt Cindy, and Grandma. They are so brave, if somewhat lazy... Aunt Cindy kept pulling Josie and Ireson up the hill because they didn't want to have to walk back up on their own power! :)

It was a good day, and we are thankful for our families, near and far.

Oh Christmas Eve

Josie spent the last two weeks singing, "Oh Chrismtas Eve, oh Christmas Eve!" in perfect tune with "O Christmas Tree," which I think is a vast improvement on the lyrics. We should come up with a totally new song for next year.

We finally got to have our Lansing Family Christmas at our house the day after we got back from NC. Santa works his way up from the equator, so he comes to our house later than he does in the south. :) The girls were filled with excitement, and they put out milk, cookies, and water for Rudolph the night before. The next morning they waited for us to go into the living room to see what Santa brought... they were so excited! Josie had been wishing for a Snoopy Sno-Cone Machine, while Sadie really wanted a Barbie Mermaid Falls toy to play with in the tub. Adelaide got a refinished little kid rocking chair in bright green (that just happened to be mine when I was a little girl). We had lots of fun opening presents, playing, and just spending the morning together before Daddy had to go to work. Sadie got him a set of checkers, which he wants to teach her how to play pretty soon, and Josie got him a little race car model for them to build together. Sweet!

We spent the rest of the day playing with new toys (the biggest hit seemed to be the GIGANTIC ball Jesse ordered for them from Hearthsong... you can actually crawl INSIDE it and roll around) and napping, because we were all Christmased out!

The Claw!

A few nights before we left NC, Jesse and I were in bed watching "Elf" when we heard Grandma's voice yelling this from the living room: "Woohoo! Hey!!! Hey!! Somebody help! Woooo!!!" I jumped up as fast as I could and ran into the living room to see what the heck was going on, only to find Sadie and my mom curled up on the couch fast asleep and my grandma leaned back in her recliner, snoring. Apparently sleeping in a recliner can give you a doozy of a bad dream. Jesse and I got a good laugh out it, and we all made fun of Grandma the next morning. Good thing she's a good sport and laughs at herself too!

On Sunday afternoon, I was in the bedroom with the door closed when my mom stuck her head in and said, "Is Adelaide in here?" (she had been playing in the kitchen with my mom and grandma). I said, "Ummm, no. I thought she was with you." Mama said, "We can't find her! We've looked everywhere!" Of course, I thought the worst...she had opened the back door, wandered to the road, gotten hit by a car... something like that. Then I saw Grandma leaning over to look underneath the long tablecloth on the dining room table. She said, "Hello?" A little voice said, "Heh-wo!" Adelaide had swiped a candy cane out of the candy bowl, then HID under the table to tear off the plastic wrapper and eat the candy cane unhindered. What a sneak!

Sunday night, Sharon and Gary came down and Sharon told Josie, "You are just as cute as a button!" Josie responded, "Well, I am! I am CUTER than a button!" Later, Uncle Gary honed his storytelling skills with Josie, after teaching her what it means to be "all riled up" right before bedtime. Thanks, Gary! :) He told her about THE CLAW, which is when his hand loses control of itself and tries to grab you and tickle you, even when he tries to stop it :) Josie thought this was HILARIOUS. When he was trying to tell her a story about Brer Rabbit, she kept interrupting and yelling "It's THE CLAW!" and grabbing him and tickling him. Great fun!

When Melanie and Ada stopped by, Ada (a VERY precocious 2 year old) told us this joke (or at least this is how we heard it): "Why did the chicken cross the playground? To get to the other side!" Funny, especially coming from her. Later that day, after thinking about it a while, Sadie said, "You know what? If I made that joke up, I would say, 'Why did the chicken cross the playground - To get to the other SLIDE!'" Badomp bomp!

Lying on the bed, goofing off with Adelaide, Jesse said, "Who's your best friend?" Without missing a beat, she said,"Daddy!"

On Monday, we climbed in the car and Josie said, "Mommy, I have a hypothesis." I didn't even know she KNEW that word! We picked up my Daddy (Papaw) to go over to the park and go "Traipsing through the snow." It was COLD. The girls didn't want me to go with them, so Adelaide and I wandered around while they went on a big adventure with Papaw. At one point, he told Sadie to watch it or she was going to fall. Sure enough, right after that, boom! She said, "I fell right on my hind end!" When we left, I was preoccupied with getting everyone in and getting the snow off, and so when we pulled out onto the street, Adelaide called from the back seat: "Buckle! Buckle!" Sure enough, I hadn't buckled her all the way in. Daddy was very impressed with her smartness (not with my lapse in safety)!