Making Mama Proud

Josie: "Know what mices' favorite game is? ParCHEESi! You know, because of the CHEESE!"

Sadie to Josie when she let her try out her new rubberband-powered airplane (courtesy of her Ohio history class at co-op): "You go girl! Make your mama proud!"

And when I brought home some of those all natural Cheetos that the girls LOVE, Sadie made up a poem for them: "Bag or Bowl, I don't care... Give me some Cheetos, or I can't bear!"

Playing Little House on the Prairie, Sadie let Josie be Laura for once and she decided to take the role of Pa. Carrying her sack on her back and holding Josie's bow and arrow (as her gun), she hiked off through the living room muttering, "I'll be back 'fore too long... let me git in here and hang my gun up on these pegs...." I asked her if she was going to bring home the bacon, and Josie said, "I know what that means. That means she's gonna catch a pig!"

Adelaide's new words that I didn't even know she knew until she used them in context (they all have exclamation points because that is how she says them): Peanuts! Scissors! Careful! Princess! Sooct! (scoot) Urnse! (nurse). And my favorite... I said we were going to Grammie's, and she said, "Yay! Boy! Fun! Bammie's! Go!"

Our snowman, complete with evergreen hair (painstakingly collected by Sadie) and bright green leaf eyes (from Josie - she said she wanted his eyes to be green like mine, since no one else in our house has green ones!). Adelaide did NOT enjoy her snow day, even though she was dressed up in her cute snowsuit. She burst into tears and yelled, "IN! COLDY! COLDY!"

It's a Draw

Last night Sadie jumped out of the dark bathroom and scared Josie (again). Josie reflexively punched Sadie in the stomach. Sadie comes down the hall, wailing and crying that, "I just wanted to crack myself up again!" So my question here is:
a) Should someone be in trouble or
b) Should I call it a draw and go hide somewhere and laugh?
I'm going with b.

Ode to Grandpa

…on his 60th Birthday (co-written by Sadie and Josie, with a little help from Mommy :)


Nothing brings us quite as much joy
As spending time with our Grandpa Roy.
We love when he reads Bible stories to us
And how he yells “Man up!” really loud when we fuss!
We know he likes telling us about Noah’s ark
And watching TV shows all about whales and sharks...
Along with basketball, football, and baseball
Give him his remote, he might give you a call!
But nothing puts him in a better mood
Than sitting next to us and stealing our food!
And everyone knows that one of our issues
Is how we like to sit with him and eat cashews…
While he sits in his big brown chair
And takes kids to see sad movies about bears!
He likes buying stuff when Grandma’s not home
But when she comes back it sure makes her groan!
Sometimes he tackles us and starts to tickle
And that’s when we know we’re in quite a pickle!
And when Grandpa says, “HEY! WHY YOU LITTLE…
"WHIPPERSNAPPERS!” it always makes us giggle.
Grandpa likes eating healthy stuff, like steak
And stuff he THINKS is healthy – like pie, cheese, and cake!
When we grow up we want to be just like that guy –
It’s going to take work, but we’re gonna try!
Well, not JUST like him, maybe not quite so tall –
But he really is the very best Grandpa of all.
Yes, Grandpa’s got some BIG shoes to fill
But in 60 more years, we will love him still!

UGHS and Kisses

Shown here, you will see evidence of what I like to call "Valentine Overkill"... I got the girls little gifts that Jesse didn't know I got and so HE got them stuff I didn't know HE got, plus they got stuff from TWO grammies AND money in fancy cards from Papaw and Mamaw!!! They LOVED all the special surprises and they felt really LOVED. :)

So, after Jesse and I finally got to go on our "date night," (we didn't count the Sweetheart Supper because I didn't sit down for most of the night :) I got food poisoning. That's right: FOOD POISONING. Jesse thinks it was the stomach flu, but it only last for about 24 miserable hours and no one else got it, so I'm pretty sure it was FP brought about by eating some wilty leftover salad from our "date night" the night before. UGH. It was AWFUL. Let's just say I may never eat spinach artichoke dip again. The kids were so cute and helpful and concerned. They kept coming to my door, knocking, and sticking their heads in to see if I needed anything... just to check on me. How sweet! The next day after Jesse went to work and I was feeling as though I had been hit by a truck, Sadie and Josie did their best to take care of Adelaide for me while I pitifully lounged on the couch, sipping Sprite and water (brought to me by Sadie) and nibbling crackers (proffered by Josie). It was a horrible couple of days, but I was very proud to see that my girls have definite nurturing instincts and they are somewhat selfless when it comes to helping those in need -- namely, me!

Sadie and Josie had excellent cousin (and Aunt Becky) time when they slept over last week during a snowstorm. Here they are in the gigantic Bedouin tent they built in Becky's living room.

Tonight, after listening to Sadie's and Josie's prayers in their room, I leaned in to listen at Adelaide's door to see if she was asleep yet. Having been put in her crib against her will 15 minutes earlier, she was still awake and quietly calling, "He-welp! He-welp! Out! He-welp!"

Amen

Josie is sick of listening to the Little House on the Prairie audio books. Sadie LOVES them and would listen to them over and over, all day long. In the car the other day on the way to our homeschool co-op, she asked me to put on "Indian Camp," one of the Prairie stories, and Josie said, "Pa, Pa, Pa, Pa, Pa! Pahhhh!!! I am tired of Pa and Ma and Laura and Mary! That's all I ever hear!"

At school during lunch time, Adelaide, not to be outdone by the older kids, ran all around the huge room - chasing and being chased by - her sisters and some new friends. To my bewilderment, I heard her chanting as she ran: "Nah nah nah nah nah nah!" like, "you can't catch ME!" Where did she ever learn that? :)

The same day, on the way home from school, Josie said, "I am NOT listening to Laura and Mary on the way home! I don't WANT to!" Sadie replied, "You can't always get what you want." Josie came back, "Well, neither can you!"

And to top off the day:
Mommy: "Rock-a-bye baby, in the treetop... when the wind blows, the cradle will rock... when the bow breaks, the cradle will fall, and down will come baby, cradle and all."
Adelaide: "Amen!"

Moment

The other night I had one of those moments. You know, the ones where you just want time to freeze so you can permanently etch it into your memory. It was a "mental picture" moment, for sure. Sadie and Josie were hanging out at Grammie and Grampie's house, so just Jesse and Adelaide and I went to run some errands. It had just started to snow when Jesse took Adelaide out of the car in her pink fluffy coat and started walking to the shoe store (he needed new basketball shoes) while I headed over to the craft store next door. I just happened to look around at them before I went in the double doors, and it literally almost took my breath away. He was holding her up in his arms, in the cold dark night, while the snow fell down, shining in the glow of the streetlight in the parking lot. He kind of twirled her around while she looked up at the snow and tried to catch some on her tongue. Just an ordinary moment, you know? But something about it made it a moment I don't think I will ever forget.

Hmm. Time to stop?

Adelaide, upon waking up in the morning:

"Mommy! Mommy! Nurse! Boobie! EAT IT!"

Thoughts on above

Sadie has been complaining for weeks about a "lump in her snow boot." She says that she accidentally got it stuck under a cart at the grocery store and ever since then, it's had a big lump on the inside, which I cannot feel because, "your foot will not fit in MY boot." Coming in through the mudroom last week (where we take off boots and coats) I heard Josie say, "Sadie, I wonder why God let you get a big lump in your boot?" Sadie responded, "Well, it wasn't GOD'S fault - It was MY fault!" I wish we were all so quick to take responsiblity for our actions!

On the way to Grammie's house yesterday, Josie was commenting on how cars look teeny tiny when they're far away, and bigger when they're closer. She went on to compare them to our family (like she does almost everything these days): "That one's as big as Adelaide, that one's as big as me, that one's as big as Sadie, that one's as big as Mommy, and THAT one's as big as Daddy. Nothing's bigger than Daddy. Except God."

Adelaide is plugging along in the middle of a complete language explosion. She repeats EVERYTHING, especially the last words you say. Her favorites right now are "okay, all done, dirty, trash, yuck, mine, cheese, milk, cereal, raisins, vitamin, car, coat, shoes, no thank you, Sadie, Josie, sister, nice, gentle, & Sowwy!"

This picture is from our very first day of our homeschooling co-op. We were SO excited!