Thursday, October 28, 2010

What's My Name?



Sadie confided to me the other day that sometimes, when I think she's asleep, she will sneak out of bed, get a book, and "Read by fishlamp light." She's just a regular little old Abraham Lincoln. :)

At dinner a few nights ago, Jesse read to us from a devotional book about pride and how it's a bad thing. The story that went along with the Bible example was one about a little boy who kept bragging to his friend that his dad was better than his friend's dad. Jesse mentioned that we should not brag and try to make others feel bad. Josie, to prove that she got his point, piped up, "Daddy, well, I KNOW that you are not the best Daddy." I almost fell out of my chair laughing!

Adelaide came into the living room today and sang, "Over de wainbow... up high!" then she said, "I'm Widzer of Oz. What's my name?" I said, "Adelaide." She said, "NO!!! I'm Widzer of Oz... what's my name... what's my name? Oh! I DOROFEE!"

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

"I not Silly. I just Adewaide."

Some cute sayings by Miss Adelaide:

-I talk to Gweat Gwandma Genvedee!
-I want haircut!
-This big mess! In here!
-I not talking to you!
-No more bonking on that head!
-I wan watch Beauty and Beask!
-There's a monster in my in my in my room!
-I no like you!
-I get in baftub!
-No talk to me!

Monday, October 18, 2010

Cryin'

I'm having some serious hormonal issues. I don't know if it's because we didn't get to go to NC last week like we were supposed to or because I'm so hugely pregnant, or what, but it's kind of ridiculous. For instance, today I started crying when I was trying to get them ready for naps. I just gave Sadie a hug and suddenly realized how big she is now. I actually had flashbacks of when she was a little baby! Time is going by too fast. Same thing happened with Josie when I went in to tuck her in for her nap. I sang her the little song I made up... Please stay little, just a little while longer...don't grow up too fast... Please stay little, just a little while longer... I want these moments to last. Sigh. I can't believe how fast the time is going by. Even Adelaide, my baby girl, is getting huge now. Speaking in complete (and numerous) sentences all the time... wanting to do everything herself. She really needs a haircut but I'm afraid to cut it because I KNOW she'll look so much older! I don't think I can take it!

On top of this, I've been thinking about the fact that this is the last time I'll be pregnant. And while I've suffered LOTS of morning sickness, bachaches, terrible carpal tunnel, and numerous other maladies, the payoff is always huge! I will miss the feeling of life growing inside me, and knowing that God is knitting a baby together in my womb. I will miss the feeling of anticipation, and the counting down the days, and the waiting to meet the brand new little person that's going to come out! I will miss the punching and the kicking and the watching my giant belly move around like a big rolling earthquake, the changes that happen daily... though not the big feet and the "pregnant nose." And definitely not the numb hands and aching arms!

While in some ways I am most definitely ready to have baby number 4 (and final) and get on with life and figure out our routines and get things settled and on an even keel - as much as you can have that with 4 little kids - I am still wondering if I will have a bit of a let down, you know, like after your wedding is over? You're always happy and glad it's over with, but there's sort of a letdown too, since the "big event" is over and you're moving on to life as usual.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

It's Fall!

Last week we went to the Little Red Schoolhouse for an "It's Fall!" class. Adelaide had a super good time. Sadie and Josie did too, but this was Adelaide's first real trip when she was actually part of the class. We did leaf rubbings with crayons of all different kinds of leaves, played with fall puzzles and puppets, listened to a story about what the animals do in autumn, checked out the hissing cockroaches, butterflies, and tarantulas that they have in cages, and then we went on a nature hike on the trail with our tour guide and the rest of the class. Out there we got to see milkweed, burrs, and all kinds of seedpods in action! It was fun to see the girls kicking up all the leaves (we didn't have any in our yard yet) and interacting with nature. My only problem was trying to climb the giant three story outdoor staircase covered with wet leaves... I didn't think that top-heavy me would be able to make it to the top and back down the hill on the other side without falling and killing myself! They liked looking for worms and grubs and other bugs underneath the rocks and throwing sticks and leaves off the bridge into the creek. They collected their own leaves, too, and their favorites seemed to be these GIGANTIC poplar (I think) leaves that used as their 'fans' on the way home. The coolest part that we learned about was that leaves aren't naturally green in color. Green is just the chlorophyll that they make all spring and summer for food. The green covers up the leaf's natural color, which only comes out in the fall when they leaf stops making its own food! It's fun to see them enjoying nature and the wonder of God's creations!

Friday, October 08, 2010

Beginning of F A L L

Since we watched The Wizard of Oz last year, the girls incorporate the ideas from the movie (and the book) into their every day lives. At breakfast the other morning, Josie cracked me up with her spot-on impersonation of the Mayor of Munchkin City... "Follow the yellow brick road!" She can sound EXACTLY like him! Sadie likes to sound more like the flutey voice of the GIRL munchkin, while Adelaide sings in a growly voice: "Sing it low, sing it low. Sing it LOW!"

In our homeschool co-op, Sadie is taking a class called Engineering Unwrapped. She loves learning how things work and how things are made, so this class is right up her alley. Last week she came running into the lunchroom to show me some Necco Wafers that she had learned all about in class that day. She said, "Mommy, hey, look. These are old-timey candies like from when Grammie was a little girl. They're called "long-necks."

Tonight Sadie and Josie had an interesting science lesson out in the garage as they helped Jesse clean a rainbow trout. They looked at all the disgusting innards and tried to figure out what they were (bleck). When they came in, Sadie talked to Papaw (my daddy) on the phone. She said, "We've been outside dressing a fish... or UNdressing, I guess I should say."

Yesterday, Adelaide broke a big bottle of cooking wine all over my kitchen floor. It was a huge mess for me to try to bend over (which is NOT easy these days!) and clean up AND it left me with a two year old who smelled like a wino for the rest of the afternoon. I seriously was concerned that if we went anywhere we might run into a policeman who would think I was liquoring up my kid! Honestly, the only way my kitchen floor seems to get mopped these days is if one of the girls accidentally spills her WATER on it and I have to wipe it up. Seriously. I spread it around as much as possible, so my floor gets a two foot radius of 'clean.' I'm busy and pregnant...what can I say?

Last week Sadie spent her own money at a garage sale for a Dora the Explorer pogo stick. She constantly calls it a "pongo" stick, which drives me nuts. No matter how many times I tell her it's POGO, she always switches back to PONGO. Oh well. It's fun watching her try to conquer it, but it definitely calls for a helmet.

On Sunday after church, we went to the pumpkin patch to get our pumpkins for jack-o-lanterns. The kids were super disappointed that it was too muddy to go through the corn maze and climb the hay bale mountain, but we had a good old time scooping out pumpkin goop and getting our scary faces carved!

My kids would subsist on nothing but pinto beans and cornbread if I'd let them. Josie single-handedly finished off half a dozen corn muffins at lunch the other day. As a matter of fact, I think it was the same day she ate half a loaf of pumpkin bread that Melissa brought over for us. She called Melissa to tell her how great of a baker she is... and (ulterior motive) to ask her to bring over some more!

Last week we went to the little amateur theater a couple of towns over to see two old-fashioned melodramas called "The Farmer's Daughter" and "Saved by the Serendipity Circus." The girls loved the fact that they could clap and cheer for the white-hatted hero and (even better) that they could boo and hiss for the villain!

And, last but not least, my new favorite joke: I told my psychiatrist I was having dreams that I was a teepee, then a wigwam...a teepee, then a wigwam...a teepee, then a wigwam. He said, "You're too tense."

Sunday, October 03, 2010

8 1/2

Last night Josie said to me, "Mommy, Daddy is funner than you are. You are always tired and you don't play with us." This made me feel, as you can imagine, TERRIBLE. Then I realized, wait a minute... I have been pregnant and/or nursing for their entire lives! For the past 6 1/2 years, my body has pretty much never had a break. I'm giving it 2 more years, tops, and then I'm going to be energetic and fun, dang it!