No One "Huhs" Like Gaston

Last Friday, Grandma Beth took Sadie, Josie, Aunt Becky, James, Teagan, and me to the theater to see "Beauty and the Beast." It was a great show! The kids were so excited (it's one of their favorite stories and they love any live theater, PLUS Grandma, Aunt Becky, and their cousins? What could be more fun?). They dressed up in their Christmas finery, we had dinner (just them and Mommy), then we met up at the theater with Grandma. They couldn't wait to get inside the auditorium, and they kept trying to peek in the doors before the ushers started seating people. The ladies outside the doors were big fans of their "Dorothy shoes," which Grammie gave them early for Christmas, just for such occasions as this. Josie volunteered to sit with me in front of everyone else (we had 5 tickets in one row, 2 in another) and proceeded to strike up a conversation with an older gentleman next to her. She and Sadie and James were very friendly and talkative until the show started, then they all sat back and watched as Belle came on stage - and this lady REALLY sounded like the Belle from Disney's animated cartoon. We were impressed. We recognized some of the actors from the "Annie" show we saw back in September, which was neat. The Beast did an excellent job... I didn't even realize that he was the same guy as the Prince until the end of the show... I thought he was 2 totally separate actors! That's good work! James and Sadie were so excited (Teagan too)... I kept hearing them whispering back and forth to each other and to Grandma - and Aunt Becky had to keep shushing them, but it was still fun! After the show the kids got to meet some of the characters (they wouldn't go near Gaston, though, which was a hoot - he was really great at being the bad guy, but I think the kids thought he was a little TOO good at it), which is the plus of a smaller theater. They wouldn't meet you out front to shake hands if we were downtown at Playhouse Square, that's for sure! We love going to see plays, and one of Sadie's goals for this year is to "do a play" of her own.

The best part of all of this for me is the fact that Sadie, Josie, AND Adelaide (who didn't even see the play, but copies her sisters perfectly) go around striking "muscle poses" like Gaston and going "Huh! Huh!"

Good Twy

Today during naptime, Josie ran into my room, crying. She snuggled her head against me while she sat on my lap and explained that she "just can't be good all the time." She said, "I want to be a good sister - I twy and I twy and I just can't do it!" This all started two days ago when she accidentally pushed Adelaide off the special reading chair in the living room and Adelaide bonked her head on the floor. Josie's been feeling guilty ever since, and she keeps thinking about being a bad sister. I'm glad that she has a conscience about things like this, but what can I say besides "I try to be good all the time too, and I can't do it either. God just wants us to keep on trying."

Christmasy

Feeling "Christmasy," today, although I was forced from my sickbed to pick up family portraits at the mall. While walking by the "Christmas Train," I found that I only had $3 cash. The Christmas Train costs $2 each, so only one kid could ride. Just when I decided that NO ONE was going to ride, a nice elderly lady came up and gave us $1 and told us her grandkids were too big now to ride the Christmas Train, so this ride was on her. Sadie and Josie jumped up and down, squealed, and said, Merry Christmas, nice lady!"

Boo Boo!

Tonight in the car, Adelaide got her chubby little pointer finger stuck in the hole in a plastic drink cup lid. She poked it in there, and then of course the little poky teeth around the bottom of the hole held her finger for ransom. She freaked out. I was driving, so I couldn't just turn around and help her, and she screamed like an alligator was chewing her hand off or something. Finally I put my flashers on and pulled over, but of course I couldn't get it off either... it was like Chinese handcuffs! Luckily, I had my handy-dandy fingernail clippers in the van, so I cut the side of the lid and tore it in half. She then held her injured (but not bleeding) finger up to my lips and said, plain as day, "Boo boo." After I kissed it for her, she was fine. Aahhh... the healing powers of a Mommy's kiss. There's nothing else like it, is there?

Nativity

Today at church, Sadie and Josie and I sang the Thank You For Your Blessings song. On stage, in front of everyone, WITH my guitar. It was a big step for me... performing and playing at the same time (and I use the word "playing" in the loosest sense possible). I guess it sounded okay. A few times I just stopped strumming because I knew I had the wrong chord... Jesse said no one noticed because no one there plays the guitar. Including me. :) Anyway, I was so proud of the girls... they sang their little hearts out, and they stood very still on the stage next to me with their arms by their sides and smiles on their faces, just like we practiced! I had told them I was nervous (about playing in front of people for the first time) beforehand, but I think it's important they know that Mommies get scared sometimes too, and you just have to face your fears and move ahead. Hopefully that was a little life lesson for them... that even though you might mess up, at least you try!

This afternoon Beth and Roy came over for soup and turkey sandwiches, and the women (or females, I should say, since Sadie and Josie helped too) put up the Christmas decorations while Grandpa and Daddy watched football. Seriously, how much football can a person watch, anyway!? I can watch it for about 10 minutes before I completely conk out. Anyway, we got the stuff put out, and later there was a "shift change" when Grandpa and Grandma left and Grammie and Grampie arrived. After that, we finished decorating the tree and Jesse put up my new nativity that he cut out for me with his handy dandy scrollsaw and that the kids and I painted. Adelaide said, "Oooh!" when she saw it, so I think she likes it too. Then while I crashed on the couch (decorating is hard work) Sadie and Josie and Adelaide and Grammie played dress up. First, Sadie came in as Cinderella, with the scary full-face mask on that I wore for Halloween when I was little. It's not supposed to be scary, but there's just something about it covering up her entire face with just her little eyes peeking out that gives me the willies! Her blue Cinderella dress comes up to the middle of her thighs now! That is because she is what we from the South call a "long-legged fraycus." Next, Josie came in with a long pink ballgown on and a pot full of daffodills which she informed me was her wedding bouquet. They sang "here comes the bride, big fat and wide" and she threw the bouquet (pot and all) to me. Last but not least, Adelaide made her dress up debut by toddling as fast as she could through the kitchen, up the stairs, and into the living room sporting a flaming red, super long, wild and crazy Ariel wig. She thought it was the best and kept saying "Hat! Hat!"

All in all, it was a good, productive day. Let's see what the rest of the week has in store. :)

Thank you, Lord

There's a roof up above me
I've a good place to sleep
There's food on my table
And shoes on my feet
You gave me Your love, Lord
and a fine family
Thank You, Lord, for Your blessings on me.

This was always a kind of "theme song" at White Oak Baptist, the church where I grew up. Sometimes we sang it so much that I got sick of it! Looking back as an adult, I now understand why those words never got old to the "older" crowd at church. These words are so true! Those people knew something that I, as a child, didn't. I taught the chorus to Sadie and Josie, and I hope I can teach them the truth of these words as well.

Migration

Josie likes to say, "Sometimes you ALWAYS..." as in, "Sometimes you always wear that shirt," or "Sometimes you always put jelly on my toast." Jesse thinks it's a hoot.

In the car on the way to lunch today (we met Grandpa, Aunt Lydia, and Lynn at the Mexican place) Sadie pointed out a big flock of crows. She said that they would probably be migrating soon. Josie said, "I know what that is! That's when they go south to look for food! Hey... I will be migrating soon. To look for macaroni and cheese and dumplins and pinto beans." She didn't really mean it as a joke, but I thought it was a great one!

Right now, I hear Sadie and Josie singing "I love you cheeseburger" in the bathtub, amid splashing and laughing... I hear Jesse and Adelaide stomping through the bedroom, playing hide-and-seek (aka "Peet-boo!")and squealing with glee (Adelaide, not Jesse)... life is good.

Tricky tricky

Last night before I put the kids to bed I told Josie a secret - that we were going to go to Grammie's house for breakfast this morning. Shortly thereafter, Josie tracks me down in the utility room (gathering up laundry, as usual), with tears streaming down her face. Clearly distraught, she finally got the words out: "I told I told I told Sadie my secret, and she told me her secret if I telled her my secret, and her secret was... it was... (big sniff) that she is going to the waterpark with Daddy all by herself and (sobbing) NOT ME!" Poor Josie. I explained that Sadie had just played a mean trick on her to try to get her to tell her "secret." Sadie obviously wanted to know Josie's secret, and pulled the old "I'll tell you if you'll tell me" trick, although Sadie completely fabricated her secret. Josie narrowed her eyes, squared her shoulders, and stomped back to bed. A hard lesson learned.

Fun and... Not.

Yesterday I heard snorting, chortling, and chuckling coming from the direction of Adelaide's bedroom. I snuck in, and found Sadie IN the crib with Adelaide, with blankets pulled over their heads. Apparently, this was just too much fun for Adelaide, who ended up with the hiccups.

We have been using chore charts for about 4 months now. When the girls do something right, they get a check. If they do something wrong, like disobeying, fighting, etc., they get a "big fat X." Josie did not want to take a nap the other day. Just the simple fact that she was whining and crying about it proved the fact that she NEEDED to take a nap. I told her that if she didn't stop by the time I counted to three, she was getting an X. Josie, whispering under her breath while she stomped down the hall to her room said, "If you do give me an "X", then I will just ERASE it." What the heck!? Who does she think she is?!

Today while we were shopping, Josie had to go potty. While we were in the bathroom, she informed me that she could not go poop if I were talking, or if I were in the stall with her. I politely went to stand over by the sink, then burst out laughing when I heard her say, "Yes!"

Sadie Says

The other night for the first time in literally YEARS, I mixed up some Manwich sauce with some ground beef. The kids were grossed out when I told them it was called "Manwich." Of course, at first they thought it was made out of a man. Then after they tried it, they liked it. I laughed when Sadie asked for seconds: "More Sasquatch stuff please!"

We've been listening to VeggieTales Silly Songs with Larry. One of our favorites is "Where, oh where is my Hairbrush?" It's a catchy tune, believe me! When Sadie went to the grocery store with me the other night, she (of course) had to go potty. I asked if she could wait till we got home, but then she launched into this rendition: "Where, oh where is the bathroom?"

I introduced the girls to this little hand game that Angela and I used to play when we were little: "Bubblegum bubblegum in a dish, how many pieces do you wish?" Cute, huh? Then Daddy got in on it and changed the words: "Snakes, lizards, monkeys, and frogs... how many beatings do you want with a log?" Sadie yelled, "ZERO!"

Dr.Goose

"Hi... I'm Doctor Goose!"

Precisely

Mommy: "Josie, don't forget to help with the dishwasher. That's on your chore chart, you know."

Sadie: "She doesn't do that one anymore. She retired."

Later that same day...

Sadie: "I am making a special stew. Hold on just a minute... I have to get a very precise measurement here and I don't want to mess up."

Good grief.

Mistaken Identity

Last night I read a book called "Just Like Daddy" to the girls. I always tell them who the author and the illustrator are before we start reading. The illustrator of this particular book was some guy named Frank Asch. As soon as I got the words out of my mouth, Josie, all excited, yelled, "Hey! I KNOW him!"

She doesn't.

Beauty and the Breast

Adelaide is now 17 months old, and I know that I should probably start weaning her (some of you would say I should've weaned her already!) but every time I think about it, I almost cry. Who knew I would grow this attached to something that I initially loathed and detested? I have to write down everything I love about it, since she may decide on her own that she's done and I may have no say in the matter. I love:

1. How she snuggles her little head down into the crook of my arm
2. How she opens her mouth like a little bird, and laughs if I wiggle around so she can't get to me
3. How she pats and/or squeezes me at the same time she's nursing
4. How she looks up at me with those big blue eyes and gets a "glazed, milk-drunk" expression
5. How when she's done, she's all rosy-cheeked, crazy-haired, and toasty-warm
6. How she goes "Mmummummumumum" when her mouth's full
7. How she digs into my shirt with both hands and tries to yank it out while saying "booboob"
8. How we snuggle together under the covers in the morning while she nurses and pulls on my bra strap, hair, or anything else she can busy herself with
9. How she thinks it's so funny to try to stick her finger up my nose when I'm not looking
10.How she follows me around, pointing and saying, "Eh, eh, eh!" and then gets all excited and laughs "heh heh" when I pick her up and ask her if she wants to nurse
11.How she plays with her hair and her little ears (which sometimes get folded back and stuck to her head) while she's nursing
12.How she does "the motions" to her lullaby at the same time (eyes, nose, ears, toes, hair, cheeks, mouth, 'feets')

Sigh. See? It's going to be hard to give it up. I never would've thought it. It almost makes me want to have another one.... Maybe I shouldn't stop just yet!

Where's the Trust?

One of my favorite things about Josie is the way she talks. She still says, "Woild" (world), "Goil" (girl), "lellow" (yellow), "dwink" (drink), Old MacDonald's (McDonald's) "That's cracka-lacking!" (her favorite quote from the Madagascar movie) and my new favorite: "Pencil sharpeninger" - you can figure that one out.

The other day we were discussing potty issues and when she might learn to clean her own little butt instead of yelling, "MOMMY!!! I'M DONE! MOMMMMMMMMYYYY!" I told her I thought it was about time to learn to do it herself. She looked at me very seriously and said, "Listen, Mommy, I'm still a little kid."

I made the first vegetable soup of the year last week, and as Josie was eating it, she kept picking at something in the bowl with her spoon. I told her she needed to finish her soup so I could clean up the kitchen. She said, "What IS this, Mommy?" I said, "It's a carrot." She said, "No it's not, it's a tomato." (she won't eat tomatoes). I said, "It's a carrot." She said, "You call it a carrot; I call it a tomato."

On the way to church Sunday, she asked Jesse a question... he answered her, but then she asked me the same question. He said, "What? You don't trust me?" She answered, "No, but I don't trust Mommy, either."


James, Teagan, and Ireson came over to play the other day and Teagan said something that hurt James' feelings... I don't know what it was, but he was practically in tears and Sadie was upset for him. Wearing her big pink princess dress (the one with the hoop skirt that Mamaw gave her), she dramatically proclaimed before she flounced out of the room: "She (Teagan) is mean and cruel too. This is no place for a lady!"

It's a Cruel, Cruel Summer...Now You're Grown

I know, I know... they're not really grown, but they're more grown now than they were at the beginning of summer. I was thinking the other day as we were riding bikes down the street (Sadie on her 2 wheeler, tearing it up in front, Josie on her hot wheels, pedaling as fast as she could, little legs all in a blur, saying that she likes to "drink the fall air," and Adelaide snuggled in the bike trailer behind me yelling "Dat! Tee! Mama!") that this was the only summer that the girls would be just this way. Adelaide, toddling around saying "Doot" to anything that moved, wading in the pool, throwing her leg over the side and climbing in with all her clothes on, soaking her diaper, eating sand at the beach, wearing her cute little pink sun-hat over her cute little sweaty pink cheeks; Sadie, long and lanky and reckless, climbing trees and jumping over anything she can stack up, whizzing by barefoot on her bike, catching toads and squirting her sisters with the hose; Josie, begging to go outside with no shoes on (ever), watering all the flowers with the watering can, always asking for popsicles, tan lines from her 2 piece Winnie the Pooh swimsuit.... Sometimes I love them so much it overwhelms me. I want to freeze them in time - capture the moment - keep them just this way forever. But, summer is officially over... another year gone, another year grown.

Don't be a sucker

Adelaide is a little goofball. She does things that are SO CUTE that is almost makes my heart hurt to see them. For example, if she sees you looking at her, she'll tilt her head over to the side almost as far as it can go, then SLOWLY tilt it back the other way, all while watching you with her big blue eyes. Also, she uses her face as a blueberry vaccuum. If you drop blueberries on the table in front of her (or any kind of little food on the ground, or anywhere) she'll plant her face down on the table (or ground) and suck them up. It's hilarious. Maybe not the most hygienic thing in the world, but funny nonetheless. She's also taken to flopping backwards onto Sadie's or Josie's beds, just lying there looking around... or flopping down on the floor wherever she is if she's tired or wants to look cute. She knows she is!

In other news, she's started yelling, "SAY-DAY! O-SAY!" at the top of her lungs while she runs up and down the hall, looking for her sisters. It's a nice break from "Mama!" which she said a whopping 148 times the other day (yes, I counted).

Tipsy

Well, since the very popular "Night at the Theater" when we saw Annie, quotes and song renditions have been popping up all over the place. I can't get "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile" out of my head. Josie goes around singing "No one cares for you! A Smidge! When you're in an Orph! Anage!" while Sadie prefers "Lucky me, lucky me, lucky me... I'm dripping with LITTLE GIRLS!" There is a part in the play when Ms. Farrell is trying to take Annie out of the orphanage for a week to stay with Mr. Warbucks. Miss Hannigan does NOT want this to happen, because Annie is in trouble and has 'got it coming to her, and I don't mean a week in the lap of luxury!' When Ms. Farrell asked why Annie can't go, Miss Hannigan says, "Umm... umm... well, she's a drunk." OF COURSE, that's the quote that Sadie had to run with (she doesn't even know what a drunk is!). The other day I asked Josie to help me do something and she said, "I can't!" I said, "Why not?" and Sadie piped up from down the hallway: "She's a drunk!" I hope this one doesn't surface at church. :)

Don't You Believe It!

Josie and Sadie usually start their day by watching ONE Tom & Jerry cartoon, while they wake up and I make breakfast. While this has been the source of many jokes and giggles on their part ("Is you is, or is you ain't my baby?") AND something they have in common with Lynn and Deanna, my favorite quote is by Tom, after blowing up a radioactive mouse that he was told was not dangerous:

"DON'T YOU BELIEVE IT!"

You also may hear Josie saying this for no apparent reason... she just thinks it's funny, especially since she knows it makes me laugh. Well, the other night, she almost got in trouble because she wouldn't stop talking and go to sleep. I went in to tell her twice, then the third time I was done warning her. I said, "This is it. You will stop talking and you WILL go to sleep." She said, "Mommy, I just can't stop talking. God made me this way."

I left and went down the hall.

"DON'T YOU BELIEVE IT!"

What Kind of a...

As I was making lunch the other day, Sadie ran in the kitchen and asked if she could have a granola bar...the kind with icing all over the top. I said no, since we were going to be eating lunch in about 5 minutes. She stomped off, sulking, then came back in a few minutes later with her hands held out, palms up: "What kind of a mother - will not give her child - something to eat - when she is hungry?!" Oh my gosh... I could not keep from laughing, sassy though it may have been.

Aunt Lydia and Uncle Darryl went to Disney World for their anniversary/birthdays last week, and they brought the girls gifts back. Aunt Lyd is the coolest - she actually called from Florida to ask which Disney characters they wanted for sure. She came over on Thursday and brought the much-anticipated presents with her. Sadie and Josie tackled her at the door, yelling, "OH... THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!" before she ever even gave them the gifts. When she presented them (A tiny Tinkerbell with tons of accessories for Josie, a tiny Ariel with tons of accessories for Sadie), I thought they were going to actually jump out of their skins. They LOVE these little dolls and have played with them pretty much non-stop ever since. That night when saying prayers, Sadie bowed her head and said (heart-feltly :), "And God, thank you so much for Aunt Lydia and these WONDERFUL DOLLS!"

We've Got Annie

After 2 weeks of sticking to their chore charts, getting checks the whole time -- a major accomplishment, believe me, especially since one of their chores is "be kind to my sisters," the girls finally worked their way to their big reward: Seeing "Annie" on stage.

To be honest, since it was their first real experience with live theater, I think I was as excited as they were. Grammie came over to watch Adelaide, since "only big girls can go to see plays," and we dressed up in our fancy dresses and Daddy even
donned a nice shirt and dress pants. The girls said he would be the "handsomest daddy there." We decided to make a night of it, leaving early so we could have dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant. Several people there commented on how pretty they looked, and even said, "Enjoy the show!" when we left (the theater was right around the corner from the restaurant). On the way, we went over different vocabulary words so they'd know what was going on - the set, the narrator, intermission, props, etc. and then - there we were. They handed over their tickets, grabbed their programs, found their seats (2nd row from the stage, on the end - woohoo!), settled in, and were hooked. I'm telling you, they did not take their eyes from the stage the entire time. When it was intermission, I had to drag them out to go potty because they were afraid they'd miss something. Luckily, they did come with me, because as luck would have it, we got to meet "Molly" and "Annie" herself in the bathroom! We let them jump line since they had more work to do. Sadie and Josie were both a little starstruck, but "Molly" told Josie she liked her dress and that she was the same age as Sadie. They were SO excited. Then we went back for the second Act and it was more of the same. They did not make a peep. They LOVED it. I was so proud of them! Josie was sad when it was over - she wanted to see more - but it was WAY past bedtime by then - almost 10:30 - so we headed home. It's been a couple of weeks now, but "It's the Hard-Knock Life" can still be heard at our house every morning when two little girls have to make their beds!

Where, Oh Where is my Toothbrush?

We were reading a bedtime story the other night while I held Adelaide, who was nursing. The story said, "Through the window, she could hear sirens wailing and horns tooting..." just then, I mean at THAT PRECISE MOMENT - Adelaide "tooted." We all cracked up, including Adelaide, who just loves to make her sisters laugh.

Well, as any of my devoted readers know by now, Sadie has her Snoopy, and Josie has her Blank. Up until now, Miss Adelaide has seemed somewhat undecided as far as choosing a "lovey," but now, much to my dismay, has chosen...drumroll, please... Toothbrush. Yes, Toothbrush is exactly what it sounds like. A toothbrush. Don't ask me why, but she LOVES her toothbrush. She wants to hold it all the time, whether it's in her mouth or not. If she's crying in the car? Give her Toothbrush. If she's fussing in the living room? Give her Toothbrush. If she's whining and holding on to your legs? You got it... Give her Toothbrush. I wonder what this means....

My mom was counting her toes the other day (Adelaide's toes, that is, not my MOM's toes :) and when she got to five on one foot, she stopped, then Adelaide says, "Six!" My mom nearly fell over. I was not surprised, though, since I figure all of my girls are genius. Genii. However you spell that word. :)

Also, Adelaide has discovered the joys of twirling. Last week she figured out how to do it, arms stretched out and yelling, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" until she got dizzy and fell down. She refused to do it in the grass, where her fall would be cushioned, though. Apparently, twirling is always more fun on pavement. At least until you fall down.

Treasures

After much yelling of "Duice! Duice! MMMMmmmm! Duice!" and pointing at Josie's, I reluctantly gave Adelaide her own popsicle to hold while they were riding in the bike trailer. A few minutes later, after much slurping, I hear Josie saying, "AAHHH! EWW! Don't touch me! You're GWOSS!"

Sadie moved up to the next Sunday School class a couple of weeks ago. It made me a little sad, since she's no longer in the "Lambs" class, where the youngest kids are... but she was super excited about going into "Treasures", even though she got a little nervous on the first day. We journaled about it in her little notebook later in the week, and she told me all about her day. In her words:

"When you're 5, you move up to Treasures Class. Since I was 5, I moved up. I thought you had to pay to move up. It was a funny feeling. I was a little bit shy at first. I didn't really want to move up because it seemed so different and scary. Mommy held my hand and walked in class with me and I saw that James and Teagan were both in my class too! That made me feel a lot better. I found out it was a lot more fun with my cousins. My teacher was very nice and kind to me. I made a book with her - a little Jesus book about Jesus healing leprechauns -- leprosy. He healed them! We don't eat snacks in class. I would rather have a snack, but that's okay. It's still pretty fun."

Should Have Known

You would think that after having two 15 month olds before her, I would have EXPECTED this from Adelaide. You would think, but apparently, one doesn't always learn from their mistakes.

Yesterday we went over to Aunt Becky's to have some school time and cousin time in the park. Adelaide had on a little sundress with cute bright green pants on under it because I'm trying to protect her little knees from getting scraped all the time. After lots of fun in the park (Sadie had a good time running Lexy the dog on her leash, hanging upside down on the monkey bars, and racing bikes with James, & Josie tried her best to pedal her bike with her short little legs and had a good time climbing and 'tandem-sliding' with Teagan) we packed up to go home. Adelaide's pants were covered in mulch and dirt, so I stripped them off of her and loaded her in her carseat. When we got home, it was naptime, so I plunked her down in her bed, turned on her lullaby CD, and closed the door. Seems routine, right?

I FORGOT THAT SHE DIDN'T HAVE ON ANY PANTS! SHE ONLY HAD ON HER DIAPER UNDER HER DRESS! 15 MONTH OLD BABIES CAN TAKE OFF THEIR DIAPERS!

Veteran mothers are probably shaking their heads and laughing here, since they know what happens next. Heck, I knew what would happen next, too, but I totally didn't even think about it. Yep, Poop. Poop, and lots of it. I went in to get her up from her nap, and WHAM! The smell hit me in the face as soon as I opened the door, and there she stood... poop from one end of the crib to the other, ON THE CRIB SLATS, on her hands, on her HEAD, EVERYWHERE. I just left her there, called Jesse for backup (I yelled, "JESSE! Come downstairs RIGHT NOW!" He didn't ask any questions... just ran down the stairs to the poop bomb. I started the tub, he grabbed the screaming wailing poop-monster and started the first round of scrubbing, and I (yuck) began the long, Clorox-ridden clean up of the crib. Sadie and Josie didn't know WHAT to do with themselves, except run up and down the hall and point out poop that fell off Adelaide on the way to the bathroom.

It was not pretty. After I finished the crib, opened the windows, and turned on the air purifier, I accepted the stinkpot from Jesse and ran her through the bath again. Ugh. I think she could've stood a third round.

Saturday Here in the Park

Adelaide has begun talking quite a bit in the past few weeks. Her favorite words, up to now, have been "Mommy Mommy Mommy," "doot," and "Tat du" (thank you). Recently, she's begun expanding her vocabulary, which now includes "Buh-booooooo," "dirt," "duice," and "DadDAD!" She's never said "Dada," but always seems to use an exclamation when she says it, maybe because she's always so happy to see Jesse. It's cute... "DadDAD!" she yells when he comes home from work or when he gets her up from her nap. Love it. I also love the way she puts her little head down on my shoulder when she's tired or just wants a good snuggle... I don't remember the other two doing that, and I just eat it up!

Last week we went to this cool safari park place where you could drive through a big enclosure full of deer, moose, buffalo, giraffes, zebras, etc. It was an experience! Sadie and Jesse were fearless, letting the animals stick their heads RIGHT INTO THE CAR and eat from their cups of carrots and grain. Josie and I took a different route...dodging, yelling, hiding, and trying to keep the windows rolled up. It was a little scary, especially when a big old moose grabbed my cup of oats and ran away with it. Well! I wasn't going after him! Adelaide was in the back with Grammie, and she was a little scared at first (Adelaide, not my mom :) but then she got all excited and REALLY liked it when the giraffe stuck his head in. I have to admit that was pretty cool. At one point Jesse had TWO buffalos' heads stuck in his car window at the same time, not to mention disgusting buffalo slobber and other drainage smeared all over the windows and the rest of the car. Ick.

Yesterday we had a Saturday when we actually had nothing to do. It was a gift! Usually there are people to see and places to go; you know how it is. Yesterday, though, Jesse's & Sadie's fishing plans fell through and so we had the whole day off together. Jesse slept late (I tried, but it just didn't work out), the kids got to watch 2 cartoons instead of their usual one, we made pancake men and turkey bacon for breakfast, goofed around the house for a while, then went to ride our bikes at the park. We took a picnic and Josie's owl kite and it was a gorgeous day... I seriously had to use serious leg muscles while trying to pull my two younger children in the bike trailer, though. I think they've both hit a growth spurt, because it felt like I was trying to haul two buffalos behind me or something. Sheesh. Sadie stomped around in the river a while, and Josie pushed Adelaide in the baby swing... it was just a nice day. Then Grandma picked Josie up for her special "Josie Night" with Grandma and Grandpa (she got to eat at Cracker Barrel, get a giant sucker, watch Tarzan, and take a bath ALL BY HERSELF), and Sadie and Adelaide went with me and Jesse to a little festival where Sadie played a fishing game (with real fishing poles and real fish) and caught the biggest fish they'd had all day. Everyone applauded for her!

I found out today that when Sadie went to Illinois last weekend with Grandma, Aunt Lyd, and Teagan, she was an excellent cousin, traveler, and example. I was so proud! Aunt Lydia told me how Sadie shared and shared without complaining (she had a backpack full of snacks and activities for the 8 hour trip) and was very kind and loving to Teagan... except for the end when she said, "Hey, why don't you eat some of your own snacks?" But, it WAS an 8 hour ride; no one is perfect. Her Grandma told me that the girls had a little tiff and Teagan spluttered in Sadie's face because she was mad. Later Grandma found a distraught Teagan sobbing alone in the bedroom. When asked what was the matter, Teagan confessed that she had spit at Sadie and that she wanted to apologize. When she hugged her and fell against Sadie's chest, crying and saying she was sorry, Sadie very graciously said, "That's okay. Want a piggy-back ride?" What a forgiving spirit! I'm proud of both of them for acting so kindly toward each other. Ahh... the love of cousins. I don't know what I'd do without mine!

Skunky

Usually I get up around 7:15 in the mornings and bring Adelaide to our bed so she can nurse (it's our favorite cuddle-time, too) and sometimes (not often) go back to sleep. Sadie usually follows, asking, "Can I snuggle and play with Adelaide?" (she likes to hold her hand and make faces at her while she's nursing) then Josie, whose first words are always, "Can I watch Tom & Jerry in your bed and will you get me some chocolate milk?" Last week, this very scene had materialized, and we were laying in this order: Sadie, Adelaide, me, Josie, Jesse. Jesse had his back turned to Josie, and while we were all snuggling and being very quiet, Jesse had a morning, 'ahem,' "Toot," we shall call it. A LOUD one. Right on Josie! Adelaide laughed, because she thinks that sound is SO funny; Josie said, "AAAHH! Daddy tooted on my leg!" And Sadie said, "Well, Mommy, I guess you'll have to give Josie a tomato juice bath."

Birthday Re-evaluation

Soon she won't be asking me to play Candy Land with her
Soon she'll be too big to want a piggy back ride
Soon she won't be grabbing my legs and holding on for dear life

Soon she'll want to be alone in her room, not wanting me to rub her back and sing to her
Soon she'll forget all about sitting in my lap or asking for "special Mommy time"
Soon other things will be far more interesting than my face, my smile, my laugh

God, give me wisdom to be a good mommy.
Thank you for the tremendous opportunity to be in their lives. I surely do not deserve them.
Remind me daily that giving of my time is more important than a clean house or a fancy dinner.
Help me to be a good example to them... help me be who You want me to be.

I'm So Excited I Can't Stand It

We've had a couple of very exciting weeks around here. Last Tuesday, Angela, Cameron, and Caleb flew up to visit us for 5 days. The kids were SO excited that they could hardly stand it. We made a paper chain with links = number of days till The Day, and they were very diligent about making sure a link got taken off every morning until The Day. Josie actually jumped up and down and yelled, "I'm so excited I can't stand it!" Roy took me to the airport to pick them up (I still hate driving to the airport) and it was all very surreal when they got here... I don't know why. Angela thinks it's because we've always known each other (well, she's known me since she was 4 months old, and I've known her my entire life) and yet she was never an actual part of my life here - or at least she didn't know what my life was LIKE here. Anyway, the boys and girls got along famously from the very beginning... we were expecting that they'd get tired of each other, but nope. They played and played and played some more. On Wednesday, we had a beach day (which was also Adelaide's very first "play in the sand" at the beach day. She tried to eat some of it, but she mainly wanted to walk out in the water until it was up to her nose. That night, Jesse bravely babysat all 5 of them while Angela and I went out for sushi and a night on the town... it was the first time we'd been out ALONE for YEARS, and it was great. My favorite part was sitting in the cheapo massage chairs in the mall, watching people and making fun of ourselves and the pickle in the floor next to my seat.

On Thursday we went to the zoo with an entourage of people - Becky and her kids, Sarah, Aunt Cindy, Grandma, Melissa and Caroline, Jessica and Haley... the list kept growing and growing! But it was fun. Hard to stay together, but fun! The giraffes were a big hit (they came right up to the fence) and the dinosaurs were too (for all but Caleb - he was not impressed). We took pictures of him with Ireson, and the similarity was AMAZING. I've been saying all along how much they look alike, but having them stand right next to each other was really weird! Later we went to the "Mariachi Band's House" for supper and then over to Mama's house. On Friday, we stayed home all day then went to the Village Market for facepainting (again, Caleb was not impressed - he got a balloon penguin instead... but I was called an Old Lady for the first time by a 7 year old) then we headed to Beth and Roy's house for Teagan's birthday party. Angela said that hanging out at their house was probably her favorite part of the trip - I think it's so cool that she likes my Ohio family so much. :)

Saturday we left on a very long, somewhat eventful car ride... Caleb and Cameron got the carsick gene from their parents (Angela was AWFUL in the car when we were growing up... I still point out places on the side of the road when we're in NC - "Oh, hey... there's where Angela threw up once!") and we had one 'incident' on the WV Turnpike; of course, those curves could make anybody sick. Anyway, we stopped 4 times, we ate, we went to the bathroom, we cleaned up the car, we took our time. It took 11 hours to get home, but I used some meditation techniques and didn't get all freaked out. :) Plus, the kids really were very good for the most part and Angela and I got a lot of talking and "Millionaire" playing done.

The week in NC was fun... Chass and I had a birthday cookout, Grandma fed Adelaide so much that I found biscuit crumbs in her belly button, we got to swim in Papaw's pool, Mamaw told a gazillion stories to Sadie (Sadie just cannot get enough of her stories - Sylvia's going to have to write a book!), Adelaide was scared of Bayleigh at first but then Bayleigh gave her a toy and said, "Here go" and Adelaide said, "Taint Tu," and they were big buddies. Grandma took us out for a birthday lunch, we ate chicken and dumplins', played with Kimmie, Noah, Dalton, Hailey, and Lauren, went up the mountain and visited the cheese factory, Daddy worked on my car for me, and my Girls (not the kids...my grown up girls) took me out for my birthday, where I proceeded to get cake smashed in my face by a bunch of laughing Hispanic waiters. Ahh...good times.

My Favorite Part was the Bus

Last weekend we went with a group of people from church for a 7 mile canoe trip. Sadie had been once before and loved it, and Josie was especially looking forward to her first time in a boat (and on a bus - they take you to a drop off spot in an old school bus). We were all looking forward to it, since it was supposed to be sunny and around 84 degrees. Weeelll... that did not happen. Dressed in our shorts, tank tops, and donning our bug spray and sunscreen, we were dismayed to be about 2 minutes into our trip when the downpour came and proceeded to pelt us with water for the remaining 6 7/8 miles. Josie was pretty much freaked out the entire time. She was terrified of tipping over (she said, "I did not think it would be so tippy!"), even though the water was pretty shallow through most parts of the river (and by shallow, I mean we could use our paddles to push with instead of using them to row with). She cried because of the rain, because of the rocks, because she was cold... you get the idea. Here is a quote for you: "I do not like the rain! I do not like this boat! I do not like the cold! I do not like this water! I do not like this trip! I want to go to the party! How far is the party!? How many more minutes?!" And from Sadie, when Josie was whining and squealing from an 'almost tip' incident: "It's okay, Josie. Even if you fall in, you can stand up, and you can't get much wetter than you already are anyway!" Good point. She was so calm and helpful and great to have along!

Jesse decided to prolong our suffering by trying to FISH in the rain, and so we had to just float along instead of paddling as fast as we could and get it over with. Twice we had to turn around because he got his line snagged... Let me just say that he is lucky to come home with his poles intact. :) We passed the time by counting water lilies (we ended up with 61) and looking for snakes, muskrats, and cranes. FINALLY, we got to the dock area (about an hour behind everyone else) and ate the leftovers while we tried to dry out by the fire. Sadie had a good time burning sticks and leaves and everything else she could get her hands on while she thawed them out. On the way home we asked Josie if she liked the trip and she answered emphatically, "NO! My favorite part was the BUS!"

Jokers

Sadie: "Mommy, what do tweezers do?"
Josie: "Silly. They TWEEZE!"

Josie: "That lady had 3 babies in their, in their stroller. Three babies and they are all the same!"
Sadie: "Did she have a litter?"

Doot!

Adelaide's favorite word (aside from the obvious, "Ma-ma, which she says at least 300 times a day) is "Doot." I'm not really sure exactly what it means, but it can be used as a noun, verb, exclamation, question... whatever she feels like using it for at the moment. You might hear her chanting "Doot, doot, doot," as she chugs down the hall on her chubby little legs, or yelling "DOOT!" at one of her sisters when they tick her off. Whatever it means, it is funny. I'm beginning to think of it like "smurf." You know, "A smurf in the hand is smurf two in the smurf."

A few weeks ago her inner clown came out when I was bending over next to her crib to turn on her CD player (she listens to a lullaby CD when she's napping). Already in her crib, she snuck up behind me and poked me on the butt as hard as she could. I said, "Whoo-hoo!" and she nearly fell over laughing at her own cleverness. Ever since that day, the poking has been a much-looked-forward-to part of her every day routine. Her other new thing is blowing raspberries on me wherever she can get her mouth on naked skin. This includes my arms, shoulders, chest, head, chin, wherever. Then she laughs and laughs and is thoroughly pleased with herself. So am I, for that matter - she's such a goof.

Splish Splash

We went with Jesse on a business trip Monday night and we ended up having a little impromptu mini-vacation. It was fun because with 3 little kids, you rarely do anything that's spontaneous! We stayed at a hotel with an indoor pool, then we visited a gigantic waterpark (I mean, GARGANTUAN) and the kids had a blast. Sadie was an inch too short to ride the big rides (I was a bit relieved, to be honest) but she went on EVERYTHING that they'd allow her on, and Jesse had fun taking her up the stairs and down the slides... she's not afraid of anything. I'm glad he took her, because I am and always have been PETRIFIED of water slides. Too much can go wrong, I always say! I remember getting flipped around and whacking my head on the side of one of those curly slides when I was a kid, and that was on dry ground! Josie was mad because she was still too short to go on many of the slides, but the ones she could get on, she loved. She didn't like wearing a life-jacket, though... and I didn't blame her because you had to hook the bottom strap between your legs and boy, did it look uncomfortable!! Adelaide had fun splashing around in the baby pools and play area, and we all liked the giant indoor wave pool. Jesse's favorite part was room service, I think :) Anyway, the kids were great in the car... it's so nice having kids that don't fight and yell "are we there yet?" the whole time you're on the road... I'm glad we started traveling with them early and training them well from the beginning!

Josie is Four!

Having a child like Josie is both a blessing and a curse. She completely cracks me up, but that is not a good thing when discipline is involved. Sometimes she'll be in trouble and I'll be trying to reprimand her and I'll have to leave the room so she won't see me laughing. Does anyone else have this problem? She loves life. She lives more deeply than anyone I've ever known! When she's happy, her joy is complete... you can see it in her squinchy-eyed grin and hear it in her goofy 'oyoyoyoy' laugh. When she's sad, LIFE IS OVER and she sobs her heart out and is inconsolable (ie: "I am going to my room and to my bed and I am just going to cry and I'm going to STAY THERE!"). When she's mad... well, just watch out. I honestly don't know what to do with someone that has a temper like... um... like... well, like mine.

We celebrated her birthday all week. On her actual birthday, Grammie came over and we had a special birthday breakfast. Then we went to dinner at her favorite Mexican restaurant, aka the "Mariachi Band Singers' House," where she got to wear the giant sombrero. Sadie was extra nice to her all week, which she thoroughly enjoyed, and Jesse took her to Toys 'r Us to pick out anything that she wanted (within reason, of course). On another night, I asked her if she wanted anything special for dinner and she picked dinosaur chicken nuggets and organic fries. :) Funny. Anyway, she decided she wanted to have a "water party" at home, so we swam, played on the slip-n-slide, jumped in the bouncy house, had a water balloon fight, and roasted marshmallows in the backyard. My favorite quote of the party: "So, are you going to bring out my cake or what?"

Funny things since turning four:

Josie came into the kitchen in her fancy dress-up clothes, gave me a sly look, raised her eyebrows, and said, "Hey, Mommy... Guess what? I'm naked under my clothes."

Josie has decided that the new restaurant down the street is is going to be either "Shaker Slick and Doob," "Ducker Lick and Toob," or "Quaker Dick and Lube." I don't know what that last one means, but it does NOT sound good!

Wedded Bliss

Ha ha... that's an oxymoron if I ever heard one! :) Just kidding. Adelaide, my mom and I went to NC last weekend for my cousin's wedding. My BABY cousin. I cannot believe that he is old enough to get married. Sigh. It seems like just yesterday we were playing the fishing game off his front porch and he was pretending to be a Japanese chef, throwing plastic knives in the air. Time flies! Anyway, the wedding was beautiful... outside on the top of a mountain in Blowing Rock, right in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. I miss those mountains so much... when I drive those winding roads and feel the cool air on my face, it's just like coming home again. We had a great time at the wedding (I got to spend some time with my Angela), and Adelaide had a great time with Amanda, who saved me by babysitting ALL DAY (the wedding lasted a good six hours). The best thing about it was that the minister's last name was "Hitch." Perfect!

Life with Sadie

-Sometimes living with Sadie is like living with Randy Jackson of American Idol. She ties a leash around Josie's waist, yanks on it, and says, "Come on, dawg."

-I asked Sadie who the first president of the United States was, and she answered without hesitation: "George Pilkington." (This is probably only funny to my immediate family :)


-We're getting a new restaurant in town, and I asked what the name of it is going to be. Sadie is convinced that it is Quaker Steak and Loo Hoob.

-I had a long talk with my Daddy last week in NC and I was telling Sadie about it. She listened for a while, then said, "And exactly when did all this talking start, anyway?"

Something Stinks

The other day I had to take the trash out because of Adelaide's poopy diaper. I put a new liner in the kitchen trash, then lit a candle because let's face it: poop stinks. Then I tossed the match in the trash and turned to leave the room. Suddenly I hear a WHOOSH! I turn around, and a FIREBALL IS COMING FROM THE TRASH CAN. I know, I know... run the match under water before you throw it away - I don't know what came over me. Maybe I just have too much on my mind or MAYBE the cheap trash bag wasn't fire retardant! Anyway, the smoke detector's beeping, Adelaide is crying, and Sadie is running down the hall yelling, "Do we need to use The Plan!?" and Josie screams, "Mommy is burning the house down!" Jesse was no help at all since he was in the shower and did not hear me yelling for help. So I kick the flaming trash can over to the kitchen sink (luckily Jesse installed a pull-out faucet for me not long ago) and stupid me turns the water ON before I pull the handle out, so I spray down a couple of the walls and the floor before I actually put the fire out. Dripping, shaking, and out of breath, I threw the smoldering trash can outside and came back in to sop up all the water. Of course, after all the commotion, Jesse comes in the kitchen, wrinkles his nose and says, "Something stinks."

Goed Crazy

Try to sing this in your best Cookie Monster impersonation and you'll hear Josie's latest rendition of this Steve Green favorite: "In my fadder's house are manee man-shuns, manee man-shuns in my fadder's house! In my fadder's house are manee man-shuns, manee man-shuns in my fadder's house!"

While eating our favorite vegetarian sushi (avocado with cucumber and cream cheese), Josie decided she wanted to use some chopsticks, too. She said, "Hey, Mommy... can I have some of those... those... those rice tweezers?"

After going potty, Josie always says "I goed pee." I always say, "You went pee?" and she always says, "Yeah, that's what I sayed. I goed pee."

Keeping it Simple

I taught the girls the secret knock "Shave and a Haircut - two bits" and they say it all the time now. Apparently, their cousin James taught them a little hand game that goes "Skunk in the barnyard, P.U.! Somebody ate it, that's you!" Josie got it a little mixed up the other day on the way home from our bike ride... she sang: Skunk in the barnyard, two bits!"

We love listening to Little House on the Prairie (we have the CDs in the car) and, as a parent, you'd think that nothing could be more wholesome, right? Imagine my surprise when Sadie came in from swimming lessons and said, "Well, the only good Indian is a dead Indian." Needless to say, we had a little history lesson. Then they both shucked corn for lunch :)

I like the way Sadie and Josie keep things simple. For instance, if they're playing pretend and need to name something, like a herd of My Little Ponies, they'll go with the simplest way: The blue one is Bluey, the green one is Greenie, the yellow one is - you guessed it - Yellowy, and if they need names for similar looking ponies, they just switch to added adjectives, ie: Bluey-Greenie or Orangey-Purpley.

Marshmallow Soup

Yesterday Josie asked me when it was going to be cold again, and I told her not for a while, since it's finally summer! She said, "But I want it to be cold again! When is it going to be cold enough for you to make me some marshmallow soup?" After some digging, I realized that she meant HOT CHOCOLATE. How cute is that?

Why Babies are Babied

You know how you always hear things like, "Well, she's the baby of the family..." and "She always gets what she wants because she's the BABY," and "She's the baby, she can do no wrong...." Well, I have figured out this phenomenon. It's not BECAUSE she's the baby... it's not because the parents LOVE the baby more. It's because by the time the baby comes around, the parents realize that their other kids have grown up WAY too fast and they just want the baby to STAY a baby for longer. I am loving Adelaide's 'babyness' so much right now that I want her to stay just like she is!

It Just Doesn't Pay

Today at church, Sadie came out of Sunday School and showed me her "boat," which was made of that green foam you put flower arrangements in, popsicle sticks with paper sails, and drawings of little stick people. She said, "We learned about Jonah. He disobeyed God and he was REAL stubborn and he got swallowed by a giant fish which is also a whale!" As I was admiring her project, I noticed that her boat only had 4 people on it. I said, "Who are these people? Is that one Jonah?" She said, "Oh no... that's you, and that's Daddy, and that one is me, and the other one is Adelaide." I said, "Where's Josie?" She answered, "Well, we had to throw Josie off the boat because she is stubborn like Jonah."

Just a-Cleaning

Yesterday we got the pool out from behind the shed and proceeded to clean it up. Well, I squirted dish soap in it, got out some rags, and squished some spiders, but Sadie and Josie carried buckets of water back and forth and had to climb in and scrub out all of the winter grime. I decided to make them do it themselves so they could see what it feels like to complete a "job well done!" I think it was worth it, because they were so proud and THRILLED to be able to play in their pool all day yesterday (including Adelaide, who climbed in and out, in and out, in and out). It's hard to not step in and do everything for them, since it would be so much quicker (and easier) for me to do it, but I know that's not very character building. I really don't want my children to feel "entitled;" to become people who think that the world owes them a living. I just can't stand people like that!

Adelaide is One!

I can't believe how fast this past year has flown by. I can't believe my sweet little Adelaidey-Who-Dee is already a whole year old. Let me just say that I have thoroughly enjoyed being home with her this year. I didn't have the opportunity to stay home when Sadie and Josie were this small, and I feel very blessed to be able to enjoy this time with Adelaide - well, with ALL of them. She is such a joy to me... I love seeing the little changes in her every day, the little things she learns, the new looks she comes up with, the new words she makes up (my favorite is "ticka-ticka-ticka," which sometimes morphs into "ducka-ducka-ducka." It's like she is really tasting the words almost... like she's rolling them around on her tongue and experimenting with them to see what might come out! She's so developmental! I love it. I love her sweet personality and how she's so jolly and chubby and CUTE. The definition of cute baby is what she is!

We had her birthday party at Grandma and Grandpa's house last Sunday afternoon, and we had a great time. We let her open presents first, then we had dinner (roasted turkey, yum!) and then the cake. Apparently, I let the elastic strap on her pointy birthday hat flick her on her chubby chin and so she was screaming while we sang to her and brought the cake over. It seemed all was lost and she was just going to have a tantrum, but I had the presence of mind to stick my finger in the cake icing and plop it in her mouth. The crying, shall we say, CEASED. She forgot whatever was bugging her and went straight for the cake... "Hmmm... let me poke my finger in here, and here, and oh, over here... and I will eat this, and that, and oh yes, this! Yummy! How much of this is Mommy going to let me have, anyway!? All of this? For me? I can't believe it! Joy of joys!" It was hilarious to watch her pick away at the cake, especially when she put one palm completely on top of the cake (to protect it from thieves, I guess) and continued sticking her finger in the other side and cramming it in her mouth. Thank goodness Aunt Cindy was there to give her a bath! It was not a one person job! She had icing in her ears days later, and you don't want to know about the poop issues... but I think it was worth it! :)

If You Can't Say Something Nice, Don't Say Anysling at All

Sometimes I wish Josie would be quiet and not say "anysling!" But usually she succeeds in cracking me up. Once we think something is funny, then she hangs onto it and uses it FOREVER. There is no new material with this comic. If it works once, that's good enough for her. For example, "Yoy-yoy-yoy-yoy" is a goofy way that she likes to laugh... she does it every time, if she thinks anyone is listening. Another thing she says is "Ahwahmen, Ahwahmen" at the end of her prayers. Then she laughs and says, "Hahah! I said AhWAHmen." This does not ever get old for her. She also knows most of her shapes, but the pointy thing with 3 sides is forever going to be known as a "Trianganal." Just as Grandpa is now always going to be "Poor Old Grandpa," since he no longer has a minivan. :)

Sadie and Josie were playing outside and sharing a bag of Natural Cheetos (if you haven't tried these, try them! They are so much better than the fake flourescent orange ones!). Suddenly a fight broke out and I heard Sadie yell, "Well, I'm going in! And I'm taking the Cheetos with me!" Later when Adelaide broke one of her puzzles apart, Sadie said, "Hey! You know better than that! You're one!" She pretends that she's wearing a nightcap like Laura Ingalls, only Sadie's nightcap is usally her underwear. She scared me into thinking I had somehow created an anti-Semite the other day when I heard this from her room: "HAhah!! Now I'm going to get those Jews!" I walked in and looked around, wondering what the heck was going on and WHO she had heard this from! Then she explained that she was pretending to be Hamaan, and Josie was Queen Esther, saving the Jews from the evil Hamaan. Thank goodness!! I should've known she wasn't saying anything bad... after all, the other day she reminded me when I asked her if God makes good things AND bad things happen, or if He's only in control of the good things. She answered, "Well, Mommy, God turns the bad things INTO good things. From the mouths of babes.

Give one to me, sir!

Today we had a huge yard/garage sale, and Sadie and Josie ran their first business venture - a Lemonade/Cookie stand. Lemonade was $.25 and cookies were a steal at $.10... they made almost $15! They were great saleswomen... they would follow customers around and look up at them with big eyes and say, "Excuse me, ma'am, would you like some lemonade?" Who can resist that? Not many people, it turns out. They finished with a huge profit margin. The funny thing is, neither of them know how to make change yet, so they ended up with a LOT of tips. Some people thought they were so cute, they just gave money to promote "free enterprise." Josie got the cups ready, Sadie poured, then Sadie took most of the money (she also tried to swipe some of mine:) and Josie would say, "Thank you! Now you can give one to me, sir!" Once a lady said she had to go to the car to get a quarter and Josie said, "Oh, you don't have to do that - you can have one of mine to buy some lemonade with!" There were about a dozen people here and they all laughed at her because it was so sweet and cute. She ducked her head (I think she was a little embarassed) but I told her I was proud that she was so generous! Adelaide spent the morning eating raspberries in her high chair outside, surveying the landscape and yelling "Dad! Da Da DAD!"

Rats, Teeth, and Pig-Pickins

We left for NC on Wednesday last week and we got home around 2am on Monday morning. It was a short trip, but we had a lot of fun while we were there... the girls got to go to their very first pig-pickin (at Louis & Brenda's house) but Josie was mad that she didn't actually get to PICK the pig. I think she wanted to pick it out herself. Anyway, they got to hang out with their friends Kimmie, Noah, Dalton, and Hailey, eat a lot of BBQ, and swim in the most freezing water I've ever felt in my life. Then we went to my cousin Adam's Honey-Do shower and played with Cameron, Caleb, and Bayleigh. The girls stayed with Papaw and Mamaw while I went to Girls' Night at Melanie's new house, and they had a good old time feeding fish (carp in the Marina) their leftover grilled cheeses (Sadie said Papaw got grumpy when she tried to feed the fish her WHOLE sandwich... he said he didn't buy the sandwich for the fish - he bought it for her!), then Sadie held one of their renters' pet rats. Josie wouldn't touch it, but Sadie thinks she is Steve Irwin, so she thought it was fabulous. They also got to play with Lauren and Sydney, but the baby and I didn't get to go because she was crying for her bed. Josie got launched off the see-saw, landed on her head, and Papaw had to pick her up... later, she got launched off the wagon INTO the garage, but she just jumped up and said, "I'm Okay!" Like mother, like daughter, I guess. :) Adelaide learned to play peek-a-boo by putting her hand over both eyes at once... she was a teeny bit S-P-O-I-L-E-D to her mother, but we don't say that out loud. She didn't want anyone to hold her but Grammie and Amanda, but strangely, if she couldn't see me anywhere, she was fine. I think she's going to be a great actress some day. Talk about your over-reacting. Anyway, Great Grandma spoiled them as usual, but she wasn't feeling as well this time so we had to be careful with her! She was still traipsing around through the garden and bushes with them, though... nothing will keep her down when she wants to be up. The most interesting thing happened when I wasn't even around. Thomas, Elizabeth, and Josh came over to Grandma's to visit and Elizabeth asked Sadie if she could see her loose teeth (she had 2 that were ready to fall out, but she wouldn't let anyone near them). She talked to Sadie the whole time she was "inspecting" her teeth, and Sadie was answering all of her questions, and she didn't even notice when Elizabeth pulled not ONE, but BOTH of those loose teeth! Sadie didn't even know it! Amazing! Sadie said that from now on when she has a loose tooth, we have to go and visit Elizabeth. :)

Wrath of Grandma

Sunday we went over to Grandma Beth's for her birthday celebration. Josie decided to have some alone time outside on the little deck off the front walk (about a foot off the ground). She said, "I think I'll just go have myself a little snack at the red table out there," and out she went. A few minutes later, I heard a little voice call "Mommy!" very softly. I looked all around, and then movement from the window caught my eye. All I could see were Josie's feet sticking up in the air and an upside-down red chair tumbled on top of her. I raced outside to make sure she was okay, but when I got there and asked if she was hurt, all she said was, "Help Mommy... I'm squishing Grandma's flowers!" You have to know Grandma and her love of gardening, but apparently somewhere along the line Grandma put THE FEAR into Josie! Poor Josie. I had to laugh...it was like she was scared to even call for help (loudly, anyway) because horror of horrors! Grandma might come and catch her in the flowerbed!

I Think it was a Moose

Jesse found my "Lowe's List" in the floor of the van, but he wasn't interested in the list. What caught his attention was the "DIE" scrawled on the back of the list in giant 2 inch letters. Hmm. At first, I thought I was getting death threats (not those again! :) then we realized at the same time that the list was written on a piece of paper that Sadie had written her name on... the SA had just been torn off. Thank goodness for her distinctive "i"s...there is no space between the dot and the letter - she just sticks the dot right on top so they look like lollipops.

Yesterday on the way to school, we were talking about death (again). We heard about the Indians wearing loincloths on our Little House on the Prairie CD, and this sparked a long conversation. "What are loincloths? Why were they wearing them? Was Tarzan an Indian? Who else wore loincloths? Adam and Eve wore loincloths, but why did God kill animals to make them? Why didn't He just give them some clothes? (I thought this was incredibly insightful and a great opportunity to talk about blood sacrifice... had I not been talking to 2 preschoolers). And what kind of skin was it? Was it a moose? I think it was a moose. How did God kill those animals? I think He just zapped them." Josie asked when she was going to die, and I told them that maybe we'll be lucky enough to still be alive when Jesus comes back and then they won't ever have to die. Sadie said, "Hey, we would really have everlasting life! Just like John 3:16!" Then she proceeded to spout off the entire verse AND give me a lecture on the word perish, which means "to die, you know, like in Esther when she says 'if I perish, I perish.'" Sometimes I am seriously overwhelmed at what these children absorb. I pray that I keep giving them the right things to fill their little brains, because they are SO SMART and they remember EVERYTHING. It's such a responsibility.

Cuteness

Adelaide just seems to get cuter and chubbier by the minute. I've started calling her my little linebacker. :) I know that once she starts walking, some of the chubbiness will come off, but I don't want it to! I love how squishy and soft and yummy she is, with her poochy little belly and her jelly rolls on her legs. She is so cute that I can hardly stand it! Today she tried to climb into the bathtub - and she would've made it, too - but Sadie and Josie sounded the alarm just in time. She's pulling up on everything now, and she's practicing climbing up and down the stair into the kitchen...thank goodness we only have one step up there into the family room or I'd be a nervous wreck. Every day I am reminded of how wonderful and fleeting these baby days really are. I thank God that I'm able to be here for every minute of hers.

Sucker!

Josie's version of a classic:

"Get outta the way, Old Dan Tucker! You're too late to get your sucker!"

Sunday after church, Sadie said she was thirsty, but the only thing we had in the car was a bottle of blue Gatorade that Jesse brought with him. I passed it back to her so she could have a sip, but apparently the blue dye in it somehow reacted with her skin - she's had a Gatorade mustache for almost 4 days now. It's funny, though -it's so perfectly symmetrical that she kind of looks like Fred Flintstone or Homer Simpson with stubble. She's taken to talking with her hand over her upper lip when she thinks about it, because I can't stop giggling.

What'll it Bee?

Yesterday, Sadie went on a field trip with James and Aunt Becky to learn about baby animals and bees. Today, we wrote a story chronicling her trip. She learned quite a bit about milk, lambs, plowing, etc., but when we got to the "bee" portion of the story, I began to wonder if maybe the teacher was just making stuff up (or maybe Sadie was :)...

"We learned about bee pupa - eggs of bees. Beekeepers spray smoke on the bees so they will gobble up the honey fast so it won't get burned up and they'll get a tummyache." Interesting.

Safety Troll

The other night Josie asked me if I would read her "the book about Choke-a-pontas. I mean, Hocus-pontas. Um, Poca-chantas. You know, that Indian."

She has also decided that her role in the family is that of Chief Safety Officer. Her main job is to police who is or who is not wearing their seat belt in the car. One day I mentioned that she was the Safety Patrol; yesterday, she said, "Daddy! Put on your seat belt! I am the Safety Troll!"

Jesse taught Adelaide to nod her head on Saturday. I know that doesn't seem like a big accomplishment, but it is SO STINKING CUTE to watch her nod her little head in response to you nodding YOUR head. I'm loving it. She's also pulling up on everything and feeling all proud of herself for standing there, seeing the world from a whole new angle. I confess that I am not very encouraging at this point... I want her to stay a baby just a little bit longer. :)

Yesterday, we (and by we I mean Jesse, Sadie, and Josie while Adelaide and I watched) planted 4 trees in our front yard. Hooray! I love getting new trees, and these are the same kind that are at my Daddy's house in NC, so they make me feel at home, too. :) Anyway, Sadie is beginning to have what I always called a "smart mouth." She doesn't really understand what this means, though, and I have tried to explain in vain. I think she's too smart to NOT say "smart" things, but I don't think she really gets the connotation that it sends to people... she doesn't want to be "sassy," but sometimes she says things without really meaning for it to be sassy and it just IS! So back to the tree planting thing... she hit the tree with her shovel, and Jesse told her to stop because it was a baby tree and she might hurt it. He said, "Would you hit a baby with a shovel?" Later, as he was shoveling dirt back into the hole around the tree, Sadie looked at him and said, "Daddy, would you throw dirt on a baby?" Sigh. I'm in for it.