Graduation

Today, I managed to haul the toddler bed up from the basement and into Adelaide's room. I've decided to try putting her in the toddler bed in her room for a while before the baby is born... when that happens, I have to come up with a new plan. We may end up having all three girls upstairs! We'll see how it goes, I guess. Anyway, after I got the bed set up with the sheets on and the pillow (she's never had a pillow before) Adelaide came running in and said, "OH! My bed! My bed! I wuv it, I wuv it, I wuv it, I wuv it! I a big girl!" She was so excited, and it was so cute. She climbed right into bed to try it out during her nap. After she covered up, Sadie and Josie came in and, standing at the foot of the toddler bed with their arms around each other's waists, stood and stared down at her with pride. They said, "Oh, she has graduated! Our little girl has graduated from her crib!" I, however, have mixed feelings about it. I'm proud of her, but she's growing up too fast!

Saying Prayers

Last night Josie slept on the futon in the schoolroom because Sadie wasn't home (she spent the night with Grandpa and Grandma). Before I tucked her in, she got down on her little knees to say her prayers. It was so SWEET. I listened, and she prayed, "God, please help the little baby in Mommy's tummy not to be sick when it comes out. Help it to be okay. Oh, and God? Please help me not to pee in the bed any more, either. Amen."

Birt-Day

Today was my birthday, and we decided to have a picnic lunch under the umbrella outside in the yard. Sadie said the prayer, and it went like this: "Dear God, thank you for this pretty day and for my family and our food and for my Mommy and her birthday, even though she never wants to have a PARTY." (hint, hint, right?). When she finished, she looked over at Josie and said, "Okay, Jose...get ready. And a one-uh and a two-uh and a three-uh..." and they both started singing happy birthday to me while Adelaide echoed in in the background, "Birt-day, MOMMY! Hap birt-day to Mommy!" It was GREAT.

Sharing

While Josie had fun over at my mom's house, having "special Grammie time," eating tons of junk food, watching cartoons, playing dress-up, coloring, and swinging outside, Sadie rode along with Jesse and I while we delivered food with Grandpa Roy in the inner city. Our church collected a lot of groceries over the past month and last week Josie and I sorted everything out into separate bags (we couldn't give one family a case of chicken soup and nothing else!). Today, I was so proud of Sadie and she went with her daddy, talking to these people and giving them stuff that they needed and really appreciated. She even gave away an extra little bike that we'd had in the garage, and we know some little kid is going to be very happy with it! She also handed everyone a business card from our church so they'd know where the food was coming from, and WHY we were doing this... I know this is something that will make an impression on her and that she will remember for years to come.

Hey Gwammie, it's me. Adewaide.

A few weeks ago, my mom called our house. When I saw that it was her number on the caller ID, I let Adelaide answer the phone. For some reason, she decided to answer in a little raspy deep voice: "Hey. Gwammie. It's me. Adewaide." We have laughed over this for weeks now! My mom said she almost hung up because she thought she had called some weirdo accidentally!

This morning, I took dictation as Adelaide had yet another conversation on the phone that went like this: "Hey Gwammie. Where's Josie-bean? Oh. Uh-huh. Me. Okay. Uh-huh and me. Why? Dis Adewaide. And Mommy. Mommy's stays at home. Uh-huh. You-you-you got cheese? Buttered toast? Oh. Wuv you bye."

I don't think I can grow one of those...

While at Teagan's birthday party today, Sarah asked Adelaide if she wanted a little brother or a little sister. Adelaide replied, "I want twain set."

Traipse and Tail

While riverwalking and exploring in the woods with Grandma Beth this year, Sadie continued her self-narrative with "She traipses through the underbrush!" Grandma was mainly impressed with the term "traipses."

Josie taught me a song yesterday that she can't get out of her head. She learned it at Bible School and sang it in the Jonah play. In her mind, it goes like this:

Who is this man
Slowed up and who nowhere
His clothes is worn to tatter
And seaweed in his hand
A fish is swimming nearer
and his face is bleach unpale
Who is this man
And what can be his tail?

When we got home, I looked at the handout she'd gotten in class and found the actual words. She was pretty close, but we did have a rather fruitful talk about the difference between 'tail' and 'tale!'

Who is this man
Showed up from who knows where
His clothes are worn to tatters
With seaweed in his hair
A fishy smell still clings to him
and his face is bleached and pale
Who is this man
And what could be his tale?

Sadie, however, being her father's daughter, changed the ending lines to these:

Who is this man...
AND WHY DOES HE HAVE A TAIL!?

Grandpa's in the Slammer

While in the car on the highway today, a police car passed us in the left lane. I noticed that there was a guy in the backseat, so I told the girls that he must've broken a rule and that he was probably on the way to jail. Sadie said, "Can you get up there next to him? Can you see the guy? What did he look like?" I asked her why she was so interested. She sighed and said, "Well, I just hope it's not Grandpa. He steals my food, you know. He might've stolen something else."

I do it!

Adelaide has all of us talking like her now. For instance, Jesse and I now constantly say "I WIIILLLLLLLL!" and at dinner when she says, "No like it steak," Sadie will say, "Well, I like it steak!"

Other "its" that she likes to say:
Wash it hands
Brush it teeth
Comb it hair
Bonk it head
I do it. IIIIIIII DOOOOO IIIIITTTT!

And thanks to Aunt Sarah, instead of "kissing it" when she sees a boo-boo on someone, she now pokes out her little finger and runs up and says, "Push it!"

When she saw a rooster in her farmyard puzzle, I asked her what it was. I said, "It's a boy one, not a girl." She thought for a minute, then said, "It's a duck-ter!"

Kalahari, here we come!

Much to Josie's joy and excitement, we finally made to the land of enchantment, aka Kalahari Waterpark, for her birthday. We ended up going straight there after Bible School, and Grandma Beth met us there for a day, a night, and another day of splashy good fun. Adelaide was very impressed with the outdoor landscaping; she kept saying, "Look! A waterfault! A waterfault!" After a fun afternoon of water-play, most of us crashed in the blissfully cold hotel room for a nap. When I say most of us, I mean ALL of us except Sadie and Josie, who were just too excited to sleep. I finally got up and the three of us snuck out of the room at 7:30 for some fun. We ended up staying out until after 10:00pm, playing in the indoor playground, exploring, eating really yummy cheese fries, and watching people on the super-high zip line shoot across the sky. My favorite memory is sitting in the outdoor patio, surrounded by other guests, when "That's the way, uh-huh uh-huh I like it," came on the DJs loudspeakers. Josie (shortly thereafter followed by Sadie) got up and began to SHAKE IT in front of everyone. The whole place was cracking up and it was SO much fun to watch my two little goofy show-offs having a great time.

The next day we all had fun in the lazy river, the kiddie pools (once Adelaide got the hang of the baby slides, there was no getting her off of them... "Again! Again!"). Sadie and Josie had a blast on all the waterslides, with their favorite one being the 'scary boat ride' that Grandma did not like! It was a great time, and we were very blessed to be able to go and have super family time with Grandma Beth. :)

Who did Who did Who did Who did

So last week, Jesse the Wonderdad took Sadie and Josie and went BY HIMSELF to our church's big Bible School downstate for the week. Adelaide and I ended up joining them 3 days later, but apparently, he was like Super Dad the whole time we weren't there. I had at least 5 different people tell me what a great job he did with them, not including those two - they told me he spoiled them like crazy and let them drink pop once a day AND eat ice cream sandwiches!

Adelaide, my mom, and I went on Wednesday for my "big ultrasound." The good news is, everything looks great as far as the baby being healthy... the heart, the brain, the lungs, the kidneys, etc. were all in perfect shape. The not so good news is that the baby was keeping its little legs crossed and we could not tell for sure if it's a boy (as the doctor THINKS it is according to my 18 week ultrasound) or a girl. I was disappointed because I really wanted to firm things up and get psyched up for whatever he or she is! Plus there's always The Great Name Debate to contend with. Anyway, after the ultrasound, Adelaide and I rode to Bible School (about a 3 hour trip) with a couple from our church and their teenage son, whom Adelaide dubbed "The Kid" and/or "Children" (his name is "Chandler"). She proceeded to talk NON-STOP for the ENTIRE trip. I am not kidding. I never really notice just how MUCH she talks until I'm with people that aren't around her that much... then I kind of "hear her through their ears." Sheesh. The kid was unstoppable. They especially enjoyed her weird growling voice and when she said, "I will eat you!" to Chandler. She is such a goof.

We had fun at Bible School, once we FINALLY got there. I was happy that pretty much everything we had to eat looked good to me (I was afraid I might starve to death there, what with no slushies and all :). The girls made lots of new friends, including some "big kids," which is what they call teenagers. They were especially enamored of Sean, Emily, Chloe, and Conner. They both also really liked a little girl named Erin (from Georgia, I think), and they thoroughly enjoyed their classes about prophets. Sadie made a little Jonah doll that is so cute, and Adelaide and Josie made tons of crafts in their classes... Josie volunteered to stay and help Adelaide so she "wouldn't be scared." Jesse took them swimming 3 or 4 times, and both Sadie AND Josie WENT OFF THE HIGH DIVE. This was very scary for old mommmy here, but they did it like it was nothing!

The week ended with a great presentation of a Jonah musical play and all three girls dressed up like tiny little Ninevites and sang, "Who did, who did, who did, who did, who did swallow Jo Jo Jo Jo...." Now the song is stuck in all of our heads!

Bible Camp Bloopers

This week we've been going to Bible Day Camp at our church, accompanied by 2 of our neighbor kids (and Sadie's and Josie's best pals, Bohdi and Gwendolyn). Although we've had to get up way too early for our liking and sleeping in our clothes so we don't have to get dressed in the mornings, :) it's been fun so far. Here are some fun things heard around church and the car rides home this week:

When shown a picture of a little girls picking up pieces of 'manna' on a coloring page, Adelaide said, "Wook! Peanuts!"

Josie informed me on the playground today that in HER class, they made some kind of special cookies like God makes and sends down to the Israelites from the sky, and when she went back inside, they were all going to eat "mayonnaise!"

Sadie, after a backseat discussion with Josie regarding whether or not Adelaide could play dress up with them once we got home: "Well, I suppose we could tie some pants around her neck and she could be Superman...."

Grandma Beth unleashed her inner actress and played the part of Moses during our opening ceremonies on Monday. Dressed up in her robe with a staff and a full white beard, she kept saying, "Let my people go!" to Pharoah. All the while, ADELAIDE kept pointing at Moses and saying, "Grandma! Beard! Grandma! Beard!"

Honesty, Present Tense

Josie slunk into my bedroom, hands on her hips. One foot stuck out in front of her, she looked me right in the eye and said, "Mommy. I cannot tell a lie. I snooped and I found two of my birthday presents and I saw them and I know what they are but I had to tell you the truth. You can keep them and give them to me next year if you want to because by then, I will probably forget what they are."

Say What?

Adelaide to Mommy during a tickle marathon on the bed: "Pause it! Pause it!"

Josie in the car on the way home the other night, totally unprompted: "MOOOOooo, says the cow into the darkness."

Sadie, knowing she was in trouble for some random naughtiness: "Mother, I have no idea what you're talking about."

Summer update

Summer is going by at lightning speed. Whatever happened to the lazy days of summer? I can't believe July is pretty much half over with already. Since this baby is rapidly depleting my already lacking memory, I will try to recap some of our summer events so far... but I'll probably forget a lot of them.
We've taken several trips to the park, but the girls really had a good time when the 4 of us had a "garage sale day," visiting neighborhood sales, buying cookies and lemonade, and letting them spend their very own money on little treasures. We had a little picnic at this park with a giant slide that goes down a huge hill...even though we were approached by a policeman who was looking for a biting dog on the loose! Sadie and Josie immediately started running around warning people about the "rabied dog" in the park. :)


We visited Captain Willie the Great Lakes Pirate one day at the library and learned a lot about the Great Lakes and water safety... but not so much about pirates! The girls (including Adelaide) thoroughly enjoyed the "AArrghs!" and dancing the chicken dance with a goofy guy dressed up like a pirate. It was fun, I have to admit.

We went to see the fireworks on the 4th and the girls had a great time waving their "Merican flags," blowing their crazy sounding patriotic horns and singing "Oh beautiful for spacious skies for amber waves of GWAIN!" Josie made her very own red white and blue necklace out of this really cool artsy clay that we baked in the oven, too. Our evening was pretty relaxed and laid back, and Jesse did a great job zipping us through the traffic. We got home in a record five minutes!

On the Monday after the 4th, we bought the girls this fantastic bunk bed, though it has so many components I hesitate to call it that. We got a GREAT deal on it, and the girls are loving it. However, we had to switch rooms...now they are in what used to be the school room and the school room is now in what used to be their bedroom. There was MUCHO moving and organizing and switching around that whole week. I am still not completely done, but their room looks pretty cool and they like it a lot... even though Sadie (who is supposed to be on the full bed on top) usually ends up sleeping on the bottom twin bed with Josie. The first night was scary for them, being upstairs for the first time all night, and when Jesse went to check on them he started laughing when he found Josie sleeping on the floor in the doorway under the hall light. Sadie loves playing on the top bunk and cracks up every time I yell up at her, "HEY! Rapunzel! Let down your hair!"

Jesse has taken the girls fishing a few times (Sadie got to go perch fishing out on Lake Erie for the first time this year) already, and judging from the triumphant looks on the icky stinky fishy faces that come home from the pond, it looks like it's going to happen a lot more before the summer is over!

The whole family went to see the Bubble Lady, who was NOT a lady who lives in a bubble, but a lady who does all kinds of crazy stuff WITH bubbles. She was playing to a packed house, and our girls ended up right in the front. Jesse and I even had fun... it's so much fun to see a whole group of kids burst into spontaneous squeals and applause when they see a giant - and I mean GIANT - bubble. The best part for them, of course, was when they got to stand INSIDE a giant bubble.

Poor Adelaide took a literal "nose dive" and tripped on the driveway a couple of weeks ago, doing a FACE PLANT right onto the pavement. The poor kid didn't even have any scratches on her hands from trying to catch herself... she landed RIGHT on her nose. I have never seen her cry so hard over a boo boo before, so I know it hurt! At first I thought she had knocked her teeth out, she was so bloody and upset. She looked AWFUL for about a week and a half, but has miraculously healed since then... now her nose is just a bit shiny, which is actually kind of becoming on her. :) >

Oh, the horror!

Sadie is cutting her 6-year molars. Unbeknownst to ME, never having HAD a six year old before, older children who are teething are just as crabby and whiny and tired as babies who are teething. I guess it makes sense; I just never thought about it before. So for three days, she's been running a low-grade fever and she's been really tired - sleeping in until almost 10am, which is unheard of! She doesn't want to eat anything, and she who is normally helpful and easy to please has been a super drama diva. For instance: Yesterday, she wanted to wear her purple frilly fancy two-piece skirt outfit to play in outside. I said no, she needed to wear play clothes. She proceeded to cry and moan, and say that it wasn't fair, that she was going to go naked or stay inside all day, and then she actually (I am not kidding) put the back of her forearm to her forehead and SWOONED backward onto her bed, yelling and saying things like, "I can't help it! It's not my fault! I'm not trying to be mean! It's my TOOTH! IT'S MY TOOTH'S FAULT! It's my... it's my... SIX YEAR MOLAR!" Oh my goodness. I am so looking forward to adolescence.

Harbinger

The other day Josie got to have "special Grammie/Grampie time." Grampie took her to the park and while they were on their way back (he carried her the whole way because she was tired), she said to him, "Grampie, I'm sorry that you're old." He said, "Oh, well, thanks." She said, "Because you probably don't have much longer to live. (sigh) Yeah, you're probably going to die soon."

Grammie and I got a big kick out of this little tirade (Grampie did too, after he'd had time to recover :).

That's my Josie... the little harbinger of doom.

Cater-P-U

We're working on growing our own butterflies in this cool butterfly kit that Deanna bought the girls at the zoo last year. The chrysalides are all formed now, and Jesse hung the net/cage from the chandelier in the dining room/kitchen. This morning, Lydia held Adelaide up so she could see the "pillars." Lydia asked her what they were going to turn into, and Adelaide said, "Skunks."

Wow! NY is Fancy!

Last week was a big week for us. Sadie and Josie had Safety Town camp all week, AND Natasha, Britt, and Bayleigh came up to stay with us for the week. We had a great (if exhausting:) time. We went to an Indians' Game, had a "Donfire," went to a cookout at Beth and Roy's house, went to the beach while the guys had their Father's Day fishing trip, went to the zoo, ate at PF Chang's, and did a day trip to Niagara Falls. That's a lot to squeeze in to one week, but I made the itinerary! :)

One day, Natasha and I went to some garage sales while Sadie and Josie were at Safety Camp. While we were there, the two two-year-olds had an altercation that went something like this:

Bayleigh: "hold hands? Hold hands?"
Adelaide: "no, I not. No like it."
Bayleigh: "HOLD HANDS!"
Adelaide: "no touch! No touch me!"
Bayleigh: "but I LIKE you!"

Bayleigh has an amazing set of lungs... she can sing "She'll be coming around the mountain" like nobody's business. Once, Adelaide and I were in her room reading when we heard Bayleigh coming down the stairs. I said, "I hear Bayleigh...do you hear her?" Adelaide immediately stuck her hands over her ears and shook her head!

Strangely impressed by the tile work and curved sinks in the rest rooms over the freeway on the way to Niagara Falls, Sadie called out to me, "Wow! New York is fancy!" We had a good time, especially on the Maid of the Mist (except for Adelaide, who ran to Jesse and cried "DADDY!" the whole time the mist was actually blowing - she liked the boat ride, just not the mist) and at the Cave of the Winds (which I, the klutzy pregnant woman, opted out of). The girls got completely drenched, which always equals a good time for them.

We were all kind of sad to see Natasha, Britt, and Bayleigh leave. It has been a fun week! After they drove away, we all had a big sigh and then tried to get on with business as usual. Josie poured her very own milk AND Adelaide's milk without spilling a single drop of it. She was so excited, she had to tell the whole family. She said, "Where's Sadie? I MUST go see her!"

Durrr

I cannot believe that it's the middle of June already. Where has the time gone? We have been busy, busy, busy, but I can't remember what we've been doing. Josie blames this on my being pregnant. I forget something, I drop something, I lose something, we're late for something, etc. Josie says, "It's because you've got a baby in there, Mommy." I'm inclined to agree with her. I think my brain cells have been decreasing ever since Sadie was conceived... now I'm down to just a few more, and this baby is getting those! I can't count how many times I've run the washing machine WITHOUT bothering to put any clothes in it. Or how many eggs I've dropped on the kitchen floor, only to clean up the mess then drop ANOTHER one in the exact same spot. Ahhh... the joys of pregnancy. :)

Now my hands are going to sleep again, too, which I just LOVED last time with Adelaide. It seems like it was more toward the 7th or 8th month along with her, but this time, nooooo... it's starting at 16 weeks! I wake up in the middle of the night, and the rest of my body wakes up, too, all except for my hands, which hang there while I wave my arms all around, looking like an an idiot and saying, "Durrr!"

Only a few more weeks until we attempt to find out what this baby is... I'm having mixed feelings about it. I keep thinking, well, it MUST be a boy because I feel so different this time, but then again, I've felt different EVERY time. I guess we'll see. Sadie and Josie are still set on getting someone to play their "Prince" for them! On the other hand, it would be nice to use all these cute clothes ONE more time....

Waisin Up Dere

I somehow forgot to mention the fact that Adelaide recently stuck a raisin up her nose. She was sitting in her high chair (my mom was babysitting her), being REALLY quiet. Grammie walked by, and Adelaide said, "Grammie! Waisin!" Grammie said, "Yep, you're eating raisins." Adelaide giggled and said, "Noooo, Gwammie. Waisin... NOSE! Up dere!" Needless to say, Grammie is very thankful for tweezers.

11th Commandment

Adelaide stole Sadie's cookie. Sadie yelled, "HEY!" Josie grabbed the cookie back from Adelaide and handed it to Sadie. Adelaide screamed. Josie said, "Well, it wasn't yours." Sadie said, "Yeah, but the Bible says thou shalt not snatch."

Thank the Lord for Snacks.

Today at church during the closing of Sunday School, Adelaide decided that she wanted a snack when we were having the closing prayer. I whispered, "You can have a snack when prayer is over." As the person praying finished up, everyone said, "Amen." Then Adelaide piped up, in her usual LOUD voice, "AMEN! SNACK!"

Bird Ambulance

On a sunny morning last week, Sadie came tearing into the house yelling something about a bird. I followed her back outside, and she and Josie and Adelaide were all gathered around the big rock, watching a red robin flop around on the ground. Sadie had a big stick she gently nudged the bird with, but it didn't fly away. She said that usually when she gets close to a bird, it flies away. Since this one didn't, she knew something was wrong with it! Sure enough, the poor little bird did seem to have some kind of injury; we couldn't tell what. Lydia told us about a place that takes in sick or wounded wildlife, so I called them and they told us to wrap it in a towel and bring it
over. I asked the girls if they wanted to be a bird ambulance, and they were SO EXCITED. Jesse came out with his fishing net (the bird had hopped under the trees by this time) and I grabbed a towel and a shoe box, and pretty soon, the do-gooders had their bird. Josie carried the bird very carefully to the car and it rode in her lap half the way there. Sadie got it the second half of the trip (there was much peeking in the box on both their parts) and carried it into the rescue center. It
was great seeing them be so caring and nurturing of one of God's creatures. On the way there, we talked about how God knows each and every sparrow and cares about them, too. I think it was a great experience and I'm glad they felt proud of themselves for helping an animal!

Young Love :)

On Friday, we went to the zoo with Melissa and Caroline. We met our friend Maeve and her 3 kids there. It turned out to be a great day, weather-wise, although there were like 50 school buses and a million children there. Sadie and Ian, Maeve's oldest son, hit it off immediately. It was like they had always known each other (which they met when they were TINY... Ian is 5 months older than Sadie and we were all living in NC when they were born). We had a good time; as much of a good time as you can have dragging 7 children around a public tourist destination, that is. Melissa said it was like herding cats. :) Anyway, after we left, Sadie whispered in my ear, "Mommy, I have to tell you something. When I was riding in the double stroller next to Ian, he leaned his head over on my shoulder and guess what he said?" I looked at her and she had this CUTE little front-tooth-missing smile and her little face was blushing. I said, "What did he say?" She said, "He said maybe we could get married some day! I didn't know what to say to him! Hee hee hee hee!" It was the CUTEST thing ever. Sigh. Her first marriage proposal.

Feel Like Travelin' On

Sunday
We got up bright and early to take my grandma up the mountain to church at White Oak. After the service and some playing outside by the kids, we decided to go down to visit Odessa at my grandpa's old homeplace. Odessa was bedridden at the time we were there and she hadn't been feeling well for some time, so she was VERY happy to see up all come traipsing in on her after church was over.
While we visited and sang some songs together (The Old Ship of Zion), which was bittersweet - it almost brought me and my mom to tears, singing along with her.
Grammie gave the kids a tour of the barn and the hog pen, and lots of the other places she talks about in her stories, and the kids just ate it up.

After we got home, the kids wanted to go play and swim with Kimmie, Noah, Dalton, and Hailey, so with no naps, they headed over to the pool for a good old time of swimming, sandbox, and splinters -- Chasity cracked up when Josie informed her that she was so much better at getting splinters out than I am. She said, "Mommy's not good at getting splinters out AT ALL!" Sheesh. Talk about unappreciated! :) I went to hang out at Amanda's for Girls' Night. Later, Becky and I went back to pick up the kids and ended up hanging out on the deck for hours, having a homeschooling debate and talking until it was dark.

After that, we headed home for watermelon with Aunt Sharon, then BED!

Monday
Monday was a busy, busy day for me. I had to go to pick up parts for Daddy to work on our van with, then to the bank to see my cousin Kristi and turn in the kids' piggy bank money, next to pick up breakfast for my grandma at Hardee's - they had a 99 cent ham biscuit! - next to Daddy's to drop off the car stuff, then to the grocery store with Melanie while Ada stayed to play with my girls at Grandma's house with Grammie Gail, then we had supper with Angela and Scotty (I really love the sound of the kids laughing at the card table in the living room and hearing calls of "more gravy, please!"). Later Amanda came by to see the girls and pick me up to go to Melanie's house... we ended up staying there until 1:00 in the morning! Nothing like girl time, is there? :)

Tuesday
I had my first stomachache in literally 25 years until 3am Tuesday morning. Weird. Later, when I finally DID get to sleep, Adelaide decided to wake up and get in bed with me. She decided to help herself to my water glass on the nightstand, which she then proceeded to dump right down my back as I slept. YIKES!!! I screamed! Talk about a rude awakening. She cried and yelled, "Sowwy! Sowwy! Fault!" Later that morning I took the kids to play at Chasity's while I went to have lunch with Sherry, who was so sweet to buy my lunch, THEN I found some World's Finest Chocolate bars at the checkout- hooray! Hadn't seen any of those in years! Then BACK to the car place to pick up a part they had to order, then BACK to Chasity's, where I found that Adelaide refused to let Chass change her diaper... they had a great time with the birds, the dog, and a little toad that they found, which they named Henry. Next we went to Heather's to see her new house and so the girls could play with Sydney, who went around yelling "Shake what your Mama gave ya!" (Heather didn't know where THAT came from :). Leaving them there to play, I went to Daddy's with Adelaide (he was finally feeling better), who enjoyed "helping" Papaw work on the van; he gave her a big magnet on a stick to pick up stuff off the floor with (FUN), then they both got super dirty oily hands (cute picture), and Adelaide fell asleep on the porch swing with me and Mamaw for 15 minutes because she was SO exhausted. Later she stayed with Mamaw while I took Daddy with me to Heather's to pick up the kids, and Sadie read him Hand Hand Fingers Thumb (he tried to trick her to make sure she was really reading and not just memorizing), and Adelaide showed him and Mamaw how to play "Tick Tock, Tick Tock, I'm a little cuckoo clock, tick tock tick tock, now I'm striking one o'clock... CUCKOO!" Josie found a caterpillar outside and played with it for an hour... she named it Henry too. Then the girls shopped in Mamaw's toy store, ate corn on the cob, then headed back to Grandma's for some desperately needed baths.

Wednesday



We took Angela with us (the boys were at school) and met Natasha and Bayleigh at the playground, then we went to lunch (the girls were in charge of getting our free ice cream, and Natasha ordered Banana Split ice cream but they came back with A BANANA SPLIT), then we went shopping at Walmart and the Dollar store for Mother's Day. Next it was home for napping, then to Village Inn Pizza with Papaw and Mamaw for wing night - it was very smoky in there! Afterward we went to play at a little playground... there was much yelling by Adelaide: "Swing! Swing! Slide! I Slide!"

Thursday
Our last day of this trip. We hung out at Grandma's house all day until we went to
Daddy's... then we went to the park to play in the creek. The kids thought that was AWESOME. They pretended to look for gold, and Mamaw kept track of all of their "nuggets" for them. Of course, they all got completely soaked while looking for said "gold," so I had to strip them off in the parking lot and they all rode home as Nudey Butts!

Chugga Chugga Woo Woo!

Thursday
After a basically uneventful car ride down (it actually felt SHORTER this time), we were welcomed into Grandma's house by the smell of fresh chicken and dumplins'. Nothing like dumplins' to help you sleep at 11:30 at night! On Thursday, the girls begged to go over to Great Aunt Nettie's house next door, so I went up to visit with Angela and help her clean. Well, she did most of the cleaning; I did most of the visiting. :) Later she took the girls to her house to play with Cameron and Caleb, but Adeladie decided that Scotty was her new arch-enemy. She ran pell-mell from him through the yard, crying, "SCOTTTTTY! NOOO!! SCOTTTY!" That night we went to the Igloo (a little ice cream and sandwich shop shaped like a real igloo) for a picnic with Papaw and Mamaw, and then we went back to their house for some "woodwalking." All three of the girls love to go out in the woods with Papaw (and withOUT me). That night after they were in bed, I went to hang out at Melanie's, even though the pollen was too bad for us to sit out on her new deck furniture.

Friday
On Friday we went to visit Chasity and check out their yard sale. I took over my Japanese food (they don't have sweet Japanese carrots in Ohio, so I have to eat them when I get a chance!) and we sat on the screened porch, newly renovated and SO COOL... I wish we had one! Sadie and Josie got to make their own sign to go up on the wall inside. Sadie made a bunch of flowers with her name and Josie drew a fairy princess in a blue dress. After naptime at Grandma's house, we had a big family supper (which Grandma loves) with Angela, Scotty, Cameron, and Caleb. Later we went riding around on the golfcart and we checked out the bees and the giant potato patch... Adelaide LOVED riding on the golfcart with Angela and kept saying, "FUN! FUN!" After that, we went back to Grandma's for watermelon and an impromptu birthday party for Josh with Britt, Natasha, Bayleigh, Thomas, Elizabeth, and Josh.

Saturday
Tweetsie Day
On Friday night I got a call from Sylvia (aka Mamaw) to let me know that my Daddy (aka Papaw) had come down with a fever, cough, chills, etc. This was NOT good. Not only did we not want him to be sick, but the next morning was TWEETSIE DAY. No one knows how much Sadie and Josie had been looking forward to going, and I just didn't have the heart to tell them that we had to cancel. Mamaw and Papaw decided, in their infinite wisdom, that we should just go without them... they gave me the money for our tickets, lunch, and souveniers (this was their birthday present to all the girls) and sent us on our way. I would definitely need help to corral all 3 kids while in the Old West, so my mom said she would come with us to help out. After a slow start (trying to get breakfast together and running into a silly bird with the car, then stopping to get sunscreen and bottled water), we made it there shortly after opening time. Their motto is "Blast from the Past," and it certainly was for me, since I hadn't been there since I was a child. It was almost exactly the same, though, and we were so excited! Here are some of the highlights:



-Riding the 'horses,' pretending they were Pet and Patty and Bunny from the Little House books
-Riding the train around the mountain, and getting held up by the outlaws and saved by the marshal who cracked Mommy and Grammie up with, "I'm Texas Pete and this here is my sister Tabasca." "Well, looky here, Mr. and Mrs. Sauce."
-They each got to pick out one souvenier... Sadie got a pink cowgirl hat with a sparkly spangly thing on the front, Josie picked out an "Indian set" with a pink feathered headdress, Indian 'braids,' a drum, and a tomahawk, and Adelaide picked out a teeny little real-fur mouse, I am sure with which when I find it eventually at the bottom of my purse I will scare myself to death.
-Grammie and Sadie and Josie rode the chair lifts up to Miners' Mountain, with Grammie screaming all the way; meanwhile, I almost killed myself walking up the steep, 2 mile long, newly graveled trail while trying to push the stroller containing Chubbalaide. I ended up having to make the poor child get out and walk. She followed along behind me, panting, "I comin', I comin'! Mommy! I comin'!"
-When we finally MADE it to the top (much to my surprise), we found Grammie and Sadie and Josie having a fine old time on the playground.
-After working up a thirst on the playground, we all got giant snow cones and Sadie and Josie got their faces painted, then we watched (and danced along with) The Hopper and Porter show, a giant engineer rabbit and conductor tortoise.
-Next, to Sadie's dismay, she found that she was TOO tall for the airplane ride, but Josie wasn't! Then Josie and Adelaide got to ride together in the boat ride with REAL water underneath them... they were very impressed, as this was Adelaide's first "big girl" ride with no grown ups around.
-Then I rode the Tweetsie Twister with Sadie and Josie, which was great fun, especially when they both started screaming like, well, little girls!
-Next, all three of them got to play in the mud when they went panning for gold.
-We went up the hill to the Petting zoo, and we bought ice cream cones full of feed for the animals... a funny emu kept popping his head up at Sadie from behind the fence, trying to steal her cone, and Josie cracked up at a baby goat who nibbled at her fingers.
-Thank goodness, there was a BUS back down the mountain - I was going to brave the chairlift WITH the stroller if there wasn't - and all three girls liked riding the bus. I don't know what it is with them and mass transportation, but they're all about it.
-Back down the hill, we watched the dancing girls in The Can-Can Review, then we watched the Blacksmith and headed over to see the cloggers, one of our favorite parts. The girls got up to clog on stage with the real cloggers, and they had a blast learning a step, "Pretend there's a bee on your toe. Now kick it off, stomp on it, and do it again!"
-After a couple of rides on the Merry-go-round, we decided that we were Tweetsied out. What? After only 7 hours??

We were SO tired, but amazingly, all three of them got their 2nd wind when Cameron and Caleb came down later to Grandma's. We finally had baths and got ready for church the next day.

Adelaide's favorite sayings... any time:

"Eeeeff!" Any time she tries to pick up something heavy or move something.
"Scooching!" Any time she tries to sit next to you.
"Chomp!" Any time she takes a big bite of something.
"Nuffing." Any time you ask what she's doing and she's not supposed to be doing it.
"(A)gain, gain!" Any time you're doing something she thinks is fun.
"I do it... I DO IT!" Any time you try to help her do ANYTHING.

Big News

Well, much has happened since my last post. For one, I found out that we are expecting Baby #4! This is somewhat of a surprise, honestly, but we are happy about it. I wanted to be 'done' by the time I was 35, and I'll be 34 this year, so I guess the timing is right. The funny thing is, ever since January, I've been trying pretty hard to lose weight (I wanted to lose 30 pounds or so before I got pregnant again-- losing 30 is a lot easier than losing 70) and nothing was really working. I had gotten REALLY frustrated and so I called my primary care doctor to make an appointment to find out what I could do. Well, two days later I finally took a test (after being urged by friends and family) and got a positive result. THAT explained things, so I cancelled my appointment and made a DIFFERENT kind of appointment. Turns out I was almost 9 weeks along! When we told the kids, Sadie and Josie were pretty darn excited... they both want a 'brudder,' but Sadie says she'll be happy with another little sister, too. When I pointed to my tummy and said, "There's a baby in there!" to Adelaide, she ran over, lifted up my shirt, looked under it, and said, "Where?" Too cute. Josie (who is completely infatuated with Baby Ben, Lynn & Deanna's little boy) informed me yesterday that she hopes the baby will be "a little black boy." I said, "Ummm... I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen." heehee! Anyway, I'm excited but anxious (as usual). Will it be healthy? Will I do okay in delivery? Will I do okay in recovery with 3 other kids needing me? Will my back be able to stand it? Will I be a good mommy to FOUR, count 'em, FOUR children? I think the last question is what worries me most.

For Reals

Adelaide just made her first real joke tonight... she was blowing into her hand, making yucky "Thhhhpppt" sounds, and Jesse said, "Hey, who did that? Somebody's stinky!" Adelaide said, "Josie did. Tooted!"


I've pretty much given up on writing down her new "words," since she's pretty much speaking in complete (if not always understandable) sentences all the time. Some of my favorite things she says now are: "Sumpting! Want sumpting!" "Wait! Hey, wait,
wait, WAIT!" "Mines. Mines! Addalay's!" "Book. Read it! Right tare!"

Sadie is enjoying being six, so far. She has decided that turning six has somehow magically made her capable of swinging under her own power on the swingset, being able to jump rope, braid hair, AND read Green Eggs and Ham all by herself. She's such a big helper with her sisters, especially Adelaide... so much so, that sometimes when Adelaide is hurt or crying, she'll yell for Sadie instead of me! On the other hand, growing up must mean more hormones, because she's been more of a drama queen than ever lately... crying over things, butting heads with me and Josie, and generally feeling sorry for herself and her rotten lot in life (like the fact that she can't drink juiceboxes every day and watch cartoons all the time... isn't it terrible?).

Josie was playing Cinderella the other day as she was helping me sweep the kitchen floor (a task that needs to be done at least 3x a day, especially now that it's getting to be outside time AND Jesse's office is now at home). She likes for me to be the wicked stepmother, but little did I know that today was the day that Cinderella would at last grow a backbone. When I said, "Hey! Get to work!" she threw her broom in the floor, stomped her little foot, and said, "You need to do some of your own work, Stepmudder! And tell those stepsisters they need to do some of their own work too, because I AM TIRED OF IT!" I said, "Cinderella doesn't do that!" She replied, "Well, she does today!"

The drama, ever compounded by Josie, had a splinter in her foot the other day. When I tried to get it out with a needle, she moaned, "THIS is the WORST DAY OF MY LIFE!" The very next day, when I told her we could make candy apples, she jumped up and down and yelled, "For REALS??? THIS is the BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!"

Tub Talk

Adelaide is a TALK-ER. Holy cow. I don't know if she's just trying to keep up with her sisters, or make herself heard OVER them, or what, but she jabbers constantly. Here is a run down of her bath time conversation... see if you can figure out what's going on by her constant narration:

"Tub! Hot! Cold! Thank you! Welcome! Get it! Got it! No! Me! Mines! Elbow! Bubbles! Go! Boat! Pig! Head! Splashy! Oh WEASEL! Toot! Tooted! Heehee! Water! Booty! Okay! EWWWW! Cup! Messy! Dump it! Open! Wait! Wait! Wait! Oh, Baby! Hold her! SWIM! Hair! NOOOOO! All done! COLD!! Hand! Hide it! CUP! Fall down! rocky, rocky! Glug! Josie! Sadie! Tub! In! EVBODY!"

Quiet!

On the way to church Sunday, Sadie asked if we could listen to Laura and Mary (ie: Little House on the Prairie). Josie, who always says, "No! Not again!" was surprised to hear her voice come out of Adelaide's mouth, parroting her older sister. She yelled, "NO! NO! NOOOOO!" in a mean, growly voice. When I said, "Adelaide, be nice," she responded by changing the tone, but not content, of her words. She looked at me and sweetly said, "nooo."

In other car adventures, we stayed the night in a hotel last week when we went with Jesse a few hours away on business. The kids were excellent in the car, just biding their time until we made it to the finish line: room service and an indoor pool. However, they did have to do something to occupy themselves on the trip. Josie decided to sing the hours away... after lots of singing, she started in: "Twinkle, twinkle, little --" when Adelaide broke in and yelled, "QUIET!"

Speaking of Twinkle, Twinkle, Adelaide is now singing that particular bedtime favorite by memory. Though her memory somehow seems to be wrapped up in her mother's southern accent... she sings, "Twankle, twankle, lit... SAR!" What can I say? I love the twankle twankle.

Dirty Wormies

Yesterday, it was around 70 degrees here in the usually frozen North. Sadie and Josie spent a good 45 minutes digging for worms in the abandoned (by me) garden plot in the back yard in the afternoon. They were "saving" the worms from drowning, since they thought there was too much water under the dirt. After they caught 7 or 8long wiggly worms, Josie and Adelaide spent ANOTHER 45 minutes hunkered down on the ground, WATCHING the worms. Who knew worms made such good babysitters?

While the worm show was going on, Sadie and I played a version of badminton with a Winnie the Pooh beachball. This led to much running, laughing, rule changing (by Sadie) and eventually a broken badminton racquet. I think we need some birdies.

Today, Josie and I planted our lettuce seeds while Sadie gave the vinca vines a "haircut." Those things really take over the flowerbeds. Adelaide was a big help, walking around and pointing out "Dirt! Trash! Yuck! Dirty! Eww! Worm! Bug! Pider!" Later, they begged me until I finally let them put on swimsuits and squirt each other with the hose. Then they proceeded to rub mud all over themselves and pretend that they were gorillas... there was much grunting, jumping around, and beating of chests. Although I'd warned them that the muddier they got, the longer they'd have to stand under the freezing hose, they didn't listen. This, of course, ended up with two screaming, crying, wailing, freezing, dirty girls dancing all around on the driveway. Oh, and with me laughing. It was funny! I couldn't help it!

Jokey Josie

I went into the girls' bathroom to find Josie sitting on the potty in the pitch black dark. I said, "Josie, why are you pooping in the dark?" She said, "Because I'm nocturnal!"

Last weekend Grampie Don bought Josie a Browns jersey to wear when she watches football with Daddy (she's been envying Sadie's for over a year, so when he found one on sale, he snatched it up for her). She is so proud of it... she wore it around and even slept in it for two days straight. The other morning, after Adelaide dumped out our puzzle of the United States, Josie worked hard to put it together again. When I went to put it away, I noticed that New Jersey was missing. I said, "Josie, where is New Jersey? It's missing!" She said, "I know right where it is, Mommy!" She ran to the bathroom where her NEW JERSEY was hanging and said, "Here it is, Mommy! My NEW JERSEY!"

After an Easter morning candy fest (we had to stay home from church because Adelaide had "hand-foot-mouth disease," of all things), Josie was all hyped up... I heard her singing this version of her current favorite song, 'Old Dan Tucker':
"Get outta the way Adelaide, you're too late to get my candy!"

Adelaide wore around her little fuzzy lamb ears all morning (part of her Easter basket goodies) and later let Sadie try them out. Josie immediately decided that she was Mary (of Mary had a little lamb) and I was the Wolf. Josie came in my room with Sadie on all fours, baa-ing behind her. Josie looked at me and said, "Hey! She's a mean sheep! Be nice to her, Wolf, or she will kill you until you are dead!"

Deer!

Adelaide has really been freaking me out lately. Anytime we are in a room and there's a dark corner, or if she's looking INTO a dark room from the hallway or whatever, she'll look intently INTO the dark, point her little finger, and yell, "Deer! Deer!" I wasn't sure what the heck was going on... did we have ghost deer in our house or something? I knew she wasn't just meaning "dark" because sometimes she'll say "Dark! Deer! DEER!" The other night we came downstairs into the family room and she froze on the landing, got this scared look on her face, pointed her little finger into the dark corner of the room, and cried out, "DEER! DEER, MOMMY! DEER!" I walked over to the corner with her to show her that there was no deer anywhere around, but she was inconsolable. Weird.

I finally told Jesse about it, knowing that he would say I was goofy for thinking about this at all, but it happened over and over and over again! He informed me that he and Adelaide sit at the big picture window in the living room at night and look for deer out in the back yard in the dark. Adelaide always points out there and yells, "Deer!" when she sees one. Apparently, she has an active imagination since now she's seeing them INSIDE the house. At least there was a reason, though!!

Funny Girls

Sadie, after I said she was kind of a homebody: "I am NOT a homey!"

Josie, worried about her friends trying to tame a squirrel: "And squirrels can carry diseases PLUS!" Plus what, we'll never know. :)

Josie decided the best nickname for Baby Ben would have to have part of her name included. His new name around our house? "Benjo."

Adelaide's favorite things to say these days: "Nack! NACK! NAAAAACK!" meaning "Snack."

You say "Chugga chugga" she says "Choo choo!" This is Daddy's favorite game with her.

Well, at Least You Have Your Beans.

On Thursday we went to lunch for a joint Jesse/Sadie birthday celebration... at none other than our favorite Mexican place, with none other than some of our favorite people - Deanna, Baby Ben, and Lydia. Sadie has begun trying to look on the bright side of life. When Deanna's food was late arriving to the table, Sadie piped up, "Well, at least you have your beans." We all think this has the makings of a good family 'saying.'

Sadie has been obsessed with the Little House on the Prairie stories for about 2 years now, ever since Grandma Beth got her some books on CD for her birthday. She would listen to them non-stop (if Josie would let her. Adelaide now copies Josie and if she sees me going for the CD player in the car, she shouts, "NOooooo!"). Jesse introduced them to the TV series a couple of months ago (against my better judgement), and they LOVE them too. The other day, Sadie was contemplating the dreaded Nellie Olsen, her terrible brother Willie, and the awful Mrs. Olsen. She said to me, "You know what, Mom?" Mixing in her vast knowledge of fairy tale lingo, she informed me that "Out of the whole Olsen family, Mr. Olsen is the fairest of them all." I laughed, agreeing with her that indeed, all of them are pretty UNfair except Mr. Olsen.

Weasel

Josie, who has been giving me a really hard time lately, made the following statement when she didn't do what she was told: "I forgot that when you do something wrong, you gotta do the consequences."

In a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black, Josie informed Adelaide that "You are so dramatic." Then she looked at me, rolled her eyes and said, "She is such a drama king. I mean queen."

Grammie tells the story of HeddieBell and Weasel, two people she knew in the NC mountains 'back in the day' when she was little. She and Sadie and Josie completely cracked themselves up one day when they decided that if HeddieBell and Weasel had kids, they would be named "WeaselHeads." After much sidesplitting, tearful, knee-slapping laughter, Adelaide picked up on the joke. She now goes around all day saying, "Oh WEASEL! Oh WEAAAASSSSEL!"

Space Savers

This is why I don't let my kids watch TV. Sadie (after a day that obviously included some commercials at Grammie's house) came home and quoted, "Mommy, you really need some super Space Saver Bags. They fit right under your bed, and you can squeeze the air completely out of them, mashing them flat and storing up to 12 sweaters all at once! It's just so convenient!"

Josie is the queen of all drama queens these days. I think we're going to have to send her to a fine arts academy. If she's in trouble or mad about something, she'll cry like the world is just falling to pieces, and she will SOB like her heart is just breaking. If I tell her to stop it, she'll breathe heavily and sigh and say, "I'm twying but I can't! I really just can't! I don't know how and I JUST CAN'T DO IT! Wahhhhhh!!" and she'll burst into tears again. It's so hard for me not to laugh at her (which only makes it worse because she says "EEEHHH! It's NOT FUNNY!"), but she's so DRAMATIC. The other day she worked herself into a worried frenzy while we were out shopping for Easter dresses because she just couldn't decide between the two that she liked. If I were THAT kind of parent, I probably would've gotten both of them for her. Luckily, I'm not that kind of parent. But I'm wondering: what in the world do the teenage years have in store for us?

Adelaide is continually cracking me up these days, trying out her new words (she picked up a little rat finger puppet that Grandma Beth gave her for Christmas and said, "WEASEL!"), her new skills (bouncing a ball, jumping, riding her little riding tractor, blowing bubbles, etc.), and her emerging conscience. I remember the other two doing this too, but I think it's so fascinating. She'll look at something she knows she's not supposed to do or touch, like the stove or the gum in my purse, and she'll say under her breath, "no, no... no, no...." like she's talking herself out of messing with it. I love that!

Hide-n-Hoot

Today during a rare spell of non-coughing, we all ventured outside into the (dare I say it?) sunny, spring-like weather! Josie was so excited to be outside that she zoomed off on her hot wheels, head thrown back, laughing hysterically. Sadie zoomed off on her razor scooter that she got for Christmas (that hasn't seen ANY action since we came back from NC) and Adelaide ran around stomping her feet on the ground... the poor kid has only seen tile, carpet, and snow for going on six months now. No wonder she was stomping... probably trying to figure out what the heck this hard stuff covered with green stuff is. Anyway, the girls made up a new game called "Hide and Hoot." Yes, it is played exactly the way it sounds. Somebody goes and hides while the other one counts. Then the hider turns into the hooter, and the hooter hoots until the finder finds them. HOOT HOOT!

Sick Sick Sick

It has been a TERRIBLE week for us. Last weekend when Jesse, Josie, Adelaide, and I got back from spending the weekend at a marriage conference with our friends Sonya and Rick, I got SICK. It hit me out of the blue... we had picked up Sadie (she stayed with Grandma and Grandpa so she wouldn't have to miss her first week of basketball classes), had dinner, and come home. We were putting the kids to bed when it suddenly hit me... then I proceeded to throw up 17 times in an 8 hour period. I literally thought I was going to DIE. I even called Mama in the middle of the night to tell her goodbye. She asked me if I'd been drinking! Do you believe that!? I slept on the bathroom floor, curled into a fetal position. Jesse kept the kids (and himself) sequestered from me. He slept upstairs, oblivious to the fact that I was croaking, "Help! Help!" downstairs, because making it to the kitchen for some ice chips was a completely insurmountable obastacle. Long story short, it was AWFUL. Over the next week, Jesse got a sinus/respiratory infection, and all three of the kids (first Adelaide, then Sadie, then Josie) got either one or a combination of both of these maladies. Poor Sadie was really sick... she's a trooper, though, and would just throw up and keep on going. She ended up on the couch for 2 nights so I could come and help her when she got sick... Josie was only sick for a couple of days and she acted completely fine except for throwing up a few times. She enjoyed the babying and the lounging around watching TV and sipping Gatorade part of being sick. My kids have watched more TV in the past week than they have watched in their entire lives! I just gave up and chalked it up to a bad week. I mean, if I wasn't helping one in the bathroom while she was being sick, I was cleaning up boogers and rocking someone else while they coughed their head off. I am longing for spring to GET HERE ALREADY so I can throw open these windows and get rid of all these disgusting germs. Or at least trade them out for new ones!

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!