7 more weeks

Insomnia. It's driving me crazy. I keep waking up at at 3 am and I CANNOT go back to sleep until 6, when I might as well just get up! I'm sure it's linked to pregnancy. 7 more weeks. 7 more weeks. 7 more weeks. That's my new mantra.

We got back from NC late Sunday night... we had a rough trip, especially me. I felt so crammed into the car and SO uncomfortable that it was just ridiculous. Everything got on my nerves, and it seemed the only time I was really enjoying myself was when I was sleeping! Sheesh. 7 more weeks. 7 more weeks. The girls had a lot more fun than I did, which is how it should be, I guess! We went to the carnival on Tuesday with Papaw, Mamaw, my cousin Angela, and her little girl Lauren (she's between the ages of Sadie and Josie). They had a really fun time together and got to ride ponies, the merry-go-round, the race cars, and they climbed the crazy climbing thing (Josie was really good at this!). Mamaw also let them play the duckie game and Papaw bought them cotton candy. Wednesday, Thomas came home from work early and played with the kids for hours. He and Elizabeth and Josh came over and they all played outside, spinning around, running, playing ball, and getting all sweaty and hot. It was really warm out for 2 days (and SUNNY - YAY!) and they played while I sat out in the sun and read. The rest of the week was spent playing with Britt and Natasha (due with her 1st baby the same day as I am), zooming up and down the driveway at Papaw's house while he pushed them on the little car, eating Great Grandma's pinto beans, feeding the birds, playing in the fort at Aunt Sharon's house with Cameron and Caleb, wearing themselves out at Brenda's house with Chasity's kids, and generally having a good old time. Saturday was the baby shower that Angela and I had for Natasha, and though we got a late start and had to RUN to finish everything on time, it went well and we had a great turnout. The girls had fun playing in the toyroom with Hailey, and then they took turns "helping" Natasha open her presents and "modeling" them for everyone to see.

All in all, it was a good trip. Only my hormones and I had a rough time! :)

What? FOUR Already?

Saturday was Sadie's fourth birthday. This morning, I told her that it was her birthday, and she said, "What? My birthday!? Already?? I'm FOUR!" She had a good day.... we went to a real tea room with the 2 grandmas, Aunt Becky, Teagan, Aunt Cindy, and Laura. She loved all the china teapots and cups for everyone, the tiny food, the whole nine yards. She wore a blue polka dot dress that she picked out herself, a pearl headband, AND white kid gloves. She was so grown up. I couldn't talk (I'm in the throes of laryngitis again), but I could bask in the glow of her cuteness. :)

She spent the rest of the day (and night) with Grandma Beth (her choice for a happy birthday! :) and then after church on Sunday, we had a cake and ice cream party (courtesy of Grammie) at our house.

Josie went on a special Josie/Daddy trip to the zoo today and had a fabulous time. She came home hyped up on sugar (rock candy) and thrilled with her gift shop purchases (a snake for Sadie's birthday party and a "purse" full of tiny little animals for herself, which she played with ALL night and talked to as if they were 20 babies of her own.

Can I Get a Cotton Ball?

Well, Josie has pretty much potty-trained herself over the past week and a half. Neither Jesse nor I thought that she was ready yet (she won't be 3 until the end of July) but give that girl a little incentive and she goes for it! We made her very own potty bank a couple of weeks ago (she gets a cotton ball for going #1 and 2 cotton balls for going #2). Whenever she fills it up to a certain line she gets a) Candy b) a trip to the playground at the mall c) eating at her favorite place (Mexican) and seeing the Mariachi band and the best of all --and hardest to achieve -- d) Chuck E. Cheese's! She filled the whole potty bank up in record time, let me tell you. She would go potty over and over and over again, and every time when she finished, she would say, "Give me some toilet paper, please. Now, can I get a cotton ball?" She's been wearing cute little Winnie-the-Pooh panties around at home and today she wore the same big girl pull-up ALL DAY LONG! Coincidentally, today was the day we took them to Chuck E. Cheese's, too (even though both Daddy and I have colds). They had a blast, and Sadie has been great as far as "peer pressure" goes. She knows that when Josie wins, SHE wins too. So she's been saying, "Hey Josie... don't forget to go potty! Do you need to go potty? Good job! High Five!" Anyway, tonight, the funniest thing happened... There's this clock ride there (think Hickory Dickory Dock) that has a little chair the kids sit in and it goes all the way around the clock a few times while playing a little song (the kid has to buckle in before it starts). Josie picked this particular ride as her very favorite for tonight, and she must've ridden it 10 times or so. The funny thing was, she would climb in the chair, Sadie would buckle her in, put in the money, then tickle Josie's feet - when she could reach them - as the chair went around the clock. Josie thought this was hilarious. THEN, they traded places. Sadie got in the chair, buckled in, Josie put the token in, and then she ran around to tickle Sadie's feet. Somehow, instead of tickling and letting go like Sadie had done, she somehow decided to latch on to Sadie's feet with both hands... in a death grip. The ride, oblivious to what was going on, kept going up, up, up... and so did Josie. The highest the thing goes is about 5 feet off the ground, so the highest Josie got before she lost her grip and went Kerplunk! on her butt was about 3 1/2 feet or so, but you should've seen the look on her face!!! I thought Jesse and I were going to crack up. It was great.

Bunny and Big Wheels

This past weekend Jesse went to visit our friends in Illinois with Darryl, Lydia, and Sadie. Sadie was not homesick in the least, but Mommy had a rough time with her being gone! It was the first time she had ever been away from me - I've left her, but she's never left ME before! They had a blast, though... Sadie was the world's best traveler, apparently. She spent hours playing with her "activity bag" that I packed for her, and Jesse let her watch Happy Feet on the laptop with the headphones. This was her first experience with headphones, and Jesse said that Darryl and Lydia were cracking up because every five minutes Sadie would shout, "HEY LYDIA! HAVE YOU EVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THAT BEFORE?!" while wearing the headset.

Sadie and Simon (Aaron & Lydia's son in Illinois) got along really well all weekend. They have similar temperaments, and although she's a year and a half younger than him, she's about the same height and she's a BIG talker, you know. Sadie was also great with Miriam, Simon's little sister... she always invited her to play with them - I guess because she's so used to playing with her OWN little sister. I was pretty proud of her for that!

Jesse said that it was kind of cold there this weekend but the kids wanted to play outside. They were racing around on the bike and big wheel when the grown-ups heard a crack and a big thud - they turned around and saw Sadie looking down at the ground with the front fork of the big wheel all the way down on the driveway with the front wheel completely broken off. Simon was a little bit concerned over his big wheel at first, but since he just got training wheels on his big-boy bike, he handled it okay. This is a re-enactment of the "Big Wheel Incident."

When they left on Friday, I said to Josie, "I'm going to miss Daddy and Sadie while they're gone, aren't you?" Josie turned around, looked at me, and said, "Nope!" So while they were on their big adventure, Josie and I spent the night at my mom's house on Friday night and then went to have breakfast on a farm with the Easter Bunny on Saturday morning. Afterward, we visited the animals on the farm and Josie had a great time... we rode on the wagon behind a tractor, saw all the new baby lambs (they all loved Josie and came right up to her so she could pet them), taste-tested silver-dollar pancakes, and took a pony ride! She picked out cherry rock candy as her special treat, but she decided it was too hard for her. She had a great time. Later that day, we met Grandma at Sam's Club and Josie went into the jungle (the plant display) and got a Slushee. Then we spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Josie loves being the center of attention, so a good time was had by all!

Snow Funny

Yesterday, Jesse, Uncle James, and Grandma took the kids sledding down the hill at her house. They had a blast... Sadie didn't last as long as Josie did, though. Josie was out there for hours, eating snow and making everyone pull her back up the hill so she could go down again all by herself. And, although we just got like 4 feet of snow, funny things are still happening around here.

My mom was talking about "keeping her foot in the door" at her old job, and Sadie said, "But Grammie, if you keep your foot in the door, it's going to get squooshed!"

The girls and I were goofing around on the bed, tickling each other, playing 'footsie,' and telling stories. I was telling them about a mean old crocodile who was sneaking up on a baby hippo, and we were all being really quiet, waiting for the crocodile to pounce, when Josie goes "thpppt! I TOOTED!" We all cracked up, and Josie said over and over, "I messed up you story, Mommy! I messed up you story!"

We were at Grandma and Grandpa's house, and the girls were upstairs. Suddenly, things started flying over the railing on the loft down into the living room. I said, "Sadie, I don't want to see you throwing stuff off of there ANY MORE." She said, "But Mommy, I didn't think you could see me!"

Josie was wiggling around on the bed and she kicked Sadie in the nose. Sadie almost started crying, then Josie said, "I kicked you in the schnozz! Sadie, I'm sorry I kicked you in the schnozz!" Sadie forgot all about crying and we all started saying "Schnozz! Schnozz! Schnozz!"

From out of nowhere, Sadie said, "Mommy, you know those strings in the bathroom where Grammie works? So the little old ladies can pull them if they fall down and they can get help? We need one of those in our bathroom so I won't have to wait so long for you to come help me when I go potty."

Josie singing the wedding song at Grammie's house: "Here comes the pig, here comes the pig!"

Sadie when confronted with a no-no: "Hmm. Mommy, I think one of your children did it. But it wasn't me, so it must've been Josie."

Sadie when cleaning behind the bed: "Hey look! A cobweb! One of those "cob-spiders" must have built it."

Sick, Sick, Sick

Well, the plague has hit us again. The girls both got sick early Friday morning, and commenced to throwing up every hour or so (Mommy didn't do so hot with this development, what with the crazy gag reflex and everything) and being generally pitiful and feeling crummy. Once when I went to check on her, Sadie said, "I feel like somebody is holding me in their arms... maybe it's God." Josie only kept yelling, "Mommy! I throwed up! I throwed up in my bed!" I slept a total of about 20 minutes that night. Saturday was spent recuperating, eating things from the doctor ordered BRAT diet (Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, and Toast), and watching cartoons on the couch under a blanket. Same thing Sunday... until, lo and behold, late Sunday night, I got the adult version of this same flu. I THOUGHT I WAS DYING. Seriously. It was so violent that I actually burst blood vessels over my eyes (a first for me). It made me feel even worse for the kids than I already did, since I did have some idea of what they went through!

Anyway, I think the worst is finally over. Jesse took them to the library for Story Time, since they've been cooped up in the house for 4 days, and I'm catching up on my Dr. Phils.

A couple of funny things since last time:

Josie: "Mommy! I want some milk! Milk, please!" "Do you know where milk comes from?" A "do you think I'm dumb or something?" look from her... "Yeah, Mom!" "Where?" "From the fridgerator!"

Josie's take on her favorite song (during "nudie-butt time" after baths): "Twinkle, twinkle, little butt!"

Wokka Wokka Wokka!

I'm teaching Sunday School this month for Sadie and Josie's class. Last Sunday was the story of Hannah. Last night when I asked them about it, Sadie remembered Hannah's name, and Eli's (the priest's) name, and that Hannah prayed to God because she wanted a child. Josie said, "A boy. Samuel." I was so excited that they were actually listening! When I DON'T teach, they're always really attentive (I always peek through the window to see what they're doing), but when I'm in charge, they're always out of their seats, running around, trying to get me to hold them, etc. I don't get it! Apparently, I am not much of an authority figure.

Josie's joyous exclamation to Sadie and her cousins after I told her I was making chili: "Ha haha!! Guys! Hey, guys!! Chili beans! Chili beans for sup-pa!"

Both of the girls have been introduced to The Muppet Show and their favorite is Fozzie Bear. They now like to "tell jokes" and say "Wokka, wokka, wokka!" On the way to school this morning, they were taking turns telling "jokes." For instance: "Why did Josie cross the street? To get her blankie! Wokka wokka wokka!" Also, "Why is the stoplight stopped? It's not our turn! Wokka wokka wokka!" They both found themselves incredibly funny, even though their jokes weren't funny in the traditional sense, to say the least. My favorite? One of Sadie's: "Why did Daddy dive into the river all by himself and get EATEN by a SHARK?! Wokka wokka wokka!"

Today was Valentine's Day, and the girls got Valentines from ALL of their grandparents. They love getting mail, and you should've seen them ripping their cards open and the smiles on their little faces when they saw Snoopy, Fairy Princesses, puppies, etc. glittering on their cards. We made heart cookies and had a Valentine's party at school (Josie gave Miss Sue a big hug because she brought the infamous "Jumpy Thing" for them to jump in) complete with an ice cream sundae buffet. Today, the girls sang "Oh, won't you be my valentine, my valentine, my valentine, oh, won't you be my valentine, and love me everyday!?" to Daddy and to Grammie, shouted "Happy Valentine's Day!" to Grandpa and Papaw, and generally ran amok and had a grand old time when we went for a special Valentine dinner (Mexican) and saw the Mariachi band.

Fibbers and Criminis

Mommy: "Josie, do you have poop?"
Josie: "No! I'm running away!"
She runs into the other room, as fast as her little legs can carry her - stench drifting up in her wake.

Mommy: "Sadie, where did you get that ball? I've never seen it before."
Sadie: "I stole it. From God. Well, actually, I stole it from God's HOUSE."
She proceeds to tell me that Daddy already had a talk with her about it and that she is planning to return it next Sunday.

Big Girl Bed!

I'm having a hard time keeping up with everything that's happening these days. Not because I'm so busy, exactly, but mainly because I'm stinking tired and therefore - stinking lazy. So, I'll do a brief synopsis to set my mind at ease:

The girls are loving preschool at church. Last week for Show and Tell, Josie took her little dog that records her voice saying, "Woof!" and Sadie took Snoopy (her really fuzzy Snoopy, as she calls it) and told everyone that it was the Snoop that she had when she was a little baby. They went sledding (bundled up in their snowsuits like Ralphie on "A Christmas Story"), spent the night with Grammie and Don (Josie said she wanted to have another "Donfire," since we had a "Bonfire" at their house in the fall) without any crying incidents, and each of them had a special night on their own at Grandma and Grandpa's house last week. They have spent the better part of yesterday and today playing in their new "clubhouse," a giant furniture box with a door cut in the end. They are having endless hours of fun in there with their flashlights that Aunt Sharon gave them for Christmas.

On Monday, we sent Sebastian to live at his new home - on a little farm about an hour south of us with a family that is perfect for him. They have three older kids (the oldest one loves the fact that Buddy is "a chick magnet"), and they have lots of room for him to run, a groomer in the family, and he gets to sleep IN BED with the kids. He's overly content, to say the least. We were REALLY sad about giving him away, but I just couldn't bear the thought of cleaning up after the hairy, slobbery, giant beast (not Jesse, Sebastian :) AND three kids. I just couldn't do it. Plus, I can't walk the poor dog - not with my shoulder issues. He would end up pulling my arm off and dragging it down the street... besides, Sadie's dream is to have a dog she can walk on a leash all by herself. We'll probably get another dog eventually - a smaller, less hairy, less drooly one - but for now, we're reveling in our super clean house and new leather couches. Yahoo!

Tonight, Josie is sleeping in her very own BIG GIRL BED! We couldn't believe how easy it was to get her into it... after all her protesting, she jumped right in (it's in Sadie's room, which will be becoming Josie's room, too) and she and Sadie told each other stories and went right to sleep. Now if they'll just stay that way... I have a mental image of hearing noises in the middle of the night and going to their room to find them playing "ponies," dress-up (yesterday, they spent 45 minutes trying to "dress up right" like the Muppets), and jumping up and down on the bed at 3am. We'll see!

The baby is STILL making me sick, sick, sick. It hates anything green - it's the weirdest thing. I can't seem to hold down anything that's healthy. I think the baby is going to come out loving Wendy's chicken sandwiches, Wavy Lay's, and French Onion dip.

Rainbow Charlie & The Muffin Man

Last week was our very first "honest-and-for-true" dance class (Sadie) and gymnastics class (Josie). The girls were very excited (especially Sadie because she got to wear her tutu out of the house). Josie had a bit of a meltdown when we first started class, but after a little prayer meeting in the bathroom, she settled in and had a good old time. They both had lots of fun, and they've been practicing up until we go back this week. Before we left for class that morning, Sadie said, "I don't need to go to class. I already know how to dance. Watch this!"

Grammy accompanied us to class, then when we got home, she sang Sadie a very unfortunate song... don't ask me why. She is my mother, you know... she's been doing crazy things my whole life and I still haven't figured her out! Anyway, now at any given time you may hear Sadie chanting, "No stwain, no pain, just sit and let it dwain, dia-we-ah, dia-we-ah." Good grief.

Josie has recently started counting and she can get all the way up to thirteen! We were so proud, and THEN we heard her start saying, "Uno-dos-tres, uno-dos-tres!" She knows how to count in Spanish, too! When Jesse told her she was a mess, she said, "Dat's what Uncle Thomas says to me. I not a mess! I'm a wittle gi-wuhl!"

We've been discussing the impending arrival of the new sister (or brother, if they're all wrong), and we think we're going to end up putting both of the girls in Sadie's room. We have not sold Josie on the idea at all. When we asked her if she wanted a brand new big girl bed like Sadie's, she said, "NO! I want my OWN bed!"

They went to the doctor with us on Friday to find out if it's a boy or a girl... there is no evidence to the contrary that it's NOT another girl. So, we're working on baby girl #3! Unless something pops up over the next 19 weeks or so, hehee. Sadie wants to name the baby "Rainbow Child" and Josie wants to name it either Charlie or Elvis. My friend Melanie said we should combine the two and name her Rainbow Charlie... I must admit, it has a nice ring to it.

This past weekend was Grandma and Grandpa weekend. Josie got them all to herself on Saturday night (she had tea party, a bath, stories, and an extra bonus of Deanna time) and Sadie went home with them after church and spent the night on Sunday (she also had a tea party and got to make a cool crafty necklace with Grandma). She was SO ready to go after church... it was cute - I found her standing in the hallway, coat on, hood up, suitcase in hand, staring up at Grandma. On the way home, we asked Josie what she learned in Sunday School. She said, "Nothing." I asked her if she learned about God... "Nope!" Jesus? "Nope!" Then who? "We learned about the Muffin Man! Jesse's hoping that they were talking about the baker who was in prison with Joseph. Otherwise... Josie must be zoning out in class!

January's Child is full of Funny

Funny things from Sadie:

The other day as I was cleaning, sorting, and categorizing the myriad of baby clothes that we have, Sadie got mad at me. She was being mean, so I put her in time out. She sat there, steaming, getting madder and madder, until finally she exploded, "MOMMY! I AM LOSING MY TEMPERATURE!"

"Over the river and through the woods, to Grandma's house we go... the horse knows the way to carry the sleigh, through the white and DRIPPING snow, OH!"

We went to Chuck E. Cheese the other night to celebrate Sadie's "not having to use her pull-up at night for a week" and Josie's "going in the potty." They had an excellent time, and Josie used her new climbing skills to climb up into the hamster tunnel thing on the ceiling. Sadie had a hey-day getting as many tickets as she could with the Whack-a-Mole and the Spider-Stomp games. Anyway, they kept playing the Chuck E. Cheese version of "Hunka-hunka-Burning Love" (did I mention that Sadie already knows who Elvis is? :) So, when we left, Sadie had that song completely stuck in her head. She kept singing, much to my delight, "I'm just a hunka hunka bird in love, Woo! I'm just a hunka hunka bird in love, WOO!"

We read an article on spider monkeys and Sadie asked me if they spin webs.

After eating one handful after another of peanuts, Sadie said, "I have to go potty. Peanuts make me pee."

Funny things from Josie:

I finally figured out what Josie is saying when she sings our prayer -
God our father, God our father, we thank You, we thank You, for our many blessings, for our many blessings, "God my friend, God my friend," instead of "Amen, Amen."

"Frosty the snowman was a jolly happy so - With a cornpop and a button nose and two eyes made out of coal... "

"God made kangaroos. And mommy kangaroos and baby ones. And daddy ones. But He is not a kangaroo."

"I have a booger! Get it off! Get it off!"

Big Girls' Club

Today we went to school (after both the girls escaped and went running down the driveway in the snow - they just can't help themselves) then I dropped them off to play at Grammy's while I went to work for a few hours. Jesse picked them up, and being the Greatest Dad Ever (according to his children) took them to McDonald's for nuggets, fries, juice boxes, and the all-important indoor playground. Jesse taught Josie to climb up the nets all by herself on the inside of the cubes to get to the slide, but she still said, "Help me, Sadie! Help me!" Sadie befriended a little girl who was 4... Sadie said, "I'm Sadie. I'm 3." Josie piped up, "And I'm 2! I'm 2!" The little girl tried to exclude Josie for a "big girls' club," saying, "No babies allowed. Let's go up here... no babies allowed up here!" Sadie, being the wonderful big sister that she is, replied, "Babies ARE allowed. She's my friend and she is my SISTER... And my daddy told me to say that."

I'll Be Home For Christmas

I guess I actually forgot to record anything about Christmas - just the dismal aftermath :) As Sadie likes to say, "Baby Jesus is born!" and that's what I should be remembering instead of all the throwing up! So here goes:

Sadie sweet-talked Papaw into taking her to the "cook on the table place" for dinner, and the girls both ate like little Japanese pigs (although Josie kind of freaked out when the chef lit the grill on fire - "Ahhh!!! My eyes! Cover my eyes!") and then they made friends with another little girl at our table. Daddy thought it was funny that they were comparing all of their red painted fingernails as they discussed the fish in the pond together. It WAS cute to see a 2, 3, and 4 year old with their fingers stuck out, chattering like little old ladies.

Christmas Eve was like it usually is in NC... crazy, crowded, loud, boisterous, fun, and exhausting. The girls did a LOT of playing with their cousins... blowing bubbles with Josh outside (it was pretty warm down there), going nuts in the pack-n-play (Josie's bed a.k.a. the Lion's Den), and chasing around Bryce, Carson, Grayson, and Lauren at our Christmas dinner. Their other cousins were there too, but they weren't quite as sociable, heehee! They were having a rough night. We felt sorry for Josie for the first time that I can remember because her cousin Lauren kind of took up with Sadie and Josie felt a little bit left out. She kept trying to introduce herself, "I'm Josie! Hey! I'm Josie!" but Lauren didn't really care. Oh well... that's how it goes with 3 year olds! They had fun anyway, banging on the piano and crawling around on the floor under the food tables. Then, pandemonium ensued when we got to Great Grandma's house... as usual! The strange thing about it is that though loud, cramped, crowded places usually drive me crazy, when it's my family, especially at Christmas, I absolutely love it. Adam took all the kids outside to look for Rudolph's nose, which they still haven't stopped talking about.

We all somehow piled into Great Grandma's house for 5 days... Sadie ended up on the couch with Mama, Josie in the extra room, Grandma in her chair, and Jesse and I in the other bedroom, crammed into a double bed. From a king to a double is a rough transition, let me tell you!

We made the big announcement - Yes, we are expecting once again - well, I guess I should say that Sadie made the big announcement. She spilled the beans before I had a chance to tell everyone all at once... that was okay, except I knew that once ANYONE in town knew, EVERYONE else would know the next day. That's how it is down there. So I had to tell Daddy early (I wanted him and Sylvia to open the ultrasound picture as their special present on Christmas morning) so someone on his mail route wouldn't tell him the next day :)

We did have fun... we got to spend a little bit of time with Brian, whom Jesse hadn't seen since LAST Christmas, and we had a good time - it was almost like the good old days! My wonderful girlfriends rearranged all of their schedules so I would actually get to come to our Christmas lunch, and we had a blast, as usual. I think everyone assumed we were drunk, but we were just high on each other's company. :) All in all, it was a good trip.

The No Good, Very Bad Day(s)

We came home from NC on Tuesday night. We got here in record time (Jesse drove the whole way) and everything SEEMED to be fine. We all went to bed. We prepared for the coming of Santa. We awoke to cries of "Mommy!!! MY EAR HURTS!" from Sadie standing next to our bed and loud coughing from the baby monitor in Josie's room. Great. The morning's Santa festivities were a wee bit anti-climactic due to a coughing, tired Josie and a lethargic Sadie who refused to get up off the couch. SOoooo... nobody slept all day, everyone cried and yelled "Mommy HOLD me!" "MY EAR HURTS!" "I need you!" ALL day long. I developed cramps and stiff arms from holding both hands over both of Sadie's ears because that was all she seemed to think would help the pain. Heating pad? WORK OF THE DEVIL. Ear drops? HA! I think not! Sheesh. Additionally, there was much throwing up. The best part of the day had to be when Sadie's fever reached 102 degrees and she was sitting on the bed whimpering and Josie, on the other side of the bed, spewed chicken noodle soup EVERYWHERE. All over the bed, all over herself, and all over ME. Do you remember the pie-eating contest scene in Stand By Me? That's what happened. Sadie started crying so hard that she threw up because she was scared because Josie was sick. I threw up because there is nothing more disgusting than half-digested chicken noodle soup all over you, especially when your gag reflex is hypersensitive anyway. Ugh.

Today, they felt better, thank the Lord. I, however, was exhausted from not sleeping and from a gigantic headache. I took them to the doctor (he thinks it's probably the onset of the flu. Joy.). I did get to take a glorious 45 minute nap. After that, Jesse came home and I went to the grocery store. Nice getaway, right? Well, think again! As I stood there minding my own business while going through the checkout line, the little boy cashier (who couldn't have been more than 17) looked at me and said, "Hey... you used to be a teenager a long time ago, right?" A LONG TIME AGO, he said. Ack!!! Unsure of whether to laugh or cry, I called a friend for backup... she laughed her head off, so I decided to round up the old hormones.

Then I went to another store to see if I could find a bra that would not cut me in half. There, I locked my keys in the car. Not fun in the freezing Ohio cold. Of course, I came to this realization at 8:55pm, right before the store closed, so I couldn't stay inside the store until Jesse got there. I would not be surprised if I was the next one in the family who comes down with the flu.

Mary and Jophus

I can't believe that Christmas is only 10 days away... things have been in a whirlwind around here, so I haven't had time to write anything! But, here goes:

The girls have both learned to wrap presents... Josie has "tape issues," but Sadie's getting pretty proficient at the whole thing. She likes trying to make the triangles at the ends of the packages. They both like picking out the nametags and sticking them on.

We had a giant cookie party at Grandma's house last week with practically the whole family. They both got to roll, cut out, and decorate their own cookies (while wearing their very own aprons) with Grandma, Aunt Becky, Aunt Lydia, Deanna, Aunt Cindy, and Sarah, and they had a BLAST.

Josie has decided that Mary was married to a guy named "Jo-phus." No matter how many times we say "Jo-SEPH," she grins and says, "Yeah, Jo-phus." It's driving Jesse crazy, but I think it's funny that Jesus was born in a stable surrounded by shepherds, angels, donkeys, and Mary and Jo-phus.

Sadie thinks that Santa is "cute" because he has a little "nose like a cherry."

Daddy took them Christmas shopping at the mall last night, and I've been informed that "we know what your presents are but it's a SECRET. Don't ask me cause I CAN'T TELL YOU."

We went to a Christmas party this afternoon, and they are both so hopped up on sugar that bedtime is nowhere in sight. For them at least... I may collapse at any moment. :)

The Best Time of the Year

We put up our tree last week... Jesse and Sadie put it together and put the lights on (she followed him around holding the "tail" of the lights while he placed them on the tree) and then the girls, my mom and I decorated it. Well, at least Sadie did. Once Josie saw my Russian nesting dolls - a set of 5 that fit inside each other - she wanted nothing to do with the tree OR us. She just wanted to figure out how to get all the other dolls inside the biggest "Mommy" doll. Sadie, on the other hand, went a little bonkers with the decorating. Both girls have a little tree in their rooms, and Sadie ran back and forth, back and forth, swiping decorations to put on HER tree. When we finished, I was surprised to see what a good job she had done! You wouldn't think a 3 year old could decorate a tree that well. Anyway, the whole time we were putting up the tree, she kept singing, "Have a holly, jolly Christmas... it's the best time of the year! Have a holly, jolly Christmas... it's the best time of the year! Have a holly, jolly Christmas... it's the best... " Well, you get the picture. I made it a point to teach her some more words to that particular song over the weekend! Josie's favorite song this year is "Jingle Bells." She likes to "Sing it REALLY LOUD!!!" They are having fun with the season so far... wearing their jingley, elfy socks, pretending to be Mary and Joseph, visiting Santa at the mall (Sadie asked for a purple scooter and a puppet theater and Josie asked for a Muffler - a little thing to put her hands in to keep warm) and telling him, "Feliz Navidad!" We also made cookies this week, and they decorated them with red and green sprinkles. Well, I should say that they decorated the KITCHEN with red and green sprinkles. Oh well... It IS the best time of the year, right?

Bedtime

"I wanna hode you a second minute!" Josie likes to say... especially after I've put her to bed and she wants to get back out. "Wock me in de wockin' chair for a second minute, Mommy!" The Mommy guilt just about always gets me... I'm such a sucker. 8 out of 10 times, I "hode" her in the "wockin chair" and sing her another song.

Sadie, on the other hand, always wants to hear "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" just ONE more time. "And rub my back while you sing it, Mommy!" Which I do. "Will you tell me a story? I don't wanna read one - I want you to TELL me one!" Which I do - usually about a little girl named Sadie and her friend, SuperDuperSnooper.

I'm telling you... some of the things that I think about as I sit there in the dark with them are just plain scary. I haven't really talked to anyone about this, but with all that's happening in the Middle East and everything you see on the news, I can't help but think about all the poor mothers who are living in fear THIS VERY NIGHT... mothers who can't safely rock their babies to sleep because their houses have been blown to smithereens... mothers who can't hold their little ones in their arms "for a second minute" because they've been killed by some random bomb... mothers who can't tell stories to their little girls because their little girls can't hear them anymore. It just kills me to even think about it. And yet I do. And so I "hode" my girls. I sing them songs. And I pray to God that those horrible things that are happening to those other mothers and their children halfway around the world will somehow never happen to us.

Talking Turkey

We went to see the doctor on Tuesday, and when the nurse came in, she asked Josie where her boo-boo was. Josie told her a long string of uncomprehensible sentences, ending with, "I coughing!" Then I pitched in and told her that she'd been coughing when she's taking a nap or trying to go to sleep. Josie turned around on the stool she was sitting on, looked at me, and said, "Mommy. I was talking." Humph. I guess trying to teach her not to interrupt backfired on me! The nurse cracked up.

Thursday was Thanksgiving, and early in the morning, Mama and I got up to do some serious cooking. Sadie helped... she peeled all the eggs for the deviled eggs, and she did a lot of stirring. She and Josie both wore their aprons (Josie wore nothing BUT her apron) and went back and forth between helping and watching the giant turkeys, Snoopys, and Hello Kittys on the Thanksgiving Day Parade. Sadie said, "This is the greatest Thanksgiving ever!"

We spent the day over at Grandma and Grandpa's house with the family and the girls had a whale of a time running around like - well, turkeys - with all their cousins and Uncle Darryl, the man of the hour.

La Bamba

Yesterday, Jesse took the girls on their "Secret Squirrels" field trip for school. They learned all about the "secret lives" of squirrels... what they eat, where they live, etc. Sadie taught ME a new word when she came home: Dray. A dray is a squirrel's nest! Betcha didn't know that, did you? Josie told me that squirrels like to eat pinecones and coconuts. :)

Tonight, we met Grandma, Lydia, and Darryl at our favorite Mexican place (the one where the waiters and Josie have a mutual crush on each other) and we got to hear a real live Mariachi band! We were all so excited! Sadie and Josie thoroughly enjoyed themselves... so much so that they couldn't contain their excitement and they had to hop down on the floor and dance around with glee. When the band came to our table to play La Bamba, the girls could not tear their eyes away from the 4 guys and 1 girl with the Spanish instruments and bright red outfits. They thought it was something else! They both sang La Bamba all the way home.

Haircuts, Dentists, and Pigs

Grandma cut Josie's bangs for her last week - Jesse and I love her wild and crazy curls, but the poor kid couldn't see through her bangs anymore so we gave in and trimmed them. Well, Grandma did - I'm too much of a klutz to be trusted around my children's eyes with scissors. Josie held the mirror herself the whole time, and she was VERY still - now she looks so much like a little girl and less like a baby.... Wahhhh!!!

Today at school, Sadie told everyone all about her trip to the dentist yesterday. She loved it. Josie did too - she was a bit jealous that she didn't get to climb up in the big chair, but she still got stickers and a toothbrush, so she got over it. Sadie warmed right up to the hygenists, and they talked about their favorite colors, Snoopy (who was on her lap, of course), shoes, and thumbsucking. Sadie was completely at ease, and she opened her mouth and happily let them "count" her teeth and clean them with special "bubblegum toothpaste" and a "weird rubbery spinny thing."

After Show and Tell (or just "Tell," in this case), we read a story about kids turning into pigs when they didn't use their manners. As I said to the class, "And they all turned into PIGS!" Sadie piped up, "Which are also called SWINE!" and all the adults completely cracked up. What a nut.

We finally got some of the pictures back from Grammy's wedding, and here you can see how stinking cute the kids all were. The handsome guys are the girls' cousins Cameron and Caleb.

Her Best Friend Can't Drive

The other day we went to the dollar store to let the girls pick out some things to go in our shoe boxes to ship overseas for Operation Christmas Child (we ended up doing SIX this year... I went a bit overboard). Jesse took the girls out to the car to load them up while I paid for everything and proceeded to leave all 7 bags sitting there in the store. I didn't realize this until 2 hours, lunch, and a drive home later. It was time for Jesse to go to work, so I had to pack the kids right back in the car and drive back to the store myself (miraculously, everything was still there - they must've known it was for a good cause and I don't have any more money!). As I pulled out of the driveway, Sadie said, "Oh NO!" I said, "What?" thinking I'd forgotten something else of importance, like Snoop, Blankie, or my mind. She said, "You're driving! Mommy, you are not the best driver. Daddy is. He doesn't get all turned around and he always knows where he is going." Well, needless to say, I was a bit miffed (although the child does speak the truth - I get lost all the time). Jesse thought it was hi-lar-i-ous.

On the way home from our little escapade, I asked the girls to be quiet because I wanted to call Melanie... to which Josie replied, "But MOMMY! I am your best friend!" :)

Last but not least, when I got Josie up from her nap yesterday, she said in this tiny little squeaky voice, "Mommy!? Some-ti-imes, I have poop issues." She also speaks the truth, but it was weird to hear it coming from her.

I have been incredibly tired lately. Maybe it's the winter blahs coming on... it's supposed to snow here tomorrow! Sigh. I think I could go without another snow forever and not miss it after the last couple of years! Anyway, I must return to the laundry, the shoebox packing, and my "Yada Yada Prayer Group" book by Neta Jackson. If you haven't read the series, you should!

Halloween Things

Tuesday afternoon we went on a leaf hunt... the girls found "special leaves" and we taped them to our special leaf map. It was fun - they like doing scavenger hunt types of things, especially outside.

Last night was Halloween, and Thing 1 and Thing 2 got all dressed up and went looking for "loot" in Aunt Becky's neighborhood, the trick or treating capital of two counties. Josie was really good at saying "Trickertreat!" and "Thank you, Lady!" to people, and Sadie told a couple of people who had one of those outdoor firepit things: "That's a mighty nice fire you got there!" It was fun, but we were so tired by the end (we missed naps yesterday) that when we ran into a couple of teenage Thing 1s and Thing 2s who wanted to take their picture with the girls, Sadie looked at me and deadpanned, "I am NOT getting out of this wagon."

Today when I went to get Josie out of bed, she said, "Mommy, when is Jesus coming back? I want to play with Him!" This caught me a little off guard... I think she pays way more attention to things than we usually give her credit for.

Oooh! Cat!

Yesterday, Josie was supposed to be taking a nap. Instead of silence, I kept hearing singing, talking, and humming coming from her room. I opened the door and went in and she was standing up in her crib, looking toward the bluebirds on the wall behind the crib. I didn't realize that she didn't know I'd come in until I was standing right behind her. I said, "Hey!" She jumped a FOOT off of her mattress STRAIGHT up into the air and yelled, "OOOH! Oooh! Mommy, you scare me." Then we both had a good laugh. :)

This afternoon, Sadie and I worked on her letters for a little while. I wrote "at" down about 10 times, then let her fill in letters in front, like b, c, f, h, etc. As she wrote the letters down, we sounded out the letter sounds and SHE READ THE WORDS TO ME!!! It was the greatest feeling! She was all proud of herself, too, and she called her grandma (a teacher) to give her the good news. I have the feeling she'll be a fairly accomplished reader by age 4 (like yours truly, heehee).

Wake Up

Before bed tonight, I read some of my daily Bible reading to Sadie in her room. When she got into bed, she asked, "Mommy, when is Jesus coming back?" I told her I didn't know... that it is going to be a big surprise, but when He does come back, an angel will blow a giant trumpet and we'll hear it all across the world! She said, "That will be loud! Where will Jesus be when He comes?" I told her that I thought He would step out on the clouds in the sky and we would all see Him and that He would know who she was!!! She got this excited look on her face and a great big smile, and she said, "And He will come down here, and I will sit on His lap and He will tell me stories and it will be great! And all of those angels - lots and lots of them - will be here too!!!" I said, "Do you want to pray and ask for Jesus to please come back soon?" She answered, "No, because He can't hear me... He has nails in His ears." I laughed... I couldn't help it. Then I told her the nails weren't in His ears, but in His hands and feet. She asked if they were still there, but I told her that after God brought Jesus back from being dead, he no longer had nails in His hands and feet... that He's all better now. She said, "Maybe He will come back on Easter! Just like when God brought Him back from being dead! And then maybe Great Grandpa Ralph will wake up too, when the trumpet blows!" She was SO excited, and I was moved to tears.... having a spiritual discussion with a three year old is an amazing and humbling thing.

God and the Moon

Today, when I was trying to get Josie to help clean up her room, she looked at me and said, "Mommy, I'm God." I was a little taken aback. I laughed and said, "No, you are not God!" She said, "Yes I am, Mommy, I am God." (...and I don't have to clean up my room, in other words. :)

Tonight we went to Grandma and Grandpa's for supper, then we had a pumpkin carving party on the back deck. The kids had lots of fun scooping out "pumpkin guts" with their cousins, and then we made a little pumpkin procession on the rock walk in the back of the house. Their favorite part was FIRE!!! The little pyros. They love "helping" to light the candles and watching their pumpkins come to life.

Sadie spent the night for a girls' slumber party with Grandma and Teagan, and Josie came home with us. On the way, she said, "Hey! Look up dere in the sky! The moon! A honeymoon! I can't reach it! Urrghhh!!! (as she tried to reach it) It's too high!" I asked what she would do if she got the moon, and she said, "I would throw it in the trash can."

Wedding Blues

The past couple of weeks have been all-consumed by my mom's wedding. Thank goodness it is finally over and we got home from NC late last night. We went down last week, and ALL of us got some kind of horribly croupy cold/cough combination that we STILL haven't gotten rid of. I had to sing in the wedding, and though I ended up doing it after a 2 day stretch of laryngitis, I was NOT at the top of my game. But I think Mama was happy that I tried to croak it out. Sadie and Josie looked gorgeous that day - and Sadie stole the show as the flower girl because she started clapping and dancing along to all the songs, waving at her daddy and her grandpa, and plopping down in the floor in the front of the church. It was a fun wedding, and they both danced with Grammy and played with their cousins and had a good time. I had fun, too, but I think I was high on relief more than anything else :) One of the cutest parts was when Sadie and Cameron were getting their pictures made before the wedding started and Sadie held his arm, all smiles, and said, "Oh boy! This is going to be GREAT!"

Since we were all sick and SUPER GRUMPY, we left quickly on Tuesday without really saying goodbye to anyone, which we've never done before. I didn't like it, but we had to get out of there and get home!

There is definitely some adjusting to be done since Mama will no longer be living here. Sadie is taking it the hardest... I felt so sorry for her the other night... she had been really mean and crabby and I was trying to put her to bed and she was just hateful. I asked her why she was being that way: "Are you mad?" "NO!" "Are you sad?" And her little face just crumpled and she started crying and saying, "I don't want Grammy to go live with Don! I want her to stay at our house! I miss her!" It broke my heart, and I didn't know what to say, really, so I just held her and cried, too. It was pitiful.


Some quotes from the past few days:
"Mother! I need you to help me fix my owl and attach it back together! Because it is ripped! And it was an accident! I need the tape! I need to cut something and then I need to tape it! I'm having a problem here and I can't make up my mind!" (Sadie)


"Mommy, my mommy, will you come into my room and play with me? Want to do a puzzle with me? Okay, here you go! Let's do it, Mommy!" (Josie)

"Lydia, I'm sorry I didn't call you for the past few days. I've been in North Carolina." (Sadie)

"Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, LISTEN TO ME! I LOVE YOU!" (Josie)

Bad day, Sadie's Out of a Job

Oh my goodness...what a day. I am pooped. Josie had, shall we say, a very TWO day today. She screamed (shrill, bloody murder screams), popped Sadie on top of the head with a broom (on purpose), yelled, "NO! NO! NO!" at me (and Daddy AND Grammy), and shoved Sadie down on the kitchen floor. She also screamed, "I!!!!!!!!! I!!!! I!!!!!" at the top of her lungs every time she saw something that she wanted to do. She is so incredibly hard-headed. If she weren't so ridiculously cute, I think I would seriously have to smack her around. :) I think that's why God makes our children so cute in our eyes... so we won't spend the day spanking them over and over. Anyway, she was just MEAN all day. Even right up to bedtime. I went to put her in her crib and she kicked me as hard as she could. What do you do? Say, "You're in time-out!" and turn out the light? Sheesh.

Funny things that happened:
I was discussing the importance of CEASING thumb-sucking to Sadie. (Keep in mind that she doesn't do it unless she has Snoopy). She said, "I just can't stop doing it, Mommy. That's just the way that I am." I tried not to laugh, and then I told her a little bit about habits and how hard it is to change them. I told her how she's been sucking her thumb for a long time, ever since she was in Mommy's tummy - we could see her sucking her thumb even in the ultrasound picture. She thought about that for a minute, then said, "But how did Snoopy get into your tummy?!"

Sadie quotes Frances the badger quite frequently these days, singing, "I am poor and hungry here, eating prunes and rice...." but tonight when I was tucking her in, she went even further. I said, "I want you to stay in bed tonight, Sadie. Do you know what will happen if you get out of bed tonight?" She said, without a blink, "I will be out of a job?"

Good news:
The girls both love Frog and Toad. I LOVED Frog and Toad, so we finally have some bedtime stories that both of us like. I am so Toad. :)

The Udder Zaccheus

Jesse was discussing the Zaccheus story with Sadie while we were at supper the other night (that was her Sunday School lesson for the week) and he said, "What would you say to Zaccheus if you were Jesus?" She thought a minute, then said, "Well, I would tell him to get down from there because it's suppertime. AND, I will let you go to sleep in the green grass and I will take you to the still waters." I thought that was so smart!!! She was putting herself in Jesus' place!

"Don't take dem all, my Mommy!" Josie admonished me today as I was trying to "share" her strawberries with Sadie. "I still eatin' dem!" Her vocabulary has grown by leaps and bounds over the last few months, and she has this adorable little low voice... kind of like a guttural voice... I can't explain it, but she tends to pooch out her lips and frown when she talks, like she's TRYING to talk like a cowboy or something.

Later, Sadie brought a ziploc bag with a cheese sandwich in it into the kitchen and slung it up on the counter. "Mommy, Grammy left this for me in my room. She's always doing stuff like that... stuff she's not supposed to. I don't know why. I think it's because she's old."

My favorite thing that Josie and I do now is our bedtime ritual. I tell her she's the best Josie in the whole wide world, and then I say I want a smooch. She kisses me, then says, "Kiss your nose." She kisses my nose. "Kiss your eyes." She kisses my eyes. "Kiss my head." I kiss her head. "Kiss my cheek." I kiss her cheek. "Now de udder one." I kiss the other cheek. "I kiss your lips." She kisses my lips. "You kiss my ears." I kiss her ears. It's the best bedtime game ever!

Finished...I Need a Napkin

Today, when she was supposed to be sleeping, Josie was talking, talking, talking in her room. I finally went in and she said, "Hello dere! I reading my book. (The Grouchy Ladybug) I almost finished." True to her word, when she "finished" reading, she closed it and went to sleep!

Yesterday while I was brushing Sadie's hair before church, she - shall we say - "tooted." While I hesitate to share this unladylike bodily function with you, I'm going to record it for posterity anyway. I said, "Yikes! That was a big one!" She turned around to look at me and said, "Mommy, I need a napkin." It was totally unrelated to what had just transpired, because she had oatmeal on her chin that she wanted me to wipe off for her, but when she said it at that moment, I thought I would CRACK UP.

Numbly Bumbley

What a day. Just when things started to feel like they were going to get back to "normal," (normal for me is probably NOT normal for most people), everything goes haywire. Jesse gets a cold. Josie (who for all intents and purposes is THE most "regular" person alive - ask anyone at church... come 10:30am on Sunday morning, she stinks everyone out of the nursery, every week) has been having, shall we say, issues, since Saturday, and to top it all off, I woke up this morning with my left elbow roughly the size of a grapefruit. Don't ask me why. I go to bed, it's normal. I wake up, it's giant. And it HURTS. I go to work, it hurts, I work, it hurts, I go to lunch, it hurts, I call the doctor. I go to the doctor. Something exploded in there, possibly because I whacked my funny bone yesterday. They numb it, by sticking me with a needle about 12 times (a whole OTHER thing... If they're trying to NUMB you to not feel PAIN, why do they have to STICK you repeatedly with a stinking sharp NEEDLE?!), then slice it with some kind of a razorblade. I have some mysterious elbow infection/exploded fluid something. I don't understand it. Honestly, I think I would have rather just gritted my teeth and felt the razorblade for a second than having the so-called "numbing" put in there. I mean, it's not like I've never cut myself with a razor before (if you've ever seen the backs of my knees, you know what I mean). Anyway, they gave me antibiotics and anti-inflammatories, and anti-venom or something. What I need is some anti-WEIRD AILMENTS HAPPENING ONLY TO ME pills. But I digress. After that weird little visit to the doctor, I gave up and took Josie to HER doctor, too, because she was breaking my heart by holding her little tummy, crying, and yelling "Tummy hurt! I poop! TUMMY HURT! POOOOOOOP!!!" every ten minutes. I won't go into the details, but she feels better now, bless her little heart.

Funny things: Sadie had on her "grandma shirt," as she calls it - one that looks like a peasant shirt with big sleeves - her Grandma Beth has one like it, I think. Or at least Sadie thinks she does...Anyway, this shirt turned out to be a bit on the small side. When Sadie reached up for something, she said, "Hey! My belly is cold! This shirt is too small! I think we need to give it to our friend Josie."

Last night, the kids watched Rudolph for the 867th time. I know, I know, it's September. I live in a timeless void. Anyway, the Abominable Snowman came on the screen and Sadie says, "Hey! Look! It's my Grandpa!" Josie echoes, "Grandpa, Grandpa, Grandpa!" Yeah, old Roy is a mighty humble bumble, all right. :)

X-nay on the Ing-Kay

I think I'm going to have to boycott "The Lion King."

Yesterday, Sadie burst into the song, "I've got a love-a-lee bunch of coconuts, twiddle-e-dee, tweedle-e-dee," at a most inopportune moment, THEN, tonight, I walked in to find Josie on her little knees, hands raised in the air, yelling, "Fa-der! FA-DER! Don't WEAVE ME!"

"I'll Have the Bees...Gracias."

After taking a walk (while Sadie rode her bike and Josie pulled the wagon) and watching the clouds up in the sky, we came home and made supper while we listened to Josie's latest favorite song, "Thank you, God, for who I am... I don't need to be a superman!" She usually starts singing it right after she says thank you for anything... for example, I give her some chocolate milk and she says, "THANK YOU, GOD!" It's pretty stinking funny, if I just remember to tell her that I am NOT God, and it IS good to thank Him for everything.

That said, I just killed the seventh bee of the day. SEVENTH!!!! We apparently have an infestation of some sort, and they are all ending up in the kitchen. Melanie, you do NOT want to come here today. The kids find it all very fascinating... I guess it is pretty entertaining to watch me stalk the bee, line up the bee under my instrument of death (usually an envelope of some sort), smack the bee, squash the bee, and then go, "Oooh-ewww-ooh-eww" while jumping up and down. I hate that crunchy squooshing sound. Anyway, I don't know what the deal is, but Jesse's going to be spraying tomorrow, whether he likes it or not!! :)


Last night we went out to eat at the kids' favorite place... Mexican. Once there, Josie, who is two years old (as you probably know), said that she wanted (and I quote), "A Quesadilla, rice and beans, and cheese dip." Sadie added, "And nachos AND salsa. Gracias." Ay de mi. Josie flirted shamelessly with the waiters, and Sadie had a good old time climbing all over Grammy and wiping beans on her shirt.

Today, Deanna came over to play, and I thought both of them were going to burst from excitement when she got here. I was in the middle of changing Josie's diaper when I hear Sadie yelling from the kitchen, "She's here! Oh boy! Oh boy! Podie-odie okey-dokey! She's here! She's coming around the mountain!" Well, you couldn't fool Josie.... SHE knew who was here, and she started this low grumbly squeal deep in her throat... building as her whole body quivered with excitement, until she finally cut loose with this bloodcurdling scream of "DEANNA! I IN HERE! DEANNA! WHERE ARE YOU?" Then she takes off running as fast as her chubby legs could go. I didn't see them again for almost 2 hours... most of this time was spent hiding in my closet. All I heard were giggles, thumps, and muffled, "I hear the monster!" whispers from the other side of the door. I'm so glad they have Aunt Deanna! :)

The girls have been feasting on pinto beans for the past 3 days now. Great Grandma Genevieve sent them home with Grammy when she came back on Sunday. Sadie got up from bed a while ago and said, "Mommy, I could sure use a little bit of beans." She ate a whole bowlful, then asked for more. Then she sat back, rubbed her tummy, and said, "Ahhh. Great Grandma Genevieve sure does make the BEST beans." I don't know that I've mentioned this before, but she thinks HER middle name is Great Grandma Genevieve. hehee



Well, I must retire for the evening... 5 o'clock comes early, as my Daddy always says. I will be on the lookout (hear-out?) for telltale buzzing all night, needless to say.

I Tink

While we were gone, the kids went to the fair with Grandma, Deanna, and Aunt Becky. They got to meet a robot and ride ponies! From what I hear, Sadie is turning into her father - she had on a shirt that said "Daddy's Little Sweetie," and when Grandma Beth asked her what it said, she answered, "Well, it sure doesn't say GRANDMA's little sweetie!" Sheesh.

We saw a dead mouse outside today, and you would've thought it was a major tourist attraction. They stared at it, pointed, stared some more, and just could not pull themselves away. Josie kept saying, as I dragged her off, "Mousie! Dead! EWW! A dead one, Mommy! Mousie! Yucky!"

Tonight, after baths, Josie was having some naked time in Sadie's room. Or as she likes to call it, she was a "nudie-butt." She sat down on a pillow, pulled a blanket on top of her head like a shepherd, and just sat there, like she was meditating. I asked her what she was doing and she said, "Shh... Mommy. I tinking." Then she tapped her head with her finger and said, "Tink, tink, tink."

Sadie ran into my room tonight and put her hands on her hips, got this serious look on her face and said, "Mommy! Josie kicked me RIGHT in the FACE. Right in my NOSE. With her FOOT. AND she did NOT say she was sorry. I did not do ANYTHING. I just was trying to PLAY with her, and Mommy, she KICKED me. RIGHT IN MY FACE!" All this while gesturing wildly with her hands... I couldn't help it... I cracked up. Sadie kind of grinned, but I don't think she appreciated my lack of concern. Josie did end up saying she was sorry and giving Sadie a kiss, to which she replied, "Thank you, Josie. I feel better now."

Thing One and Thing Two

Jesse and I just got back from our first "real trip" without the girls. We went to Orlando (he won a trip on the radio) and stayed for 4 days and 3 nights. His friend from work and his wife went with us. The trip started off really well - Sarah dropped us off at the airport so we didn't have to park, and we went straight through to the gate... no waiting AT ALL! The flight was uneventful, which was a good thing, since I was a semi-nervous wreck (the last time I flew was before Sadie was born when my head exploded, you know).

The resort was really nice, and we were happy to be in the land of palm trees (although they little nuts on the trees were NOT coconuts. Jesse said they were "palm-olives," which is what they make dish soap out of. :) The first night we waited around too long to get supper and we were all starving and irritable by the time we finally found somewhere - some place called Houlihan's. From now on, when we're all so hungry we're sick and crazy, we're coining the phrase "I'm HOULIHAN'S hungry!"

Sunday, we went to Universal Studios. After standing in line for a good 45 minutes in the burning hot Florida sun, we finally got into the park, which was really cool. It's just like being in a city all its own - there are movie sets everywhere, and you can't tell if they are real buildings or just false fronts. We saw the T2 3D movie, rode The Mummy Returns, Twister, Earthquake, MIB Alien Attack, stood in line for Jaws (they had to shut it down because of lightning), and just goofed off and had a good time. It was really interesting to see how movies are made and to see actual props and stuff from movies that you've watched for years. After all this excitement, we were exhausted, so we went back to the condo and made pizzas and watched TV. My mom tried to get the kids to talk to me on the phone but they weren't interested. Then when she asked if they wanted to talk to Daddy, they both did and Sadie got on the phone and said in this sweet little voice, "Hey, Daddy!!!" Thhpt. All I did was give birth to them and love them and care for them every day of their lives, the little goobs.

Monday we went to the outlets (or I should say we TRIED to go to the outlets). I have never seen more cars jammed into one parking lot... cars EVERYWHERE. All over the curbs, parked behind eachother, parked on the sidewalk... it was ridiculous. We ended up dropping off Jesse's friend and his wife at the door and going to some little gift shops further up the road. I knew it was time to give up the outlet idea when Jesse got that look in his eye that said "I am going to run SOMEBODY down!" He doesn't do well in crowds. Luckily for him, I am not the typical shop til you drop woman. I didn't mind leaving the psycho parking lot at all. The afternoon was spent hanging around the pool, and that night we went out to dinner at another place called Key W Kool's which was pretty stinking expensive BUT delicious. After stuffing ourselves, we forced ourselves to pack up all our stuff and go to bed since we had to drop off Jesse's friends at the airport at 7:00am!!

On Tuesday, our flight didn't leave until 5:30pm, so we had pretty much all day to do what we wanted (which was mainly to go home and see our kids. We were getting fairly desperate... I asked one lady if I could hold her baby and she looked at me like I was nuts. I promised her I wasn't a weirdo... just deprived of my own children for 4 days. :) We went out to breakfast, walked on Cocoa Beach (the Space Coast) where we saw a woman playing a shofar out in the ocean, went to RonJon's Surf Shop, and THEN we went to Kennedy Space Center! I was SO EXCITED, I felt like a little kid! The rocket garden was amazing to me, and we rode in a space shuttle simulator, saw all kinds of cool NASA stuff, and got our picture taken with a real astronaut. I loved it! Jesse just liked it because I liked it so much, I think.

When we finally got home Tuesday night, we woke the kids up (which I'm sure Aunt Lydia and Uncle Darryl did NOT appreciate, since they had so graciously just put them to bed for us :) but we HAD to see them and give them their Thing 1 and Thing 2 t-shirts, Space Shuttle Suckers, Pooh Bear stampers, seashells, Tinkerbell shirts, and new shoes from the Nike outlet (not to be confused with the other nutso outlets we tried earlier). It's a good thing we weren't gone longer... they wouldn't have any space left in their rooms! :)

Clowning Around

Last night, I asked Josie who loved her, and she said (without hestitating), "JESUS loves me.... This I KNOW!!!" It was the cutest thing ever!

Today, Sadie tried on my new red shoes (which are obviously WAY too big for her). She just happened to be undressed since we were getting ready for bed. Wearing nothing but big red shoes and a smile, she did a little dance and sang, "I'm a clown - I'm a clown - I'm a clown! I'm a NAKED CLOWN!"

Let's Go Fly a Chicken

Returning from our second trip to NC of the summer:

When we first got there, as usual, the kids both had to have a bowl of Great Grandma's pinto beans. The next day, Sadie ate beets for supper. Jesse asked me, "What is wrong with this kid? How many little girls love PINTO BEANS and BEETS?!" They were very happy to see Great Grandma, and she was "plumb tickled" to see all of us. :)

We went to lunch with Amanda and Grandma on Friday, and had some good BBQ... the kids liked the hushpuppies, too (you don't see many of those around here!). The girls and I also went shopping with Great Grandma and she found some good deals on shoes for them. That night, we went to a restaurant built like a "Chicken House," an old timey Italian place with Mamaw and Papaw. Unfortunately, the power was out. It was HOT in there, but we perservered and had some great lasagna. Sadie's favorite part of the whole night was when she had to go potty and we had to take an oil lamp into the bathroom with us so we could see - she thought that was so cool!

On Saturday, Josie started calling Great Grandma "Gen-Vee! Gen-Vee!" They also reiterated, over and over, how Cameron, Caleb, and especially Scotty are "Funny! He's funny! Oh, he's funny!!!" We rode the golf cart, of course, played on Cameron and Caleb's new swingset/slide combo, and had a generally fun time up at Angela and Scotty's house. Then we had lunch with Uncle Garry and Aunt Sharon down at Great Grandma's. I love just hanging out like this with my family. The kids all piled into the pack-n-play and pretended to be bears in a cave, and then Cameron told them all stories.

Then, we went to Louis and Brenda's for a pool party for my birthday (and Chasity's - we haven't had a "joint" birthday party in 15 years!!). It was so much fun... we got in the pool, sat around and talked, played with the kids, and they even got us a cake! The best part was getting a bunch of beans that they canned just for me! Sadie accidentally mashed Hailey's finger in the screen door, and with much ado, FINALLY apologized to her. Sheesh... it's hard to get kids to feel like saying they're sorry, even if they really are sorry! Sadie talked to me about it later, and said how she felt bad for doing it, but at the moment, she just couldn't seem to bring herself to apologize.

Saturday night, Papaw and Sadie built a kite one night (from scratch) and she got to measure AND hammer in the nails. They did all the work outside the garage on the cattle trailer (note the picture of both girls pretending to be cows). What a great time! Papaw put a red tail on the kite and found some string, but alas, there was NO wind at all. Sadie can't wait to fly it, so we're hoping for "some breeze," as she likes to say. After they finished with the kite and we were back inside, Sadie wanted to play with this glass angel figurine of Mamaw's and Papaw told her that she couldn't because the wings might break off. She said, "Well, that's okay." He said, "No it's not! Have you ever seen an angel without wings?" She said, "Yes.... YOU!" He laughed... and said that he was pretty far from being an angel. It was sweet, though.

We went to Uncle Thomas and Aunt Elizabeth's house for a cookout on Sunday after church, and we were all ready to get in the pool when it came the first (and hardest) rain of the entire summer. It was a real "gullywasher," as my Daddy would put it. It rained SO hard that we ran inside the screened porch and ate our hamburgers, dumplings, and Oreos with Britt and Natasha. The kids were somehow left unattended by the candy bowl in the living room, and helped themselves... by the time I found them, Josie's "tummy hurt!" and there were candy papers all over the floor.

Josie was a crazed kamikaze at the playground on Monday before we left... she ran up the slides, tried to come down upside down an backwards, and when Papaw pushed her on the "chicken" swing, she just yelled, "Higher! Higher!" She is a nut. We had a really good time, and they were great on the way home... they just talked... and talked... and talked.... According to Jesse, they get this trait from me, not him.

Hot Dogs and Jesus

Someone please tell me what it is about dishtowels and potholders that make them IRRESISTIBLE to my children. I have totally given up on folding these things after I wash them... now they are just thrown - well, stuffed, really - into two drawers in the kitchen. They would fit in ONE drawer if they were folded. I think. They've never been folded long enough for me to determine the truth of that statement. BOTH of the girls love to get these things out, throw them all over the entire house like giant confetti, OR (my favorite) pretend like they are stepping stones or hopscotch squares. If they fall off, they get eaten by invisible alligators - or something like that. It's the strangest thing... Hey, wait a minute. A lightbulb just went off, and I seem to recall that Angela and I used to do almost the exact same thing, except it was with couch cushions. Hmm. Now that I think about it, maybe my kids aren't that strange, after all!

The other day Sadie was sitting on my bed with me, pretending to be in a boat. We rocked one way, then the other, then the "wind" started blowing. Apparently, it started "raining," too. Sadie looked at me and said, "You're a storm, Mommy!" So, I blew and shook and pretended to rain for a while. Suddenly, Sadie jumped up, held her hand up in my face and said, "Hey! Stop it, you, you BAD OLD STORM! BE STILL! Do what I say! I'm JESUS!" :)

Last night, Mama and I took the girls shopping. When we left the shopping center, we got lost. I'm serious. We went a back way, and I REALLY thought I knew where we were going. Alas, I was wrong. You heard it here first, folks! I was wrong! We drove around aimlessly somewhere along the tune of 25 minutes, and Sadie and Josie were in the back sing-songing, "We're Lost! We're LO--OST!" "Where are we, Mommy? Where are we when we're lost?" This did not help matters. I gave up and called my father-in-law, who said in his sweet, understanding way, "What a moron!" hehee! When we finally made it back to the highway, it was past bedtime, and we had to think fast to avoid breakdowns in the backseat. Mama and I broke out singing the timeless classic: "I Know a Weenie-Man." This was an instant favorite of both girls, who tried really hard to sing along, but they mainly ended up saying the last words in a phrase:

Man!
Stand!
HOT DOG!
DOWN!
LIFE!
Wife!
MAN!!!

The actual song goes like this - in case you ever want to use it to avoid a breakdown of your own:

I know a weenie-man
He owns a weenie-stand
He sells most anything from hot dogs on down
Someday, I'll share his life
I'll be his weenie-wife
Hot dog! I love that weenie-man!!!

Don't ask. :)

Like You

"I love you, my mommy. I love you so much." These are the words from my 2 year old's mouth as we were eating our supper tonight. Later, after both girls were in bed, I hear Sadie yelling down the hall, "MOM-MEE! I forgot to tell you something VERY IMPORTANT!" I went across the house to her room and she said, "You're the best mommy, Mommy. In the whole wide world."

If they think I'm so great, why do I feel so inferior and unworthy of being their mom most of the time? Have you heard that country song that says, "I've been watching you, hey ain't that cool... I wanna be like you, your little buckaroo, and eat all my food, and grow as tall as you are...." It's all about this little boy who says a bad word and when his dad asks him where he learned to talk like that, the little boy tells him that he learned it by listening to his dad! So the dad feels like crap and goes out to the barn and prays to God to help him help his stupid self, and later he hears his son talking to God just like a friend... then the little boy tells him that he learned to pray like that from listening to his dad, too. Sheesh. It's amazing that a country song on the radio can convict my heart and make me want to try to be a better mom. I guess God knew exactly what station I was listening to.

I definitely don't want my girls to grow up to be like me. Well, maybe in SOME ways, but I really am somewhat self-centered, and pessimistic, and opinionated, and ungrateful. I guess it's good that I admit that kind of thing now... I used to think I was pretty darn near perfect. HA! Now I see that between marriage, kids, and turning 30, you kind of grow up and see things from a different perspective. My prayer, too, is that God will help ME help MY stupid self.

Final Thought

Today, as Sadie and Josie were waving goodbye to Grammie from the bedroom window, Sadie yelled, "BYE! See ya! Be safe! And don't step in any bird poop!"

Josie-Bean's Birthday

We finally got to have Josie's 2nd birthday party last Sunday. She only had to wait 2 weeks after her REAL birthday. I felt sorry for her... luckily, I don't think she knew the difference. We had strawberry cake (made by Grammy, of course), hamburgers and hotdogs (grilled by Daddy), and other yummy food made by various members of the family. We had quite a turnout! I think everyone who was invited got to come (except Deanna, who was sick). The kids had fun with their little party blower thingys, and they ran around like crazy throughout the festivities. Josie had to try a few times, but she finally got her candles blown out and when she ate her cake (much less messily this year than last, I might add) she said, "Mmmm... YUMMY!" Present opening time was a blast... with every present she got she'd say, "ME! Mine! I do it!" Then she'd open it up and suck in her breath like she was so excited and get this big smile on her little face. It was so cute! She got lots of cool stuff, like foamie swords from Grammy (which they all used to chase Uncle Darryl with outside), a new Goodnight Moon book from Aunt Sue, a bubble blower from Aunt Becky, a Magna Doodle from Aunt Cindy, Colorforms from Aunt Sarah (Josie loves these), cute clothes from Laura, an Aqua Doodle from Aunt Lyd and Darryl, and all kinds of books and puzzles from Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Jackie. She spent the rest of the evening with Blankie hanging out in her new pink butterfly chair that Mommy and Daddy gave her. All in all, this was one fun party!

Zooed Out, by Jim

On Wednesday, we went to the beach with Deanna. This was a big ordeal... I mean, we had our umbrella, our wagon, our cooler, our snacks and popsicles, our swimsuits and towels, our extra clothes, flip-flops, beach blanket, and a million other things. It was HOT. The beach was crowded, but we made our way to a deserted spot and set up camp. In less than 5 minutes, the kids were COVERED in sand. COVERED. Then they buried Deanna in the sand (she's such a good sport) and built a sand fort. We were there for almost 4 hours, and we had a really good time. I did have to clean sand out of every orifice of their bodies for the next two days, but I think it was worth it.

This weekend, my friend Amanda came to visit. I was SO excited, since it was the first time anyone from home had seen my house or anything (except Mama, of course). We had a GREAT time. She said that from the way I'd talked about it, she was surprised that our town had electricity. Hehee... I never realized that I came across that way, but she was pleasantly surprised. We hung out and spent a couple of hours in the bookstore on Friday night, and saw the following interesting books:

Today I Made Brownies and They Were Pretty Good by Jim

I Went to College and It Was Okay by Jim

I Got a Job and It Wasn't That Bad, also by Jim

After cracking up for a while over these literay masterpieces, we spent too much money, went to dinner, and had a great time reminiscing. Saturday we took the girls to the zoo and Sadie rode a camel... the sucker was TALL. Amanda, poised with her camera on the other side of the fence, called to Sadie: "Look at me, Sadie! Wave!" I yelled, "NOOOooo!!! Don't wave!!!" I was so scared she'd fall of the 11 foot high beast. She got some cute pictures, though. Amanda and Josie tracked a wild (coughing) tortoise, both the kids got hyped up on blue cotton candy and Icees, and we stayed there until we were completely zooed out. Our motto for the day? "We Came. We Saw. We Peed. We Left." Let's just say that Sadie had a little "incident" in the Rain Forest.