Funnies

A few things the kids have said lately have been too precious to forget, but then when they are finally in bed and I try to remember...I've forgotten. Tonight I came straight here to write it all down. This might be a little long because Hannah was the one talking. :) At bedtime tonight she said, "I'm gonna talk to God. 'God, I want to be an artist and paint and I really like to srite songs and play music. I want to be an artist and play songs for you. I want to be a preacher when I grow up.'" Then she said to me, "God can give me the words to say when I'm and adult and I tell others about Him. I want to be a preacher 'cause I know lots of Bible stories. I know all the Bible stories. I'm going to talk to God now, but I'm not going to pray because I'm not going to say dear God or Amen. 'God, I love you. You are so good and you can do anything we "axe" you to because you're so smart and strong and good. You're the only one that's good...and me. Please help Alli's cold and Carrie's cold to go away. And help Daddy to sleep a long time in the morning. amen.'" Then she said, "You know God is so strong and so big He's bigger than everything. In the morning I'm going to talk to Him some more. I'm going to axe him to help me not be bad to my sister. You know when you give away love, your heart gets bigger. It's like paying for something and they give you change back. When you give away love, you get more love and your heart gets bigger."

Yesterday at bedtime, Alli said something really quietly, but I didn't hear her. She repeated it really quietly two more times before we figured it out: "I saved the day." She said it so quietly! She mixes up the words to songs all the time. "Do you know the muffin man" becomes
"Oh do you know the muffin man,
the muffin man,
the muffin man
Oh do you know the muffin man,
so you can have some cake?"

Carrie has been saying lots of words lately. She can say "baby" and blankie (which sounds like "cakie")and she can repeat "I love you" one word at a time, but maybe I'm just anxious for it to sound like I love you 'cause it really sounds like "I fuff bbbb." Lately she's been taking all the canned food off the shelf and taking it all over the house. You can track that child pretty easily since she leaves a trail of things she gets tired of. She'll pick up something and seem really interested in it, but throw it down behind her as she's walking off to another room to find more adventures. She doesn't care about a room full of shiny toys, she'd rather dump a whole container of Q-tips on the floor, or play in the potty, or unroll the toilet paper, or take the pots and pans to her bedroom, or chew on the remote, or put anything in the trash can, or carry her "treasures" in a "purse" which can be a bag or basket or shoe. She puts the treasure in and then slings the "purse" onto her shoulder and walks around proudly.

And we did have an exciting day a week ago. Last Wednesday I took the girls to Angie's house so I could get a haircut. When I got back I watched her kids so she could take one of her kids to afternoon Kindergarten at noon. No sooner did she leave and Carrie fell HARD on their wooden deck step. She banged her lower lip really hard and it was bleeding everywhere. They didn't have any popsicles and she didn't want any ice on it, so I soaked a paper towel in lemonade and wrapped it around ice for her to suck on. But I could see cuts on the inside and outside and I thought she bit through her lip! When Angie got back, she watched my kids again so I could take Carrie to the doctor. The doctor said it was just a bad cut and didn't need stitches! It's still a little swollen today, and it's still scabbed up. But she doesn't mind!

I'm never leaving the house again!

Last week I scheduled doctor appointments for this week for Carrie's one year check up and Alli's three year check up. Monday morning I got the kids dressed and got their coats and shoes on and buckled in the van (with quite a bit of arguing)and came upstairs to get a cup for one of them. I decided to check the calendar for the appointment time, but it was for TUESDAY! So we went to Wal-Mart instead. There's no way I would let a van load of buckled-down kids go to waste. Then Tuesday, we started over again to go to the doctor. We made it there in good spirits, everyone was happy and behaving. I was feeling pretty about it. Well, pride comes before a fall...as soon as the doctor came in the room, someone replaced my sweet children with some of those other rowdy, misbehaving, rude, screaming kids! I was so embarassed! All three of them were awful! And is there a worse place to have your kids misbehave? There's no place for time-out, and even if there was, no one in the entire building could hear over the screaming. I couldn't spank them, of course, the doctor is right there. What's a calm, collected, patient, kind mother to do? I don't really know what happened next. The doctor took Alli on his lap and held her while I dressed her. All the while she was kicking and screaming. Meanwhile, Hannah was trying to take his otoscope! He sternly told her no at the same time as me, and she burst into tears. Carrie was on my lap until, during Alli's kicking, I had to put her down so she began to scream and melted into a little lump with her face on the floor. AAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!! When it was all over, the doctor said, "You know how to tell the difference between a terrorist and a toddler? A terrorist wears the diaper on his head." ha. ha. ha. Not too funny at that moment, but at least he was trying to lighten the mood instead of giving me a lecture.

Today we went to town again to pick up the prescriptions for Alli and Carrie (they had ear infections). While in the pharmacy drive-thru Alli said she had to go potty. I asked her to hold it a little while since we were going to Wal-Mart next. When we got there, she had already wet her pants! I didn't have any spare pants, so I tied a jacket around her waist and took her straight to the clothes and got the cheepest pair of pants we could find.

So between mistaken appointments, meltdowns, and wet pants, I think I'll stay at home a few days!!!

The Big 3-0!

Well, the big milestone has arrived, I turned thirty on Thursday. I had a great day! It started the night before when some friends surprised me with a birthday party at Applebee's. We sometimes go there for half-price appetizers after 9pm, but this time they were all there before me and yelled "Surprise!" when I walked in--fun! Then yesterday, Julie Proctor invited me to a cute little cafe called the Bread Basket. http://www.breadbasketcafe.com/ Mark had the day off so he watched all the kids while we ate really great sandwiches and salads and huge pieces of dessert--yummy! The kids had a great time with their cousins, too! When I got home, there was a bouquet of flowers from a friend who couldn't make it to Applebee's the day before. And Mike got me a new washer and dryer that I really, really like! And a couple at church offered to babysit this weekend, so they're coming this evening! Plus all the cards, phone calls, and emails from family and friends. So, I think I'm stocked up on pampering for the next few years! Thank you to everyone who made my day special. Here are some cute pictures we've taken lately.