Grandparents are "those"

Let me set the stage...

We were at school this morning playing in the gym with Aaron's class, something we do often.

When it was time to go, all of the kids lined up and Jonny and Annie came over too.

I gave Jonny his coat and said, "Come on Jonny, let's go!

Grandma and Grandpa are coming over today and we need to get some things done."

Jonny, with much excitement,

arms in the air says,

"YES! I like those!!"

Just know you're loved Grandma and Grandpa.

Jonny's First Date

Well, it's official, Jonny had his first date.




It started off a little slow. I think he was slightly distracted at first...

what with the water table...

and this really cool horse.

But once they got in the car...





Jonny had a plan.

(much to his date's mother's chagrin)

All in all...





I think they had a good time!

(Jonny and Sid)

Looks Can Be Deceiving!

It looks like an ordinary fridge...

pictures and everything.


But what did I find inside this morning?

Howdy, howdy, howdy!


Yep, That's Woody!

I think he was hiding from Buster...or maybe just Annie.

Carra . . .

From the back of the van . . .


"Hey, Mom!"

"Yes?"

I turn to look.



"Hey, Mom, guess what I just learned . . . "



The suspense . . .




"You don't have to chew Jell-O!"

The things they say . . .

I was watching a friend's kids this weekend.

At the end of the day, I instructed the kids to clean up all the messes in the various rooms. Once they got the hang of it, I sent them to the basement to clean up one last mess.

The three boys (ages 4, 5, and 7) stood in the basement debating, arguing, and somewhat discussing the best way to tackle the job.

Sounds like they are ready for the real working world.

I was coming down the stairs to retrieve something and overheard their bantering. I stepped in and instructed one boy to pick up the trucks, the other to pick up the dishes, and the other to pick up the dress-up clothes. They looked at me with amazement like I had solved world peace (which at that moment in my day - I felt I had) and got to work.

As I was heading back up the stairs, I over heard one child say to the others . . .

"Wow, I had no idea your mom was a genius!"

Hey, I am just saying.

Then he stops and says, "Wait! She's a mom - duh! Of course, she's a genius!"

Needless to say, that kid is hanging around my kids a lot in the near future.

Sunday Comics . . .

My favorite part of the Sunday paper was always the Sunday comics . . .

Little did I know that I would grow up . . . give birth . . . and actually get to live the Sunday comics.



On our way to church this morning . . .

I hear Carra sigh and exclaim, "How many more years before Owen can get married?"

Owen happily exclaims, "Seven Yeays."

I ask, "But why, Carra?"

Owen interrupts and informs, "Cuz, it's time for me to get a new famiwy."

He pauses, thinks, then keeps informing, "But I'm not sure which one I want to be . . . a teenager, an air-force guy or a parwent."

And there you have it . . .

Owen is getting married at the age of twelve and will be joining the air-force . . .

I'm a little concerned about the teenager - parent part though . . . I really hope the marriage thing works out . . .

Then . . .

Owen was very excited about what he learned in Sunday School this morning . . .

"We learned about Jesus. He was with a lot of people and they went to the edge of the cliff and they were going to chuck Jesus off, but He just turned around and walked through the crowd and made all the people itch their heads."

Hmmm. I missed that one in His list of miracles . . .


I think the comics are still my favorite . . .

The things they say . . .

Owen again . . .

Buff was preaching away this morning and Owen was sitting quietly (no, that's not the funny part) next to me.

Buff states, "If you choose Jesus, Jesus is not safe**!"

Owen calmly turns to me and whispers, "Yeah, and hell isn't safe either."

They always pick the most inopportune times to make me giggle.

Oh, and by the way . . . they really are listening . . .






** for further explanation you can listen to his sermon by following the links on the website. The sermon was October 25th. It may not be put on the website for a few days . . .

The things they say . . .

Jonny was over for the afternoon. As he walked through the room, I noticed an unpleasant odor following him, so I asked, "Jonny, are you stinky?"

Owen was nearby and came to the rescue, "I'll check, Mom."

He leans over, sniffs Jonny's backside and states, "Oh yeah, Jonny stepped on a duck."


Moral of the story: Watch where you step . . .

They must be homeschooled . . .

I have accumulated quite a collection of highly intellectual tidbits from my kids lately . . .

***
One child was watching Bugs Bunny. Bugs is tunneling along and pops up into the screen and is bewildered about where he is. Come to find out he should have taken a right turn at Albuquerque . . . but that is beside the point. He looks around and spots a few familiar sights such as the Eiffel Tower and various French road signs. He perks up and begins to munch a carrot as he states, "Oh, I must be in Paris!"

My child turns to me and remarks, "What? I thought the Eiffel Tower was in France?"

***
Carra wants to know why everyone in our family is white . . . but Owen is tan . . .

***
A child was looking for a specific book in the "For Dummies" series and went to search the library catalog. This child returned without a book, so I asked what happened.

This child stated, "I gave up. I couldn't spell the word 'dummies'."

I'm still giggling.

***
Carra peeled an onion and stuffed it in her pocket. (No, I don't know why.) She came to me a bit disturbed because she didn't know why her eyes kept watering.

***
We were reading a book together and a discussion about the Queen of England came up. The kids began to speculate about where she is from originally (too many Princess Diaries type movies - I'm wondering if they think all royalty is just "discovered"). One child pipes up excitedly . . . "Oh, I know where she is from. She is from Kentucky."

Seriously, of all the places to choose . . .

(In this child's defense, we had recently watched a PBS documentary on the Queen's visit to the U.S. and it briefly described her attendance to the Kentucky Derby while she was here. That was the only part of the documentary in which the child was listening . . . which is ironic because I stopped listening to the child explain this because I was giggling so hard.)

***
And as every cultured child should, Owen has learned a little poetry . . .




Yeah, they're homeschooled . . .

A Walk in the Park

Do you remember the little things we did as a family?

Sunday lunches at the hospital,

Summer vacations to grandparents in Michigan,

really bad haircuts ...

need I go on?

This Saturday, we decided to enjoy the beautiful humid, mosquito infested summer air and Wisconsin weather with a walk in the park. The plan: summer stroll, bike ride, back to the house for ice cream and baths, off to bed. It was nearly perfect. It began as a quasi-bike ride/short stroll. Daddy recommended a new park in town. One that is fairly secluded, minimal traffic, and perfect for a walk/bike ride. All it is, is an oval around a man made pond ... What could possibly go wrong?

The air was clear

The smiles were abundant

The bikes were fast

Sweetness filled the air

The water was calm

A duck, swims unassumingly

The setting was serene

Ahhhh. We all remember a day of skipping stones ...

.... and little boys?

Ahhhhh yes, a quiet serene evening, cut short by the screaming panic sounds of a two year old boy, dunked completely.

The Things They Say ....

Ahhhh ....
The trend continues:

We spent yesterday afternoon visiting a restaurant in town called B-52's. That fact is fairly irrelevant save for the fact that they have really good gyro sandwiches. Anyway, as we are sitting there, Aaron strikes up a friendly conversation with the girl in the booth next to us because Jonny, clearly enamored by the fact that other people exist, was staring blankly at her.


Aaron: That's my brother. His name is Jonny

Girl in Booth: Oh really?! And what's your name

Aaron: Aaron ... and that's Awaine, and that's mommy, and that's my daddy, and that's my Annie

Girl in Booth: How old are you?

Aaron: I'm dis many ... (holds up a very awkward four fingers, looking at it to ensure that it's really 4)

Girl in Booth: Wow that's a lot!

Aaron: And Jonny is 2, and 'waine is .... (looks at daddy)

Daddy: 8

Aaron: Awaine is 8 ... and Annie's gonna be 1, right mommy?

Mommy: Yes, almost one

Aaron: And my mommy and daddy are old too

Girl in Booth: Really? How old?

Aaron: They have t.v. in their bedroom!

The Things They Say ...

I'm usually conscious of these things in the moment, but, unfortunately as time lapses, I quickly forget the content and context of about 99% of what the kids do and say. However, the other day over dinner, Aaron delighted us with this little nugget that apparently was so adorable, we've as of yet to forget it, and made it a point to post it.

Elaine, ever being the knowledge absorbing 2nd, actually now 3rd, grader that she is, has become quite the little speller. So, the other day at dinner, she began to speak to us in cryptic form.

Elaine:

"Mom. Dad. I have an idea. Do you think that after dinner and everything is all picked up, you can call, and I can go to R-A-C-H-E-L-S ?"

Aaron :

"Yeah! And I can go to Owen's house. T-E-A-F"

No Wonder Parenting is so Hard...

Karissa comes to me today and says,

"Mom, I want you to tie this exactly like you did before except different"

Most of my parenting struggles would dissolve if I could just bridge the language barrier. Half the time I don't know what they are talking about!!

I've got one, too

Since Tina's been sharing the things her adorable kids have said... I thought I'd add one, too.

I overheard the girls talking today about when they were born. Kailyn mentioned she was born in 2001. Karissa piped up and said, "Kailyn, when you were born I was just twinkle, twinkle little star!"

Not sure how to interpret that... but it sure was cute!

The things they say . . .

Aaron and Owen were playing superheroes. Owen was armed with a wooden spoon and Aaron had the nerf gun.

They were valiantly fighting off the imaginary bad guys when we overheard Owen state to Aaron,

"That guy was so bad . . . he was ugly."

The things they say . . .

Owen talks a lot. Owen often talks too much. Owen will repeat anything he hears - so be careful little mouth what you say . . .

If you have ever carried on a conversation with him, you know what he is like when he is very serious and matter of fact . . . this is one of those conversations.

He was talking to some adults at church, and I think he made them spit into their coffee when he said (out of the blue) . . .

"There is heaven. There is hell. Hell has fire. It's a bad place. You don't want to go there. Oh, you can't say 'What the hell' cuz that's a bad word."

(Apparently it is okay to say as long as you are just explaining not to say it . . . )

Then today he came into the room screaming. I asked him what in the world was the matter.

"I bit my tongue!"

"Oh, no, how did you do that?"

"With my teeth!"

Okay. I had to ask!

The things they say . . .

Our newest Carra-ism . . .

"Hey, Mom. I just ate some fish food."

"Oh, really. Was it any good?"

"Yeah, it tastes like dog biscuits."

Ha! This is from the girl who dips everything I make her to eat in ranch dressing to make it taste better!

Don't mess with me . . .

I have no intention of making this the list of things we got for Christmas . . . but this is just too good not to share . . . .

I have shared before how Carra's little friend from next door doesn't call me Mrs. Powers, but addresses me as "Super Powers" . . . .

Well, my brother found me a t-shirt to wear supporting her brilliance . . .

Mom, can I have . . . .

Carra has a sweet tooth like no other. If you were to ask her what her favorite food is, I wouldn't be surprised if she said, "Gum." I don't dread Halloween because of the haunted theme. I think it is all the candy that makes it scary. There is usually enough to frighten any mother out of her wits.

This morning, Carra hopped out of bed and asked me if she could have a fudgesicle. I reminded her of the rule that she needs to eat breakfast first- and then proceeded to give her the options for breakfast (i.e. cereal or eggs). She agreed and headed to the kitchen to find something to eat.

Ahh, yes. The problem has been solved . . . I came back to find that she is eating breakfast. This morning she is having . . . .

Butter.

All so she can finally eat her fudgesicle.

Consider this my new entry for "mother-of-the-year" . . .

Hot Chocolate Anyone!

AHHH Yes, Winter will soon be here. And with the imminent return of the crisp cold air to the Wisconsin Heartand, can't you just smell the warm wafting aroma of Hot Chocolate?

Doesn't it just remind you of a Christmas card moment?

A very similar event happened today. Ruth came downstairs to an aroma with a mixture of charcoal, ash and smoke as she entered the living room.

Obviously concerned, she entered the kitchen to the following site:

Our mild mannered child Aaron has developed a love for hot chocolate, and since he is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

compliant, he has never been a concern for us.

OK really! So he is an observer, and has watched how the hot chocolate was made, as well as where to make it.

When Ruth turned off the timer on the microwave, there were still 98 minutes remaining.