The Things They Say

It is true. We have more than one child, but Aaron has been on a roll lately. Over the weekend, we were hardpressed with several projects around the house. Weeding, rototilling, splitting wood, priming, painting, cleaning .... etc. (I think you get the point, since most of you were there.) Aaron is a workaholic.... as long as he's working with dad. If there's a job to do, and he can work by daddy's side, he'll put in as many hours as necessary. He helped split wood, stack wood, prime walls, paint walls, clean his room, the basement, the garage, the yard. He worked hard. On Sunday, as Aaron and I were painting, I asked him:

"Aaron, you're a great helper. Are you a good worker?"

Response (spoken matter of factly):

"Nope, I'm a fun worker."

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"

We eat that...sometimes

As we were eating dinner tonight Keith mentioned one of his pieces of what I call "useless information". He's got tons of little facts tucked away and usually they are very interesting... just mostly useless for everyday use.

Tonight as we were eating our corn on the cob he mentioned how most continents have or had their own staple crop which the rest of the world did not have. Pioneers and explorers were constantly introduced to new crops which are now grown all over the world. We mentioned corn, wheat, and rice.

Out of nowhere Kailyn pops up and says, "What about hot dogs, Dad?"

Now, that may be a staple in the Doyle's house, but I'm not sure it's considered a continental staple... then again...

Karissa's turn

The Doyle's don't have a camera right now. . . Not sure if you could tell. . . most of my posts have not had pictures with them. Don't get me started, but I can tell you what kind of camera NOT to buy!

So I'll just have to post some of the cute things my kids say for now. I recently shared some of what Kailyn has said. Now it's Karissa's turn.

Karissa is four and seems to be really intrigued with how her body works and how God made her. Her questions lately have been, "How do all the different colors get in our eyes?" or "How do we make words?" (Referring to talking in general... how do all those words get in there and how do they get out?)

Here are some more of her questions/statements: These are my favorites!

• "I think God is a really good draw-er 'cuz He made us. He must have really concentrated or something!"

• "How does God draw our backs?"

• I love this one. We were praying the other night before bed and I asked her to close her eyes. She said, in all sincerity, "What if I have to blink when my eyes are closed?"

Oh, the joy they bring! I love my kids!

The Things They Say...

Kailyn's had a few "good ones" lately and I just wanted to share...


The girls and I have been reading the book The Little Princess together over the last few months. The girls are REALLY enjoying it and we are very close to the end now. We were having a discussion about Miss Minchin, one of the characters in the story. For those of you who are not familiar with the story, Miss Minchin is the very unsavory, mean, cruel, and horrid headmistress at the school where Sarah Crewe (the main character) has been living. (and I'm being nice!)

I asked the girls what they thought of Miss Minchin and even asked what they thought she looked like. Kristen thought she was fat, I thought she was thin.

Then Kailyn pipes up and says, "I think she's like you, Mom."

To which I replied, "Which one-- skinny or fat?"

In all political correctness (and for the sake of her own safety) Kailyn says, "Both."

I'm still not sure which is worse, her vagueness on the looks of Miss Minchin or the fact that I was compared to her at all! Oh, dear.

~ ~ ~

Here's another one.

An ambulance came to our elderly neighbor's home this morning. The girls watched him being taken to the ambulance on the stretcher and they were quite concerned. Kailyn was most concerned at what had possibly happened so we discussed the possibilities. Then she wasn't sure how he had been able to call for help. She says, "Does he have 'Life Alert' , Mom? He must have 'Life Alert'."

I asked her how in the world she knew what "Life Alert" was. (I wasn't sure I even knew).

In unison she and Kristen replied, "From the commercial."

Hmmm, life lessons from TV.

House for sale...??

Living in a home with three girls can create some interesting "tensions". One of which is Kailyn's desire to have her own bedroom. Now when I say Kailyn REALLY wants her own room please understand that that is the understatement of the day. It is mentioned with great regularity and can find its way into the most interesting conversations.

Take today, for instance. I asked the girls to draw a picture and journal their best birthday ever. It could be one they have already had or one they would wish for in the future.

Here's what Kailyn drew...

(I hope you can see it okay. I couldn't get it to scan... so this is the best I could get.)

(it reads: "The best birthday ever would be to move.")

Is there much more to say?

Does anyone know of any 4 bedroom houses going for a good price .... before May?

What a cutie!

Since Tina has been putting endearing quotes from her kids here... well, I thought I'd share, too.

Karissa was eating one of those sugar-filled yogurts that are supposed to make parents think they are doing something good for their kids. It was "cotton candy" flavored (figures). Well, she was eating away and said,

"Yum, this rotten candy is so good!"

I'm not sure she realized how accurate she might have been. (Really, cotton candy flavored yogurt--ew!)