Armpits

Thomas just asked why his armpits are so sweaty! He said, "my shirt is getting wet. They're like upside-down bath tubs."... And I've been giggling ever since!

it's too early...

This past Sunday was an early day for us. Ray C. had to be at church at 5, and I had to be there at 6:40, which meant all the kids had to be up and ready by 6:30 --- no small feat to accomplish on your own. Of course, I do it every week, but we usually have about 30 more minutes!

Anyway...I told the kids we would be leaving the house while it was still dark. So, we would need to get up very early. So, Thomas and Mary Frances wanted to use Thomas' alarm on his clock. I set the alarm for 6:00, but I knew I would need to go to check on them as well!

At about 6:10 I went upstairs to find both kids in a heavy sleep and the UNPLUGGED alarm clock laying on it's side as if it had been thrown. So, I woke the kids up and asked if it had gone off, and they both said a sleepy & annoyed "YES...very early". So I questioned Thomas, "So you decided to unplug it?"

His reply was, "It was making a very annoying beeping sound. So I just unplugged it!" After laughing at the idea of experiencing your first early morning alarm signal I informed him that all he had to do was push SNOOZE and it would give him 10 more minutes! "Ohh..."

I love to relive all of these firsts from their perspective!

Sick

"The doctor said popsicles are good for me."

Chase has been sick since LAST Friday night! He had Croup over the weekend and then went back to the doctor on Tuesday or Strep!! He felt awful over the weekend and the beginning of the week, but we've been enjoying the last few days at home! However and I am SICK of staying home!! I need some interaction!

Mary Frances noticed Chase staying home this week and has developed the "I Want to Stay Home" Flu! She tried it yesterday but still went to school after I checked her temperature and it was normal! However, today it was 100 all day. So, I let her stay home assuming she was probably getting what Chase had - which one I do not know!

Anyway, when I told her she could stay home, it was all she could do to hold her smile in and try to look sick! After about 30 minutes, she said, "We can have a pajama party!" She had fun for a while, but by nap time, she was wishing she'd gone to school! She HATES naps!!

So, she is doing fine now - no fever. We'll wait until she wakes up to make a determination for tomorrow! She is coughing!

Tardy

Mary Frances woke me up in the middle of the night because her nose was running! So, as I went to get her a tissue, she met me in the hallway and said, "I know what tardy means!" Half-asleep, I said, "What?" She repeated, "I know what tardy means."

"Oh," I replied, "what does it mean?"

"It means you're late." Then she got back in the bed and went to sleep.

Of course, I walked right downstairs and made a note on my calendar to blog this morning as it reminded me of one of my mom's favorite stories from my childhood.

I came home from first grade one day and announced that I had a boyfriend. When my mom asked about him, I said, "Well, sometimes he's retarded and sometimes he's not."

Of course my mother was a little concerned and couldn't quite figure out how that would be possible. So, after a while - I believe at a parent/teacher conference - my teacher explained to my parents that my boyfriend, Chip, was sometimes late to school - TARDY - not retarded!!

So, my family has been laughing ever since!

"Gank You"

I have been working with Chase on saying the "y" in yellow and "th". He really wants to get it right. So, he works on it when I bring it to his attention, but when when we're not working on it, he still mispronounces the "th". Sometimes he says it like a "g" - as in "gank you" instead of "thank you", and other times he says it like an "s" - as in "sink" instead of "think".

He can finally say "yellow" instead of "lellow" and is so proud of himself. The first few days when he started saying it correctly, he would say "yyyyyyyyyy" really slow to be sure he got the letter right before he finished with "ellow".

I am going to miss the baby words, but it is time to move on and grow up, I suppose! So, tonight, I was thankful to hear the sweet baby words one more time as Chase was praying...

"God, gank you for our food, and all the houses. And gank you for the trees and the dogs. And gank you for mommy and daddy and Marilyn. Amen"

I will miss "gank you" very much!

Guess What...

I'm tired of guessing!!! Mary Frances says "guess what" every other sentence! It cracks me up, but I'm really getting tired of it. So, I've finally decided to bring it to her attention! We'll see how it goes...

Jesus Loves the Little Children...

I always loved that song but thought it was funny that all the colors were included since I have never seen a red or yellow person!

Anyhow, my kids have been cracking me up this week talking about all the different kids in their classes! Sometimes, Mary Frances will tell me something about one of the kids and say, "She's brown," or "She's a little brown," or "She's really brown!"

I just think it's so funny that we've never really talked about "black" people, so they are merely describing them. They really have no clue about all the prejudices that exist, and I LOVE it!

So, last night, as they were talking about this, I asked, "Well, why do you think they are brown?"

Thomas was the first to speak up:

"I don't know...maybe they just drink a lot of coffee!" Then he quickly said, "Or, maybe God just made them that way...Or maybe their mom and dad are brown too!"

Again, I love the way that kid thinks!!!

Three Good Things

According to Thomas and Mary Frances, "three good things happen on Fridays":

1. They get to ride the bus.
2. They get to buy lunch at school.
3. They get to sleep together!

Mary Frances announced this to my mom a few weeks ago, and then I heard them reminding each other when they woke up this morning!

These are all agreements we've come up with for different reasons. If it were up to them, they'd do them everyday, but "mommy has her reasons" for not letting them. However, they have been sleeping with each other almost every night. Once I realized they were sneaking in each others' bed after I went downstairs, I decided it was not a fight worth fighting!

Which one would you choose?

Tonight at dinner Mary Frances asked, "Mommy, if you could only have one baby, which one would you choose?" I looked at her and said, "Are you serious?"

She really was, and I quickly informed her that I could never choose between them and that if I were to choose that I would have missed out on all the blessings that God has given to me through each of them.

So,to make this easier for her to understand, I said, "That's like if I asked you to choose between mommy and daddy!"

I cautiously asked her who she would choose, knowing that she probably would choose one, and she said "Daddy"! Can you believe that? Little stinker. Then Chase, who was sitting beside me looked up at me with a mouth full of french fries and said, "I choose you!" It makes me want to cry thinking about it!

Of course, my feelings are not hurt because I understand enough about her developmental stage and mind to know it is nothing against me, but I still can't believe she actually thought I would answer that. Can you imagine how much damage would have been done if I had even jokingly chosen one?

Labor Day

Yesterday, Thomas asked why we didn't have school on Monday, and I said, "because it's Labor Day." When he asked what Labor Day was, Mary Frances chimed in with a disappointed look, "Its the day we can't wear white anymore!!!"

Oops, did I do that?

the Button

I took the children to Steak and Shake a few days ago and was amazed at how much fun we had! They were so well-behaved - another reminder of how much they are growing!

Anyway, before we left, I took them all to the bathroom. Of course, "speedy" Chase ran in the men's bathroom before I could catch him. So, I stood outside the door until he was finished. We he came out he was holding a button that he had found on the floor which completely grossed me out since it was in the men's bathroom. Yuck...

Moving on...he was really excited about his find and did not appreciate me telling him to throw it down quickly. So, he ran to Thomas and Mary Frances and said, "Guys, look what I found. It's a belly button!"

He just got his words mixed up, but I couldn't stop laughing at the thought of it!!

Homeless People

Mary Frances truly has a heart for homeless people. Every time we pass someone on the road, we have a very interesting discussion about how we can help. So, since I get all this free stuff and my drawers and cabinets are now over-stuffed, we decided to fill gallon baggies with some essential items that a homeless person might need and enjoy.

I did one as an example and set up an assembly line for the kids to fill the others. So, as we were doing this and discussing why this would be good, everyone suggested a few other ideas of how we could help:

*we could take them to a hotel
*we could buy them a house
*we could buy them some food....

After a lot of discussion as to why some of those would be difficult, Thomas had the best idea...
"Why don't we just give them a ride to the bank?"

Of course, his thought process was that if we could just get them to the bank, they could get all the money they need! Again, I love the way they think! I remember a similar discussion I had with my mom when I was in elementary school about "all those people in Ethiopia..."

Dollar Tree

I took the kids into the "Dollar Tree" the other day to get a few things, and Thomas was very confused when we went in. After walking past a few aisles, he said, "Mommy, there are no dollars anywhere in this store!"

I guess I didn't exactly explain what we were doing!

More Vacation

The Three Amigos...
Just the girls...
What a great family! Papa G. said this is the best vacation he's had in 20 years. (It's probably the only one he's been on in 15 years!)
What a crazy family...
Ray C. chillin on the beach
Mary Frances loves to write sweet notes.
What's more fun than playing in the ocean with your grandparents?
Our old neighbors on the island! We really enjoyed watching the osprey build the nest, protect her babies, and then teach her babies to fly!
We rented a golf cart for he week to enjoy the island a little more AND to help Papa G. to get around a little better.
Jacqueline and mama
Papa G. wanted this picture for the boys down at the river. He wanted them to know just how much fun he was having!
Chase said he is the best at helping Papa G.! He loves to hold his hand while he is walking. They were so sweet to watch together! I am SO happy we were able to spend so much time with Papa. It was a very special treat for us all. The kids have never spent that much time with him, and I think they really learned a lot about him this week!

The Wedding Show

Mary Frances is going to be in a wedding next June, and she cannot stop talking about it! In fact, she has already put herself on a healthy "diet" - that is my word, not hers! She informed me that she does not want to be sick for the wedding. So, she will be drinking more milk and less juice and that I will not hear her asking for chocolate. Of course, like all women, she didn't adhere to that diet longer than a day! Oh well...

As she was talking about it again today, Chase said, "Hey, can I be in this show too? I have a dance move for everybody!" Do you know how funny that is coming from an almost-four year old?

I texted the bride and she said that he most certainly could be in the "show". She got a big kick out of it. Of course, I did not tell him what she said because he would never forget it or stop talking about it!

Bed Time Fears

Mary Frances told me this morning that she and Thomas slept together in his bed last night because he was afraid of a song on the radio.

They were listening to the Christian station when I left the room. So, I figured they heard something about dying or heaven and were afraid. I asked her what song it was, and she said I'll tell you in your ear, but I only know a little bit.

Then she got very close to me and put her little hand up to my ear and whispered "she's a man-eater".

I couldn't help but laugh because I couldn't believe she even knew that song, but more because it sounds hilarious coming from her sweet little mouth!

She said she heard it on the radio in daddy's car!

WHEN I become President...

Mary Frances told me several months ago that one day when she is President of the United States, she is going to make a law that if someone writes you a letter, you have to write them a letter back!

Today, she decided that Thomas would be President and she would be Vice President. They will make another law so that people can not use cigarettes AND they will do something else that I can't remember now...

Well, that is why I keep the blog, right?

How Old Do I Have To Be...

Mary Frances just asked me how old she has to be to get a cell phone! Umm...at least a teenager!!

Well, that did not satisfy her. We actually had a discussion about why she cannot have a cell phone while she is 5!!

She couldn't believe it when I told her that Ray C. and I didn't even have one until we were married.

Seriously, I really don't think I am ready for this...

The Drive-In?

We went to the drive-in on Friday night to see "Up". It was so much fun! We took lots of blankets and pillows and laid in the back of the van and on the ground! They even had playground for the kids.

It was a blast, but the kids were so confused before we went. They really did not understand the concept of an outdoor movie theater. They called it everything but a drive-in.

"We're going to the drive-thru tonight."

"Let's hurry. It's time to go to the drive-up."

"Mommy, when are we leaving for the drive-out?"

I always try to put myself in their shoes to imagine what their minds must be thinking when they really have no idea what we are talking about even though we are explaining it!

Day 3...

Today is Chase's kind of day...a day when everyone wears GREEN! When I told him yesterday that everyone would be wearing green today, his jaw dropped. He was so excited!

Sugar is doing fine. We keep checking her for bleeding and keep popping he Vitamin K pills. I really think she is wishing she was a farm dog. She gets to run free all day long. What a blast!

I woke up this morning to Chase saying in my ear, “Rise and Shine. It's morning!” When I looked outside I saw the perfect conditions to see deer. So, Ray C. agreed to watch the kids so I could go out for a few minutes, but I didn't get very far. I tried to quietly walk across the rock driveway, but as soon as I took 2 steps, a deer started blowing at me. I hunched down under the blanket that was wrapped around me and waited, but before I could see them, Chase opened the door and Sugar took off running after 2 big deer! I did see them, but not until Sugar chased them away! Oh well, maybe tomorrow!

Today, we visited the public library for a special St. Patrick's Day craft, and then Ray C. did a little story time with the kids. We also heard a bagpipe player outside of the library. We ALL enjoyed listening to him play Amazing Grace since it is a family favorite – a very common bedtime request, actually!

After the library, we went over to a popular sandwich shop recommended by friends – Alvin Ord's. We bought some delicious sandwiches and took them over to the park where we ate, played, walked, and even stuck our feet in the gorgeous spring water. The only down side was when I lost my phone at the dock! Oh well, it isn't the end of the world!

After our park adventure, we came home, and I took a 2 hour nap!!! That might have been the highlight of my trip! I love being out here, but I am exhausted!!

The kids played, I got dinner together, Ray C. prepped the grill. We ate hamburgers and smores. We played with Sugar, and then Ray C. took the kids on the 4-wheeler. It was a great day in the country!

By the way, the country boy has returned! Ray C. gets teased a lot for being a city boy, but he really belongs out in the country. He grew up with trucks, guns, and duck boots. So, when he gets back to it, it fits him. He loves the city, but he comes alive out here.