Listen to what they learn in school

Well, this is not what I expected K to come home from school and say! The other night as we were walking out the door to go to candle light service at church K tells me that a kid at school said that in Africa they kiss differently than the do here. She continued to say that in Africa one person opens his mouth and the other person sticks his tongue in their mouth. Talk about not knowing what to say. I nearly giggled about the Africa part instead of French but then I was upset that at this young age she is already exposed to the facts of life. Whew!! Last night she had another question: How can someone have parents that were never married? I went through the answer that it is against God's will but people make decisions that are sometimes sinful. I hoped that this would end the conversation but no, she said, "Well, I guess my question is how could this child be born from parents who were never married if it is against God's will?" Finally, I just said when she is old enough I will explain it but for right now I feel she is too young to hear the answer. Mom's if your kids are younger than 5 get ready!!

Dance recital

K had her Christmas dance recital for ballet. I don't think any of the girls were doing the same thing at the same time. I guess we can blame it on the ice storm and the fact that they didn't get to practice. These pictures are of K and her best friend.

Questions

The questions are flying around here lately. K. asked my why God made elves have pointed ears. So who was Santa before Santa was born? When was the first Christmas? Why does Santa wear glasses? How can Santa sneak into a house so quietly? Now on to the Easter bunny. Is it really a giant bunny or is it a person? I explained that I would think it was a bunny due the name Easter bunny. She said, "Well, I would think it is a parent." Alright, I think she is on to us. Then she finishes with, "A parent with a bunny costume that they hide and the kids don't know about it." Ok, I think she may be one to figure it out at an early age. She has put more thought into it than I ever did.

Vampire?

J was in the bathroom for about 20 minutes looking at himself in the mirror. I wondered what he was thinking about while staring at himself but I didn't ask. He came to me and asked, "Mom, am I a vampire?" I giggled, "No, why do you ask?" His response was, "Well, I have long pointy teeth like a vampire." I had to explain that we all have them and each tooth serves a purpose. I think he was relieved that he isn't a vampire.

Storm

Some of you may not know but our weather is bad right now. We are on day 3 of freezing rain. B is out of town and is suppose to be coming in late tonight. Please pray for his safety. We were without power last night starting at 10:45 and finally got it back on at 9:30 this morning. It was below 60 degrees in our house this morning. We are the lucky ones though. There are people who have been without power for 2 days and probably won't have it until Wednesday.

K to the doctor

I took K. to the doctor yesterday and she has bronchitis. When we were close to leaving the doctor's office the doctor told K and J to get a sticker. Donald Duck was on one of the stickers and J had a serious look on his face and said, "Look K it's Aflac." The doctor laughed really hard and said, "Wow, talk about product recognition." If we go to the park and the ducks are there J calls them Aflac. I hope he realizes they are truly called ducks.

The Power of Prayer

Today has been quite a day at our house. K woke up wheezing, B had a $2000 fender bender with a pole and J got hives. J was so miserable because he was itching and the hives were hot and burning. He couldn't take a nap because the hives were bothering him so badly. We kept putting Benadryl on the hives and it would help some but they would come up in another area. At one point he was nearly covered from head to toe. J asked B how long he would have the hives and B explained it could be days. J was crying because he wanted them to go away immediately. B told him to pray to God and ask that the hives go away. J said, "Dear God, make my 'what are they called' oh yeah, hives go gone gone." B added to the prayer and then B walked out of the room. Five minutes later J called, "Daddy, my hives are gone." B told him to come to him and sure enough the hives had completely disappeared. The power of God is amazing!!

Flu Shots

We went for flu shots today and this time I made B. go with us. J. made the comment before we got there that he couldn't wait to get his shot because he was tough. He said he wanted to go first because he was strong and wouldn't cry. I am thinking it's all big talk until we get there. The nurse calls us back and asks who would go first and without hesitation J walks up and gets in the chair. He didn't even flinch when she poked him. He got down and I went next. Then I thought I better make K get her shot next. When she saw me looking at her she took off out the door and down the hall. I finally caught her and carried her back to the room. B. had to hold her in his lap and J and I held her hands. J was so sweet. He just looked so worried for K. After the shot K kept saying, "She's mean! That's a mean doctor!" Talk about embarrassing. Another round of shots down! Just 13 years of flu shots left and maybe she will be able to go get them on her own at 18.

K is bored with school

K asked if they were going to learn more than just letters at school and I said I really didn't think so. She said she was bored with school. Then she asked, "Well, can you go buy some 1st grade curriculum and work with me at home?" How can I can I say no to that?
I have one child that loves learning and a little boy who says he is never going to school. He just wants "to stay home with Mom and be a baby forever."

J's accident

Well, J did it again. He was standing in the window in our office and fell face first into our desk. We rushed him to Urgent Care and they said he needed a CT scan. Fortunately it turned out that he didn't break any bones in his head and there was no blood leak. He just looked bad (large blue goose egg).
J. was laying on the CT machine and they were about to roll him under and he told his dad that he liked his dad's vest better than he liked the one he was wearing. B asked him why and he said, "Because yours looks like the bottle of Ranch dressing."
This is the kid who eats Ranch on everything. I mean everything. I made pumpkin bread tonight and J ate Ranch dressing on it. So it was good to see that J didn't lose his sense of humor even when being wheeled under the CT machine.

Dorothy and the Tin Man

We went trick or treating and we went to our Fall Festival last night. K was Dorothy and J was the Tin Man. They looked so cute. The Tin Man won 1st place and Dorothy won 3rd place in the costume contests.

K. was saved!

Our precious little girl was saved last week. We are so happy for her. She has often talked about praying the prayer of salvation and last week she came to me and told me she was ready. We read from the Bible after calling B. We had him on speaker phone so he could be part of the process. He was in Rome at the time. K is very excited about her acceptance of Christ.

The Moon hunt

J. asked me if he could go on a moon hunt. I asked what a moon hunt was and he just looked at me. K. said, "Mom, he means a honeymoon." Now why didn't I get that and how did she know what he meant?"

Walk a thon

K had her walk-a-thon at school on Fri. and she walked 7 1/2 miles. We were so happy that she was able to walk so much. I volunteered and was able to watch her. By the time the walk-a-thon was over she was exhausted. We ran errands after picking her up from school and then we babysat 2 of her friends and she did not go to sleep until 10 pm last night. She awoke bright and early for her soccer game today and ran the whole game. I only wish I had half her energy.

Pissorpate

K was telling me a story the other day and she said J. wanted to pissorpate in soccer. I was a bit confused at first and then I realized she meant participate. B and I were trying to pronounce participate where she could get the pronunciation down. She then began saying tarpissorpate and we were getting the giggles so bad we couldn't even say it properly. In the end we were all laughing--including J who probably didn't even know what he was laughing about.

Halloween

Halloween is coming and the costumes are bought. I am still trying to convince J that he would look better if he would wear sliver makeup but he tells me he will just look at the makeup not wear it. K. decided she will be Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and she talked J into being the tin man. They had a trial run with the costumes the other night.

K. the soccer player

K. has had 4 soccer games and she is just amazing us. We are so proud of how she stays after that ball. J. yells from the sidelines although he would love to be in there playing with her. K's team has yet to win a game or even score for that matter but it is so much fun to watch.

Lovely words from my son

I taught J's Sunday school class today. He was very excited to have mom in his room. I was working with some of the other children when across the room I hear J say, "Mom, you're beautiful!" I thought how sweet it was of him to say that and he adds, "And you match good too" as he points to my clothes. Then he tops off the sweetness by blowing me a kiss across the room.
I just love how sweet this little guy can be!!

Bible Verse

The kids have started a new program at church and they have memory verses from the Bible. This weeks verse is Phil. 2:4 and it is "None of you should look out just for your own good. You should also look out for the good of others." Tonight as I am tucking the kids in to bed I asked J. what the verse was and he said, "None of you should look out for bad guys but look out for good guys." Close but not quite what I was looking for.
J. was the youngest in his class and they are asked to memorize the Bible verse and one thought for the month. This month it is initiative--seeing what needs to be done and doing it. The teacher asked if anyone could tell her the word of the month and its definition and J was the only one in his class that could give her the word and definition. We were very proud of him.

J falls to the floor

We were eating dinner last night and everything was quiet and going smoothly when all of a sudden J falls out of his chair to the floor.Everyone just looked at each other and we hear from under the table this little voice say, "It's okay, I can eat down here." At this we start laughing. If anyone hasn't figured it out yet J is the comedian in the house. Do you think he might get his joking nature from my grandmother (Mamaw) or maybe Pops?

Canpakes with yawns

I made banana pancakes with pecans for breakfast and J asked, "Mom, do these canpakes have yawns in them?" K said, "He means pecans." J said, "Yeah, do these canpakes have fecans in them?"

We have been laughing off and on all weekend about K. When she was getting her stitches on Fri and the 3 doctors, myself and our neighbor were all holding K down she said, "Are you going to wipe my wip?" Now we remind her to be careful not to hit her wip on anything. She thinks it is funny too.

I am ready for some rest

Today I had to take K to school for her testing to see if she is ready for kindergarten. This seems a little backward since she has already started kindergarten but this is Oklahoma, right? Anyway, as we are leaving J decides to pick up a rock and throw it at the school. He not only hits the school but he hits the principal's office window. She came outside and said, "Is he practicing his throwing skills?" I apologized and she turned around and walked into the school. He has already made a name for himself and he doesn't start school for another 2 years.

This evening K had climbed up on the island in the kitchen which she often does. J asked her to come into the living room to put a puzzle together and she jumped off the island but her chin came down on the island and she bit into her lip. It made a big mess and luckily I was standing where I could grab her and I got her over the sink quickly. I called 3 neighbors before I found one at home. They came over and watched J while I took her for stitches. Needless to say B is out of the country.

J saw a pregnant man

Our family went to a restaurant in Tulsa. We were finishing up and J looked over with this look of shock on his face. He yelled, "That man is going to have a baby!" He pointed at a man sitting about 4 feet from us and the man weighed about 400 lbs. B grabbed J and walked out.

I had to take J to the doctor today because he has been getting this strange rash today. He has had really bad allergies for about a week and I have been trying to decide whether I should take him in. This rash was strange in that he had red spots on his body and then bumps would come up in the red spots. Within 20-30 minutes these patches would disappear and they would appear in another location. The doctor said not to worry about the rash and that it was probably hives. He did say J has a ear infection and a sinus infection.

K's third day of school

Today was K's 3rd day of kindergarten and on the way to school she told me to just drop her off at the front door because she doesn't need me to walk her in anymore. Talk about growing up fast. I dropped her off and watched her walk in the doors. She had a huge smile on her face and she felt so big. I was sad to think she will never want me to walk in anymore.

K's first day of school

K has really enjoyed the 2 days of school she has had. She looks so grown up with her back pack and she puts it in her locker and goes straight to her seat. I can't believe she is old enough to go to kindergarten. I may have to drag J to school when it is time. He keeps telling me he is still a baby and wants to stay home with mom.

K met her teacher

K and I went to the school today to meet her teacher. K was so nervous she wouldn't even look up at her teacher. Tomorrow is the first day of school so we will see how that goes.

K's allergy test results came back negative to everything. I am not convinced that the results are correct but how can I argue with them? I am suppose to get K on allergy medicine for 3 weeks and bring her back to the doctor so they can see if she still has fluid on her ears. If there is fluid we go to the ENT doctor.

K is hot!

Our neighbor boy is 4 (nearly 5) but he approached K yesterday and told her, "You're hot!" K's response was, "Gross!!!" I hope she keeps thinking gross. About an hour later the little boy came over and said he had something for K and it was a flower he had picked out of his flower bed. Oh brother!!! Is this how it all begins and never ends? I am not quite ready for the boys approaching her already.

K got allergy tested

I took K. back to the doctor to recheck her ears and they still had fluid on them. The doctor recommended for the second time that we do some allergy testing. I agreed this time and had only been declining because I knew how hard it would be to draw blood from the girl that attacks me when she gets shots. The nurse came in and held her arm while I held her legs and other arm. The doctor drew the blood while K. was screaming, "What is it going to feel like?" She screamed this about 10 times over and over. When we finally left she said, "You should have told me what they were going to do because I was scared." I am so glad that is over! We should have results this Wed. I am hoping she won't be allergic to eggs like me. I will certainly have to learn new recipes. Our brave girl can finally laugh about it now.

J and the Toby Keith song

We were listening to a Toby Keith song and it said, "candle burning in your eye" and J said, "That would hurt. A candle burning in your eye that would burn." Another line was "close your eyes and hum" and J said, "Why do you have to close your eyes to hum?" He analyzes all songs so we have to be careful what that boy listens to.

My 5 year old

I can not believe my daughter is 5. She had a great birthday party and enjoyed everyone who was able to make it to the party. She missed Pops and Bisus but understood that they are just too far away. She told everyone, "Pops and Bisus wanted to be here but they didn't have any money to come." I wonder where she heard that?
Pops maybe?????
Tomorrow is the dreaded 5 year old check up where she gets her shots. Looks like mom will be holding her down again. Kindergarten starts on the 22nd. That is going to be tough watching her walk into that BIG school.

Trip to Branson

We just got back from Branson. We had a great time once we got there. We left late on Tues because B had to drive in from Dallas before we could leave. Then we finally got off and it was raining really hard. I drove and was in Tulsa getting on the highway when my car decided to not have any power and I couldn't get over 40 mph. We drove back home and unloaded the Tahoe and put everything in B's car. Next, we took my car to the shop and dropped it off and off we went again.

While at the hotel the kids swam many times with B. One time B had K. swim to him and she was doing so good. B. was watching her and then he heard a gurgling sound and looked over and J was under water with his eyes open looking at him. B pulled him out of the water and J. was crying and choking. He looked B and said, "I didn't drained." B asked what he said and J said, "I didn't drained because I am a good boy." He was saying he didn't drown because he is a good boy.

K amazes us!

B was watching a western on television and the kids were really interested in it. K made the comment that one man wasn't in the shoot out but he was hit by the bullet. B said, "Yes, sometimes someone can be standing there and get hurt although they are not involved." K said, "Isn't that what you call an innocent bystander?"

J and the things he says

The other day I took the kids to get ice cream and J said, "look at my muscles." I told him how strong he is and he said, "Mom, let me see your muscles." Oh great! I look around and quickly show him my muscle. He says, "Mom, it is perfect!"

Today B was talking to J about preschool. B said since J is 90% potty trained he could go to school. J said, "Boys don't do school."
It looks as though J wants to really stay home with Mom.

J and K were in the bath tub together and J pulled the plug so the water was draining out and K and I didn't even acknowledge him. He wasn't getting the attention he wanted so he said, "I didn't do it." I will give him an A for effort to get attention.

The Wild Animal

We have a painter who is painting the interior of our house. He is really good with kids and says J. is a mess. He is exactly right about that. It was nap time and we had put the kids in our room to take a nap. The door was shut and the painter was painting just outside our bedroom door. He said he was painting and heard this growl and then another growl. Ray, the painter, said, "I am going to leave and never come back because there is a monster in this house." J. said, "It's just me. It's just J." Ray got a laugh out of that. In fact, Ray asked if he has to pay for the entertainment he receives at our house.

Kids and the lake

We went to the lake yesterday. K and J loved it! It was their first time on a boat. They both got on an inner tube behind the boat. J went with B and K did too. K then got brave and on her second run went by herself. She rode for quite some time before raising her hand and showing us the stop sign. We laughed because she even had the hand signs down although we never discussed it with her.

Both kids are in swimming lessons for 2 weeks and they are doing great! J gets in trouble some for not paying attention. The teacher came up to me after class and said, "How do you discipline this child? He is so cute, the cutest boy I have ever seen, and I could not discipline him if I were you." I laughed thinking to myself if she had to put up with his temper tantrums she would be able to discipline him cute or not!!

Kids

J is finally going on the potty!! Yeah!!!!!!!
All it took was our next door neighbor telling him he couldn't have any more lollipops until he was potty trained and he has had very few accidents since that day.

We went to some friends house last night and K. told us she ate hamster food. She said it tasted good. Sounds like my cousin, T., who ate dog food when we were little. I think my sis did too.

Kids and the things they say

J. was eating dinner really well and B. told him he was eating like a boy who wanted to play football. J. said, "and K. is eating like a boy who has a pink helmet."

K made up a joke and told us today. It goes like this: What do you call a broken wheel? Wheel fix it!!

Lunch with J.

Today at the lunch table J. would not stop talking. B told him several times to quit talking so much and to eat his food. Finally I said, "J. quit talking; you are giving me a headache." J's quick response was "then go to the doctor." K. said, "I think J. is the funniest one in our family."
K's preschool teacher said she was "chatty" so just wait until she gets J. in class.

J and his future job

J has decided that he wants to be a pilot when he grows up. He was asking B what his name is when he is flying and B said that he is still called B. J said, "Well, when I get big and fly airplanes they are going to call me Ronit the Donit that makes contrail." We asked why Ronit the Donit and said that is just going to be his name when he flies.

Fishing

K. has become quite the fisher woman. We have taken her fishing twice in the last week because we bought fishing poles the other day. She baits her own hook, casts by herself and reels it in. She loves it! J. went fishing but he gets bored easily. He will walk off with the pole in the water and someone else has to reel it in if he catches a fish.

Flood

B was walking through the living room this morning and the carpet was wet. He tracked it to the middle bathroom and when he opened the door the sink was on and the stopper was pushed down. We asked the kids who pushed the stopper down and K. admitted it was her. Now for the clean up. You can only imagine what a mess it is when you realize that the water had been slowly on since before dinner last night.

J. is potty training. He keeps going in a diaper or pull up so I have been putting undies on him and he had dirtied all of them so I got the bright idea to leave him naked. Note to moms: THIS IS NOT A GOOD IDEA if you have a strong willed child.
He went in my floor and did not tell me. I walked out of the office and there it was (and I don't mean pee.)

Kids and their messes. I am glad B was home for the flood.

B. is from Italy

This is a big indicator that B is gone far too much. I was looking at a map with the kids and J said, "Where do we live?" I showed him where Tulsa is and he said, "Where does Dad live?"

Today he was looking at B's shorts and asked what they said on them. B said, "It says champion because I am the champion of the world." (ha! ha! right!!) Anyway, J. said, "You are the champion from Italy."

The poor kid doesn't even realize his daddy still lives with us.

The application is in at Southwest. We are just praying for God's will.

Need Prayers

We need everyone to pray for God's will. B. turned in his application yesterday for Southwest. I am nervous but B. seems at peace.

I just found out I am allergic to eggs. If anyone has good recipes without eggs please send them my way. How do you cook without eggs?

J Choked Again

We took the kids to eat Mexican food for lunch. J was eating chips and got choked. His face was turning red and he was getting a little air. He was coughing and gagging and finally I picked him up to hand him to B. and J started throwing up. He threw up on the table, all over himself and the floor. We quickly threw napkins over it and we cleaned it up. Everyone in the restaurant was panicked. A police officer who knows CPR came over and was about to pick J up. He was standing right behind him waiting for him to stop breathing so he could begin the CPR. Not a good way to start a meal!

J., Pops and Bisus

J. asked for a snack and B. said he would fix him cheese with honey like the Italians eat. B. explained that he eats ham, cheese, honey and melon which are brought out as appetizers. J. listened intently and said, "Well, in Colorado we eat ham on salad." "That is what Pops, Bisus and I do."

J. and the Giant Mosquito

J. and B. were having a discussion this morning about mosquito's. J. has reactions to mosquito bites and it brought on this in depth conversation. J. said maybe someday a giant mosquito will come to our house and give us a ride on his back. B. said, "Yes, we will have to strap on our seat belts and go for a ride." J. said, "Mosquito's don't have seat belts. They have handlebars."

The imagination of a child is amazing!

K's End of the School Year Program

Thursday night was K's end of the school year program and each child had told the teacher their mother's name, age, her favorite food and what she likes to do. K. gave them my name, my age was 58, favorite food was enchiladas and I like to play with K and J. All the other moms were coming up and telling me I look great for my age.

The children also made a cookbook and K.'s recipe went like this. My mother is a very good cook. I like it when she makes chocolate chip cookies for me. This is how she makes it. She gets the milk. She rolls the dough out. Then she puts chocolate chips on them. Then she bakes them in the over on hot--about 50 degrees. She bakes them for 70 minutes. We eat them.

The kids were singing songs with the exception of K. who thought she needed to talk to the little boy next to her the majority of the time. After it was over I told the teacher if this were any indication of how she acts in school then I may see a few N's in works quietly. The teacher said, "Oh yes, she can be quite the chatter box."

Our Little Tree

We have a tree that is about 4 feet tall. It started in our flower bed and we moved it when it got big enough. It just keeps on growing. K. decided it would be funny to run over it with her Jeep. She plowed right over the tree and it bounced back up. We have been afraid it might die because she took off a big piece of its bark. As we were pulling out of the driveway I mentioned that some of the leaves are red on the tips and that I hoped that didn't mean the tree was about to die. Hours later we were playing in the front yard and I am visiting with our next door neighbor. She looks up and asks what J. is doing. I look over at him and he has a shovel and is about to start digging up the tree. I ran over there and told him to stop. I asked what he was doing and his response was the tree is dieing and I am going to dig it up. I will have to remember to think before I speak next time.

B needs to come home

B has been gone a week and one day and I am losing my cool. I went to the gym this morning and as we were leaving K and J decided to stomp through mud that went above their ankles. K took her shoes off before this but J didn't bother removing his shoes. J decided it would be funny to run through my car while I was chasing K through the parking lot. Now I have mud on my steering wheel, seats, carpet and car seats. I have 2 more weeks before B returns and his boss informed him this type of travel will continue until at least December. B is considering Southwest Airlines but he would be gone a lot with this too. Please pray that God opens a door for us and we know that it is from God.

S. the Hero

We went to Dumas and Amarillo this weekend and J. was choking on a mint. He was outside with his big cousin, S. S. did the Heimlich on him and he threw up the mint. I am so proud of S. for his fast thinking. Not bad for a 9 year old!!!

J. was broken into pieces

J. is fascinated by a scar that his daddy has on his neck. It is a scar he got from his brother kicking a stake and it stuck in his neck. J. has a scratch behind his ear where his sister scratched him. He told B. he got it from his uncle J. He said his uncle cut him to pieces and then put him back together again. Hey dad, can you beat that story? I have always heard men like to tell tall tales but when does it start?

B. has no hair!!

B. has been cutting his own hair. Need I say more? Anyway, he was finishing up his hair with the clippers when he looked down at the ground and the guard was on the floor. He was afraid to even look in the mirror so he called me in. After a good laugh he looked in the mirror and to his surprise there was a big patch where he had no hair. Now it was time for damage control. He decided the only option was to go bald. He shaved his head and K and J walked in. J just had a funny expression on his face and K had her hands over her mouth and wouldn't come near him. She started backing up and said, "You are going to start growing it out, aren't you?"

This was on Tues. night. Well, on Wed. B. had the kids by himself all day. He decided to take the kids on a bike ride (our bikes are hanging from the ceiling of the garage.) He took down his bike and raised up and hit his head on my bike's handle bars. It knocked him down and J was under him so B hit his chin on the top of J's head. This nearly knocked B. out. Fortunately it didn't hurt J. K. said, "Daddy, are you okay?"
B. responded for her to give him a minute. Later he asked her what she would have done if B hadn't responded and she said she would have called 911 because if he didn't answer "he would have been dead." Anyway, if B had had more hair maybe he wouldn't have a big strawberry on the top of his head.

Lesson: don't cut your own hair!!

Jesus was at our church

I was standing in line to check the kids in the nursery at our church and a man walked in and was in line behind us. J. looked up at him and said "is that Jesus?" He said it loud enough that others heard we all got a good chuckle out of it. I can't imagine a bigger compliment.

I will think things through a little more when I say things like church is Jesus' home and Jesus is always with us.

The Princess Party

K. had a princess party to attend this weekend at church. It was a party to prepare the girls for purity. Moms, the book is called The Princess and the Kiss and it is a great tool for teaching purity. J was not happy about K telling him she was going to the princess party and no boys were allowed. J. decided to have his own party in the living room. He told K. "This is my princess party and no girls are allowed." "See the sign it says 'No K's'. I was laughing so hard it was hard not to let him know that I thought it was funny. Who ever heard of a princess party where girls weren't allowed? Later he changed it to a truck party and the only girl who could come was Mema. She is mighty privileged to be allowed to attend the boys only party. So Mema you better get your truck ready to party.

The Disappearing KP

Last night B put K to bed and he went to check on her about 20 minutes later. She wasn't in her bed so he checked J's room. No K in bed in J's room. B came and asked me if I had seen her and I said no so we began searching. I looked in J's room again thinking she may be hiding under the covers. She wasn't there so I looked in all of the closets, upstairs and bathrooms. B. checked the living rooms. No K anywhere. Now I was getting a little frightened. We checked the doors and they were still locked. B. looked in the backyard. Now I started saying her name. I walked in J's room and again said her name. About that time I see an arm come out from under the comforter that is folded on the end of J's bed. We had piled the pillows with shams on them on top of a folded comforter at the end of the bed while J was sleeping. K. said she had gotten scared and had gone to J's room and hid under the comforter and pillows and had fallen asleep.

To know me is to love me

I asked K. who loves her and her response was, "Everyone. Well, not everyone, not the bad guys and the people who don't know me." That about covers it.

J. and the short sleeved flower

B. and J. went to the park yesterday and J. picked a dandelion for B. He pulled the stem off and just handed him the flower portion. He said smiled sweetly and said, "Here is a short sleeved flower for you." Brett asked what J. meant and he said, "If I left the stem on it would be long sleeved but this one is short sleeved."

How wonderful to think like a child.

J. has a new saying he walks around saying "razzle dazzle" and even has our 13 year old neighbor saying it.

Yesterday K. found a frog and was chasing her brother around the yard and he was screaming. I don't just mean screaming, I mean a terrified scream for all the neighborhood to hear. He was so afraid and his mean sister stuck the frog down his shirt. By the end of the night J and K were kissing the frog on the mouth! GROSS!!! Mom was not happy about that. J. would not hold the frog but he would kiss it. Go figure!!

What makes kids say what they say?

Mema and Pa kept the kids while I was in NY. K. told her Mema that I only make her change her panties if she has an accident in them. (You know otherwise we can get a good 2 or 3 weeks out of them!) Thank goodness my mom knows better!! How embarrassing that could have been.

The Flashing Lights

K. was turning our porch light and the lights on each side of our garage door on and off. She was saying, "Mom, why is nothing happening?" I explained that she was turning the lights on outside so she couldn't see them. About that time the phone rings and it is my next door neighbor and he says, "Your lights outside are flickering on and off. I think you may have a short." I explained about my children playing with the lights and we had a good laugh.
It reminded me of the commercial where the man is flipping the switch on and off and it is making the neighbors garage door open and close.

New York

We made it back from New York. We had a lot of fun. We took the subway, saw the Empire State Building, Grand Central Station, the Statue of Liberty, the World Trade Center site, Central Park, N.Y.U. campus, Wall Street, Fifth Ave., Madison Ave. and Trump Tower. Our hotel was just above a dispatch center for the fire station which provided a great deal of noise during the middle of the night.

K's Career Choice

K's teacher e-mailed me today and said she had overheard K. having a conversation with another student regarding what she wanted to be when she grew up. K. said, "I am going to be Cinderella at Disney World." The other child said, "You can't do that." K. said, "Yes, I can. When I get old enough the Cinderella they have right now will be too old to do it anymore." I told K. that her teacher had e-mailed me because she thought the conversation was funny. K. said, "And what was the funny part of that story?"


I leave for NY tomorrow. K. said, "Are you going to see Elf while you are there?" (For those of you who haven't seen the movie Elf it was set in NY.) I told her I didn't think I would see Elf while I was there and she said, "Well, if you do tell him I said hi."

Indians

K. must have been thinking about Indians because she asked B. how that Indian man called him a while back. B. said on his cell phone and K. replied, "he can't call you from a cell phone." B. asked her why and she said, "Indians don't have cell phones."
B. explained that Indians live like we do. She said, "So they don't wear paint on their faces anymore?" I just love the way they think!!

Mystery Solved

J has been saying, "dom it" which led us to believe that he had heard someone say that phrase often used when someone is angry. We don't say that in our house but I thought maybe he heard someone else say it or maybe he made up a new word that sounded like that lovely phrase. Anyway, I ask him where he heard that and he says he doesn't know but he loves the look on my face when he says it so it is repeated often. B was watching a cartoon with J today and he heard the cartoon say, "Donna, darlin'" with an accent and J said, "See, dom it." The case is solved. Now I can relax when he says it.

Bad Words

B came home after being gone 2 weeks. We are glad he is back.
B bent down last night and J said, "Daddy, you have a boo boo on the top of your head."
I was already laughing because I knew where this was going. B said, "No, I don't." J said, "Look, it goes like this" and he traced the part of B's head where the hair is missing. By this time B had figured out that J was talking about his bald spot. We got to describe what bald meant.

Just a couple of days ago K came to me and said she heard a bad word on television and she told me they said someone was "bald". Isn't it funny how the word bald has made its rounds in our house this week. I wonder what the word of the week will be next week!

Wally's house

Yesterday J. asked if he could go to Wally's house to play. The funny thing about that is Wally is my mom's dog.

I woke in the middle of the night to a woman's voice. I jumped out of bed and stood in the hall to get my senses enough to tell where the voice was coming from. I finally realized it was upstairs in the play room. Upon listening a little better I realized it was one of K's toys saying, "mmmmm, good" and other phrases over and over. Talk about a strange awakening. The toy kitchen was talking in the middle of the night. Thanks Mom for that toy!!

Valentine's Day

K. had a great day at school (she celebrated her Valentine's Day on Tues). She got a Valentine's gift from a boy. Oh my!! Aren't we too young for this? I got a gel cover for the cycle class I am taking. I do have the most romantic husband in the world. I know all you girls are jealous! Poor J. just had to hang out with mom for V day. He said he wanted his friends to give him Valentine's cards too. Sorry kid, maybe next year if you are potty trained by then. The school doesn't let in kids in diapers.

Today is Thurs and K. had show and share. She decided she would be her own show and share. She did her cross one eye trick for her class. She said they thought it was really funny and I am sure they did.

Last night J fell asleep at 5:30 and woke up at bedtime. Have you ever seen a cuter little guy sleeping?

Cycle day at the gym

Well, my friend, C., talked me into taking a cycling class at the gym. It wasn't too bad but I am not sure I used proper form. I think I will try it again. K. got up early and went with me. She got to play with her friends. Tonight we go bowling and I hope I can participate. If I am sore by then I may have sit it out. Riding your recumbent bike at home is much different than taking a 50 minute class where they tell you how hard to ride and if you are to go up a hill. Then you get off the bike and have 10 minutes of ab work! Whew!!

J's haircut

B bought some hair clippers and decided to start cutting J's hair and his own. J loved daddy cutting his hair. He said, "Are we at the Barber shop?"

B. was later putting away the clippers and J said, "daddy you didn't cut your hair" and he added, "I will cut yours for you."

K has pajama day at school tomorrow. She is very excited and it is her day to do show and share. She is taking a Pinocchio book. She had to pick something the boys would enjoy too. I was informed nothing to do with princesses, clothes, jewelry or boyfriend/girlfriend. The boys think that kind of thing is gross.

J's bad day at the park

We took J and K to the park which was crowded. We actually got up to 67. J. wandered off by the swings and we saw him just sitting down. We thought he was just watching the other kids swinging. A man starts walking toward us holding J's hand. He said J. was sitting there crying quietly because he had walked out in front of the swing and a kid had kicked him the face. He has a huge lip now. Poor boy!!

A Princess School Day

K. told me last night that for school today she wanted to dress up like Cinderella. I was told she needed a blue skirt and blue shirt and her needed to be in a bun. I don't know how to put hair in a bun so I convinced her a headband would look great. I found a denim skirt for her to wear and I got in trouble because it had buttons in the front and she wanted it to be smooth and technically denim is not blue. After much convincing she wore the denim skirt and a blue shirt with tights and boots. She does look like a very beautiful Cinderella. Although it was after many tears. K. cried because her dad left to run errands before she went to school and she didn't get to tell him goodbye. So on the way to school she said, "If dad comes home before I get out of school I want you to tell him hi for me."

J. got a cut on his toe and he didn't realize it. It was bleeding quite a bit and B. and I said, "How did you cut your toe?" He said he didn't know so I asked if I needed to get my needle and thread and sew it up. I explained I could give him a shot before I started sewing so it wouldn't hurt and he looked at me very seriously and said, "Momma, are you a doctor?" Some of you may not know that J. cut his lip open last May and it was really bad. Anyway, he had to have 4 stitches and it was a horrible experience so he isn't too fond of stitches.

K's thoughts on Jesus

We were on our way to church this morning and K. said, "Some people aren't going to church." I said, "Believe it or not some people don't believe in Jesus." B. added, "Even some people you know." K. said, "Well, they know about Jesus but they don't want to live their lives the way Jesus wants them to." B. and I just looked at each other in shock.

To have the faith of a child.

Beth Moore study of Daniel

I am taking the Beth Moore Bible study of the book of Daniel and it is wonderful. I highly recommend it to anyone. The world we live in is so corrupt and it is much like Babylon. Beth Moore lets us see how our world is not so far off from the times of Daniel. She motivates us as Christians to not get enticed by the idea that you have to be young, beautiful and wealthy to make a difference.
I must say I am blessed beyond measure to have the family I have and so many good friends.

Aren't Kids Wonderful

I told the kids that their daddy's birthday is coming up and J. said, "Let's get him an airplane like mine." (J. got a pedal airplane for Christmas) K. asked me, "Mom, is there anything dad has been begging for?" B. begging, well, not really. My kids begging, yes, quite often.

J's funnies

Today J. has been making us laugh. He is VERY determined to not be potty trained. I had him sit on the potty and he actually went and I said,"J, you are such a big man." He said, "Then do I get a computer like Daddy?"
He also got in trouble for doing something B. had warned him not to do and B. said, "J, I told you not to do that." J. turned and said, "Then why did I do it?"
He is quite the comedian.
We took K. to Walmart to use her Christmas gift cards to buy gifts and she told J. she would buy him something but it had to cost $1, $2 or $3 but nothing more. She finally picked out 2 movies that were on clearance so she could buy more gifts later. Aunt B. I can hear you saying, "She is like her mother." When B. and I were kids and we would be given a piece of candy I would save mine and B. would eat hers right then. When she finished eating hers she would cry and say I saved mine just to make her want it.

The Strong Willed Child

I am reading a great book by James Dobson called The Strong Willed Child. I told K. that it is a book to teach me better ways to discipline her and she waited until I was walking out of her room to say under her breath, "Go read ways to discipline that aren't going to work." Why in the world do I think I have a strong willed child?
God grant me patience and please remove the strong defiant will from my children. Please keep their precious spirits intact. Amen.

K. is reading

Today was K. first day to read a book. She is using the Hooked on Phonics series and read her first book today. We are so proud of her. She was super excited. She danced around the house then asked to call her Daddy. She read him the book over the speaker phone.
B. made it home safely from Europe but is more than likely going to Dallas for training on the 28th and on to Rome from there. That means another 3 weeks without him. It isn't his turn to go to Italy but his boss is trying to get out of going. This means B. will have to go.

Is this a sign?

Is this a sign that my husband has been gone too long? J. asked me, "Mom, do I have a daddy?" I said, "Of course you have a daddy." He said, "What is his name?"

B. is going to drive home today. Please pray for safe travel as it is sleeting here and he has a 2 1/2 hour drive. We can't wait to see him!

Still shut in the house

Here it is on Monday and we are still in the house. All you Moms will understand how bad it is when I tell you that my 4 year old is grounded from the television and we can't go outside. If this ice doesn't clear soon I may hire a snow plow to come clean a path for me to go to the shopping center or at least Walmart. This morning J. told me he would take a bath but I couldn't use soap or shampoo on him. I know God did not intend on Mom's being shut in the house for days and days with their 2 and 4 year olds especially when the 4 year old refuses to sleep in her own bed. B. please come home! Just 6 more days to go.

Beautiful conversation with my son

Today I was telling J. what a wonderful little boy he is and we were looking at each other while he was in my lap. He was being so sweet. I said, "J. you are such a sweet, cute and funny little boy." He smiled sweetly at me and said, "Mom, can I pick your nose?" Talk about putting an end to a sweet moment with mom. He is such a cut up. He loves to make me laugh and tries hard to make K. laugh too. He really looks up to his sister until they start fighting. He got angry at her and was chasing her and she was running in the kitchen. He stopped at my plant stand that had two plants on it and threw it across the kitchen. Dirt went everywhere and black paint got on the white wall. It is time to get the kids outside to play but the weather is not cooperating. We have at least 2-3 inches of ice and are expecting 2 more inches tomorrow.

Snowed in

We are snowed or iced in again. It is so bad J. is dressing up in his sis's dress up clothes. He has been a Care Bear, a princess and a ghost. K. is making projects. We have artwork everywhere. Beautiful artwork!!

We can't wait until the 20th when Daddy gets home.
He travels to Africa tomorrow so pray for safety.

The life of a Mom

This has been quite a week. B. left for Rome and the following day K. got the stomach virus. What a mess!!! It only lasted 24 hours and I thought "that wasn't too bad!" 24 hours later (at 4 in the morning) J. got sick. Being so young he didn't try to make it to the bathroom and that was really bad!! He doesn't want to do anything but have Mom hold him and I am about to go crazy sitting on the couch or laying on the bed. J. is shouting, "get off the computer" as I type. Only 12 more days until Daddy comes home. Did I sign up to be the wife of a pilot??????

Christmas

We had a great Christmas. Pops and Bisus were here for a few days and we shopped and opened lots of gifts. We went back to the home town on the 29th and got to see cousins, Mema and Pa, Aunt B. and Uncle S. The kids got along and had lots of fun! K. didn't get S. up against the wall by the throat this time. Yeah!!! K. did take her wedding dress to her cousins house but they didn't have time to get married.
J. kept asking Mema, "What can we do?" I think that is a 2 year olds version of "I'm bored!"