quick thinking

So the other day Katie asked me to play dress shop with her.

Dress shop is when she takes a bunch of dresses out of her closet and hangs them on the crib. She is then the owner of the dress shop, helping you find and buy the perfect dress. She loves this game.

I told her she could play, as long as she hung all the dresses up again when she was finished, but that she would have to play with Joey since I was busy with Lizzie right at that moment.

Joey rolled is eyes and muttered something about not wanting to play dress shop, to which Katie replied:
"Fine. I'll play with my invisible friends."

Not knowing she even had any invisible friends, I asked her the names of these playmates.


"Princess, Jessie and...Hairbow."



I have a sneaking suspicion that she may have possibly made up one of those names on the spot.

But the threat of replacement worked, and Joey played dress shop with her after all.

I guess Hairbow had to go find something else to do with her time.

when red 40 equals greatness

What does it take to be the world's greatest mom?

The answer is surprising: deprive the children of cereal. Only buy it occasionally, but even then, have a pretty strict ban on any cereal that turns the milk pink.



Then, one Tuesday, tell your son he can pick any cereal he wants when you go grocery shopping. Watch the delight on his face as he chooses sugar coated rings of artificial colors.



Enjoy the pleasure of watching him merrily eat two bowls for an afternoon snack. And then be handed the title of "best mom in the world" from the world's sweetest boy.



Sometimes it really is great to break the "rules."

in blue

My artist has moved away from the abstract art that defined her early work.

Kate's recent pieces show lots of growth in real scenes and portraits.

The subject of this drawing is so recognizable, it can't possibly be required that the viewer be her mother in order to interpret and enjoy it.



Okay, fine -- in case you don't have a trained eye for Katie-art, I'll fill you in:



(I just read this post 5 hours after posting and had to fix 3 typos. Nice.)

these girls got game

"Mommy, my princesses are ready for their picture!"

sister sorting

Yesterday the kids were getting on each other's nerves a bit, so I came up with a task to keep their hands and minds busy. I put a different colored flash cards on various squares of our patterned carpet in the play room. Then I gave Katie the wooden block bin, and Joey the car bin, and told them to sort their bins by putting the block or car on the corresponding block of carpet.

They busily worked until the task was complete. Joey excitedly came into the kitchen to tell me to come see the finished product. When I walked in the room, I noticed that Lizzie was not sitting where I had placed her by the pink Boppy pillow, so I asked Joey why he had moved her.



With his face all smiles he replied, "See mama, I put her on the pink square!"

homeward bound

Last night at church Adam borrowed a friend's GPS so he could check it out. Joey asked me what daddy was putting on the windshield and I explained to him what it was and what it did. Joey looked at me a bit quizzically and asked,
"Oh? Did Daddy forget the way home?"

He cracks me up :)

sounds perfectly reasonable

Yesterday evening I was folding laundry on my bed while Joey was in the tub in our master bathroom. He was having a great time splashing around with his plastic dinosaur figures. Ranny, the tyrannosaurus rex, was getting the most play time as Joey made him perform acrobatic dives into the tub again and again. It was great entertainment while I folded the laundry. Then there was a break in the splashes, a quiet moment, and I hear:

"Mom, do they kill baby dinosaurs and then paint them to make these toys?"

Can you just imagine those cold-hearted dinosaur farmers painting all the poor, slaughtered dino-babies? I mean, you'd think there would be an easier, more humane and cost-effective way to produce toys for all the dinosaur loving children in the world.

loophole

On Tuesday, the kids and I spent a few fun hours over at my friend Katie's house. She has four boys, and Joey always has a great time playing with them. (And I love spending time with Katie too!) They get along well, and besides a stray knee to the throat during a round of mattress jumping, the day was incident free, full of good fun.

When it was time to go, Joey shed some tears, and sorrowfully said good-bye to every friend. He sadly made his way into his car seat, and had the longest face he could mange as we pulled away and yelled good-bye one last time. A moment of silence and then from the back seat I hear--

"I wish Daddy could be Miss Katie's wife, so then I could live at their house and play with them everyday."

Just like that. Mommy out. Four new brothers in.

special skills

If Katie taught a class it would be "How to lose all your marker caps in twenty-four seconds or less when coloring at the kitchen table."

If Joey taught a class it would be "How to unknowingly change
music lyrics to make no sense at all."

First lesson: Winnie the Pooh

Winnie the Pooh, Winnie the Pooh,
Jumpin' on a cobby all stuck with fluff,
Winnie the Pooh, Winnie the Pooh,
Silly in a willy ol' bear.

Class over. You are dismissed.

So it's Saturday

I have really had nothing much to say this week, hence the few posts and simple subject matter. So here is a little this and that to round out my week of ho-hum blogging:

• It has been a long work week for my husband, but the Lord has answered prayers and accomplished what needed to be done at Adam's place of work.
  
  
• Tomorrow Adam does not have to work, and we begin a month of teaching Jr. Church for the four and five-year-olds. This means we will be Joey's teacher and be able to see just how rowdy he is when he is with his best friend of the same name. I have been told it makes it easy to rein them in when they get a little too rambunctious, since "Joeys!" is all that needs to be said.
  
  
• The favorite game of the week for Joey has been Hide and Seek the Dinosaurs. Joey and I take turns hiding and seeking the plastic dinosaurs he got from his grandmom for Christmas. Why does this game become boring to me so much more quickly than it does for him?



• Today Joey told me, "Mom, when you wear that shirt, it fills my heart with joy." Who knew a burnt orange, v-neck, long sleeve shirt had such powers.
  


• When Adam left for work today, Katie told him, "I yah you ah much!" Translation: I love you so much! She talks more and more every day. She had her first cup of hot cocoa this week, and quickly said, "Wan moh cocoa!" (want more cocoa) as soon as the first cup was finished. Putting together three words so masterfully earned her a second cup.
  
  
• I turned the heat up to 66 degrees today, 67 yesterday, and I don't care who knows it!
  
  
• I have had the scrapbook urge the past few days, but I cannot scrapbook because all my pictures are just billions of pixels filling up my hard drive. Since Katie's second birthday is in a month and I haven't even begun her first year album, I would say it is time to get some photos printed.

• Katie brought me the lion costume today saying, "ooo, ooo, ah, ah?" meaning, "Can you put this monkey costume on?" She is supposed to be a lion. She thinks she is a monkey. I think she is beautiful.
  

(scabby lip and all)

Happy Saturday, everybody.

It's nice to be a grown-up because...

...you don't look like this after eating a bagel with cream cheese.

Joey's prayers

Joey's prayers are some of the sweetest things, and sometimes funny too. Back in October when we were reading various months-of-the-year books, Joey was introduced to the concept of trick-or-treating. Costumes and candy in the same night--what a fantastic idea to a four-year-old. We were not going to trick-or-treat, nor had I suggested we would, but I guess Joey figured we were. So one night Joey's prayer at dinner included, "Lord, please help Halloween to get here soon!" My guess is that that may have been the first time the heavens heard that prayer.

He is also very grateful for various things such as "all the creatures in the forest" and that "Daddy has a job to pay the bills so that we have all the things we have."

And sometimes, my son prays for miracles. Over the weekend, after seeing part of an interview with Barack Obama, Joey ended his dinner prayer with, "And please help John McCain to still be our new president. In Jesus name, amen."

Amen, Joey.

Mmmm

Since I purchased a few booklets of McDonald's trick-or-treat coupons, we have stopped to get (free) burgers a little more often than usual. Katie quickly learned what those golden arches mean, and when I drive by a McDonald's restaurant she says, "Buhguh, Buhguh!" (Katie speak for burger).

Then last Sunday Katie pointed to an upper case M on the cover of Joey's notebook and said, "Buhguh"! She has since pointed to an m in the text of one of her books, as well as the M in the word May on our months-of-the-year chart and proclaimed "buhguh."

It would figure that Katie's first stroke of genius would have to do with food.

That's my girl!

The girl has issues

Saturday night after dinner Katie was in a fussy mood. She didn't want what she had, but nothing else was really pleasing her either. After the twentieth or so little squeal left her whiney, little lips Adam said, "Katie, you have issues."

Katie looked right at him and immediately left the room. She returned a moment later and gave him a box of tissues.

That girl cracks me up.