Toys have feelings, too

Lisy has been playing with her Princess Leia doll as if it was real. She includes it in her games, talks to it, and swears that it moves when she isn't looking. By dinnertime Benjamin had had enough when Lisy put the doll on the table.

"No toys at the table!" Benjamin loudly reminded her.

So she put the doll on a chair and gave it a handful of food, "so she doesn't get hungry. Don't look at her or she won't eat!" Lisy announced.

"Leee-seee! She is not alive!" shouted Benjamin.

Now, I've seen Benjamin read to his stuffed animals and tuck them in at night. And heaven forbid you accidentally step on one of them. I had to put a stop to this. Not to mention that shouting matches don't belong at the dinner table.

"Benjamin, leave her alone. Let her believe whatever she wants; she isn't hurting anyone. How would you feel if I told you that your stuffed animals weren't real?" I postulated to him.

*shocked gasp* Benjamin lowered his gaze and hung his head. He quietly answered, "I know they're not real. But in my heart I believe they are."

One morning the girls set up a breakfast of orange juice and biscuits for their dolls.

Naps are tough on those who stay awake

"Aaah! Mom! I lost my Way-chel (Rachel)!" Makayla came screaming into the kitchen.

"Did she fall asleep?" I asked.

"Yes!" lamented Makayla.

Rachel and Makalya: sisters and best friends

Beware the Feather Duster (and the toddler)

Tonight during family scripture study, Makayla walked right up to Dad, waved the feather duster at him and shouted, "Aba-da-dabwa!" It's difficult to keep up a serious discussion when we're all laughing.

Philosophical discussions of 10-year-olds

On the way home from cub scouts, Samuel, Benjamin, and their friend Oliver, started talking about planets in the "goldilocks zone:" not too close to or too far from the sun, but the perfect distance for liquid water and hopefully life.

Benjamin: Do you believe aliens really exist?
Oliver: No, I don't believe they actually exist.
Samuel, aghast: What about Spock?!
Oliver, thoughtfully: That's true...

Pokey Little Puppy

Elisa doesn't do anything fast. Although I appreciate her laid back style, sometimes she needs to move faster than a snail. For instance I wake her up in plenty of time to get ready for school. I even stand there reminding her to get dressed: "Now put on your shirt, your shirt, put your shirt on, yes the one you're holding. Remember your socks, both socks, put them on your feet, not your hands, your feet." You get the idea. Somehow she still misses the bus. I drive her to school at least 2 days a week. (I hope I never get into an accident, because now I just wear my bathrobe and slippers.)

Poor Lisy, the other day when we were in a hurry to get to a doctor's appointment, she looked up at me, and with wide eyes asked, "Why does everyone always tell me to hurry up?"

Time to go grocery shopping

Lisy: Mom, can I have a banana?
Me: No, because we don't have any bananas.
Lisy: Can I have an apple?
Me: No, we don't have any apples.
Lisy: An orange?
Me: Nope.
Lisy: Do we have any fruit?

In the spirit of Halloween

Rachel wore a witch's hat over to her friend Eliza's house. After playing for a little bit, Eliza's mom texted me:

     "Rachel just poked her head into my room saying, 'I am the wicked witch of Crimson Avenue.'"

I could practically hear the laughter through the text.

Rachel is showing off the butterfly wing on her cheek for Halloween. She was a butterfly fairy princess.

Potty training lasts longer than you think

Makayla showed up without her pants. "Makayla, where are your pants?" I inquired. She simply shrugged and carried on playing. At what other time in your life can you lose your pants and it's funny?

I found a pair of underwear on the stairs. When I asked who's they were, no one claimed them. I guess I wouldn't claim them either, left in such a public area.

I drill everyone, my kids and their friends, when they come out of the bathroom: Did you flush? Did you wash your hands? I send them back if they say no or can't answer.

Our fishy cutie

Driving along yesterday, Makayla started growling. Dominic told her, "You're so vicious!"

From the backseat we heard, "Grr, yes I fishy. Fishy, grrr. I fishy. I swimming. I a mermaid! Grrr."

Today, while driving again, Dominic commented that all our kids are going to be nerdy.
Makayla piped up, "I not nerdy."
"What did you say?'" I asked, not sure I heard her correctly.
"I not nerdy. I a cutie," and then she stuck her thumb in her mouth.

Where did that come from?

We have 2 cats, 2 frogs, a guinea pig, and a rabbit.

Rachel said while riding in the car, "The goat peed on the pixie dust tree."

A new roundabout opened at the end of our street. The day it opened Lisy and I were coming home from errands, when we decided to try it out. We took the intersection at a slightly higher than usual speed. As the centrifugal force spun us around, I heard Lisy shout, "Whee! I feel so free!"

Rachel was sitting in my lap when Makayla held up a princess doll menacingly. "Makayla, don't hit your sister with the princess. Don't hit her with the princess. Hey! Stop hitting her, even if it is with a princess! That doesn't make it better!"

Makayla kept meowing and jumping on Daddy. "Makayla, stop jumping on Daddy. You are not a cat."
So she leaned forward, smiled mischievously, and declared "I am cat!"

 Dominic was sitting on the couch and doing his paperwork on his laptop. Makayla sat down on the other couch. She grabbed my laptop, opened it, and said "I'm working, Daddy." Then she happily started plugging away on the keys.

They are mutually exclusive

Grandma: "Rachel, you need to pick up your toys now."

Rachel: "But I'm beautiful."

Sorry, kid, but that has nothing to do with it. You want to be beautiful on the inside, and that means you need to be obedient.

As a matter of fact, I do have a problem with that

Rachel was whining to try to get me to do something that I did not want to do. I said no, but she kept asking and whining. Finally I looked her straight in the eyes and sternly enunciated, "I said 'no.' Do you have a problem with that?"

"Yes," she said.

A bit flustered I said, "Oh. Um, what's your problem?"

"I don't know?" she said while trying to suppress a smile, and she dropped the subject.

Sweet brothers

We were all getting back into the van to head home from the park. Makayla ran towards the van in the parking lot and tripped, scraping a hand and both knees. I decided to just go home, because there wasn't much I could do for her at the park. She cried and bled the whole way. Once home (just five minutes later) I tried cleaning the scrapes. She kept pulling away and crying more. We needed help.

I called in the cavalry, a.k.a. Benjamin and Samuel. Makayla sat on Samuel's lap while he held her tightly. Benjamin held her hand and kept up a steady stream of comforting words. She quickly stopped crying. I was able to clean and bandage the scraped knees and hand without interruption. The boys were so sweet and duly sympathetic. Makayla was actually in a good mood at the end of the ordeal and happily showed off her new band-aids.

Matching Outfit

My girls are already concerned about looking pretty because of their hair or clothes. I try to balance that attitude by telling them they are beautiful because of their sweet personality and their hair looks nice, too.

This morning Lisy asked if she was beautiful in her dress. I said, "You are beautiful because you are always happy, and everyone can see it when you smile."

She smiled really big and said, "I matched my dress to my smile!"

I did not pose her. This is all Lisy.

Nobody likes tornadoes

Most children mix up the words for potato and tomato. Rachel, on the other hand, confuses tomatoes and tornadoes to funny results.

Rachel often helps me in the kitchen. So she was standing right in front of the stove when I added chopped tomatoes to the pan. In horror and despair she cried, "Mom! I hate tornadoes! You know I hate tornadoes! Why did you put them in the dinner?!" Then she stormed out to the backyard. Honestly, I don't like tornadoes but love tomatoes.

Tornado. Not a tomato.

Eh, tornado or tomahto, it's all the same, right?

A child's prayer . . . cracks me up

Me: "Thank you for your family,"
Rachel: "Thank you for rainbows,"
Me: "and thank you that Daddy has a job,"
Rachel: "and thank you for butterflies and flowers,"
Me: "Please help you sleep well. Amen."
Rachel: "and thank you for unicorns. Amen."

All the children, when learning how to pray, have gone through the phase when they only say, "Dear Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen." Not quite, kiddo - you still need something in the middle. Makayla took it one step further tonight.

Me: "Okay, fold your arms."
Makayla: "Fold your arms, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."