Fee Fie Foe Fum

Rachel kept taking off her shoes and laughing while we shopped. I started feeling a bit annoyed. Instead of getting mad at her, I came up with this little rhyme:

"Fee fie foe furl,
I smell the feet of my Rachel girl.
Be she awake or be she asleep,
she has really stinky feet!"

Not bad for a spur-of-the-moment parody, especially for me. Rachel liked it and laughed a lot.

Benjamin is growing up

This is why young boys should only have white shirts for church.

Benjamin was sitting very calmly, though still swinging his legs, during all of Sacrament meeting today. He didn't run around, play on the floor, pester his siblings, or even color in the coloring books we brought. I complimented him on his reverent behavior, the likes of which I've never seen from any of my children unless they were sick.

He explained, "When I have a good attitude and come to church, my week is better. When I come to church and have a bad attitude, my week isn't so good."

Whoa. What happened to my son? It's like he matured over night. Now I believe he is ready for baptism at the end of the summer.

I love this kid!

Unconditional Love

"Mommy, you have something in your teeth. [pause] Mommy, I love you. I love you even if you have something in your teeth."
-Rachel on her 4th birthday to Mom

Rachel Quotes

Rachel put on a large pair of sunglasses, and in all seriousness told me, "I'm Agent Pwetty. I fight evil and pwotect people."

"Mom, I'm still hungwy for a bowl of ceweal. And, I went down the stairs backwards and upside-down."

This happens at least once a day:
Rachel will call from the bathroom, "Mom!"
"What?" I'll call back from wherever I am in the house. 
"I love you!" she'll shout back.
"I love you, too!" I'll respond in kind.
"And you're beautiful!" she concludes.
"I think you're beautiful, too!" I answer.


Rachel had a long afternoon nap, and she doesn't usually nap. She couldn't find her baby doll at bedtime, so I let her take Benny, my childhood teddy bear, to bed. As expected, she eventually snuck down the stairs. I invited her to sit on the couch with me while I read email. At first I was more focused on the computer, but then her chatter about growling keeping her awake caught my attention. Playing along, I asked if the growling came from outside. "No Mom, it was Benny. He growled and woke me up." Then she told me all about how annoying Benny was acting and how he wouldn't listen when she asked him to stop growling. She had built up quite the story. When I finally put her back to bed, I had take Benny away so he wouldn't bother her anymore. I gave her another stuffed animal who, according to Rachel, "always whispers and doesn't wake me up."

Animal combo: rabbit + snake

Lisy: "It's a bunny-snake!"

Whispered conversation between Dominic and myself:
"What?"
"Did she say 'bunny-snake?' "
"That's what it sounded like to me."
"How does that work?"
"I have no idea."

Benjamin: "It's a snake that has bunny ears and hops!"

Oh, of course. Why didn't we think of that? I bet that odd creature would have quite an identity crisis.