Close, but not quite

Elisa was playing with her toy snake (prize from the dentist). "My snake is a veterinarian. It only eats plants."
"Your snake is a vegetarian?" I tried to clarify, but she didn't notice and kept on playing. So I guess it eats its vegetables while caring for other animals?

"We're going to turts! I love turts," said Makayla.
"Really? We're going to turts?" said Dad.
"No, Daddy, we're going to turts, not turts," said Makayla.
"Turts?" asked Dad.
"Turts!" said Makayla.
"Turts?"
"Turts!"
And they continued like this for 5 minutes, all the way to church.

Making grilled cheese sandwiches with deli meat, I asked Benjamin if he wanted ham or turkey or both. Dominic said, "Hammer turkey? Watch out Benjamin, Mom's going to hammer you with a turkey."

Signs, signs, everywhere are signs

One of the toilets got clogged. Yuck. I was in the middle of making dinner when the kids told me about it. I wasn't about to fix it right then, so the girls took it upon themselves to put up warning signs. Elisa put up the expected sign: "Out of order." Later on, when I finally had a chance to fix the problem, I saw that Rachel had also put up a sign that was supposed to read: "Who did it? Rachel did it! Meow!" But Rachel is in kindergarten and sounded out the words she didn't know. Plus, she still mixes up her b's and d's. Her sign actually read: "ho bib it? Rachel bib it! meow!" Have I mentioned that Rachel thinks of herself as a cat?

The power of suggestion on imagination

Elisa, at 7 years old, likess to talk about her imaginary world: Princess Land. She can talk on and on about who lives there, what they wear, random sounds that are actual words there, and the various rules governing the place. Of course none of it is realistic, but she loves to imagine how different it is.

The other day Benjamin had a little fun. I doubt he was trying to pester her, but it did. "What if zombies invade Princess Land?" he asked.

"No. There are no zombies in Princess Land," Lisy replied.

"But they found a way in. Then they started attacking and infecting everyone," he continued.

"Arg!" she exclaimed. "There are zombies in Princess Land! I didn't want any zombies in Princess Land!"

I tried to help, "It's okay, sweety. It's your imaginary land. Zombies don't have to be there if you don't want them there," I encouraged.

"It won't work, Mom. Ben said it and now that's all I can think about," she complained. "The zombies are in Princess Land and they're attacking the princesses."

Oh, Benjamin had fun with that.

Canyon County Fair

Summer time is fair time. We got coupons for free admission to our county fair. Score!

Dominic liked petting the calves, or little moos as we call them, the most. Yep, he's the reason we visit the fair every year.

The vendors and exhibitors hall is always a favorite. Each stall has a bowl of candy. My kids basically run from one candy bowl to the next. By the time we left the hall, they were a bit hyper.

Benjamin liked the rabbit area best. He kept pointing out the rabbits that looked like our brown, floppy-earred Freya. She died a couple of months ago, so each reminder made him sad. He also liked to point out the gray Netherland dwarf bunnies like our own little Isis. The only way to get the kids out of there was to remind them that they could play with our bunny at any time. 

Elisa enjoyed the reptile show best. She kept raising her hand to pet the snakes, alligator, or giant snapping turtles, but unfortunately was never chosen. Rachel hid behind the bleachers.

Samuel walked past a magician, who recruited him to help with a card trick. The guy borrowed Samuel's hat, where the correct card suddenly appeared. Samuel gasped in delight.


Every year they have an ag tent. We spend a lot of time there. The tent had a model cow, and people could "milk" the cow. All 3 girls enjoyed it.  They spent a lot of time milking that cow. I had to keep herding them away so other children could have a chance, too. At one point Makayla broke the udder. It gushed water until the person in charge could fix it. She immediately started milking the cow again. Maybe we should get a dairy cow ... or not. I'm sure it would quickly turn into an unwelcome chore.

The tent also had hand-cranked wheat grinders. Apparently, every Idahoan would have to eat 221 slices of bread every day if we kept all the wheat we harvested in the state. The display had a bucket of wheat grain, a bucket of flour, and 8 wheat grinders. The kids had a blast grinding the wheat. Even Benjamin got into it for awhile. What really surprised me was Rachel's reaction. I was pulling her away so we could go eat dinner. With one hand holding mine and the other hand still turning the crank, she begged, "I want a wheat grinder for my birthday!" Her birthday is in 10 months.

Family Home Evening on Animals

Elisa loves animals. A lot. She likes to hold them, pet them, and love them until they are ready to run away. When we gave her a fish for Christmas, she tried to pet it and was disappointed when Daddy told her that she can't pet fish. Our cats, guinea pig, and rabbit have bitten and scratched her when they've had enough and she didn't let go. More than once we've noticed a distressed furball and told her to "put it down. Let it go... Now leave it alone."

Tonight Lisy gave the lesson on animals and how we need to be nice to all animals. I asked, "Why do we need to take care of animals?" And she answered, "Because God created them, just like us." Very good. Then I asked, "How do we take care of animals?" She immediately said, "Leave them alone!"

Dad laughed so hard that Lisy had to take a break until he calmed down enough to continue her lesson.

What's in a name?

"Mom, I like how you say my name. Elisa. It's so pretty when you say it!"

"Thanks. That's why I gave you the name - because I like it."

Kids' Speech

I love kid-speak! It's very cute to me how Makayla says gingky for stinky. Our neighbor's daughter calls hamburgers hamgurbers. When Lisy was telling me about her adoreable freckles the other day, she actually said a-doe-able fweckles.

As a toddler Samuel couldn't make the s sound. He called himself Yammy, earning him the nickname Sammy Yammy. And Dominic had a blast when Samuel substituted his j's with d's, often asking him to say jam and jam-nation.

Speaking of replacing letters with ds, my older brother would get out of the bath and say that his dingers were dinkled (translation: fingers are wrinkled). We still chuckle about how my nephew Spencer used to call himself Der-Der.

Benjamin called Fruit Loops cereal Oot Oops, a term we still use. At the grocery store recently I said, "Let's get Oot Oops," and then put Fruit Loops in the cart. Lisy is a great reader and said, "That's not Oot Oops. It says Fruit Loops." She was upset that I had grabbed the wrong cereal.

The other day Makayla asked for a lolli-hop. I thought it was so funny that I kept saying lolli-hop, too. She corrected me saying, "No Mommy, lolli-hop." (Hee hee hee) She used to call her older sister Waychel but now says Baychel. Rachel even answers when we call for Baychel.

I love it.

Love Those Freckles!

I'm making breakfast. Elisa is wandering around the kitchen and chattering.

"Mom, I have lots of freckles," she states.

"Yes you do," I say.


"They make me adorable!" I look up and see her grinning from ear to ear. Freckles are not the only adorable thing about her.

What will they think of next?

"I have an ear here," Elisa said as she raised her arm and pointed at her armpit.

"You have an ear in your armpit?!" I asked incredulously.

"Yes," she said matter-of-factly.

Dominic called from the kitchen, "You mean you don't?" Very funny, dear, I thought but didn't say.

Then Benjamin ran up to Elisa, lifted her arm, and screamed into her armpit.

Made-up Lyrics

If you haven't heard it yet, there's a popular song that says, "What does the fox say? Ring-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!" Tonight Lisy came up to me singing, "What does the mom say? No-no-no-no-no-no-no!"

Benjamin used to replace random words in a song with condiments. Ketchup and mustard were his most often used substitutions. For example: "I am a child of ketchup, and he has sent me mustard." He doesn't sing this way anymore, but he still likes to surprise us with it occassionally.

Rachel loves Frozen and all the songs on it, "Let it Go" being one of her favorites. The other day we were playing outside in the garden. Instead of singing, "Let it go, let it go ... the cold never bothered me anyway," she replaced it with, "Let it grow, let it grow* ... the flowers never made me sneeze."

*Correction: When I read this post to Rachel, she corrected me. She actually sings "Let it bloom..." Oops.

Sweet Hour of Prayers

Elisa: If I read in the afternoon, I fall asleep. The other afternoon Elisa asked if she could read to me, and since I wasn't going to do the reading, I thought it would be alright. Nope - I fell asleep pretty fast. I vaguely remember snuggling up to Lisy, but she was gone when I woke up. That night Lisy prayed, "Thank you that I could read to Mommy, and thank you that I could be Mommy's teddy bear."

 Rachel: I'm trying to transition Rachel from repeating everything I say during her bedtime prayers to thinking about what she wants to say. I ask questions like, "What else are you thankful for?" Her usual response is "wainbows." Lately when I ask if she wants to pray for anyone, she responds with "Please bless Mommy to get enough sleep." Then she smiles at me and whispers, "that's for you." 

Global Observations

Rachel sat down in front of our old globe. "So," she said, "this is what the Earth looks like, but without all the words and letters."



Elisa's turn, and she was carefully looking over the globe. She stopped spinning it and pointed to the Galapagos islands. "This is where the mermaids live." I don't know why she chose it, but that seems like an appropriate place.
"How do you know?" I asked.
"Ariel told me," she answered in all seriousness.

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.

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?

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!"

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.

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.

In one ear, out the other

Lisy was playing at the park when she met a couple of kids with a big, black dog. After playing with them, she came back to tell me all about her new friends and their very friendly dog.

"What are their names?" I asked.
"I don't remember," she said.
"Well, what is the dog's name?"
"It's, um, I forgot. They told me, but the wind took it out of my head."

I understand. It was a very windy day.

funniest joke in the whole world

I woke up to the kids going crazy over shoe-candy. (a late St, Nicholas day - bah, the kids don't know when it's supposed to be :P don't judge us)  Lisy, already hyped up on sugar, excitedly told Benjamin the best joke that Rachel had told her earlier. She could barely stop laughing to tell the joke:

E: "Rachel told me the funniest joke this morning. She said 'Why did the duck say to the cow?'" (yes, she did say why and not what) Not waiting for an answer, Elisa said, "and then she TOLD me!" and Lisy started cracking up all over again.

I think we still have a way to go before she quite gets jokes.

-Dom