How quickly we forget

The kids are at my parents for a few days and Michael is out of town on a business trip; therefore, I am alone at the house for the first time in my married life. It's very odd. I can't get over the silence of the house. Even the cat is quiet. I have done a lot of deep cleaning and a lot of reading. After two days of being alone, I'm ready to have them back. I'm reminded of how easy it is to slip into selfishness when I'm alone. I don't have anyone in front of me to think of. I need others in my life to help spur me on; left to myself, I am very lazy. My kids are such a gift from and Michael, well, he's just amazing.

I finally got to talk to the kids on the phone. I was asking Chase how he was, what has he been doing, and he says to me, "What's your name again?" AH! He was trying to talk to me while watching a movie with Grandpa...what a little man. Stuart was much more excited to talk to me, but, seriously, not even 48 hours and Chase asks my name!

Sitting at dinner

Stuart: Mom, can you go wear fancy jeans?
Me: What?
Stuart: Wear fancy jeans (begins to hum)
Me: Play "Go home with Bonnie Jean"
Stuart: Yeah!
Michael: I thought you were gonna have to wear fancy jeans tonight!


Amazon mp3 link if you haven't heard the song

Hiccup Bible Verse

I know I'm biased, but this is one of the cutest things ever.
I just want to remember what she sounded like when she said this with the hiccups!

Stuart—the future Tony winner

Stuart is cracking me up these days. We've been listening to the "My Fair Lady" soundtrack recently and his favorite song is "Loverly". He walks around singing "Lots and lots of chocolate for me. Lots and lots of chocolate for me." It's great because he sings the correct melody of those two lines, but changes the words! The video is of him sitting in front on the computer, repeatedly listening to "Loverly" on iTunes.
This afternoon I was watching "Brigadoon" (yes, I'm on a Lerner & Loewe kick) while folding mountains of laundry. The boys got up from their naps and watched it with me. All evening Stuart switched back and forth from "lots & lots of chocolate for me" to "Go home, Go home, go home with Bonnie Jean" to "Jesus loves me."
He is too funny! He just might end up like Troy from High School Musical—the jock turned singer/actor!

Random funny things from Friday

At the breakfast table, we've being doing a little devotion book. Friday we talked about trust and faith. The story talked about believing in something even though we can't see it. I asked the kids what are things we believe in that we can't see. Chase 'Smarty-Pants' Whitmer says Jesus, Heaven, angels—ya know, all the 'right' stuff. I asked Stuart, "What do you believe in that you can't see?" Stuart, while squirrelling around in his chair responds, "If I can't see very well, I just put on sunglasses."

Later in the day we were watching Sesame Street and it was time for the letter of the day. Cookie Monster and his mother were introducing the letter 'B' on a cookie. They start getting really interested in the cookie, and Sabrina starts getting nervous. She puts her arm straight out, almost 'heil hitler', and says, "NO, Cookie. STOP, Cookie. Stop, Stop." When Cookie and his mom devour the cookie in their messy fashion, Sabrina says in the best Prairie Dawn voice, "Oh, Cookie."

In the afternoon, we were running some errands, but we missed the library. Stuart was wailing in the back because the library was closed. I'd tried to comfort him and be logical (seriously, with a 4 year old!) and now I was simply ignoring the screaming. Chase calmly says, "I simply cannot bear his screaming."

Where are you from?

Tonight we went to the Webster pool for the first time this year and the kids were soooo excited. Michael and I were laughing remembering Chase a few years ago on the way to the pool. He was about 2 1/2 years old and tired from a great time swimming. We were talking to the boys and asked, "Did you have fun at the pool?" Chase responds "I've got hankerin' for Fr-ied Chicken!" What?! So many things funny about this.

1. Who says "hankerin"?
2. Michael doesn't like fried chicken, so we never eat it
3. He just ate a sandwich at the pool

Where does he come up with these things?

Celebration Midwest 2008

This weekend was Celebration Midwest in Warrensburg, Mo. This was really the first year the kids made friends and asked to sit with them! Chase & Stuart especially enjoyed playing with Jethro & Sophia Steinke at dinner on Saturday night.

Vicky Mowery told me this about Chase in class:
One boy was saying some really awful and hateful things about his teacher from his school. I guess the child was really going on about it and saying he wanted to kill her or something. Chase says in his very knowing, "I'm really an 80-year-old man" voice, "We should love our enemies."

When we got home and this kids we were going through all the kids crafts and activities, Stuart was so cute singing his song about God creating the world to the tune of "London Bridge". Then he said, "Next year, when we go back to the place with the diet coke and the beds, I want to stay far away from two-oh-eight. [208 was our room number] I want to stay in the room with a one and two zeros." Why, buddy? "Because it will be so big!"
Haven't a clue, but it definitely made me giggle!

It's a lot of late nights for the kids. Sabrina stayed in the first night, but Saturday night, we kept her in the nursery the entire meeting...so about 2 hours past her normal bedtime. And she's my clock work girl! Anyway, she insisted on carrying her own diaper bag, which is a good sized back-back. That girl carried this pack at least 200 yards. I asked her several time, "May I take your bag?" With her first finger pointing out at me and her head nodding, "No, mama, I carry it." I finally made her take it off when we had to go down concrete stairs! She's a whole lotta bossy for 29 pounds.

The Joy of Childhood Perspective

This is a picture of my morning wake-up call.

When I was showing the kids the pictures,
Sabrina said, "Mamma, the twee, twee went 'oopsie-dasies'!"

I just thought this picture was cute. Stu was still sleeping and I was exhausted so Chase & Sabrina were cooking. Sabrina made me 'coffee'—which was a sauce pot with a fabric egg, plastic hamburger bun, & plastic tomato. Then she refilled it with 'juice'—an empty baking powder container. After her extensive cooking she and Chase lay down again. It's quite tiring pretend cooking.

Stuart

My sweet Stuart. We named him Stuart after my grandfather who was an amazing servant and worker. Today Stuart had some shining moments of living up to his name's meaning—guardian, steward, servant.

At Target today, he put all the items from the cart onto the belt for checkout. At the car, he opened the hatch for me and put one bag in the front seat for me. At Trader Joe's he pushed his own mini-cart and put in it only things I told him to. At home, he brought in a bag from the car. Later, he took everything out of the Target bags and onto the counter for me. He helped me get drinks for everyone at lunch and helped Sabrina get her dishes to the kitchen. Wow!

Lest you think he's the perfect child, these things also happened today.

Stu talked like a robot (to himself and to others) the entire time we were in the car this morning, saying, "I am a robot. I talk like this. This is my robot voice."

He took 30 minutes to pick up his room with Chase because he was playing with his sword with the sheath thread through the side of his underwear.

He threw a fit when I asked him to put on his shorts because he couldn't find them. He was standing on them.

At group tonight, the kids were downstairs while the adults prayed and talked upstairs. Stuart came up to use the restroom and shouted, "Hey, where is everyone?" Then once he went back downstairs he shouted, "Hey, everyone, I'm back!"


I just smile. He makes me laugh. So much passion in one little body.

Melt your heart

We're memorizing scripture this summer—just one verse a week.

This past week we did Genesis 1:1. Spending a lot of time outside, we've been talking a lot about God's creation and this verse.

It's really neat because everyone—Chase, Stu, & Sabrina— can quote the entire verse and reference. Sabrina reminds me "1:1" is I forget to include the reference when they repeat the verse! And how cute is it to hear a 2-year-old say "Genesis"? They love taking turns showing Daddy that they can say their verse.

Tonight I was saying good night to Sabrina, after stories, songs, & prayers, I kissed her Good night and she says, "Mama, wait. In da beginning, God crated da heavens and da earf. Gensis 1:1"

Oh, my sweet girl, may your heart for God just grow and grow and grow!

More dinner conversations

I'm not sure how to blog about this conversation.
I'll set the scene and then just trust y'all are figure it out!

We were at dinner this evening discussing our plan and routine for the next day. As you read this, imagine that every time one of the kids is talking, they have interrupted. All the while Michael is trying to contain his laughter :-)

Me: Hey, guys, we have a busy day tomorrow. We're going to get up at 7 and do our normal morning routine. We'll leave at 8 to go to the Y.
Sabrina Joy: I go witch you? I go too?
Me: Yes, Sabrina, you'll come with us.
SJ: [pointing in her crooked finger fashion at Michael] Daddy stay here?
Me: No, honey, Daddy'll go to work.
Stuart Andrew: Yes, Daddy will go to work and you will stay with us.
Me: Yes, so we'll get up and go to the Y
SA: OK
SJ: Miss Esther be dere? [Esther is Sabrina's favorite child care worker at the Y]
Me: We'll see. She's usually there on Mondays.
Chase: Esther doesn't work on Thursdays.
Me: Yeah, we discovered that last week, didn't we.
SJ: Esther be dere. And Miss Linda?
Me: We'll have to find out tomorrow. So. We'll go to the Y
SA: OK
Me: Then we'll go to the Library.
SA: OK
Me:We have to remember to bring the leap pad kits so we can check out new ones. [We forgot them last week]
SA: Ya, because if we get there and we don't have dem, I'll go "Haaa-eey"!
Me: OH. K. Yes, so we'll go to the library and then we'll go to the park.
SA: OK
C: What are we going to do after the park?
Me: Well, after the park, we'll come home
SA: OK
Me: Stu, you don't have to say 'OK' every time. After the park, we'll come home and have lunch, then rest & nap. After rest, you can watch a program or the Curious George DVD we checked out last week.
C & SA: Yea!
Me: After that we have to go to Aldi.
C: What are we going to do after Aldi?
Me: We'll come home and have supper and do our nighttime routine.
C: [tilting his head in a knowing fashion] Mom, supper is part of our night time routine.
Me: Yes, so we'll do all that and go to bed.

[pregnant pause]

SA: Do I have school tomorrow?