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.