The VBS Man

I'm sure the neighbors think it a bit suspicious that my kids yell, "Daddy!" every time the UPS man comes to the door. No hanky panky here. They just recognize the UPS truck--or VBS truck, as Little Buddy calls it. Look what he brought me today! Little do they know that they all came into the world because of the UPS man. Just not the one who drives the big brown truck.

Who Is That Masked Man?

It's Batman! No, it's Zorro! No, it's...

Little Buddy playing in Mommy's mascara! And that is how the day started...

The Development of Humor

Today I was asking Big Sissy to put something away. She kept trying to argue that she didn't know how it got in the floor. Finally, frustrated, I said with sarcasm, "OK. I guess it just hopped out of your closet all the way down the hall and landed in the floor." If I had said this to my husband he would have jumped all over me about being so sarcastic, yadda yadda yadda. But Big Sissy got a kick out of it. She laughed and laughed and then picked up the item and put it away.

Later, when it was time to get her swimsuit on for lessons, she couldn't find it anywhere. After a while of looking, she said, "I guess it just walked away." Then she cracked up again. "Mom, I made my first joke! All by myself!"

I'm so proud. :)

Now Let's Eat!

We have been working on a HUGE deck project at our house. Well, I haven't actually been working on the deck at all. My job is really to stay out of the way and keep the children out of the way. AND to feed the people who come to help. I'll post pictures when it's all done. I'm so proud of my husband and his commitment to finishing this enormous task.

Today I threw some stuff for soup into a pot and darted out the door so that I could get the girls to swim lessons and still have something to feed the gang when we got back. By the time dinner was on the table it was nearly bedtime and we were famished. I let the kids go ahead and start since to the guys kept thinking of one more thing they needed to do before they took a break.

When my mother-in-law sat down to eat and noticed that the kids were already eating, she asked, "Did anyone say grace?"

"Nope. No one said Grace or Gracie, "Gracie said with a giggle--her mouth full of food. "Why?"

I guess we just don't use that terminology in our house.

Nature Girl

I was shocked to find fireflies that dared come around this year. I was fairly certain, in fact, that we made them extinct last year with all our preschool love. But they're back. They're strong. They're healthy. They're ready for us. This year Big Sissy has an official bug jar. It was a birthday gift last year and she has waited all winter to use it. Today alone she caught 4 June bugs, 14 fireflies, and one ladybug. It was a successful bug hunting day, I would say.

This picture makes me laugh because it is so typical of my girl. She has her pink polka dotted puddle splashers on so she could splash in the mud (then discovered she could do it barefooted too). Her hair is soaking wet with sweat, and she has her bug jar ready for new victims pets. And do you know what Little Sissy was doing during this time? She was in the house crying because she got some dirt on her and she really needs a bath. She was very matter of fact in asserting that she would not like to go outside again and would like to stay inside and play with Barbies instead. They couldn't be any more different.

Daddy has been home this week tearing down our rotten, rickety deck and rebuilding it. This has given Big Sissy freedom to stay outside even during the little guys' naptimes. She is in summer heaven. She has to get it all in now because Kindergarten starts next month. AAAACCCCKKK!!

Dictionary--Preschool Style

Scar: The reflection of your boo boo.

Pretty good one, right? Little Sissy is starting to amaze me just like Big Sissy did at that age.

And by the way, Little Buddy is talking UP A STORM. Finally. OK. So maybe you can't understand him. But mark my words. He is going to be a story teller.

Go Right Ahead, Honey!

I'm not winning any "Mommy of the Year" awards today. I feel like I say that a lot. Today Little Buddy came and asked me--in his toddler mix of sign language and broken English--if he could squirt Little Sissy with water. Being the laid back Mommy that I am, I thought, "Why not? It's only water and we can't go outside in the rain anyway. It might be fun." I DID tell him to get her permission first, though, which obviously didn't happen. The next thing I know Little Sissy is screaming and Big Sissy comes running to tell me that Little Buddy is squirting her with Oxy-Clean. Oops. I didn't even know I left that out and I certainly didn't mean to give him permission to squirt his sister with it. I had one clean little ANGRY girl. If DFS shows up on my doorstep tomorrow, I'm tracking you down. You know you've done dumb stuff too.

Right? Right?