He Said. She said.

Ada and Isaac say the most hilarious things.  Some of them I take for granted, for sure, and though I laugh in the moment, my nutty brain loses them after the present joy of the delight they bring.  Older moms always tell me to write stuff down and to take lots of pictures.  I know they offer me that instruction with the great intent of helping me to look back on these young years without the regret of undocumented childhoods.  I feel like I'm doing the best I can, and for the most part, "the best I can" does not include the preservation of the notes, pictures, and stories of our days like I wish it did.  For that reason, I want to write down some of the things that have escaped the mouths of my babes that have made me laugh recently.

I should preface them by saying that one of my favorite things about how kids speak is that they are so literal.  If I sit for a few minutes in what I hear from them, I delight in how hilarious it is that they say what they know to be true in ways that are not wrong and at the same time, are so not right.  Here are some highlights.

We looked at a preschool yesterday and a woman we met there asked Isaac how old he was.  He said he was 3.  She asked him when he would be 4.  He told her "after I'm 3, I think."

Ada loves cheese.  We give her cheese wheels and string cheese a lot.  She wandered into our bathroom and found a box of tampons.  Upon her discovery, she squealed with delight, "CHEESE!"  Oh so sad that she was mistaken!

Isaac loves to play "store" at the park.  He asks me what I need and I tell him.  He runs to pick up ground up tires from under the swings and brings them back to me in exchange for a twig or something as payment.  I told him i needed some poppy seed bread.  He told me he only had old poppy seed bread. I told him i didn't want to buy old poppy seed bread.  He told me he'd go check to see if i could find some that wasn't old.  When he returned, he said he had "old, new, and delicate."  I told him i had never heard of delicate poppy seed bread but that I'd like to try it.  Later I remembered that he had freaked out that very week about Ada breaking a piece of poppy seed bread that he was eating.  I tell him a lot, "That's breakable.  It's delicate."  Delicate poppy seed bread is my currently favorite thing to buy at his store.

Ada asks me to rock her at night after we read a few books.  I like to sing "Jesus Loves Me" to her while I rock.  She doesn't like for me to sing "Jesus Loves Me" to her or anything else for that matter.  She always tells me, "No song" as we start to rock.

The other day Isaac was taking a break for hitting his sister.  I was frustrated with him for (A) not knowing why he was in break, and (B) not being at all sad that she was hurting.  As Ada cried in the background, I told Isaac that it should break his heart that she was in pain.  Later that day as he was taking a break a second time for some sort of abusive action toward his sister, I asked him how he should feel.  He told me "my neck is breaking.  i am breaking my neck."

Ada is repeating most everything we say now, and she also says things on her own.  It's awesome.  One thing that she repeats after us is "Trader Joe's."  I hope we'll always remember how she says it.  It's so very, very cute.  I also like that she says "Hot dog" whenever we open the refrigerator or the microwave.    She can't get enough hot dogs.  Weird.  Though she knows lots of words, she also does her fair share of babbling.  I have NO idea what she's saying a lot of the time, but it's fun to listen to her make sounds.

Isaac likes to dance around and sing.  He goes through stages of favorite "hits."  These are some of the songs that make his cut:  Danger Zone from the Top Gun soundtrack.  Life is a Highway by Papa T (actually, Rascal Flatts sings it but because Rascal Flatts recently cut one of Papa T's songs, Isaac thinks Papa T sings Life is a Highway from Cars the Movie).  Walk Right in, Sit Right down (or at least that's what we call it) from the Forrest Gump soundtrack.  Dancing to it requires lots of sitting and standing.  It's a recent favorite.  Just this week he heard "Yellow Submarine" by the Beatles and feel in love.  He even hits his arms on his legs with some sort of natural rhythm that matches that of the song.  He sings it over and over again like he's in a trance.  It's pretty funny.  He also likes to make up his own songs.  Often he sings "Buoy Wonder, Buoy Buoy Wonder" to the tune of I don't know what.  He made it up.  Also, Ada loves to play in the water, toilet water included.  When Isaac catches her doing it, he runs around singing "Ada's playing in the potty, Ada's playing in the potty."  I guess the song is more of a chant and possibly a cheer.  He loves it so much.  He gets so excited that even does a special dance while he sings.  The cutest part of it is how he jerks his elbow up to his ear while he dances around.  He is such a white boy.  Unfortunately, Ada is known to copy his moves.

The dog next door is named Hunny, not to be confused with Butch, her daddy, who has a hilarious mole catching habit.  Ada is obsessed with Hunny.  She looks for her from the Squirrel Room window, calls for her sometimes when we're up in the night, and peers over the fence when we are out on the deck in hopes of catching a glimpse of the prized pet next door.  Mostly Hunny isn't home, even though Butch is.  She goes to work with Stephen in his white pick up truck.  Ada freaks out everytime we see a white truck.  She says, "Hunny!  Hunny!  Truck!  Hunny!"  When we ask Ada where Hunny lives, she says "truck."

We were able to go to Memphis for Easter.  We went straight to Bammaw's assisted living apartments when we got to town because they were having an Easter egg hunt for the residents' families.  Though most kids found 64 or so eggs, Ada was really content with her 3 and Isaac with his handful.  Once they found out there was candy inside, there was a lot of happy happening for both of them.  The "Easter Bunny" showed up after the hunt.  As is typical of the personalities of our children, Ada chased the bunny around in circles and down the hall with great delight screaming "Bunny.  Bunny!  Hi Bunny!"  She gave him high-fives and pretty much stalked him during the gathering.  Isaac, on the other hand, literally got as low as he could to the floor under an older man's wheel chair.  He screamed too.  "Bunny!  Bunny!  Everyone hide!  There's a bunny!"

Later, at Ruru and Pop's house we had another egg hunt.  Ruru and Pops make each egg worth $1.  Gracie told her mom (who Isaac and Ada call Aunt Name) that she wanted a new Vera Bradley bag (speaking of he said, she said, RuRu said it was a Vera Wang bag!) and Name said she'd have to save her money up to buy it.  When RuRu told Isaac that Gracie was going to be hunting fast, Isaac said, "That's okay  I'll watch Pops hide the eggs."  In reality I think he may have even helped Pops hide the eggs.  Thankfully it didn't skew the outcome any.

Easily our favorite easter "he said" is Isaac shouting "Alive!" whenever we say, "Jesus is ______."  Last year when we would say "Christ is risen," he would say "Christ is deed."  He is so funny.  and wonderful.

We have a "This" addiction at our house.  A "This" is a pacifier.  When Isaac was a baby, we hold his pacifier out to him and would ask him "do you want this?"  Thus the name.  Not only is he addicted to his "this" Ada is also addicted to hers.  It's obsessive really.  Out of control.  Though Isaac is awesome about only needing his to sleep now (only because of fear.  he knows we'll throw it away if we see him with it out of bed), Ada begs for hers all day long.  We have let her have it recently because she's been teething so badly, and she likes to chew on it.  We talk about getting rid of Isaac's but haven't done it yet.  One of our favorite families just had a visit from the "Paci Fairy" to take their daughter's pacifier in exchange for some big girl toys.  When I introduced the idea of the "This Fairy" to Isaac, he went nutty.  "She can't come here, can she?  Check the windows!  Lock the doors!"  When he freaked out, I backed up and made sure he knows she only comes if we invite her.  I was sorry I mentioned it.  I was even more sorry the next morning when we hopped out of the car in the church parking lot for a meeting, Ada sucking hard on her "This" of course, and a random woman in the parking lot told us that the "Pacifier Fairy is going to want that."  Isaac looked at me horrified.  Since then, he's taken his own "This Fairy" nightmare and turned it into a game.  He chases Ada around in circles saying, "I am the This Fairy.  Give me that This!"  and she runs and squeals, and only cries if the mean "This Fairy" succeeds on his mission.
  
I love them.  And I love all of the little funnies that come out of their mouths.

"60."

most of the people in our lives who are having birthdays this year and last are/were turning 60.
today is my birthday.
jeremy asked isaac how old i was going to be on my birthday.
isaac said very confidently, "60! we get cake!"
i reminded him quickly that i'm not turning 60.
in fact, all of a sudden, 32 sounds really wonderful.

last night as i tucked isaac into bed he said, "mommy, are you going to get old tonight?"
i assured him that i would just try to sleep like all the other nights of my life.
when he came into my room this morning, he didn't make his normal announcement, which is "ding, ding! the sun's out!!"
instead he came up to my side of the bed and said very cautiously, "did you get old?"
he was shocked that i look today like i looked yesterday.

i had a great birthday.
we had breakfast together.  never happens.
the kids and jeremy went to grab cupcakes and balloons while i was at my bible study.
balloons and cupcakes make me happy. so does my bible study.
i got to shop at the oak hill consignment sale (bj got me in early, and i came home with a new summer wardrobe for isaac.  bj bought it for me as a surprise while i wasn't looking.  so generous.  so hard to receive!  so undeserving.  so exciting!)
i barely even looked at girls' clothing, which demonstrates an amazing amount of self control.
wish i had some of that around the cupcakes.
i had a picnic lunch with jeremy on our front lawn while the kids napped.
yummy turkey sandwiches.  such a staple at our house.
i folded clothes with gracie, who cleaned our house today and acted like it was no big thing.
it's always a big thing.  our house is very "lived in" (which is what gentle, southern women call "a disaster.")
the kids and i went for a walk.
we ended up at the creek by our house to throw rocks.
then we ended up in the creek by our house to chase ada.
then we were all wet and so we went for a little creek walk.
i loved it.
my jeans were soaked to my knees and my ada was soaked to her head.
isaac faired better than both of us.
we went to the park for a picnic with dusty and claire and ellie.
also loved it.  it's so fun to watch our kids play together.
the slides were a hit.

tonight as i was giving isaac and ada a bath, isaac said in a very sad, disappointed voice, "well, you didn't get old today.  i think it's because you have a cold."
i don't have a cold.
he was also very sad that no people were coming over.
he said several times "why are your friends not coming?"
according to him, i failed at having a birthday.
but i loved my day today.
now if only my hubby would come home.

randomness

we just got back from the Kid's Gym at the Y, which we all love, and ada and isaac are napping so i thought i'd share some randomness from our last week.

we lost three shoes.  isaac's towmater croc, ada's cute pinstriped mary jane with a purple flower, and a pink boot.  the boot turned up under ada's bed.  the others definitely disappeared while we were running errands.  how does that happen?

we bought a really great mattress for super cheap thanks to a groupon!  we've been looking for one to replace the one that is now isaac's big boy bed.  since we have guests so much, we'd love for at least one person to be able to sleep comfortably, so we're excited about getting a plush mattress for a total of $68 and something cents.  that never happens to us.  just in time for a fogerty visit this weekend!

isaac has a "broken eye".  it's gross, but hopefully it will get better now that he's on an antibiotic.  i celebrate that this is the very first time he's needed a prescription filled.  how awesome is that?  3 years well.

ada had her 15 month check up this week.  she's growing great (she has a big head like the rest of us, and the rest of her comes in somewhere just below average.  little and short, which is part of why she looks so cute running around like she does, i think!).  she got two shots, but was really brave and thoroughly enjoyed the sucker she earned afterwards.

i decided after the kids' gym today that i'm going to reward isaac with pennies after he pees in the potty so that he can earn his way to a big treat (he always BEGS me for something from the snack bar at the Y after we play, but i'm too cheap to buy him anything).  i'm hoping it works AND keeps him from filling up on m & m's in the process.  plus, it makes sense to start teaching him that our consumption of things comes at a cost.  we'll see how it goes.

i made a pillow on saturday.  i got my sewing machine out of the box and my friend jen taught me how to make a pillow.  it looks very wonky, but i still like it, and i hope i'll make time to sew more.  i can see how it would be so fun to be good at it.

i had a thought during our bedtime routine last night that made me appreciate the mystery of how God works a little more.  We talked on Sunday at church about the clarity of call Moses had in the burning bush.  i do think it would be cool if God offered each of us such clear, personal instruction.  I've always thought that.  it narrows the risk margin a bit for someone who wants to live in accordance with God's will.  but, as i was delivering instruction after instruction last night to get isaac and ada cleaned up from dinner and ready for bed, it occurred to me that we were all miserable listening to me give orders.  and so, i became thankful in a new way that knowing God's calling in our lives (and in our minutes) comes with intimate relationship with Him.  it made me happy.

i made really yummy (or so i suppose) cookies last night.  oreos wrapped in chocolate chip cookie dough!  they looked awesome.  jeremy always gives up sweets for lent so i though he might enjoy a little marti gras of sorts when he got home last night.  i asked him to take them off the cookie sheets.  now i can't find them.  maybe he ate them all.  they are gone.  oh well.  i'm sure one cookie would have cancelled out a whole boot camp routine.  i'll try to convince myself that it is not worth it.

ada just woke up.  only an hour nap?  really?

stormy day

today was a stormy day.  we've had several of those recently--sweet reminders that spring is on the way.  we've been tempted by a few trips to the park in between storms.  now isaac is big enough to hold nala's leash as he rides in the stroller and ada is big enough to slide by herself!  last spring she couldn't even sit up and now she can almost keep up with her brother.

 ada also likes to slide with daddio.

 isaac loves the sand.  ada puts it in her mouth.  

confined to our basement yet again, we decided to build a tent today.  when we were playing charades, isaac told ada he wanted her to be a hamster, and so we decided to get our tunnels out so that she could practice her hamster skills.  she rocked the tunnels.  i, however, was shocked that it was so hard to put together a playhouse without directions (where's jeremy when i need him?  he can put together that playhouse in the dark).  in order to prevent myself from blowing up, i abandoned the playhouse project and the dome tent became our focus.  isaac helped me while ada, bless her heart, entertained herself and her baby doll (which she cradles like a cell phone she's talking on).  success!  just enough for a hot dog picnic and several moments of tunneling hamster fun (the tent connects to the tunnels).

we also did some arts and crafts.  recently isaac has called any sort of crafty time "making valentines."  in his defense, we made lots of them last month.  today isaac decided he wanted to draw a heart, a rain cloud, an umbrella, and his hands.  we drew with glue and then put beans (the same ones that we used for gravel for isaac's trucks a few weeks ago) into the glue.  isaac did an awesome job.

ada tried to make a butterfly, but everything ends up in her mouth right now.  you know what they say about people who ate glue when they were little.  we had to redirect.

i'm ready for daddy to get home.  i miss him.

my girl and her shoes

it's common knowledge that many women have a thing for shoes.  i am not one of them.  my running shoes, my flip flops, and a pair of warm boots are my staples, and otherwise, i'm most comfortable barefoot.  i don't have a shoe fetish, and i don't really accessorize well either.  i'd rather not draw attention to myself, so i'm all about a pony tail and a pair of silver hoop earrings.

ada is so hilarious to me.  she LOVES to accessorize and she's only 14 months old.  everything is a bracelet (rubber bands, scotch tape dispensers, duct tape rolls, and today i caught her taking all of the toilet paper off of the roll so that she could put her hand through the cardboard tube).  everything else is a ring (marker tops, pipe cleaners, pen caps, and anything else she can squeeze onto her fingertips).  

she also loves shoes.  when her closet door is open, she heads straight for the tupperware box where we store them, and she brings me a pair to put on her.  she'll back up into my lap, have a seat, and wait for her foot to be adorned by whatever mary jane is to her liking that day.  sometimes she'll even demand that i try to fit her shoes on over her footy pajamas.  tonight she went to her closet after i put her jammies on, picked out a pair of shoes, and insisted that she wear them for the rest of the evening and then to bed too.  i tried to take them off of her, and she went nuts.

so, ada is sleeping in her shoes tonight.  i am sleeping barefoot.  

i love that little girl.

snow day!

it snowed again yesterday.  i love snow.  we've had a total of 8 inches in nashville so far this winter, which is more than we're used to getting in any given winter (or 4 winters combined).  we played outside in it the first couple of rounds, but yesterday isaac wanted to do something inside because he was tired of being cold.  we pulled out our hot chocolate marshmellow stash and the toothpicks we used last week for isaac's cupcakes and made some "creations."  it's one of the only things we've done recently that felt like the joy of the activity lasted way longer than the clean up or prep time (well, honestly, i haven't actually cleaned it all up yet, but it didn't require anything to get us going!).

we made a dog house together, and then isaac made a really great sun.... 

and a super long snake.

meanwhile, ada ate as many marshmellows as she could

and nala, the dog that is not in jail healing tummy wounds, was very pleased when ada snagged the entire bag and spilled them all over the floor.

maybe we'll do it again soon.  though the way things are going this winter, we might be in for some more fun in the snow as well!

lost. and found. again.

we went to the downtown library for story time.  it rocks.  it's been a while since we've gone, and isaac especially liked it yesterday.  while he enjoyed the books and the puppets, i tried to wrangle ada away from the strangers sitting beside us who were feeding their kids pretzels and other yummy snacks.  she was scavenging, maybe in an effort to make new friends but probably in an effort to find a treat.  i really love this about ada.  she's never met a stranger, and she really loves to share.  she's our curious little critter.

at the end of story time, isaac went up to the front with the rest of the kids to sit on the stage and sing "what a wonderful world" in sign language.  ada and i went with him at his request.  it was his first time to express interest in being a part of this tradition at the library, and i was really proud of him.  afterwards we ran into some friends and talked to them while we picked out a stack of 17 new books to read this week, most of which are actually good!

monkey blank came with us, as is common on many of our adventures.  he tags along happily, and all is well until we realize we have no clue where he is.  when we got home with our hands very full of books, i discovered he was gone.  i always feel like we're running out of grace when it comes to monkey blank.  he's been lost so many places--a college campus, a toy store, and an outdoor wedding reception at dark just to name a few.  i called the library repeatedly during nap time, hoping to get lucky and discover monkey blank had wandered up to the information desk.  i didn't get an answer.  i started thinking about how we might replace monkey blank, though i know better.  ruru and i tried that once when elephant blank "went to town."  we found another elephant blank at a store that looked just like isaac's elephant blank and we brought him home, excited to tell isaac the good news.  after taking a quick look at the new elephant blank, he threw the blanket across the room and said, "this is NOT elephant blank.  give this to ada."  he had nothing to do with new elephant blank for at least three days, during which time jeremy gave the new elephant blank a cool voice and a stellar personality.  now the blank imposter is allowed to be part of isaac's life, but is called new elephant blank.  he still insists that old elephant blank went to town.

after naps we drove back the the library and retraced our steps.  because we were lucky enough, we found monkey blank mixed in with the puppets close to where we'd been playing with our friend ayden earlier.  isaac tends to flap his arms when he gets excited.  monkey blank's return definitely got an arm flapping.  i can't believe he's home safe.  again.  hooray.