This pretty much sums them up

Recent quotes heard around here:

Camille: ME BYSELF!! BIG GIRL!! - pushing me away so she can climb into the van without my help.

Lucy: Why do I always get hurt? - sobbing after running into a doorknob, then kicking the leg of a chair on her way to tell me about her head injury.

Kilian: You know those numbers that are smaller than zero?
Me: Yes, you mean negative numbers.
Kilian: Yeah - they are kind of zeroish. It's like they are on zero's team.

Child's play, the James way

Here are just a few of the things I find our kids playing with this summer.

Bug catcher and observation thingy - he's really good at this.

Wooden dolls and dollhouse

Soft little bunnies

Glow sticks

* p.s. not good if you are trying to get them to sleep at a decent time. This caused big excitement at 9:30 pm (when it finally got dark), leading to wide-awake kiddos, but fun none-the-less.

Fairies + mushroom house + Ariel + Littlest pet shop fish = fun game that keeps Lucy busy for hours upon hours.

Butterfly net, also known as a moth net at night

Of course I wouldn't leave Pippin out. He really thinks unwinding Scotch tape is fun.

Also, they all three love to play in our little backyard pool. I'll post a picture of that after I get photoshop and figure out how to "add" some clothes for my middle child because she loves being without a swimsuit (or anything for that matter). I've pretty much given up that fight for this summer. What is the cut-off for that being acceptable?? Are we past it yet??

She even stripped down when the water softener guys were here. That night after bath, she ran into her closet and closed the door saying "Mom, I don't want you to look because I need some "promicy" (privacy). Really?? Interesting.

Lucy's diet tips

Lucy before lunch today: I'm all full. I'm going to be full at lunch and dinner. But I'm going to be hungry at snack.

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Lucy after we come in from a walk yesterday: Wow - my tummy is grumbling...for some gum.

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Unrelated, but something I don't want to forget. Camille has been correctly answering how old she is (when it was "one") for the last couple of months. However, after her birthday party she now answers the "How old are you?" questions with a smile and word "...cake".

My girls really know how to prioritize things when it comes to food!

Extra clean

Lucy tells Camille to do lots of things on any given day. I wish Camille would have ignored this particular request. The one to get back into the water... after she was diapered and lotioned and dressed.

Can creativity build strong bones?

Per Lucy, during a "finish your glass of milk" stand-off at the dinner table tonight: If mermaids drink milk, then they die. I am a mermaid, so I can't finish this. Do you want me to die?

Things said around here

DELL has supposedly put my new power cord for the laptop in a box and sent it my way, but I don't have it yet. So, still no pictures, but I feel kinda wordy today.


L - Ooooh, can we get more kiweed at the store today??
Translation - more kiwi, please



K - I think I got a good antenna today.
Translation - You know, from being in the sun - I think I a good tan today.


C - I tolor on da taper.
Translation - I color on the paper.


C - Top, Pippit.
Translation - Stop, Pippin.


C - I pits!
Translation - I want to spit (while brushing teeth).


One more: As we walked by a JC Penney escalator being repaired the other day the older kids (and me, too) were mesmerized. Every single step had been removed and was stacked in a huge pile while two men in "oompa loompa" type white uniforms were working down in a waist deep hole. It was a huge, deep, greasy cave in between the purses and socks. Kilian said wow, they must be fixing it. Lucy said I think the battery stopped working. I couldn't help but laugh because I knew she was picturing these guys trying to get to the little box in the back where they replace two AA batteries!

Things that make me happy:

- having such nice weather that we can leave our back door open for kids and puppy (but no bugs yet) to go in and out freely.

- seeing the puppy choose to be outside the door when he relieves himself

- being able to understand Camille's way of saying "Marching Dinosaurs" when she wants to listen to the Laurie Berkner CD.

- hearing the enthusiasm in Kilian's voice when he 'knows' he found a dinosaur bone by digging in the back yard.

- figuring out that homemade chicken fried steak made with whole grain flour is actually really good.

- celebrating my sweet husband's birthday by getting to eat grilled salmon at my parents in about an hour from now!!

Happy Birthday Brad!

What I like about

• a 6 year old - He's smart enough to know that if he yells "Mom" to get my attention at a basketball game, that lots of moms will turn to look. Instead he told me he'll just yell "Lael", so that "only a few" mom's will turn to look.

• a 4 year old - She's little enough to believe her "barely dressed" self when she states that "4 year old's do not get cold" - while wearing a sleeveless night gown (18 degrees outside), but smart enough to tell me "You're the best mom I've ever had" when I give her some hot chocolate to help get rid of the purplish tint to her skin.

• an 18 month old - She is old enough to get really excited about a Reese's cups impulse buy at the grocery store. She is young enough to not tell her brother, sister or dad about it when we get home.

Afternoon Tea

OK - I'll procrastinate work just a little bit. I wanted to share what the kids have been asking for when we get home from school. Just like most pre-schoolers in West Texas, they wanted crumpets and tea.



Unlike their Grammy, on this particular day I was not talented enough to bake crumpets and cook supper at the same time. So they had to settle for tea and those organic, trans-fat free Oreo's again. I do have a good crumpet recipe if any needs one, though. Here is Lucy at Grammy's with crumpets.






Kilian may not think this is so cool in a few years, but for now he says "I wish I was the King of New England so I could have tea everyday!".

How do they take their hot tea you ask?? Sugar, cream and a little bit of Hershey's syrup. That Grammy is pretty creative :)

*just a side note* Camille's first sentence was "want more tea".

The difference between boys and girls

according to Lucy:

Girls have "eye-staches" (pronounced like mustaches) and boys have plain eyes.

Sidewalks in Texas are a little bit less safe now...

Can you guess what Lucy got for her birthday?

Luckily we had some beautiful weather to give it a try this afternoon.

Kilian got to try out his relatively new one (a hand-me-down in super shape) as well today. It just took me a couple of months to air up the tires.

Could it be??

That our Lucy Goosey is 4??

She's holding up 4 fingers and blew out 4 candles, so I guess so!

We celebrated last night by eating at the restaurant in town with the very best chicken strips, of course.

In"chair"cerated

Some kids might sit in a chair to watch a little afternoon PBS. Not Lucy. I found her this way during Clifford, after hearing, "Mommy, I'm stuck".

And stuck she was.

After a few moments of panic we learned that her head is indeed the biggest part of her body.

The little prisoner of the chair was eventually freed after Kilian and I helped her pull her shoulders and hips through. Whew!

Hygiene and Wardrobe

Me to Kilian, in the car the other night: When we get home you need to jump in the shower before we read stories

Kilian: Hmmph - I wish they would have never thought of showers.
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Me to Lucy, after seeing her run around with almsot nothing on for about an hour after school today: You need to go put some clothes on.

Lucy: Who's coming??

Little bit of Lucy

Boo!

Here is what our crew looked like last week! The one in pink is about to figure out why the other two are so serious about this.

Mr. Incredible

Belle (from Beauty and the Beast) with a long sleeve shirt on underneath

And a sweet little bunny

Maybe it is payback

I almost felt bad for poor Lucy when she ran into the living room, 15 minutes after bedtime and said, "Camille is coffying me". (which I assume is the same as copying). She is hurting my feelings and she is making me have to go to the potty. "

But then I remembered this event, about a month ago. I wondered why I kept hearing Camille whine for about 30 minutes after naptime began. This is what I found. Notice how incredibly sleepy Camille is near the end of video.

Actually, I think Camille deserves a few freebies when it comes to keeping Lucy awake.

The Wedding

One way or another, all 5 of us were involved in my sister, Mandy's, wedding on Saturday. The wedding was beautiful, the food was great, and the newlyweds are now relaxing in the mountains on their honeymoon.

Here are the highlights, as far as my kids go:

- the 5 year old "Ring Burier" was a trooper during rehearsal and through all the afternoon pictures (in a tux while it was about 90 degrees outside). However, just before the actual ceremony he got the chills and his stomach hurt and he had to lay down on his little ring-bearer pillow and cover up with a table cloth we borrowed from the caterer. He had fever and was trying to hang in there just long enough to walk down the aisle. He did, but couldn't stand any longer and wound up leaning on my mom (Mother of the Bride) on the front row. Poor guy. I know he wasn't faking because with a couple of tears running down his cheeks, he said he wanted to go home, even without any cake.

- the 3 year old "Flower Thrower" managed to look like she knew what she was doing during the ceremony, even after skipping out on part of rehearsal to play on the nearby playground. I was relieved when she so willingly put on the dress, tights, shoes and bow in her hair for pictures. She posed and smiled. All was well until we caught her with her dress off, tights at her ankles, trying to unbuckle a shoe about 4 minutes before time to walk down the aisle!! Crisis averted with a small bribe (involving cake). She ended the night as a barefoot dancer - minimal icing smudged on the dress.

- the 1 year old "Honorary Flower Girl" did well for pictures, but missed the ceremony due to screaming when she saw me (Matron of Honor) walking in. She let about a dozen people pass her around during the ceremony, ate her cake with only a diaper and dress shoes on, then enjoyed a nice dance with the Bride to "Twist".

Congratulations Mandy and Mike!

Gross

At the breakfast table today...

Lucy: Is today a school day?

Me: Yes

Lucy: Is tomorrow a school day?

Me: Yes, then the next day is not a school day, it is Aunt Moo's wedding (my sister)

Lucy: But I won't get to see my teacher

Me: No, but you can tell her about the wedding on Monday

Kilian: No yuck!! We don't want to tell anyone about them kissing!!

Nice try

Lucy has done this twice now. She asks if we can make Jello and I say "Yes, but it will take it a long time to get cold. Remeber that we will have to leave it in the refrigerator for a long time before we can eat it." She leaves the room and when I'm ready to make it I call her into the kitchen. She pulls the little brown package of powder out of the refrigerator door and asks if it is ready.