Words from Today

8 AM: Jonathan, to me, while I was helping him get ready for school:
"Hey, do you remember when it was so funny on Christmas when Trystan and I both got those Nerf ball guns, and Nona Donna (my Mom) and Uncle Jason (my brother) started fighting each other with them? I think that means they must be enemies."

1:30 PM: Trystan (my nephew), Jonathan, Anna and my Dad (who is visiting from New York) are in the parking lot at the zoo.
Trystan told Anna, "You don't even have a penis, Anna!"
And she got all huffy and said: "Noooo, T, I don't have a penis! Only BOYS have those. I have a PEE PEE! "
To which he replies: "Anna, you don't have a pee pee! You have a vagina."
I almost choked! For some reason, we taught Jonathan the correct name for his, um, man parts, but Anna, we have just always said pee pee. Because to me, this is a gray area. The vagina is really referring to something specific, and I am not going to get into the terms vulva and urethra with my 3 year old! I told T: "We don't call it that! We call it a pee pee!" At the same time, Anna was saying, What's a re-gina, I don't have a re-gina, Mama, T said I have a re-gina! (She was highly insulted that someone would suggest she has a re-gina!)
But wait, I shouldn't have worried, because it get much, much worse!
3:00 PM: Trystan, Jonathan and Anna were watching the spider monkeys frolic (they were really running around the cage, swinging on the walls, and thumping themselves aggresively on the Plexiglass over our heads and in front of our faces). The kids were laughing at the monkeys because they did not have any underpants on. T says this, giggling hysterically: I can see their p*ckers and their booty butts! He kept loudly referring to their dangling man parts as p*ckers! I was trying to decide if I should just ignore it in the hopes that the other parents around me could not understand him, or if I should say in an equally loud voice, Trystan, Aunt Jamie (denial of responsibility intended) does not think that is a good word for their private parts! But then I started this internal argument with myself over whether or not p*cker is actually a bad word. By the time I decided that it probably was not a widely accepted, socially acceptable substitute for penis, all the other adults had steered their children clear of us anyways. And my little nephew T is so stinkin' cute, I just had to laugh at the situation!
4:00 PM Back in car, trying to exit the zoo, I decide to address the use of the word p*cker with my nephew and two kids.
"Um, T? What does your Mommy and Daddy want you to call your private area?"
"What, my p*cker? They want me to call my p*cker a penis."
Oh, okay. Enough said about that!

7 PM We are all out in the yard picking up branches and other debris from our yard from our freak wind storm yesterday. Dave says, Hey, we could have a bonfire!
I said, What, we should have a lawn choir? (I honestly thought this is what he said. I can't imagine the circumstances in which Dave and I would ever intentionally start a fire, so that word made a lot less sense to me than lawn choir. We have lived in this house for 6 years and have never even used the fireplace!)
Dave says, what you thought I said a lawn fire?
And I said, no, a lawn choir!
He said, I wonder what a lawn choir would sound like?
Jonathan was saying, A lawn FIRE, Daddy? I thought you said we should start a lawn FIRE!

Easter 2009

I made this cake for my Mom's Easter dinner. I ran out of frosting, so Dave went to get chocolate eggs and Peeps. I wanted to cover around the bottom of the cake because there was no frosting and it looked really unappealing. He came back with bunnies instead of chicks, so the cake wound up not making a lot of sense. I wanted to write Justine, Trystan, Jonathan and Anna on the cake, but again, I ran out of frosting, so I just used a tube of frosting gel to scribble their initials under each bunny. Also, with no frosting, the chocolate eggs had nothing to stick to, so they kept rolling all around the cake carrier and I kept having to prop them back up against the base of the cake. However, the cake tasted okay, and the kids liked it.

4 kids trying to smile at 2 different cameras

Jonathan, 5 years old, Easter Egg Hunt at my Mom's

Anna, 3 years old.

Wednesday

Jonathan made this amazing creation this morning. It is a helicopter that can tote cargo like a rescue helicopter, and he made the rotor blades on top. Then, you can take the cargo off, and he flips the rotor blades under and it becomes a submarine. Also, he converts it to a land vehicle that pulls a trailer. I think this is pretty fine work he has done this morning! (Uncle Chris, these are those toys you bought him for Christmas.)

This is our super awesome bookshelf unit from Ikea. Dave went over and got it and put it together Monday evening! I wish I had taken a before picture of this corner of our dining room. We had a coffee table sitting there and it was heaped with art supplies, play-doh stuff, my binders, office supplies, mail stuff, and just a ton of other junk! Junk that we needed to use but had no other space for! Now it is all streamlined and organized! And the bookshelf unit takes up less space than the coffee table! The kids each have their own bin, then there are two bins that they share. Dave's files are going to go in the two boxes on top. And we can even put the laptop on top and pull a dining room chair over and use the laptop there! We are thinking of going back to get a 2 by 2 of the same unit, and use it for more storage and to put the printer on top, and then we can do away with our filing cabinet that currently sits there! I am very excited! Gotta love Ikea!

My silly Anna Banana!

Reasonably Happy

The Serenity Prayer
God, grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace;
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it;
Trusting that You will make all things right
If I surrender to Your will;
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life
And supremely happy with You forever in the next. Amen.
--Reinhold Niebuhr

I am praying this prayer this week, so that I can remember to accept the world as it is, and not as I want or wish it to be, and to accept that things are going to be difficult. I need to stop spinning my wheels and burning myself out trying to change things I have no control over. But if I trust God and surrender to His will and His agenda, and not my own, that I will be able to be "reasonably happy" in my life now. And so that I can remember that I can look forward to being "supremely happy" with God forever in heaven.

Anna's Bob

A List of Things that Have Nothing to Do With Each Other

1.) I went to my CPR class today! I accidentally signed up for the wrong class, but it had infant and child CPR in it, so I know that on top of lots of other stuff about operating AEDs and how to make a splint and a sling and all sorts of great stuff. I was the only girl in a roomful of 13 men (one was the instructor) and they were all sort of tough construction guys. Like manly men. At first I was sort of intimidated, but then I realized it was actually a nice situation to be in. They all went out of their way to be nice to me and there was even some chivalary. Like I did not have to lug my fake person back and forth or put it in the "body bag" or anything. (Yes, the instructor referred to the tote bags that hold the creepy fake people as "body bags.") Anyways, I passed the class, and got my cards to put in my portfolio for my early education classes.
2.) Jonathan said to me last night, Do you want to know another word for walk? I did want to know, and he told me: STROLL. We cancelled our fancy cable to cut back financially but it has been a huge blessing not to have Disney, and Nickelodeon, and DVR and all that stuff. The kids learn so much more from PBS and the TV is on a lot less.
3.) Our church went portable this weekend! We moved right across the street to Sherwood Elementary Auditorium for our Sunday AM worship service. It went amazingly well, considering how complicated moving an entire church actually is. (I had NO IDEA!) I was very proud of all of us. Of course, there is lots of ironing and smoothing out to be done, but I think our New Hope family really rocked this weekend!!!
4.) I just put self-tanner on my legs in an effort to conceal their fatness, and I forgot how sensitive to smell my new body is. (Note: I am starting to feel like my original body was taken away from me and I was given a funky, rundown, malfunctioning one.) I am sitting here with a headache that is getting worse and worse, and everything in my body hurts. I have tonsilitis again, had to go to urgent care on Saturday, and feel like crud.The doctor there thought I might have mono. I told him my normal dr. just tested me for a whole bunch of "mono-like viruses" and it came back negative. I just remember her saying that phrase. He said he was not sure if she actually tested me for mono. But what is the point, even if it is mono, they can't do anything different anyways, right? I think with the two days of volunteering at church and then the looooooong Red Cross class I took today (doing CPR is actually very physical! And the instructor was very into hands on practice!) my pain has gotten a little out of control. I think I need to try and take it easy for a few days. OKAY. That was my complaining.... wasn't that fun? Is anyone still reading this? But seriously, the smell of this self-tanner is going to make me vomit! It's NOT Avon, I'll tell you that much.
5.) I am really, really, really exhausted right now, but am too wound up to go to bed. I should at least go get in bed and rest.
6.) Jonathan is still awake right now. He has really bad hiccuups and has had them off and on since about 9 PM. I don't blame him for not being able to sleep!
7.) Jonathan has been picking up lots of sign language from his teacher. He is always showing us how to sign something. This morning he was trying to negotiate a deal with Anna to swap some Littlest Pet Shop toys with her. He wants her pet with the skateboard, and she really does want one of his tiny gerbils, but Anna knows she has some power over him, so she is holding out and not making any deals just yet. While he was trying to convince her, he said slowly and carefully, "Look at me, Anna. Just move your head, up and down like this (shaking his head vigorously). That's sign language for yes. Do you want to tell me yes?"
I guess a sign language yes is binding when you are in preschool.
I thought that was just the funniest thing!
I also learned sign language for choking today at my CPR class. You put both your hands up and clutch at your throat with mad panic in your eyes. And there you go!

God is Everywhere

I asked Jonathan and Anna what they learned at church today. This is Anna's summary of what she learned today at Lil K (our version of Sunday School):
"We learned that God is everywhere. You can't hide from God. He knows where you are and he can always find you! Because he is EVERYWHERE! God is always with everybody all the time. You can hide if you want, but God is everywhere, even where you hide!"
I wonder if this had anything to do with the lesson today? It seems too good to have come from nowhere.

Four Generations

This is the picture I think Anna most resembles me in.

This is her face she makes when she decides not to cooperate and lets her entire body go slack and limp. Like when I am trying to get her into pajamas or something. I know she is cute, but if there is ever a time when I feel like slapping her upside the head, this would be it. (I never do, don't worry!)

Jamie, Anna, Donna, and Ludella (Lu). My little Anna was being a real goofball while we were trying to get a picture of the four of us together. My grandma came in from Kansas to visit my Mom, and it was neat to have four generations together. I think it is interesting how my Mom and I are so different. I am more like my Grandma in a lot of ways, and Anna is more like my Mom, in my opinion. I blame her sassiness and her spunk on my Mom, but also on my sister-in-law, Anna's Aunt Meredith. Blame is a bad word for it. I should say I attribute it to them. I love Anna's little (big) personality, and I am glad that she is not so shy and somber like I was as a little girl.

Also, we seem to be getting a little taller each generation. My Grandma is so petite we kept losing her at the store today because we can't see her when she goes off in the racks to browse. My Mom is 5 foot 1, I am 5 foot 2.

Maybe Anna can hope for 5 foot 4 or something! Although, she is such a little peanut now, it is not looking likely.

Our Weekend

The kids with Dave's late birthday cake. Saturday night, after we got home from our little vacation. I messed the cake up while putting the layers together, and did not have quite enough frosting to cover it up. But it was yummy, as Jonathan said, I should always make ugly cakes. I only put 7 candles on it, one for each birthday we have spent together. Dave actually turned 31. I will be 29 in June.

This is how Anna spent most of our evening trip to Sea World. We walked over from the Renaissance Resort, where we stayed Friday night.

So... the next morning, because Jonathan's legs were hurting him, and Dave certainly can't carry him on his neck all day, we paid 18 dollars to rent a double stroller. It was money well spent!

Dave, Jonathan and me at the dolphin show.

Anna was singing, I hate dinosaurs! loudly at the dinosaur restaraunt in Downtown Disney. It's exactly like Rainforest Cafe, but with dinos instead of animals.

Please, please, don't let the t-rex eat me! The kids were both very intimidated when we first walked in to the place. I think it's called T-Rex Cafe? I don't know with all of the dinosaurs roaring and meteor showers taking place and everything, it was pretty hard to focus.

Anna on the way over to Orlando. We picked the kids up on Friday from preschool and suprised them with a trip to Downtown Disney, a stay at a "fancy hotel" and plenty of time at Sea World. When we returned home Saturday, I made Dave bacon pasta and a chocolate cake with caramel frosting. We had a great time together!

Just Some Pictures

Jonathan playing with his treasure from school, an old piece of yarn he found. I think he played with it most of the afternoon.

Anna made this hat at school yesterday. Her teacher warned me in the parking lot how cute she was going to be in her chef hat, but I was still not prepared! She looked SO cute! Had to take a picture in the parking lot.

Dave and his Mom at his early b-day party.

Dave and Jamie. I love this picture of us, but no adult should ever be photographed wearing a party hat.

Jonathan and Anna at the beach. They look alike to me in this picture.

My Mom and her sister, my aunt Rowena. 2 of my favorite people in the world!

My sister-in-law Erin and me at the beach. I love Erin's necklace. And Erin too!

Our freshly pedicured toes (mine are the big ones!). She has the cutest little feet.

Strawberry Burritos

I was asking the kids what they wanted me to pack them for lunch tomorrow. I got them into Lunch Bunch, which means they get to stay an extra two hours at school, but I have to pack them a lunch and a morning snack. Jonathan said he wanted a Lunchable, and strawberry burritos. I was like, Um, what?!
And he repeated it, very clearly, stressing the b in burritos. I took a deep breath, thinking, okay, either my kid is being a wierdo and asking for something really wierd for lunch, or someone else who is a wierdo actually made him a strawberry burrito while I was gone to NC. I said, you mean, you want me to get a soft taco shell, and put strawberries in it?? He stared at me for a few seconds, with an expression that said, Gosh, this lady is crazier AND dumber than I thought. Then he said, NO! TWO things, Mama! (indicating with his fingers) Strawberries (1 finger!) and BU-RI-TOS (2 fingers!).
Blank stare from me. Now Jonathan is getting even more exasparated. You know, he says, gesturing wildly with his hands, THE CHIPS IN THE RED BAG! BURRITOS! CHIPS, Mama, CHIPS!
Ohhhhh.... He means Doritos! I tell him, those are called Doritos with a D, not burritos with a B!
Okay, he asks, what are burritos?
And then I have to explain, you know that place where we eat outside after we go to the beach where you love the tacos so much and Anna gets a bowl of white rice and Mama and Daddy always get burritos?
He is starting to get it, and then Anna makes it really clear: You know, Bubba! Those things that look like giant hot dogs!
Oh! Burritos! I get it!, Jonathan says, looking very pleased to have all of this cleared up.

I'm exhausted at this point, ready to go to bed, and craving an Insane Burrito from that place by the beach.
And I could really go for some strawberries, too.

Tuesday

Jonathan and I were alone today at lunch. Anna stayed with my Mom while I went to pick him up, and we had to run to our house to get some stuff, so we just ate some leftover Chinese while we were there. We were at the table and he said, I don't ever want to get the flu again. I agreed! He is finally better! He went back to school on Wednesday.
I can't believe a week ago today I was studying for my midterm and packing up to go to Raleigh the next morning. Everything I did last Tuesday was sort of dumb, I overstudied and underpacked. I studied a lot and memorized everything and then the midterm was really easy. It was cold in Raleigh and I did not pack anything warm. I borrowed some clothes. My Mom took Dave and the kids on a boat ride down in Sebastian (one of those boat tours, my Mom has not taken up boating or anything) for Dave's birthday. I am sort of bummed out that I missed that! Both the boat ride and Dave's birthday. They saw alligators and dolphins and Anna got to drive the boat for a bit (Jonathan declined). But I am glad they had a nice time. My Mom was kind to let them move in for those five days while I was gone, and she fed them every night and drove Jonathan and Anna to school and back. And watched them while Dave was at work. So she basically took my place while I was gone. I swear Jonathan grew a foot while I was gone. I guess he has been eating a lot at my Mom's, and she took him to the barber shop on base and got him a very sharp haircut. He is just getting so tall and thin.
We got Chinese food last night when I FINALLY got home after a long day of sitting in airports and waiting on delayed flights. The weather was awful in Raleigh, but thankfully, it was also awful in Atlanta, so my connecting flight was delayed just enough that I was able to catch it. After we ate, Jonathan got out the chopsticks and was like look, I made a V! And then he spent a long time showing me all the letters he could make, and what sound they make too. Then he got a splinter from them and was very upset. I was telling him that we should go to the craft store and get a bunch of popsicle sticks and we could make the whole alphabet. He immediately said, hmmm... I don't know, I think the Bs would be too hard to make.
He is right, so I said maybe I would get some pipe cleaners also. I think it would be cool to make the whole alphabet really big all the way across the living room.

Anyways, I was eating lunch with Jonathan today, and he said, I really don't like Happy Meals.
I was like WHAT!!??

And he says, Yeah, I really don't like them. They don't taste good, actually (this is his current favorite word). I think I just like the toys, actually.

Wow, is this the beginning of wisdom or what?