Kidlet Hilarity #23

This issue of Kidlet Hilarity is 90% brought to you by David - ha! He is quite the hilarious guy, and very aptly named (David Isaac means beloved laughter.) Enjoy!

David thought we were going to skip reading the Bible, so he said, "But then we will shrink, shrink, shrink!" Another day, he yelled at Daddy, "Do you want to shrink, shrink, shrink?" because he thought we were skipping our prayer time! I guess those lessons from our Preschool Choir songs did sink in after all!

David pronounces the words 'trees' and 'cheese' exactly the same. The other day, I repeated or figured out something he said, and he responded, "Ebaskaly." I finally figured out he was saying 'exactly'! :)

David went to sit in his Daddy's lap, "because I've known you a long time, Mama."

Zachary, talking about Doritos- "I can't believe they can make corn into something that tastes this good."

David loves to talk about "When I was widdle" and "When I was two year olds."

Zachary: "I'm so impatient for my birthday to be here. I want you to order it on Amazon Prime."
Natalie: "Okay, then it will be here in two days."

David was pretending to work for the king, making him mud pies, "so I won't get put in the 'Dungeon of De'pair'".

David: "Your pizza looks so handsome, Mommy."

David singing the blessing at mealtime: "Almond, Almond" instead of "Amen, Amen." He actually thought the blessing ended with the word Almond for some reason! :)

After the almond incident, Zachary prayed and said, "God, thank You that David is so funny."

David calls lasagna 'wawanza'.

David: "Zachary, close your ears with your hands like this" as he puts his hands on his ears. Apparently he didn't want Zachary to hear what he had to say. :)

Natalie: "I can't decide between being a lead singer when I grow up, or an artist."
David: "I can't decide between being an artist, a zombie, or a policeman. Or an artist who draws zombies."

David calls Publix 'Pugwix'.

David gets really excited when he's the only one of the kids that's obeying, and he dances and sings this little song that goes, "I'm obeying right now! I'm obeying right now!"

Zachary saw that our cashier at our Aldi store had a name tag that said Emmanuel, so Zachary asked him if he was Emmanuel Sanders (a Broncos player). He was sweet about it, laughed and said, "No, wouldn't that be nice?" :)

David likes to say, "No way, Hay-zay!" when he's asked to do something.

One night David and I were playing some kind of game against Natalie, Zachary and Daddy, Something happened where Natalie got a minor injury, and so I was hugging her. David objected, saying, "Don't pat her! Her is on the other team!"

One day when someone other than David was having a moment (or throwing a fit), David looked right at them and announced, "Satan is happy now." :)

David, referring to my favorite pajama pants that Joel gave me for Christmas, "Mama, why you wear dese pants every night? They need to be washed!" :) You can tell he's heard that about his clothes, can't you?

A couple of weeks ago, the kids and I went on a walk around the neighborhood - Natalie and David were riding their bikes, and Zachary chose to walk and talk with me, so we were walking behind the two of them. Natalie and David crested a big hill in front of us, and as Zachary and I approached the top of the hill, David came back up to us, with tears in his eyes. "Oh, David, did you get hurt?" I asked him. "No," he cried, "but Natalie did. She fell down, and someone is taking her!" Poor Natalie had fallen over on her bike, and a sweet neighbor who owns a golf cart and a kind teenage neighbor had helped her up and taken her to give her a ride home, and poor David thought she was being kidnapped - he was so upset!! She ended up with a scraped up hand and a sore wrist, but she was fine! The fact of how concerned David was just brought me to tears, though - he was such a good helper to come back and tell us! :)

Kidlet Hilarity #19

Lots of hilarious-ness going on around here these past few weeks!! I thought I would take a minute to share just a few of the funny things the kids have said lately!  It seems like there is always something - I wouldn't even have time to write them all down, I would have to carry a tape recorder around with me to catch every one! :)  One of my favorite things is when they (all 3 or different combinations of them) are playing together and interacting.  The things they come up with and pretend are just so funny. 

One day during school, I asked Zachary if he wanted to do phonics or math next, and he responded, "F is for Phonics!"  

I love when the kids share with each other, too, most of the time - one day I had told Davey he couldn't have any more juice, and when I came out, he was drinking of Zachary's cup!  Z said, "It's okay, Mom, I said he could have it."  

Natalie came into my room one afternoon after waking up from her nap, with a big frown on her face.  When I asked her what was wrong, she said, "I just woke up a little sadly."

David is learning more words each day - and he says little sentences now, like, "Juice Ew." (when he doesn't like his juice), "Stool Ow." (when he gets hurt by a stool), and "My spill." (when he spills something).

David can climb into the tub now, but not out.  So sometimes I will hear him yelling from the bathroom, and go in and there he is, just standing in the tub, getting his socks wet, yelling for me to get him out.  

Zachary, while using a yo-yo, and discussing the reason why it had been taken away and hidden on a pantry shelf - "I am not going to hit people with the yo-yo.  I am using it properly this time."

Natalie, to Zachary, while playing: "Did you know I go to homeschool class, downstairs?  I go whenever my Mommy says."  

Natalie, to Davey: "Good night, sweetheart."  David is really good at stalling his bedtime, and his favorite thing to do is run around and tell everyone, "Bye!" at least once.  He also likes to read books, and he prays for all of his family members at bedtimes and mealtimes, which is so cute. :)  

Natalie: "My book is called Me Verses Grandpa."

Zachary: "Versus means against something.  You don't want to be against Grandpa, do you?"

Natalie: "It's called Verses because it has a lot of verses in it, like Bible verses."

I made a turkey and stuffing casserole one night (seriously, the cheapest and fastest meal ever, a box of stuffing takes 5 minutes, and if you have leftover (or frozen) shredded turkey on hand, just throw some of that in and mixed veggies and you have a really easy, quick meal!).  Anyhow, after we ate that for supper, Z said, "That was a great Thanksgiving meal, Mom!" :)

After the kids visited their aunt, uncle & cousin in Tennessee recently, they were all rather enamored with their dog, Ferdy.  We asked them if they wanted a dog someday, and of course they said yes.  When we asked them what we should name our dog, Natalie replied, "Ferdy!"  Joel asked her, "But what if we were together with Jason & Emily, and we called for Ferdy, and both dogs came? What would we do then?"  Natalie's response: "We would freak out!"  LOL!!

We ate at Culver's when we were in Columbus, and we gave the kids the meal options to choose from.  I asked Davey, "Do you want a hamburger, grilled cheese, or corn dog?"  He responded, "Woof woof!" :)  Corn dog it is!  That one had our cashier cracking up, too! :)

Nat, overheard playing: "Okay, baby, I have to make some fish sticks now.  What?  You want to be holded?  Okay."  She proceeded to hold the baby while pretending to make fish sticks. :)  What a good mama!

We were discussing the fact that when we do move, God may ask us to live in an apartment for a while, during the time of finding a place to live, etc.  I asked Zachary how he would feel about that and his response was, "Well, that would be frustrating, but I would do it."  I thought frustrating was an interesting word choice there.

Natalie: "Come on, David.  It's time for our wedding."

David: "No."

Natalie: "Well, then, I'm going to marry somebody else!"

David: "No."

Natalie: "Then come on!"

Zachary: "Natalie, we're going to play sumo.  First, you have to take your shirt off.  Now, pretend you're wearing a big white diaper thing.  You have to throw the other person off the rug!"

Natalie threw up one morning (she disliked her banana and somehow got sick on it) and did not tell me.  I discovered it later, which was lovely.  I told her she needed to let me know the next time she got sick like that, and she responded, "Okay.  Next time I throw up, I will tell you.  After I'm done throwing up.  Because you can't talk while you're throwing up." 

While reading through Proverbs last week, I was reading a verse about a nagging wife.  Z asked what nagging was, so I gave an example in which I was pretending to ask the kids over and over to do their chores.  When I finished, Z said (totally seriously and respectfully), "Um, you're kind of nagging sometimes, aren't you?"  LOL!!  I said, "Well, yes, but I'm your mom." :)

My grandparents sent the kids each an apron to go along with a Curious George Makes Pancakes book, and the kids LOVE them - I'm not sure they've taken them off yet, except to go to bed. :)  Natalie calls hers her "april". :)

Two of David's newest words are 'bite' and 'wet'.  He also says 'boo-boo' a LOT, whenever he gets hurt.  

Playing Wii with Daddy, Joel reminds Zachary to turn the sensor around to face them, and Zachary mumbles, as he's turning it around, "Oh, yeah.  I always forget that.  I guess I'm just too impatient."  

The kids were SO excited to watch a Hoops & Yo-Yo Christmas special this week, and while they were talking about it in the car, Natalie said, "Mom, when do we get to watch Larry and Ho-Ho?"

We did a "noun Thanksgiving" exercise at the Thanksgiving table yesterday, and I wanted to write down the things the kids were thankful for - David can't really articulate this stuff yet, so it's just Natalie and Zachary's responses:

A PERSON Zachary is thankful for is: Greg Frank.

A PLACE Zachary is thankful for is: the camp playground, and our house

A THING Zachary is thankful for is: a thing that happens - his birthday!

A PERSON Natalie is thankful for is: Her friends, Ari & Kaylie Main

A PLACE Natalie is thankful for is: The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

A THING Natalie is thankful for is: To be a Mommy someday

(not sure about Natalie's stuff going in the right category, but so sweet anyway!!)

Speaking of Zachary's birthday, he is going to be SIX in less than a week!! It is crazy how time flies!!  And Natalie will be FOUR in less than a month!  At least Davey gets to stick with two for a while longer. :)  

Here's Zachary showing off his latest round of missing teeth - three in the last month!  The tooth fairy has been busy! :)  

David wanted to show off his perfectly healthy baby teeth:

Natalie didn't want to show any teeth, just her bathtime baby doll:

Kidlet Hilarity #18

It has been almost three months since I've written down all the funny things the kids have said!! I have kept track of a few, but I know I've forgotten a lot, too!  Here are some gems from the last couple of months! :)

Zachary got a new Monsters University shirt at the end of July, and he wore it to camp one day.  One of our friends asked him, "Are you going to go to that Monsters University school?"  He giggled and replied, "No! It's for monsters."

Zachary made up this great joke: "What did the whale say to the other crying whale?  ......   You are wailing!"

One day at lunch, Zachary came to the table, saw a sandwich on his plate, and asked, "What kind of sandwich do we have here?"

I took a toy with dead batteries, and was looking everywhere for the little screwdriver I use to open the battery compartment.  David heard me asking about the screwdriver, ran to his room, grabbed his toy drill, and brought it to me.

I was trying to talk to Zachary one day while he was reading, and he announced that "When you talk, that makes me dis-concentrate on reading."  It cracks me up when I call for him, and he comes down the hallway with his nose in a book, tripping over stuff all the way.  I have NO idea where he gets that behavior from...or his intense love of reading ...

While getting ready to pray, I started my prayer, as usual with "Dear Lord", but Natalie interrupted me and said, "No, you have to say, 'Dear Heavenly Fadder'!"

Before my birthday, the kids were discussing with Daddy what my gift should be.  Zachary said he would get me a robot.  I said, "Oooh, to clean the house?? I would love a robot to clean the house!"  He said, "No, just to play with.  I don't think I could get you one to clean the house, but when I grow up, I can invent one for you."  Natalie chimed in, "Yeah, because if it was a person, it could just say NO!"

At the beginning of the football season, we were watching the Broncos vs. the Ravens.  Zachary is, of course, a rabid Broncos fan.  Natalie, being contrary, announced that she was cheering for the 'Raisins'. :)

One day at lunch, Zachary came up with this gem, out of nowhere: "Let me preach for a minute.  See this little piece of a chip?  This is a regular person's brain.  See this whole, big chip?  This whole chip is God's brain, because He knows everything, but regular people don't know as much as God."  Great sermon!

We played with water balloons one afternoon, and at supper time, the kids were telling Daddy about their balloons.  David chimed in with, "My pop!" to tell Daddy that his water balloon had popped!  It was his first two-word sentence! :)  His very favorite word is still NO, but MY is a close second.  It can mean 'me', 'that's mine', 'I want to do it myself', or 'I did that'.

I was late for Bible study and running around like a crazy person looking for my Bible bag and letting the world know I couldn't find it even though I knew I had set it by the stairs that morning so it would be ready ... Davey came running down the hall, dragging behind him the exact (heavy!) bag I was looking for!! He definitely understands more than you would think!

Natalie is such a cute little pretend mama. :)  Of course she loves to play with her baby dolls, and she mothers Davey on a very regular basis, but she also has 'pretend kids' who she will talk to in this sweet voice, saying things like, "Oh, you hurt your mouf? It will be okay. Mommy will give you a kiss, and then I will go do my work."  She also asks me to 'babysit' for her babies while she goes 'to the store'.

Our first school verse of the year was "Those who know Your name put their trust in You."  Zachary's version was, "Those who have a brain put their trust in You."

When Natalie doesn't like something you've said to her, she often responds, "Oh, that made me so mad."

Zachary's favorite line when getting ready to go somewhere, and I ask him to find a sweatshirt, is: "Ninjas are tough.  Ninjas don't wear sweatshirts."  Alrighty then.  Ninjas better not whine when they're cold.

Natalie was making a wall with her cottage cheese at lunch.  She showed it to Zachary, and he responded, "Natalie, that is very creative, but why don't you eat your cottage cheese instead of creating things with it?"   He loves to be the little parent. :)

Zachary: "Natalie, don't get physical with me when you are mad.  Physical means hitting or kicking with your body."

Zachary: "I have a Biblical question."

Zachary looooooves the Magic Tree House series of books.  One thing (of MANY) he picked up from them was collecting 'moonstones' - he spends time looking for and collecting these sparkly white rocks - he especially finds them up at camp.  One day, he and Natalie were looking for moonstones together, and she found some to give to him, and then he found a few, and gave some to her! It was so sweet! :)

Davey has upgraded to a 'big boy' toddler bed this month - whew, what a ride! For the first few days, he was climbing up on his toy box to turn on the light - I would get up at 4 am and see his light on, and he would be back in his bed, sleeping with his light on!  I eventually had to move the toy box, and the last couple days have been better, but he still prefers to get up and play rather than nap, so that is interesting some days. :)

When we told the kids we were moving, we told them there would be sad parts, but there would be sweet parts.  Zachary took this to heart, and while Joel was trying to talk him into doing the zipline, Joel mentioned that he wouldn't have a lot more chances to do the zipline, since we'll be moving.  Zachary replied, "Yeah.  That's one of the sweet parts of moving." !! :)

For some reason, I was discussing how many calories were in the Quarter Pounders Zachary and I had had for lunch one day (we took advantage of a BOGO coupon).  Zachary said, "Wow, I'll have to be talking a walk to burn those calories!"

Natalie told me this story about her Toddler Church time:  "We had to share the scissors, but Bella took a really long turn, until her mommy came.  Then she gave them to me, but they went on the floor.  And that was what they did!"

David was getting frustrated with his Mickey Mouse fork at mealtime one day, so he yelled at it, "No, no, Me-mow!" (No, no, Mickey Mouse!)  A couple of days later, he was playing with a car (which he still calls vooov) in the living room floor.  It wasn't doing what he wanted, so he yelled at it, "No, no, Voov!" and bit it!

Zachary: "I'm going to think for a minute.  I'm going to use my noodle.  That's just an abbreviation for thinking, Mom."

Natalie, while reading a Disney book to Davey: "Donald Duck is mad, Davey.  Just like you get mad sometimes."  Davey: "Oh."

Natalie taught Davey to say No Way this week - it is hilarious!! He says, "No Ay!" :)  I try to get him to say, "Love You", and he responds, "No ay".

A sheriff's car with flashing lights passed us today, and Natalie said, "Oh, that policeman is going to get the people who don't honor God, and the people who don't share.  Right, Mom?"

A friend of ours was making popcorn while watching the kids so Joel and I could go on a date, and she was trying to teach them about what makes the popcorn pop (the moisture inside, heat, etc).  She said to the kids, "What makes the popcorn pop?"  Natalie raised her hand, so excited she knew the answer, and yelled, "The MICROWAVE!!"  It's true, at our house. :)

Kidlet Hilarity #17

Lots of hilarity this summer, but no time to write them out - I've been keeping track of them on my 'sticky note' app on my phone, though, and I have a few minutes to share them now! :)

While a friend was visiting us at camp, she saw one of the camp dogs getting into something he shouldn't, and said, "No, ishy."  Natalie turned to the dog a minute later, and said, "No, fishy."  :)

One night Zachary was still finishing his dessert (cherry crisp with ice cream) when his friends ran out to play on the playground.  He asked me what he should do, and I told him he could choose to either finish his dessert or go play outside.  He kept looking at them, darting towards them, looking back at his dessert, and starting back to the table, and he was so conflicted with this choice that he was starting to cry!!  He kept saying things like, "I can play with my friends lots of other times, so maybe I should finish my dessert", or, "They will probably make this dessert again, but my friends aren't always here, so maybe I should go play" ...  He finally decided to go outside and play, and then I thought the whole thing was just so sweet that I brought his dessert out to him at the picnic table. :)

One day, Natalie was talking about the hiccups and announced that "Tomorrow, I'm going to be hicking up."

I asked Z if he was ready to go down for quiet time.  His response: "Ready as I'll ever be!" :)

Davey has lots of new words including bump, maybe, Blob, rock, walk, bib, bug, bike, tree, and juice.

When I put the milk in the cart at the store, Davey started singing a song about milk (mim-mim) and juice (joo).  It went "Mim-mim, joo, mim-mim, joo" etc. :)

Natalie pronounces harmonica "America".  As an example, she said, "Davey brought his 'merica in the car today."

While they were playing, Z said to Natalie when she was about to take something from him or hit him or something, "Don't even think about doing that to me.  It is inappropriate."

During a picnic meal, Z hurried to finish chewing his food just so he could yell at Natalie, "Don't talk with your mouth full of food!"

One of the words I don't prefer for the kids to say is stupid.  One day, Natalie kept tripping over her Crocs somehow, and she was getting so frustrated with them.  She started to say, "My stuuuuu ..."  and instead ended it "My stuuuuk."  Which doesn't mean anything, I guess, but I was proud of her self-control. :)

Natalie painted her own nails one morning (my first questions were "Where" and "With what" - thankfully in the bathroom with her little nail polish).  When Z saw them, he asked her, "Natalie, did you paint your own nails?"  She responded, "Yes, Zach, I didn't even spill!" very excitedly. :)

I was cracking up listening to Zachary very seriously tell me about his Sunday school lesson one week - in which he learned about King Joseph-phat. Say it out loud, it's funny. :)

My friend Steph is married to our camp director, and his mother volunteers in the office at camp.  One afternoon, Steph told Zachary she was going into the office to see her 'mom'.  Zachary said, very seriously, "She's not your mom! She's your mother-in-law!"  He doesn't miss a beat, that's for sure.

Natalie was talking about being excited to go to breakfast one day, and I said that Daddy was excited to go to breakfast with us, too.  She said, "Daddy was excited to go to breakfast?  Did he bump his head?  From jumping on the bed when he was excited?"  :)

Davey was looking at one of the kids placemats one day, and he pointed to the purple bird and said, "Ee-ee", which means Natalie, and purple & pink are Natalie's favorite colors.  Then he said the orange bird was his favorite color. :)

One of my favorite things about youth camp this year was taking the kids to chapel, and watching them sing and dance to the chapel songs!  Zachary learned all the motions, and was very good at all of the songs. :)  He wants to be on chapel team as soon as he's old enough!! :)

One night I said, "Ooh, that's a good idea.  I'll put a bug in my friend's ear about that."  David was listening, I guess, and gave me a confused look.  Then he pointed to my ear, and said, "Bug?"

Natalie burped one day, and then said "Excuse me" right away.  Then she followed it with this gem: "I said excuse me right away, because I'm a girl.  Boys don't say excuse me right away."

Zachary has been praying such funny things lately.  One night he prayed, "Dear God, please take me to the Octa-ball court in one minute."  I said, "Um, do you think God is going to do that?"  His reply: "Well, if God can do anything...." :)  He also prayed one night that I would forget to give him a haircut for three years! :)

Zachary: "People get cracky when they get old."  Me: "Those are called wrinkles."  Z: "I know."

Zachary: "Great-Grandma said that she and Great-Grandpa go to bed at 10:00.  When she told me that, I said, 'That's only two hours before midnight!' but she told me she's old enough to stay up that late."

Natalie saw a bug on the bedroom floor that she didn't like the looks of, so she beat it to death with her princess toy, and announced, "I bammed him to death, and now he's all squished."  She is such a delicate flower.

Zachary loves camp food (as do I!).  One day after a failed attempt at baking, to which Zachary had entered the kitchen, and surveyed the cookie sheet with the finished product on it, and proclaimed, "They are flat and square" (true), Zachary said that Kristi (who baked at camp this summer) makes the best cookies in the world.  I said, "Yeah, way better than mine."  His wise response: "Yeah ... But yours are good, too."

Zachary's joke: What do bulls eat for breakfast?  A bowl of cereal!

Natalie was getting dressed up in her new princess dress and shoes, and announced that she was going on a date!  I was rather taken aback by this coming out of my three-year-old's mouth, so I asked, "With who??"  She replied, "Daddy." :) :)

Later that day, Natalie was getting dressed up again, this time she said, "I"m getting dressed up for my wedding.  I don't want to be late."

One Tuesday evening, we were eating ice cream sundaes, and I said, "Mmmm, these are good sundaes."  Natalie said, "Mommy, what day is it?"  "Tuesday", I said.  "Why do you keep saying Sunday then?" she had to know. :)

I will keep track of more hilarity and update you throughout the rest of the summer! :)

Kidlet Hilarity #16

I'm back! The kids have been so funny these last couple of months, I've just been so busy!! Sometimes I just don't even have a moment to write these things down before they go out of my head!  So here's what got recorded! :)  

Nat is convinced that she is going to turn into a boy, or used to be a boy.

Natalie: Ladies and gentlemens...here are some papers. That's the rule.

Z: Mom, what do they call a place where people's bodies lay after they die? Is it a secretary?

Nat: My watermelon has a lot of juice in it. That's why its called watermelon!

Z: If i grow up to be a person in a band, I would only sing songs that honor God. Is that what God wants? 

Z: Once I got some seeds, and they were volcano seeds, but they were non-house-lava-ing volcano seeds.  So I threw them back into the field behind our house, and a volcano grew and lava-d in our yard.  But the lava didn't burn out house, since they were non-house-lava-ing volcano seeds.

Nat, when done eating Froot Loops for breakfast: I'll save my loops for later.

When we were on vacation, Davey would NOT fall asleep in the car.  It was late, he was exhausted, and he was just crying and crying.  Finally, my husband put his hand back and held Davey's little hand.  David literally instantly laid his head down and fell asleep.  It was so sweet!!

A friend came and  fancied up my hair for my sister's wedding, and when Z saw me with my hair so done up, his response was, "What is up with your hair??" Always honest, I guess! :) 

In the middle of the best man's speech at my sister's reception, during a pause in quiet room, Z also blurted out, "Mom, what is he talking about?"  

When we were leaving our resort in Tennessee one day, where we stayed in a four-level log cabin with Joel's extended family, Z asked what the 'Welcome Center' was for.  We told him it was a place to go if you had questions about your cabin.  Z responded, "I have a question. Why does our cabin have so many stairs?"

When we were getting ready to pack up, I still needed to rearrange some things in our suitcases before Joel lugged them up the aforementioned stairs, so I asked Z to go wake up his Daddy, and tell him not to bring the suitcases up, because I was going to do something with them.  Z said, "Okay, I will tell him, 'Your wife is going to do something with the suitcases.'" Lol!

Natalie and Z both said several times during and since vacation, "Silas is the cutest baby in all the world." :)

Davey had such a fun time with his cousin Reed, who is only a month older than him! They loved to shout NO! together, and get into all kinds of little mischief. :)  

Z:  I just saw a Japanese restaurant.  Or at least I think so, because it was called Little Tokyo, and Tokyo is the capital of Japan.  Apparently he learned this on Disney Junior! :) 

Z, after reading a library book on the body: Your skin has five layers! They're all different colors. One is purple.

Nat was trying to say Hersheys one day, and said, "Yoshis" instead. :)

Z has started being embarrassed for the first time this month!  First, he said he was embarrassed to wear his jammies to the library (but it was a jammie picnic, so everyone was wearing jammies), and then when I gave him a pink cup because his was dirty, he said he was embarrassed to drink out of a girl cup!  

Zachary made up a song called Jesus, You're the Best.  The lyrics go, "God, you're in my heart.  God, you're in my soul.  I don't love anything more than I love you."  I got a video of him singing it, and I will have to try to upload it soon! :)  

Nat made up a song called Only if You Obey, about when you get a treat. :)

When my parents were visiting, Z heard my dad say he was going to eat a bowl of cereal for breakfast.  At the time, Z was swinging on the bull swing, so he asked, "You're eating a bull of cereal?"  My dad responded, "No, that would be silly.  You have to think about the context."  To which Z said, "Context?  Context is what you put in your eyes when you can't see!"  :)

David has LOTS of new words!! He says "butt" for button, which totally cracks me up, and wah for rock.  He says MOO for cow (LOUDLY, in the milk aisle and anywhere else he might happen to see a cow!).  He also counts 'two, two, two, two, two'.  Two is the only number that matters, right? :)  He has said, 'blah' for please a couple of times, but mostly he just flaps his  hands around insistently when he wants something.  Sometimes he even does a little 'wanting 'dance, which is so, so funny. :)  

While we were driving somewhere, Z announced that he had come up with a logo for a new company.  The company is a restaurant called Wing World, and the logo is a world, but the continents are chicken wings! :)  He is just so creative! :)

Another latest 'invention' of his is the Grass Chopper mower - it looks like a grasshopper, and has a mouth that opens and closes, chomping/mowing the grass.  Look for it in a store near you! :)

One day during Bible time, we were talking about how we can ask God for help, and Nat gave this example: "Yeah, like when I don't know how spell my letters, I can say, 'God, help! Help! I don't know how spell my letters!" :)

My grandma sent a handwritten note in the mail, and when Z took a look at it, he said to me, "Mom, will you read this to me?  I don't know how to read this font."

I hope to post Z's stories and book reports from the 2nd half of the school year soon, as well as our curriculum plans for the fall, and a wrap-up post of what we did for school this year, if anyone's interested! :)  Hope everyone is having a great summer! :)  

Kidlet Hilarity #15

I have really gotten behind on keeping track of the hilarious things the kids say on a daily basis - I hope I can remember some of them from the last month!!

Natalie says 'plastic' all the time instead of pretend - like, "I'm not really sleeping.  I'm sleeping plastic."  and  "A plastic robber came to our house."  I think she got the idea from me always telling her it was silly to eat the plastic food?

Natalie: "I want to go to God's house, and see if he has any toys."

During our first round of the stomach flu, Zachary threw up on his bed.  He was so upset by it, and the first thing he said to me was, in a pleading voice, "Can I pleeeeeease have a new sheet?"  Then he had to wait in the bathroom while I changed the sheets on the top bunk (which is NOT quick process), and as I was explaining the importance of the 'bowl' to him afterwards, he said, "Oh. I will use the bowl next time.  That way I don't have to wait so long in the bathroom."

Zachary: This book's copyright is 1988.
Me: Oh, that's not too long ago.  I was a little girl then.
Zachary: Whoa, this book is Really Old!!!

During a snowball fight one day, Daddy threw some snow at Zachary.  When Zachary asked why, Daddy said, "Because you threw snow at me first."  Zachary's response: "Daddy, we don't do revenge."  :)

Natalie was having problems putting on her jammies one day, and she started to talk to them: "I need my jammies to understand! Jammies, you just need to obey!!"

Zachary came up with a new business that he is going to start someday, called Edible Crafto.  They will carry all kinds of supplies for, you guessed it, edible crafts! :)  And the best part is the company slogan - Eat Fun! :)

As Zachary was trying to come up with the word for slogan, he said, "What's the name of that, like, 'Don't get mad, get Glad'"?

The kids were playing a rhyming game in the car.  Zachary said, "I love you because you're so tiny."  Natalie responded, "I love you because you're so porcupiney!!" :)

The kids have a rude thing that they do to each other, where they make mad faces at each other when they're angry, and they put their mad face really close to the other person.  I don't even know what to call it, maybe grimacing?  Anyhow, Natalie came up with a word for it - 'neek'.  "Don't neek at me! Mommy, Zachary's neeking at me!"  Look for that one in a dictionary near you! :)

David has been so funny lately - he has started saying NO!, and making this little mad face, sometimes just whenever, and sometimes when he's actually mad.  It is hilarious.  When Z was this age, and he did that, we were convinced he was going to be a juvenile delinquent.  We just laugh at Davey's little attitude. :)

Davey has started saying lots of new words!  He has a word for Natalie now (NatNat), and he says Mo for Elmo! :)  He also said 'bapple' for apple once, and milk is mim-mim.  He often comes and tattles on his Bubba or Sissy - if they do something that bothers or upsets him, he runs to me, crying, "Bubba! Bubba!" and pointing at the offender. :)

We were playing I Spy at dinner, and Z said we could have teams.  "My team is Mommy, me, and Davey.  Nat's team is Daddy, Nat, and a pretend person." :)  It's a close call between Davey and a pretend person on your team... :)

One day after Natalie had been reprimanded for something, she stood in her room, head hung down, and said sadly, "It's hard to obey." So true!

I told Natalie to wash her hands.  She said, "I'm going to stay in the bathroom forever.  And you will call me at bedtime."  :)

My favorite thing that Davey does is he gives me hugs with his arms around my neck, and then he kisses me on the cheek - it is just so sweet!! :)

Today Z talked Natalie into wearing one of his shirts "so they could match".  She was running around in her brother's 5T shirt, with a dirty face, and messy hair when it was time to go to church for small groups.  I said, "Can I put a pretty bow in your hair?"  She responded, "NO. I don't want Anything Pretty."  Apparently I have two boys and a tomboy now...

Natalie told me a 'silly story' in the car tonight - "I had a little teeny dragon in my house.  I swat him with my ladybug swatter, and he went away."  Natalie has definitely become quite the talkative little thing lately!! She is always telling me some kind of story, I just love it. :)

Kidlet Hilarity #14

I think it is just so fun to overhear the kids playing, and all the things they come up with.  Zachary somehow came up with one name that they like to tease each other with, and that name was Tooty McNittle.  It just struck me as funny, and we giggle every time they bring it up. :)

One night as Z and Natalie were sword-fighting with (plastic!) golf clubs, they were shouting, "Fight for kindness!" :)

Z: "I know where your soul is.  It's by your heart.  It's shaped like a stick.  Not like a stick with a branch sticking out.  Kind of like an oval stick, this big."

Nat, after finishing a cookie: "I want some more.  I'm still hungry."  I said, "I can get you some more chicken."  She responded, "No, never mind.  I'm full."  

David has definitely joined the hilarity in the last couple of months, too - his personality is really starting to come out. :)  One Saturday morning as we were eating breakfast at camp, I gave David a piece of bacon.  He picked it up, looked quizzically at it, bit it, took it out of his mouth, and stared at it again like he wasn’t sure what to do with it.  He has such an expressive face, and it was just so hilarious to watch!!

Nat: “My back hurts.  I hurt it at McDonald’s.  I bumped into a window and the glass was all brokeden.”  She definitely comes up with some great stories lately!!

Nat loves to ask, “What do you did today?”  and she won’t just accept your first answer, she keeps asking, “What else?  What else?”  This is her favorite dinner time conversation. J

Daddy says he likes the Gators because ‘it makes our (Florida State fans) friends mad’.  Zachary is totally confused. “Do you want to make them mad???” 

Natalie puts on a hat.  “Will you laugh at this hat?”, she asks Zachary.  “Oh, no, that might make you sad.  I won’t laugh at you,” he responds.  Natalie: “Will you please laugh at me?”  Zachary laughs at her.  “Laugh louder!”, Natalie commands. J

Z: “Natalie, you don’t cry in basketball.”

Nat: “You want one of dese gummy bears?  They’re pretty tasty!”  We love when Natalie says ‘tasty’, it is just so cute. J

I asked Zachary if he enjoyed his first trip to the dentist.  He said he didn’t like getting his teeth cleaned, because “It tasted yucky.  It tasted like guacamole.”

Natalie was too full to finish her yogurt at snack time one day.  Getting down from her chair, she said, “I will save this for later.  I will go get a plastic paper.” J

When we were reading through Katy and the Big Snow, we were talking about how the snowdrifts were three feet like (like Zachary, we said!), and five feet deep (like Mommy!).  Natalie said, “I have two feet.” J

Z asked me for a calculator.  “Why?”, I asked.  His response: “To show you how much I love you.”  Awwwww… J

David has lots of new words – two of them are hat (pronounced ah), and shoe/sock (both pronounced eesh).

Natalie: “If God ate an ice cream sandwich, would He say ‘mmmmm’? We can give him one tomorrow.”  Um, okay…

Zachary’s leg was hurting one day.  As he climbed into Daddy’s lap, he lamented, “Ohhhh, I need a walking stick.”  Of course, we all laughed.  “This is no time for jokes!” he protested. J

As the kids were watching Looney Tunes, Zachary felt the need to ask, “Mom, what are smithereens?”

Davey has this super cute pouty look that he does when he doesn’t get what he wants – he walks away with his tummy poking out and pouty lips – I love it. J

Davey says “ye-yo” for cereal (or crackers). J  As soon as we walk into the Park (children’s area) at church, Davey runs to the nursery and begs for “Ye-yo!” till he gets some! J 

Natalie and Zachary got to spend some time baking with Sandy & Kelly at camp last week, and after we all ate lunch together, there was more baking to do.  Natalie seemed tired, so I asked her if she’d rather stay or come home and take a nap.  Her response?  “You leave.  I bake.”  Okay!

One day Zachary ran to find me in the bathroom, “Mom! Natalie is tempting me to ride on the kitchen gate!” J

Natalie got all the spoons out of the drawer to make shapes on the table with them, coating them all with whatever we were eating at the time.  I said, “Natalie, now all the spoons will be dirty at lunch.”  Her response – “Oh, we can use forks.”  Okay then.

Joel was talking with Zachary about something, and Z asked what they would do.  After Joel told him, he responded, "Oh. That's a good solution."  

Davey has a word/noise for car (“vvvvvv”).  He jumped down from my lap and I said, “where are you going?”  He responded, “vvvvv”, and went to get a little car.  He also makes the same noise while he plays with his cars, tractors, or trains. J  He also has a word for snow – “brrr”! J  He loves to nod his head to everything, whether it’s true or not, and he says, “Uh-uh” while he nods. J  He is definitely daily living up to his name, “Beloved laughter”!! J  This stage (18-24 months) is just my favorite stage – new words every day, you can almost see the wheels turn as they learn and process SO much!!  He is starting to really enjoy things like coloring and playdough along with the other two!  Such a joy!!

Kidlet Hilarity #13

The kids have been hilarious lately!! And I've been so busy, I haven't even had a chance to write them down! So buckle up, here we go! :)

One day as I was feeling a little discouraged about how few 'fun' things I'd been doing with the kids in school lately, we were getting ready to start a project, and Z piped up happily, "We have a lot of activities here at the Hart's house!". That was a great encouragement to me - we're making memories at least!! :)

Davey says a few new words now - haaaaa for hot, boooo for book, MINE is a favorite, he still says UT for up, usually in the context of  "Ut. Ut. UT. UUUUUUUUT!!!", and Da-do for doggy, and I think a few others. :)  It's so cute!!  He also loves to climb up on EVERYTHING, and he is for sure my 'class clown' - he's always walking around with something on his head trying to make everyone laugh. :)

Davey and Natalie are great friends, it is so fun to watch them play together. :)  He growls at her, and then she calls him "scary baby" and they giggle. :)

One day, as we were driving somewhere, Z asked Joel a question.  After he heard the answer he asked, "Is there a specific reason why?"  The next day, walking up the driveway, James had dug a trench to keep our driveway intact over the winter.  Z got to looking at it and saw that it stopped about halfway up the driveway.  He said, "Look, the trench stops in a specific place. Why?" Love those big words!

Zachary saw a poster at the library about a parade.  "OH!", he said, "We have a parade on Mememoral Day!" Everyone in the library was cracking up. :)

Speaking of cracking up, we were chatting at McDonald's over ice cream yesterday, and I told him what I had overheard from his bedroom before he and Natalie got up (they're not allowed to leave their room till 7 am).  I had heard Natalie sneeze and then Zachary responded, "Ex-sneeze you!" I thought this was hilarious, and told him so, then every few minutes one of us would say, "Ex-sneeze you!" and he was laughing so hard at one point, he almost dropped his ice cream cone.  "You're cracking me UP!", he giggled. :)

Davey likes to climb, as I mentioned.  So when we go to the park with the BIG metal slide, this can get interesting - while I push the other two on the swings (they don't have any baby swings at this park), I have to periodically run to grab him off the 4th or 5th step.  One day during this production, Natalie yelled at David, "Davey! Get down off the labber!!"

One morning Zachary was pretending to be Daddy.  I was wondering what he would say, as he was talking to Natalie.  He said, "I'm Daddy, and I'm home! Natalie, I'm so excited to see you!!"  :)  I'm thankful that's what they hear from their Daddy. :)

Natalie loves to call her brothers her friends!! One day she came up and said, "My friend wants to go outside."  I said, "Oh, who's your friend?"  She responded, "David." :)  I hope they'll be friends for life!!  Another day she was talking about her MOPS class - she and Z are in the same class this year, which has been really fun for them.  She said, "My brother is my friend at MOPS." :)

Z made up this song about Davey:  "David is so cute, as cute as can be. David is so cute, as you can see. (and repeat)"

Z has been talking about dying a few times lately, too.  One day as we were sitting on the couch, he randomly said, "I'm afraid to die because it will be so surprising.  Like maybe I will be playing on the floor or working in the garden.  It will be very surprising."  Another day he came out with, "I hope I die before I turn eleven."  I said, "What? Why?"  His response: "Because then I won't have to get my shots."  (He is very excited that he doesn't have to have any more immunizations until he turns 11. Apparently he is already dreading them, though.)

While playing Mario Kart, Z came up with this gem of wisdom: "Diddy King is Donkey Kong's son or nephew or something." :)

Nat was singing loudly in her bed one morning (before 7:00).  When she came out, I asked her to sing more quietly next time, and she responded, "I was worshipping!!"  I couldn't think of what to say to that!! :)

As Joel was teasing Zachary one day, he responded with, (totally joking, not disrespectfully) "Stop this nonsense!"

Natalie sat down at the piano, grabbed If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, put it where the music goes, and began to sing, "A mouse gets a cookie, he wants some milk milk, and two plus two, two plus two."

One day Joel and I were talking in another room and Natalie needed help with something.  She started to call, "Help! Anybody? I need some help! Anybody?" :)

Natalie says 'choke' for joke - she loves to tell 'chokes'. :)  She said, "Dis was my choke - I said, "Put my clothes in the diaper pail, and my diaper down the laundry chute."  Dat was just a choke."  :)

Natalie and Z were racing in the hall one day, and apparently Natalie won one of the races, because I heard Zachary telling her, "Well, Natalie, the first shall be last." :)

Natalie asked to sit on my lap one day, but then got down, grabbed a purse and came to sit next to me on the couch.  "Don't you want to sit on my lap?", I asked.  "No, I'm a mommy. I'm a different mommy. Mommies don't sit on laps.", she said.  She loves to pretend she's a mommy - one of my friends - she always says she's not me, she's a 'different mommy'. :)  She is such a sweet little mama to her dolls & bears and Davey and any other baby-like thing or person she can possibly mother. :)  I can't believe she will be THREE on Saturday!! Three always seems like such a big number! :) But she is definitely allowing her personality to emerge lately - OH, the personality. :)  She loves to be silly and funny and make everyone laugh, too. :)

Zachary is just such a big boy.  He is finally in a very independent (in a GOOD way) stage, and wanting to do a lot for himself!  This week at MOPS, I made up name tags and labeled bags and sippy cups and dropped David off, and got Natalie's name tag on and sent her to her class.  I made up a name tag for Z, went down to his classroom, and found him there, coat and umbrella hung up on hooks, with a name tag already on his shirt - he had even written his own name!! Color me impressed! :)  So nice to have such a BIG boy to help me out! :)  He loved sharing his new umbrella with Natalie, too, and he has been so excited to have rain the last couple of days so he could use it outside. :)

Also - Zachary's newest development - at only five years and two weeks old, he lost his first tooth!! Now, Zachary is the kind of person for which anything medical is a BIG DEAL - remember, he wants to die before he has to get shots??  And he had not mentioned a tooth wiggling or anything, and when it came out, he didn't even cry! He just calmly said to Daddy (I was downstairs), "I think I'm missing a tooth", and then they found it on the rug.  They were in the midst of playing football/wrestling, which prompted me to ask, "What happened??" but Joel said he wasn't near him when it happened, and Z didn't cry at all, so I can't imagine that it got knocked out, I think it just fell out!!  I really wanted to cry when I found out because it seems like OLD kids lose teeth - not my BABY ZACHARY!!!!

We're doing some fun stuff for school this month - a relaxed Christmas unit - by relaxed I mean, we've had SO MUCH else going on that I think we've had school three days (and not even full days) in the last two weeks??  But we have been learning together and our activities have been fun. :)  Natalie is through the letter L in her letter of the week preschool curriculum, and Zachary has finished seven two-week units of Five In A Row, which we are still loving!! I'm learning how to plan better, and what kinds of activities we enjoy and learn from the most.  The one adjustment I'm in the middle of making right now is that Davey (who will be 17 months next week!) has transitioned to only taking one nap a day - it's in the afternoon, at the same time as Nat's nap and Z's quiet time.  Which is great - I get about an hour to work around the house, relax, or prepare dinner!  But it also means that Davey joins us for school now in the mornings (insert scream of terror here).  He is into everrrrything, coloring on the table, climbing on things, screaming "Ut UUUUUUT!" at me while I'm trying to work through math problems with Z.....plus we can't do activities like marbles and certain other small motor things any more (which Nat enjoys, and she naps longer than he does, at the same time) since Davey puts everything in his mouth.  If anyone has any tips on keeping one-year-olds busy during homeschool times, I would reeeeally appreciate it!! :)

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!! I can't wait to relax at home with our family all day Monday & Tuesday!!! :)

Kidlet Hilarity #12

When the kids were playing one day, Zachary kept saying that they were going to "Jimmy Dean's Pizza".  And then he decided to order "superb - you know, the kind with everything on it." Lol!!  I just love to listen to them play together, the things they come up with and their interactions are just so hilarious. :)

One morning I told the kids they could have a 'jammie day', which we rarely have, and Z used to beg me for jammie days every day!! But this time he said, "I used to love jammie days, but now I'm not a fan of them."  Okayyyy... :)

One morning while I was loading the dishwasher or something, Zachary asked me, "Mom, can you stop that silly working and just play with us?"  :)

David is joining the ranks of the talkers now...he yells UT UT UT when he wants you to pick him up (or sometimes just UH UH UH, whatever he's in the mood for. :)  And when I ask him if he wants a spanking, he shakes his head and says, "Uh-uh" very emphatically.  Sometimes I do it just for fun, because it's cute....such a mean mom. :)  And sometimes he says uh-uh no matter what I ask him. :)

Zachary went through a week or so phase where anytime something didn't go his way, he would say, "Aw, shucks."  It was so adorable!  He also was looking around one day and said, "I spy a book we have, and I want to read it."

When Natalie does my hair, she leans over to my face and says, "Shhh. Don't talk."  Maybe I move my head when I talk?

Natalie loves to tell you all about herself now.  Her favorite color is purple usually, but sometimes yellow. :)  One day at dinner she told me, "I like monkeys.  And pigs.  I like pigs.  Did you know that?"  I did not.

One day when Davey was supposed to be taking his nap, he was instead calling for, "Bubba, bubba, bubba!"

When we were out somewhere I asked Zachary if he wanted to go home and have lunch (to get him moving), and he responded, "I guess so."

One day I went to grab something for school and when I came back down to the schoolroom, Z was reading a book about Jonah to Natalie in the tent.  After reading a little, he commented to Natalie, "God always finds us wherever we are, right, Natalie?"  And she answered, "Yeah! I might find you, scare you like dis- boo!"  Lol!!

One night I asked Natalie to sit still and focus on eating, and a minute later she was sitting backwards in her chair singing, "Focus! Fooooocus!  Focuuuus!"  Fundamental misunderstanding of the word focus.... :)

Natalie can be really picky about her food (though we are making headway on getting her to eat two bites of most things now), but there are so many times when she isn't eating her dinner and turns to Davey and says things like, "Just eat dat." or "Eat your food."  She also tells him to "Obey God." when she wants him to stop doing something that annoys her, as in, "No, Davey, don't touch my toy. Obey God."  She may have herself confused with God.... :)

As Natalie went out the door one day, she turned to my dad (when my parents were visiting), and said, "Don't forget to text me!"  Wonder where she heard that...  She also told him, "Exactly!  That's exactly right!"  when he was trying to play a game with her and did it the way she expected. :)

One morning when my dad was talking with Natalie on the couch, she was showing him a purse she was playing with.  She was saying, "I have dis purse.  Dis was Mommy's purse but she got a new one so she gave me dis one to play with.  Mommy is my friend. I have a good Mommy."  So sweet!!

I made a chore chart for the kids recently and when I sat the kids down and started sharing the idea with them, I told Natalie that her first chore would be throwing the laundry down the chute for me (I thought she'd be excited!), but she looked at me and laughingly said, "Mama, I'm not the mommy!"

I made the kids a button board to practice buttoning and was trying to explain to Z that it would build strong small muscles in his hands.  Later that day I handed him a bag to carry inside for me, and he said, "I can carry this. I'm strong because of my buttoning." :)

Natalie brought me her bear and asked me to babysit for her.  "I have go to a meeting and talk with my friends.  I have take shower before I go," she said. :)

Nat told Z, "Don't talk with your mouth fooding."

I made sweet potatoes (which I LOVE) for the kids recently, with brown sugar, mmmmm.  I was astounded that they HATED them.  Zachary said, "Well, Mom, everybody likes different things."  I said, "But sweet potatoes are delicious!"  His response?  "That's to YOU, Mom." :)  LOL!!

Natalie says 'nut' instead of knot - I think it is so hilarious - one day she was going on and on about a lacing string having a 'nut' in it, and I was laughing every time!! :)

Zachary was talking about foods that he likes, and he said proudly, "I'm just like Daddy."  They definitely all look up to Daddy and love him so much!! :)

Joel was trying to explain to the kids why he had to be gone for work for a week, and he sat down and talked with Zachary about it.  Zachary's first response was, "Who will I play Wii with?" and then he decided that I would do.  Then he said, "Oh, Dad, save the job for Greg."  Where that came from, I don't know, but I thought it was hilarious. :)

Zachary came waddling into Davey's room tonight as I was getting Davey ready for bath, with his pants around his knees and shoes still on, and said, "Mom, what should I take off first, my pants or my shoes? I need a clue."  I think the fact that your pants won't fit over your shoes will be a clue.... :)

We met my friend and her 20-month-old son at a PlayPlace today and he was a little upset when she left to order their food.  Natalie stayed right with him, and patted him on the shoulder, saying, "Your Mommy will be right back. She's getting some food. She be back. Let's play."  It was so sweet!!!

We are enjoying a little slower fall schedule, though we're still busy!!  Actually it feels like the last month has been crazy but I couldn't say exactly what we've been doing!  We're looking forward to a couple of slower months at camp and more time with Daddy at home over the holidays, though. :)  Preschool is going well - we'll be finishing letter J tomorrow (for Natalie), and Zachary will be finishing his fifth unit in Five in a Row - we're finishing up Mike Mulligan by Virginia Lee Burton tomorrow. :)  I'd love to post more about school, but I had to let go of that in order to actually do a good job raising my kids and teaching them school. :)  So I take a few pictures of school activities when I can and share ideas and resources whenever anybody asks me. :)

Kidlet Hilarity #11

Natalie is talking a TON lately!!  We can usually understand what she's saying, but not always.  One day after she had tried repeatedly to tell us something, Zachary said, "I think Natalie's speaking another language."

One day after church, Zachary was asking if he would get a treat since he obeyed in Sunday School.  Joel said he would have to think about it.  Zachary responded, "I think having a treat would be the yummier choice." Then he laughed this little silly laugh, like he was laughing at his own joke. :)

One day Natalie was eating a sucker and a fly was bothering her.  She said, "Little bee, you can't get on my sucker, babe!"  She has called a few other people 'babe' since then, too, I think it's so funny. :) 

David is walking well now, but he still falls down ALL the time (I know, it's a stage, hope for his sake it doesn't last too long!).  One day when he had fallen down several times, Zachary commented, "David is getting a lot of injuries today."

One day when Natalie was the one who got hurt, Zachary said, "I'm glad it wasn't me!"  Nothing like sibling love and compassion...

Natalie was standing in the pantry and I said, "Natalie, come here!"  She came out and responded, "What's up?" :)

Nat also says all kinds of hilarious sentences now. :)  She likes to tell stories, mostly about the time she went underwater in the camp pond, or the time she fell down in the driveway and hurt her knee.  The phrase, "really hard" is another one she uses all the time.  One day she told me, "I have a eedea (idea) in my pocket. I have a bouncy ball in my other pocket."

We all had colds last week, and one morning I woke up without a voice! :(  Natalie was confused about why I was whispering, and I told her that I didn't have my voice.  She looked at me like I had two heads and said, "You forgot put yours voice on?"

Natalie and Davey were having so much fun peeking at each other through a hole in a paintball course obstacle. Natalie shook her head and said, "My baby brother is funny." :)

Natalie sets up tea parties for her and Zachary occasionally, it is so fun.  One day after they had 'eaten', I heard Natalie saying to Zachary, "Are you all done yet? Okay, go play." 

She is quite the little mother - especially to Davey - one day he got the remote, and she said, "Davey, don't play with the remote, that's a disobeyin!"

In the bath one night, Natalie was talking about school. "Zachary is in Pre-K, and I am in preschool, and I learn bout apple pie, and I like Davey..." :)

I sat down for lunch with a salad - one of the mixes that has all different greens in it - and Natalie stared at me and said, "Are you eating grass??" :)

Z and Nat were playing on the porch, some kind of 'house' game, and Natalie wanted to drive.  Zachary informed her, "No, I'm the Daddy and the Daddy drives.  If Daddy's coming, Daddy drives."  I guess he knows how it is in our family! :)

Zachary has been saying plenty of funny things lately, too, I guess I just haven't written them down...he uses all kinds of big words in his sentences now, which is always fun. :)  I'll have to keep my ears open and make sure to write them down! :)  

Davey is such a joy at 14 months - a BUSY joy! :)  He is into everything, and if he gets into the pantry, his favorite thing to do is grab some empty pop cans from the recycling bin and scatter them around the house. :)  His job right now is to pretty much grab whatever he can and scatter it. :)  I have started closing the kitchen/pantry gate a LOT more lately... :)  He loves to make us laugh, and to laugh at us - you can make him laugh by just looking at him a lot of the time.  If he discovers something he does or a sound he makes that we will laugh at, he will keep doing it till he gets tired of it.  He's definitely living up to his name, David Isaac, which means beloved laughter. :)  

Kidlet Hilarity #10

Zachary was looking in the mirror one night, as he was brushing his teeth, with no shirt on, and he commented, "My belly looks like a face, and my belly button is sticking its tongue out!" :)

Davey loves to point at everything, it is so funny.  He will point at something and say, "Dat. Dat." or "Nut-nut" if he wants something.  Sometimes we call him Nut-nut since he says that so much. :)  One day he came and found me, led me all the way over to the sliding door, and pointed to it, because he wanted to go outside. :)  So cute!!  I love that he can communicate now! :)

David sings the Jesus is My Superhero chapel song sometimes - the "yeah...yeah..." part - he shakes his fist and says "Yeah...Yeah..." It is so adorable! :)

Zachary was singing part of the song "Let my life be the proof, the proof of Your love - Let my love look like Yours, and what You're made of..."  Then he paused and I knew what was coming... "Mommy, what is God made of?" :)

A few weeks ago, as the leaves were just beginning to change, Natalie ran up to me excitedly, grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the sliding glass door, saying, "Mommy! I show you sumptin!  Sumptin orange! In da trees!"

Natalie always carries her favorite stuffed bear around, and she carries her on her hip just the same way I carry Davey.  One day when I picked up Davey, she picked up her bear, put her on her hip, and said, "I have my bear, you have yours baby." :)  She is so sweet, always cooing and baby talking to the bear as she carries her around.  And she always puts her down for a nap in David's room and closes the door.  Then she won't let anyone else go in, "No! My bear is sleeping!" :)

One day when the kids were playing out on the porch, I heard some kind of scuffle going on.  When I went out to find out what was happening between Natalie and Zachary, Natalie said, "I fussin. He fightin."  :)

We had so much fun on our trip to Cincinnati!  Zachary said some pretty funny things while we were there. :)  We spent a night at a hotel north of Columbus with a little kids waterpark in the pool area, and Z loved going down the little waterslide over and over, with Daddy or Uncle Jason catching him at the bottom. After a while, Daddy & Uncle Jason took a shift with the babies in the wading pool, and Mommy and Aunt Emily came to play with Zachary.  He wasn't sure whether he wanted Emily to catch him at the bottom of the slide, though - he had all kinds of questions, like, "Are you sure you're strong enough to catch me?" and "Emily, are you taller than this pool?" :)

The kids loved playing with their then-6-week-old cousin, Silas, when we were on our trip!  Davey even started saying the word baby! He pronounces it "beh-beh", and says it regularly now. :)

Zachary and Natalie were really sweet playing with Silas, too - Zachary was saying, "Hey, little cutie, Silas!" And Natalie was giving him kisses :)

Zachary went with Grandma to get some ice and groceries, and when they took the bag from the cooler, there was a sign with a man yelling, "Get the Big Bag so you don't run out!"  Well, we only needed a small bag, since we were only there two days, but Zachary was convinced that we were going to run out, and trying desperately to convince Grandma to get the big bag! "But Grandma, look, the man is yelling! We don't want to run out!" :)

I was standing in the dining room holding Davey and talking to him, and apparently Natalie was hungry, because she came over and said, "Go in kitchen and make supper."  Well, okay, then, bossy!!

We got some of those little rollerskates that fit over the kids' shoes at a garage sale last week, and they have been so delighted - well, Natalie fell down once and that was enough for her, but Zachary loves them!  He has been talking about them constantly and asking all kinds of questions about them.  As we were heading to the basketball court (the only paved place to rollerskate around here) one night, Zachary pushed the skates down the stairs ahead of him.  Of course, they crashed down the stairs. "Oh, so that's what would happen if you rollerskated down the stairs!", Zachary commented. LOL!

Zachary asked if Davey could rollerskate and I said, "No, he can't walk well enough."  "Yeah, and if he was going to crawl on rollerskates, he would need four of them!" was Z's answer. :)

Davey is walking now- it is so funny - he walks like Frankenstein, with his arms straight out in front of him. :) He is totally hilarious - I love watching new walkers - he is delighted with it!  He walks all over now!  And he is thrilled that he can carry something in his hands while walking (since you really can't carry anything while crawling). :)  He especially loves to get into the empty pop cans in the pantry, and he often walks around with an empty can in each hand. :)

My kids really need some help with their fashion sense - one day, Zachary came out of his room, and triumphantly announced, "Mom, look, my outfit matches!"  He was wearing a brown and green camo tank top with a brown and black pair of camo pants.  A couple days later, Natalie came down the hall, excitedly proclaiming that she matched - she was wearing a black pair of leggings with a black t-shirt.  Sigh. :)

Z has been writing stories in school this week, and that has been so fun! I want to post some of them soon!  He has been very excited about writing Fiction stories. :)  We just finished our first Five In A Row unit, and I think it was a success!  We studied The Story About Ping, and we studied China, and did a couple of experiments - the "does it float or sink?" experiment was a favorite activity, and Z loved our Jonah song too. :)  I like spending 2 weeks on the same verse, song, and Bible story, as well as the same FIAR unit - our next unit is How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World, and we'll be starting that tomorrow. :)  Natalie is liking her preschool work as well, and Zachary has been having fun learning alongside her, too!  Davey loves joining us for Circle Time, Bible Time, and Story Time, and then we save our crafts and most lessons for when Davey has his morning nap. :)  We've also been doing a half hour or so of DEAR - Drop Everything And Read - after lunch and before nap, and the kids REALLY look forward to that.  (I do too.) :)  Now I just have to do a better job of making sure Z is fitting in his seatwork/handwriting pages every day...I have forgotten to have him do them at least one day a week so far!!

Kidlet Hilarity #6

Z said to me one morning at breakfast: "Mom, you're 30.  Jesus could do miracles when he was 30.  Can you do miracles?"  Good opportunity to talk about what a miracle is...

One morning Z asked for oatmeal for breakfast (my kids are so weird, they love oatmeal!).  I said something about not wanting to clean up the mess (I think it is one of the worst things to clean up and they are SO messy with it!), and Z responded, "But that's your job! That's what God has asked you to do!"  Nothing like hearing your own words coming back at you from your child's mouth...

Zachary has these little phrases that are just so funny and serious, like - "When I saw that, I thought, Wow, that's unusual!" and "I didn't know that toy could do that, I was so amazed!"

One morning I heard Z & Nat yelling out on the porch so I ran out and asked what was going on.  Nat hung her head and responded, "I fightin'."

Zachary can buckle himself into his own car seat now, but he really hates when he thinks I'm going to start driving before he's buckled!  One day, when my sister was here, we were trying to pull out of a little parking area in someone's yard and I was getting the car situated to pull out, but he wasn't buckled in yet - after he got buckled in, he said to me, so seriously, "You should stay more under control next time."  We laughed so hard!

I told Nat she needed to finish her macaroni before she could have a rice krispy treat.  She stuffed a handful of noodles in her mouth and shouted, "Ta-DA! Me dessert now!"  Ta-da is one of her favorite words, she loves to say it whenever she does anything. :)

Natalie came zooming down the slide at the park really quickly, and fell onto the ground -twice in a row! The third time, she slowed herself down with her shoes, and after she got down, she threw her hands up in the air and said, "I not fall down!"  I just can't describe how cute her little excited sentences are - she only says about 2 words in a row, so it sounds like, "I not. Fall down!" and she throws her hands up and sometimes jumps up and down... :)

One morning I was putting a bandaid on a cut, and Z said, "Mom, are you tough?  Because tough guys don't need bandaids.  Daddy taught me that."

One day Natalie had green paint on her thumb, but I wasn't sure where it had come from.  "Paint!", she showed me.  "What did you paint, Natalie?" I asked.  "My thumb" was her response. :)

Our screen door came off of its tracks, and was sitting on the porch.  I mentioned that if it was fixed, we could leave the door 'open' all the time.  She shoved it back against the glass doors where it belonged and proclaimed, "I fix it!" :)  It is so fun now because Zachary sometimes realizes that what Nat says is funny, so then we both just crack up with her together.  This was one of those times. :)

Davey is growing like a weed!  The other day I mentioned to a friend that he hadn't tried to pull up on anything yet.  Then I turned around and set him in a chair with arms (we were at a bounce house place) to feed him baby food, and while I was finding the jar of food in the diaper bag, he proceeded to pull up on the arm of the chair and stand up!!  Way to prove me wrong, Davey! :)  He is eating all kinds of 'real' food now, little pieces of chicken nuggets, salmon, strawberries, waffles, tuna, toast, banana, [potato, noodles, alllll kinds of stuff.  He loves it all!  His favorites are bananas and goldfish crackers. :)  He has four teeth now, and should have six before TOO long, I hope!!  He crawled up onto the bottom shelf of an end table today, which I have pictures of Nat doing not that long ago!!  I can't wait for him to be able to run around with his brother and sister, I know they will all have SO much fun! :)  At this point, he hates to sit (will NOT stay sitting up) but loves to crawl, and hates to walk (whenever I try to help him he fusses at me) but loves to be held standing up! :)

Another of Nat's favorite phrases lately is "I AM!", when you ask her to do something and she's working on it (or thinks she is)- not one of my favorites, but funny coming from a 2-year-old. :)

One morning Z ran over Nat's toes with a trike on the porch, after I had asked him to be more careful, so he was sitting in time out.  I asked him what he was thinking about, and he responded, "That I ran over my sister's toes with the bike. Is that what I should be thinkin' about?"  He is four and a HALF now, and as I was editing pictures this week, I realized just how BIG he's getting.  And five sounds really old!!

We ate salmon at camp tonight, and when I told Zachary it was a kind of fish (which we don't eat a lot of at home), he asked, "Does it still have the slime on it?"  (He recently took up fishing with his daddy and caught his first fish this week and must have experienced the sliminess of it? That's my guess!) :)

When Davey cries, Nat is such a sweet little mama to him, she always says, "S'okay, Davey. I here. I here." :)

On the walk home from camp last night, we had one of the sweetest moments - it made this mama's heart swell up and almost explode. :)  I was pushing Davey in the stroller with Z and Nat walking in front of us, and Z took Natalie's hand (and she let him, which is unusual!), and said, "Know what? I love you."  Nat smiled at him and said, "Luvoo too."  Zachary smiled back at her and said, "You're a sweet sister."  Then they stopped and gave each other a hug!  I was seriously tearing up! :)

So thankful for my little sweethearts! :)