Conversations with the Peanut Gallery

I know this post is quite large but I'm trying to get in all of the conversations that I haven't posted before the end of the year.  Enjoy!

Too many infomercials perhaps??
Anna: Mommy, I have an idea. We can use oxyclean stainfighter. It gets the tough stains out, even the hardest ones.
Lauren: Yeah, even blueberry. Action Stain Clean Fighter is some sort of powder.
Anna: Guess what! Mr. Steamy is cool. You put him in the washer with some flower smelling spray and he gets off the stains. He irons them and he makes them smell good. Mr. steamy can do those three things in one wash!

Watching a show about the Titanic:
Anna: Are ships girls or boys?
Doug: All ships are girls.
Lauren: What about boats?
Doug: Yes, boats too.
Lauren: What about canoes?

Watching a show on” Animal Planet”
Lauren: “Look, everybody, pokey-pines!”
Anna: I think there is an animal kingdom and the king is a giraffe.

Despite our constant reminders to avoid snakes, Lauren killed a snake in the street the other day with a tennis racket. She then picked it up and put it in our garbage can where it revived as she had apparently only knocked it out for a moment.

Anna: Daddy, can we get a car with a TV in it?
Doug: No.
Anna and Lauren: Why not?
Doug: I don’t believe in it.
Anna and Lauren: But they’re real, Daddy. They’re real.

Jacob doesn’t want to sleep in his own bed anymore. He’s determined to be in bed with Mommy and Daddy. Putting him in his crib the other night we had the following conversation:
Jacob: Bay-ed
Me: You want a band-aid?
Jacob: Bay-ed.
Me: You want a family band? (We’ve been playing a lot of music recently).
Jacob: Bay-ED!!
Me: Bed? Mommy and Daddy’s bed? Is that what you want?
Jacob: Want!!

Lauren: I wonder when I’ll be old enough to go to the moon. I’m gonna bring my bike along and go to all the planets and that one with the ring around it.
Anna: That’s Saturn.
Lauren: Yeah, I’m gonna take my bike to Saturn and when you see writing in the sky that will be me.

Looking for a particular chapter in a Harry Potter book for Anna:
Anna: Mommy, just look at the continents. (Table of contents)

Where did we go wrong:
Lauren is so intent on contributing to her school’s recycling program that I have to stop her from emptying unused water bottles, ketchup bottles, and jugs of milk.

Thurman is hard of hearing now and we have to shine a flashlight at him to get him to come in for the night. He can’t hear us call.

I tried to put my tennis shoes on yesterday and found a ¼ cup measuring cup in my right shoe with a ¼ cup of raisins in my left.

Jacob keeps trying to clean the toilet in his diaper and his sister’s tap shoes.

The phone rang at 0530 the other day. It scared me because normally a call at that hour implies bad news is coming. Anna and I answered at the same time, she on the downstairs phone. A man’s voice said, “Hey, Baby.”
Anna said, “Hello? Hello?”
Me(to Anna): Anna hang up the phone.  I have it.
Me (to caller): I’m sorry but you have the wrong number.
Caller: Naw, naw. You’re the girl I met last night that I paid to (fill in the blanks here).
Anna: Who is this, Mommy?
Me (to Anna): ANNA, HANG UP THE PHONE NOW!!
Caller: Wait, baby, what’s your name…Anna? Yeah, Anna is the girl I met last night.
Anna: Mommy, he said my name. It’s for me.
Me: ANNA, HANG UP THE PHONE NOW!!!
We both hung up and he called right back.
Me: STOP calling this number.
Anna: Who is it Mommy?
Caller:  Is this Anna?
Me: ANNA, HANG UP THE PHONE NOWWWWWWWWW!!!
I called my stepmom and asked her to talk to me for a few minutes until he got bored and gave up. Afterwards I tried to explain to the girls that just because someone calls us doesn’t necessarily mean they know us or are good people. Later in the day the phone rang and the caller hung up. Lauren said, “Mommy, it might be that unwell-mannered man again.

Christmas goodies:
We asked the grandparents to only send one gift this year to each child as we just are overrun with toys.  Anna wasn't too happy with this plan.  I overheard her on the phone with my mom.
Anna: Nana, I only have five presents under the tree. Can you send me more?

On our way out of the parking lot heading toward the Nutcracker:
Lauren: Wow, look at those highscapers.

Making gingerbread cookies and houses:
Me: Girls, I’m going upstairs to get ready for our playdate. Don’t let Jakie get into the cookies. A few minutes later, I walked back downstairs to find several legs eaten off of unbaked gingerbread men as well as all of my roofs and two doors devoured by our busy boy.

This year my dad and stepmom sent the kids 12 envelopes for the 12 days of Christmas with dollars bills rolled up for each day (for example: Day 1: $1, Day 2: $2, Day 3: $3, etc.) At the end of the 12 days the kids split the money and each were left with $26. A few days later, the kids got Christmas cards in the mail. Anna opened hers and said, “Where’s the money?” Lauren said, “Yeah, all they sent were words.”

Watching a show about the life of Jesus a few days prior to Christmas, we learned that (according to Anna) Jesus was crucified by the Germans because he was political trouble for them.

Looking at “Bible Stories for Little Eyes” and a picture of the Three Wise Men at the manger holding gold, frankincense, and myrrh, Lauren said, “Oh, look. They’re taking pictures with their cameras.”

Jacob on Christmas Day:
Me: Jacob, say “Merry Christmas!”
Jacob: “Cheese!”

Anna talking to Doug about her new Barbie Video Girl Santa gave her:
Doug: Have you been taking videos?
Anna: Yes, but I’ve deleted them all.
Doug: Why?
Anna: Because I want to keep the news fresh.

Wrapping last minute presents while Doug and the girls were sledding, I ran out of paper and ran upstairs to get some more. When I came back down, Jacob had the scissors at the Christmas tree cutting all of my garlands in two. At least now, they cover the whole tree and not just the lower half.

After eating beef tenderloin on Christmas day:
Anna: What animal is this?
Doug: A cow.
Anna: Ooh.
Lauren: What other animals do we eat?
Doug: Pig, deer, lamb, sloth.
Anna: We don’t eat sloth, Daddy.
Doug: Sure we do. Haven’t you ever heard of cole “sloth”?

Lauren checked the oatmeal we sprinkled on the lawn the night before to guide Santa’s reindeer to our yard: “Mommy, I checked the oatmeal and it looks like the reindeer nibbled on it!”

The day after Christmas:
Doug: Sandy, have you seen the large key ring with all of the spare keys on it?
Me: I used it to take the kids to school a couple of weeks ago because I couldn’t find my keys.
Doug: So, where did you put it when you were done? Is it in a coat pocket somewhere?
Me: I don’t think so. I thought I put them back where they go.
After a few minutes of frantic searching:
Me: Girls, have you seen the big ring of keys?
Anna: No.
Lauren: Yes.
Me (to Lauren): You have?
Lauren: Yes.
Me: Where are they, baby?
Lauren: I buried them.
Me: You buried them?
Lauren: Yes.
Me: Um, where did you bury them?
Lauren: In the back yard.

Written in a card we received from Anna on Christmas morning:
Dear family,
Merry Christmas!  It's the joyfull day a savior was born!  It's also time to thank Santa, and open presents, and a feast!  Let's start!  Hooray!
Love,
Anna
P.S. hugs and kisses
 
See you all in the New Year!  Best Wishes!

Two...

Happy, Happy Birthday to our smallest family member! Sweet Jacob turned two today.

At two, he loves choo-choo trains, balls, and dancing.  He has music in his soul.  He loves books and his favorites are "Owl Babies", "The Goodnight Book", "Inside, Outside, Upside Down", and "Caps For Sale".  He knows all of the sounds to "Moo, Baa, La-La-La" and supplies them at the appropriate time...even the pig's oink.

He slides down the stairs on his tummy faster than either Doug or I can run down them.

                                                          

He is a very adventurous boy and climbs like a monkey...on everything.  He's fearless.

He has a lot to say these days.  His favorite words are Bahnd-daid, Tuh-tel, Hey, Mine, Mama, Dada, Anna, Lornen, Tank-too (thank you), Pease, Sah-wee and always responds to "I love you" with the word "Too".

He brings joy to our family and we couldn't imagine our lives without him.

We're so proud of our two year old and filled to bursting with love for our little man.

Happy Birthday to you, Jakie! ~XOXO, Mommy



Merry Christmas!

"Inside the snow globe on my father's desk, there was a penguin wearing a red-and-white-striped scarf. When I was little my father would pull me into his lap and reach for the snow globe. He would turn it over, letting all the snow collect on the top, then quickly invert it. The two of us watched the snow fall gently around the penguin. The penguin was alone in there, I thought, and I worried for him. When I told my father this, he said, "Don't worry, Susie; he has a nice life. He's trapped in a perfect world."

— Alice Sebold (The Lovely Bones)

We spent most of our Christmas day indoors and I felt like we were trapped in our own little version of a perfect world.  The kids played very hard today, beginning at 2:00 am.  That was when we received our first "Can we go downstairs yet?" request.  We sent Anna back to bed but she and Lauren were back at the foot of our bed at 4:41 am asking again.  We knew they were too excited to sleep so we grabbed the baby and headed downstairs.  There was a present frenzy, followed by lots of laughter and play.  We all got new bikes this year, each bike suited to its new owner.  Anna has a blue bike with flowers, ribbons, and a basket while Lauren's bike is neon green and black.  Doug and I got a Townie and a Trek and Jacob even got his own little cart.  Since it was still too early for a bike ride, Anna set to work putting together her Rapunzel tower with help from Daddy, while Lauren and Jacob headed into the dark bathroom for an epic lightsaber battle.  I made cinnamon roll filled pancakes (in my new ebelskiver pan) for breakfast and put the beef tenderloin in the marinade.  Doug spent the morning putting together a princess tower, a bigfoot, a tent and tunnel, a basketball hoop, a tricycle, remote controlled bumper cars, and teaching Lauren chords on her new guitar.  The weather finally cleared and Doug and the kids headed out for a bike ride in front of the house.  We spent the rest of the day eating and napping and playing.  It was a great day and only could have been better if we could have spent it with the rest of our family.  Hope you all spent the day trapped in your own perfect worlds as well.  Merry Christmas!! XOXO! If you'd like to see pictures of our Christmas, click here.

The Nutcracker

Yesterday we took the girls to see the Nutcracker.  This was the third time we've seen it as a family, and by far my favorite showing.  Doug purchased tickets the day they went on sale and managed to seat us front row center.  It was amazing to be that close.  We felt as if we were a part of the show.  We could see the snowflake that stuck to the cheek of the Snow Queen, the sweat on the Arabian Dancers, and each little sparkle on the Sugar Plum Fairy.  Lauren had the chance to shake Clara's hand during intermission and told her, "Really great show."  I got such a kick out of that.  I was taking a few pictures of the girls prior to the show's start and one of the attendants came over to tell me I couldn't take any pictures during the actual performance.  The announcement actually stated no "flash photography" so I snuck one quick "flashless" shot but was immediately reprimanded by Lauren for taking a picture...sigh.  It just seemed such a travesty to be so close and not take pictures. 

It has been very stormy here and it was raining and blustery on our way into the show...thus the "I've just rolled out of bed and haven't brushed my hair" look the girls are sporting.

Home for the Holidays

Last night my stepmom and I were on the phone talking about how nice it would be if we could spend Christmas together.  She mentioned that she and my dad were saying they'd love to be able to buy tickets and just show up at our door Christmas morning to surprise us.  I told her I would absolutely love it (first, of course, I would freak out because I didn't have 15 dishes made and my house clean enough).  The next thing I knew we were both crying about it.  She said since we couldn't be together she at least needed to see pictures of our decorations this year.  So, Elaine, this is for you.  We love you guys.

 The girls making our favorite sparkle ginger cookies (recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance).  They're so, so good!

 We're presently a bit oversugared!  In addition to the ginger cookies, they made pretzel, hugs, and m&m treats (2 batches).

It's nice to have all of the Christmas shopping done, wrapped, delivered, or waiting under the tree.  This year I sent PB throws, DVDs, hot chocolate, mugs, and a white chocolate popcorn mix to my grandmother, brother and sister-in-law.

I always have teacher gift ideas but never seem to get them done in time.  This was another year that I resorted to a pre-bought gift instead of homemade...I'll try again next year, I guess.  My favorite part of their gift this time around were the tags and jute webbing on the bags.

I'll try to post more pics this week while the kids are out.  I have several last minute projects in mind!

Yes, Virginia...

'Tis the Season

"Tis the season for Christmas pictures!  I know you've all heard me talk about my dear friend Courtney.  I really believe we may have been separated at birth as we have entirely too much in common.  We've been trying to get together for pictures for months now and we finally did it this past week!  Her girls are delightful, not to mention absolutely beautiful.  They each have their own personality and I just so enjoy being around each of them. 

Caroline is the comic.  I often tell Courtney the networks should create a TV show based on her antics and Carolin"isms".  She is hilarious, full of joy, and could totally be up for an Oscar some day in the future.

Lauren is more quiet, thoughtful, and affectionate.  I don't think I've ever seen her when she hasn't walked up and hugged me or the girls.  Don't get me wrong, she may not be as exuberant as Caroline but she can put on the smoulder when she wants!

They complement each other quite nicely.

I did say they were beautiful, didn't I?

Look at those eyes...

I'll leave you with this last shot of Caroline.  She was hamming it up for the camera a bit but it still just cracks me up!