Did my civic duty!

I voted! It was an interesting experience. While waiting in line to check in to vote, my 8 yr old wanted to know why she couldn't vote and then proceeded to tell me how she voted at school and she said "Remember, I voted for that white guy?!? I wanted him and not Barack Obama." Oh dear...the things they say! So the rest of the experience went like this:

Daughter: Why can't I vote?
Me: Because you are not 18. You have to be 18 to vote. You can vote in 10 years.
Daughter: Am I going to live with you and daddy then? (whining and getting louder) I want to live with you and daddy FOREVER!
Me: Of course you'll live with me and daddy forever. Now just wait here right outside the booth while I vote and daddy should be out soon since he went first.
Daughter: Mom! Are you done yet???

2 in one day

Abby: Can we call my friend Allison and see if she can come over.
Me: Right now?
Abby: No, but I know she can't come on Sunday.
Me: Why not?
Abby: Because Adeline is going to Heaven.
Me: OH NO, she's not going there tomorrow!
Abby: Oh, that's right, she's going to be appetized.
Me: No, she's going to be baptized!

Oh dear...

And apparently this Mommy didn't do the best job explaining baptism in 7 year old speak.

Well, at least...

Abby was cleaning her room and in need of some sort of container to keep her desk supplies in. We each used to have plastic cubbies that I had written our names in for organization, so I gave her one that was now empty. It was Evan's and still had his name on it. Abby took a look at it and said quite of matter of factly:

"This one used to be Evan's. Well at least it doesn't smell like cat pee...."

Day 1

Today is Day 1 of scan week. I had to get myself and Abby up early to go to the hospital for my first shot of Thyrogen which will make me hypothyroid as my TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) shoots up high enough to have the scan. I told Abby that I would be getting a shot in my bum this morning. So of course in the quiet waiting room she wanted to talk about my shot in the butt and her fears that I would scream when they gave it to me.

I asked her, "Do you want to stay in the waiting room and play your Nintendo DS or walk back with me when I get the shot?"
Her reply: "I want to stay in the waiting room so I don't have to hear you scream!".
I said: "I'm an adult and adults don't get to scream about shots".

I told my nurse about my conversation with Abby. She thanked me for not planning to scream. Not that it would matter...they'd still give me the shot. Although I'm not fond of big needles in my bum (actually more my hip), I did NOT scream. The screaming comes later...when the hospital bills arrive.

Tomorrow, second dose of Thyrogen via injection in the morning.

My little mermaid

Despite the cooler weather, we are continuing to spend a lot of time at the pool. I don't necessarily swim every time we go, but Abby does. It's really nice for me to have the quiet time watching her swim or reading a book. I am also working on teaching her to swim or at least dog paddle. She's catching on. At least enough that she can now go on the smaller water slide by herself because she is able to swim to the wall at the end.

When it's warm enough for me to swim, during adult swim I do laps while she sats at the edge of the pool. When it's chilly I read. Today Abby told me she was bringing a book with to read with me during adult swim. I didn't think much of it other than that it was a good idea. When we got to the pool she asked me to hold her little bag which contained her book and I saw her reading choice: "To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. She told me she'd already read the first page. LOL, she is a good reader but not ready for that one yet. After the pool we went to Borders and she got to buy her first chapter book so she has something umm...appropriate to read. I'm so glad that both of my children share my love of reading.

Some pictures of Abby in the pool:

In case you are wondering why the photos are only of Abby it is for 2 reasons.

1. Evan is old enough to realize it's too chilly to swim. Whereas Abby is just happy to go to the pool still.

2. Evan is 14 and suddenly hates being photographed.

Heard around the dinner table

Tonight at dinner, Abby randomly blurted out:

"Evan has a date with Matthew".  

Keep in mind, Evan has not had a date yet.  I'm pretty sure when the big day arrives, it will be a date with a girl.  Also, Evan has no friends named Matthew.  

Best comeback of the week

My kids insult each other....ALOT.  I feel like a referee most of the time for all the times I have to say "Don't call you brother or that!" or "Stop teasing your sister!"  Today was no exception.  They were bored and tired from a long car ride and starting to grate on each other's nerves.  I couldn't help but chuckle when I heard Abby say to Evan....

"Well you wear pants on your head!"

The threatmantic note *UPDATED*

If you watch The Fairly Oddparents you probably know what I mean by threatmantic. It's sort of a threatening love letter. This weekend I received one from Abby.

Josh and I have put a stop to the kids spending any allowance on toys until after Christmas. For the most part it hasn't been an issue, but this weekend we were out shopping and Abby wanted to add a stuffed cat to her already large kitty collection. I believe she has 14 of them. We told her she could not get the kitty and she was really quite pathetic about it. I have to admit, I almost caved. (Yes my daughter totally has me wrapped around her little finger). So then, I received this letter:



It's hard to see but basically it's a drawing of captive kitties and a devlish Abby saying that she'll be mean if she doesn't get a kitty. Oh my.

The drawing totally reminds me of Max from the book Where The Wild Things Are.




Naturally we had a discussion about threatmantic letters (although I didn't use that term) and how not nice they are. And as soon as Abby left the room after said discussion, Josh and I burst into laughter. I have to say I'm quite proud of her spelling...it's at least phonetically correct.

Thank you to Gina (who I went to high school with)for this clearer picture:

Is it ladylike?

During dinner we were having some issues with the kid and using nice manners. Mostly Abby. So I told her "That's not very ladylike". Out of the blue she says to Evan and I "Stabbing is ladylike though". Umm.... Which of course prompted me to say, "No stabbing is not ladylike". I'm going to chalk that one up to too much vide game playing with her older brother.

Meet Rosie

This is Rosie.




Rosie is that hard to see pink flower in the cup and she belongs to Abby. Saturday Abby and I went to the Jewel and bought ourselves some flowers. I let Abby choose and she picked out pink carnations. She really wanted to take one flower and have it in her room so I let her.

I honestly figured the novelty of it would wear off by the end of the day, but I underestimated my daughter. She has given me daily updates on how her flower is doing and shown me how she is taking care of it (sitting it in her windowsill and making sure it gets some sunshine). This morning she brought the flower to me though and said, "Mommy, Rosie is dying. I think we should throw her away." Up until this point I wasn't aware that the flower had a name. While the flower is drying up, I didn't want to end this friendship so quickly so I told her "I think Rosie has another day or two". And Abby said "Maybe if she had some friends, she wouldn't be sad and she'd live longer."

Some days you want to send your kids to Grandma's until they are 25. And then there are days like today when they do something that makes your heart overflow with love for them.

Shock kisses

When Abby and I got home from school today, she gave me a kiss accompanied by an electric shock. And this is what she said:

"Shock kisses happen when my lips don't have water. But shock kisses are good cuz you feel the kiss in your whole body".

Awww <3

Boo-Boos

Abby was playing out in the yard with her two little friends who are also 5. She tripped and fell down and came in the house crying. It wasn't bad enough for a band-aid but I gave her one anyway. I always kiss her boo-boos and as I was patching her up, her friends knocked on the door. She goes to answer it and says to them, "It's okay guys. My Mommy is just going to kiss all my boo-boos and make them better.". Awww, it was the cutest thing. I love that she still believes that Mommy's love is a powerful medicine.

Snoot hawking?

Heard around the house this morning....

Abby: Gracie!
Me: What's she doing?
Abby: Snoot hawking!
Me: What is snoot hawking?
Abby: What she's doing.

Why I love my "job"

I love being a stay-at-home mom because I get to witness all the cute, silly, wonderful things my children do. Just this morning:

The dog had a cough drop stuck to her paw. No doubt because Evan dropped it on the floor. He thinks cough drops are tasty. Through him, I found out that too many cough drops gives you diarrhea.

Over breakfast, Abby tells me:
"I know how you met Daddy. You walked up to him and said 'Is your name Boo Bear?"
Yes, Josh and I are one of those sickeningly sweet couples who have pet names for each other. Don't hate.

While Abby and I are trying to leave the house so she can go to school, Gracie (the dog) is trying to come with us. So Abby says to Gracie, "Gracie you cannot come to school. You are not a teacher. You are a dog!".
Useful information to have. All this time I had been thinking I could get Gracie a job....

Abby's school starts at 8:45. This morning we were running late and at 8:41 we were about to get to the train crossing that goes through the middle of our town. Of course we got stuck waiting for a train. A train that stopped and parked in town for 5 minutes. I tried to go around the train by turning down a side street but it was blocking the other crossing in town too, so I had to go back to where I originally was. Abby says to me "I'm sorry Mommy, I thought it would be faster to go the other way but we wound up back where we started!".
You all didn't know that a 5 year old is my navigator, did you? Ha ha.

There is no chance that I'd trade their antics (even on a bad day) for a cubicle. I am so lucky and so thankful that it's possible for me to be with them like this. I know it's not the right "job" for everyone to be a stay-at-home mom, but it's definitely the right job for me.

Currently reading : Black Man's Grave: Letters From Sierra Leone By Stewart Release date: 15 January, 2007

Are you going to make out now?

We took our family vacation this past week to Grand Haven, Michigan. It was a blast. We swam and played in the sand. While we were there, our daughter turned 5. Wow, 5 years old. It seems like just yesterday that we were preparing for her birth. Now here she is about to start kindergarten. Time goes by so fast.

Our first night in the hotel, our son said something funny. As we were all settling in to go to sleep, he asked us if we were going to make out now. I'm still laughing over at that one.