Go take a hike

On our family hike, I found myself carrying the backpack and the extra water bottle, so naturally I had to tease my husband: “Sure, sure. I carried our kids for nine months each, I might as well carry everything else now too.”

He said, “Well, since you have all that experience…”

He was joking, of course. He then took the bag and bottle from me.

When we came across this in the parking lot, my little Joe said, “Someone dropped their fire candle.”

He’s a descriptive kid.

Anybody go on any walking adventures recently? Spot anything interesting/pretty/weird?

Co-writing a novel

These two are writing a book together in a google doc. Because they can see what the other is typing, as she’s typing it, when one misspelled a word on her computer, the other corrected it on her own. Then the first wrote in the doc, “Show off,” and they both started laughing.

While they were washing dishes earlier, I heard them discussing what hair color to give a particular character.

“Red hair.”

“But James has red hair.”

“What about black?”

“Eww.”

I chimed in with, “How about strawberry blond?”

“Oooh, let’s do that,” said one.

“Yes,” agreed the other.

“You know why?” I said.

Nap time for Mommy

Out of energy, I flopped myself down on the couch. Of course, that’s about when my son woke up from his nap. One of the older children retrieved him from his crib, and he found me.

Rather than demand I get up and play with him, he gave me a stuffed kitten and laid his beloved blankie across my back.

“Should I read you a story?” he asked.

“Yes, please,” I said.

He grabbed the book, Dear Zoo, and read it quite well from memory.

“Would you like a song now?” he asked.

Catlish

On our walks to the mailbox, the neighbor’s cat, Callie, comes out to greet us with a meow. I respond in kind.

Callie the Kitty

Callie often accompanies us the rest of the way to the mailbox, but today, she stopped short.

“You coming, Kitty?” Joe asked.

She merely looked at him.

“Mom, ask Kitty if coming,” he said in his sweet two-year-old way.

And because I speak Cat. Obviously.

What’s a mom to do? I turned to Callie and said, “Meow. Meow. Meow meow?”

Here was her response:

My brilliant son

Joe pointed to my husband’s shirt hanging up on the clothes rack and said, “Dada.”

“That’s right, Joe. That’s Dada’s.”

Then he pointed to my husband’s sock and said, “Dada.”

Me, thoroughly impressed: “Yes, Dada’s.”

Then he pointed to

Nightmares of John Wayne

Now calm down. I’m not about to insult The Duke. I grew up on John Wayne movies, including this one mentioned in a comment someone kindly left in the Add Your Own Story section of this blog. Check it out:

Last night we finished watching The Quiet Man with John Wayne.

6 Yr old son: Papa, that movie is going to give me nightmares.
Papa: What part?
6 Yr old son: What’s a nightmare?
Papa: Bad dreams that scare you.
6 Yr old son: Never mind… I’ll be okay.

Too cute, right?

I responded to this by thanking the person for evidently thinking of me shortly after it happened. He responded:

Too cute not to share

My seven-year-old was reading about owls out loud, including what they eat. My four-year-old said to me, “So if an owl saw a human it would be like, [shrugs shoulders] ‘Umm. Nah.'”

Where does she come up with this stuff?

A friend posted this on facebook. My heart nearly melted:
Two of my children were chatting in the backyard sandbox. One said to the other,

A funny thing happened on our way to Buffalo

A few weeks ago we were visiting friends at their home near Buffalo, NY. There were some good lines worth sharing during those two days.

For instance, Jay, father of 5, asked  his daughter, “Are you ready for dessert?” She responded by patting her lower stomach and saying, “I have room in my basement.”

I’ve gotta remember that line.

My nine-year-old daughter was helping Jay cook scrambled eggs one morning. “Do you like cooking?” he asked her. “Yes. I have to learn how so I can move out of the house.” Suddenly startled by her own words, she added,

From tears into laughter

Cemetary (Photo: mikecollar)

My grandmother had passed away during a particularly wet January.   The cemetery had placed AstroTurf leading from the curb to the ceremony site.  I was sitting in the front row with my two-year-old son.  My father approached, and as he did, the water came through the turf. As he took each step toward us, we could see the water around the base of his shoes. My son pointed and yelled,

You just keep thinking that, kiddo

Princess bed (Photo credit: esc.ape(d))

 

“Mom, kids run faster than grown ups,” my five-year-old daughter announced to me.

 

“I don’t think that’s true,” I replied.

 

“It is true because at bed time, I tell Daddy, ‘Whoever gets to my room first gets to get in my bed,’ and