Summertime stories

All the cousins in Ohio

In our recent long car ride, the kids had a fun time driving us crazy by repeating the same phrases over and over.  Strider would say something annoying like “I want some” and then Rayna would repeat it over and over and over… Then Strider would start laughing hysterically, which would make Rayna start laughing too…  One time Strider sighed and said, “I get my sister GOING!”

Whenever I say something to Rayna about nap time or bed time, or anything else she doesn’t want to do, she puts her index finger in front of her nose and says something like “more minute”  She’s heard Strider has for a “few more minutes” and seen the subsequent delay in the undesirable event and has figured that this should become her standard response.

Strider and I were playing the “alphabet game” in the car on our recent trip and it was taking awhile to find the letter “F.” After a pause he said, “Ah, the suspense is killing me!”

We were playing “Simon Says” and when “Simon” said “touch your beard,” Strider said he was doing it but I saw him touching his leg. When I asked him what he was doing, he said, “I don’t have a beard on my face, so I was touching the hair on my leg!”

Rayna gets very excited every morning to do “sercises” – our Jack LaLanne show exercises.  She particularly likes the jumping jacks, during which she jumps around waving her arms and says “jacka-jack!”

For the last couple months whenever someone asks Strider how old he is, he’s answered in fractions.  Last month it was 4 and 10/12ths, and this month it’s been 4 and 11/12ths.  He can’t wait to turn 5!

Rayna has been doing knock-knock jokes now.  She has no idea what she’s saying, but she’ll say “knock knock.  Who’s there?  Miss you.”  And then she stumps herself.

Strider and Rayna recite Proverbs 3:5-6 together now.  Strider does most of the verse, but leaves out a word here and there.  Rayna always fills it in without missing a beat!

Rayna likes to tuck a book under her arm – it has to be put in just the right way, but it doesn’t matter which book – and then announce “I’m going to school Mommy!”  I don’t know where she picked that up, or what she could possibly conceive of as school!

I asked Strider the other day if I was a cool mom.  I got the (expected) immediate “Nope.”  Then I asked him who a cool mom was.  He said there was no such thing. “’Cool’” he said, “can only describe men and boys.”

When we were in Ohio we kept running to various places and Rayna had many fun adventures.  She started asking to do the things she had enjoyed every time we got in the car.  (Like, “I want to go see the birds.”  Or, “I want to ride the horsey” Or, “I want to go to the farm.”)  But my favorite was when I knew she was a true girl.  She started saying “I want to go shopping!”

While we were in Ohio, the younger cousins (Strider, Eden and Natie) all started singing a goofy song – with one word – “Epidermis.”  It had its own little rhyme (and apparently reason) and they sang it quite constantly for 3 days.  Towards the end of the visit, Andrew (age 14) apparently was up in his room talking to his mom and said “If I hear that epidermis song one more time….”  Just as the words came out of his mouth, Rayna came around the corner singing “EPIDERMIS… EPIDERMIS!”  Over and over she sang it and had a complete dance to accompany it, with arms waving in front of her and everything.  Andrew broke down laughing, to the point where Karen said he even had tears in his eyes!

Rayna likes to come up to me periodically and say “I’m gonna getcha Mama!”  Then she scrunches her fingers up in front of her scrunched-up face and pretends like she’s going to chase me.  The hilarious part is when she starts off and PRETENDS to run!  She tucks her head down and bends her arms, and then starts “running” in slow motion.  So funny.

With neighbors Georgia and Juliet