More recent quotes

Heard randomly throughout the day sometimes...
Rayna: Sports. Sports. Sports. Sports. Sports.
Me: Why does she keep saying that?
Strider (with his devious grin): She's trying to annoy me. I told her I didn't like that word, so she keeps saying it

Upon learning about adverbs (that most of them end in -ly)
Strider: I guess Dolly Parton is an adverb.


As I was serving some salad
Rayna: I want some of those....those... leperchauns! (She really meant "croutons" -- we don't have them in salad very often, obviously!)


During a conversation in which Colsen and I were pretending he was 38 years old:
Me: Where do you live these days/
Colsen: California
Me: Oh. What job do you have?
Colsen: I'm a goldfish


This morning:
Colsen: Hic… hic…. Hic
Pete: Colsen, do you have the hiccups?
Colsen: Yeah. Can you buy me a new mouth?

Said about 10 times a day:
Me: Go put the…. in the….you know what I mean.

Said about 8 times a day:
Me: I just need to ….. get the.... you know.... for Cole-I-mean-Ray-I-mean-Miles.

[NDD (Noun Deficiency Disease) is evidently stronger than ever with me.]

Funny things said by Pete recently
N/A

[He's been too busy and stressed to be funny lately. Apparently students aren't the only people who find the end-of-semester time hard!]

A good Saturday

Uh oh, someone is in trouble...

Yesterday morning I realized everyone was accounted for… except Dennis the Menace, I mean, Colsen. I called out my usual refrain, “Colsen, where are you?” and when I heard his suspicious voice float back saying, “I’m just playing in here…” I went looking for him. This was the sight that met my eyes when I found him.

Realizing it was just soap and not something to completely freak out about (what a veteran mom I am!), I took some pictures, and then told him sternly he was not supposed to do that. He quickly reassured me that he would clean it up all by himself, and I agreed this was a good idea. (an indication that I’m not quite the veteran mom I think I am.) He ran off to get a towel, and I went back to tending to 2 other kids who needed me “right now!”

Less than a minute later, I came back to check on Cole’s progress… and found that he had taken the towel, dipped it in the toilet, draped the sopping thing all over him, and then dragged it around on the carpet in the living room. Needless to say, I did not run to get the camera this time! And, yes, this time I did freak out.

After getting the situation contained, I heard Colsen up in his room telling Strider all that he had done. He finished the story by saying, “I got all wet and then I got in trouble.”

“Was Mommy mad at you?” Strider asked him.

I walked in the room and Colsen asked “Mommy, are you mad at me?”

“I’m not mad anymore Colsen, but I really don’t like it when you put things in the toilet!” I answered.

“You yelled at me,” he answered.

“I know,” I said. “You don’t like it when I yell at you?”

“I don’t like it when you yell at me,” he answered, in a pitiful voice.

Strider chimed in, “I know, Colsen, I don’t like it either.”

Now I’m feeling pretty bad. So I give Colsen a hug and tell him I’m sorry.

“Don’t yell at me again, Mommy” he says.

“I’ll try not to, sweetie” I say… and then I think: WAIT A SECOND! WHO EXACTLY IS IN TROUBLE HERE?! HOW DID THE TABLES GET TURNED THIS FAST?

Man, this parenting thing is hard.

Miles' baptism

Who was baptized this past Sunday??

ME!!

It was a big day here... not only was Miles baptized, but Strider also made his public profession of faith and joined our church! There was much to celebrate.

All the new members, and us

Presenting Miles

Reading the father's blessing

Dean baptizing him

Here is what Pete said:

Miles today we present you before God to become a member of this covenant community, and we seek God’s blessing on you as grow and one day soon profess on your own that you are His child.

We chose your name because it means merciful, and we are reminded on this day of God’s great mercy in giving you to us. As the Psalmist says “The Lord is merciful and gracious; slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”

We have experienced God’s mercy in you already and we pray that in His mercy God will grant you His wisdom as you grow and learn how to be a man of God. We hope you always strive to fix your eyes upon Christ, for perfection is found only in him. As a fourth born you and I share a special bond, and I know you will need patience and wisdom… so I pray you will be quick to point to God’s word for truth and not to your own abilities.

We pray that God’s mercy would be on you as you grow and no doubt have struggles in this life. We pray that you would know God’s love early in your life, and like the Psalmist, would be able to say, “surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” We pray that He would show you mercy in health, in the decisions you make, and in the relationships you have.

Finally, we pray that God would use you as His instrument as you love others, and that the world would see His great mercy because of you and through you.

To paraphrase the prophet Micah, “He has shown you O little man what is good: and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

Since I love patterns so much, this is one thing I have happily realized: all 4 of our children were baptized within the same 8 days of April (in different years). Here are some shots of those other special days:

April 22, 2007

April 27, 2003

April 22, 2001

Some more kid quotes

Today at lunch, completely out of the blue

Strider: I really wish I could find the area of a circle.

Me: What? Why? S: Because then I could have PIE!

Talking about his future in baseball

S: Well if they aren't going to let me play, I'm going to sit on the bench and chew tobacco.

Me: Great.



As we're driving in the car

Rayna: This is the most beautiful country!

Strider: Rayna, this is the only country you've ever been in.

While sitting in her "time out" chair after doing something she shouldn't have

Rayna: Mom, can I get down now? I forgive you!

After hearing Strider tell me something I that was excited about

Rayna: Mom! Mom! I wanna tell you something!

Me: What?

R: Umm...There was this man.... and let's see.... what did he do?....

On his truck
Colsen: Look, Mom, I'm on my skateboard! Can you take a picture of me so I can see it?

Twenty minutes after I sent him up for a nap

Colsen: Hi Mom, I'm awake now!

Me: Cole, you did not sleep.

C: Yes, I already did!!

But this is what he looked like.... I think I was right.

Thoughts on turning 2 months old

So, Miles, you're 2 months old today. How does that feel?

"Well, let me think about that..."

"Yeah, it's pretty fun!"

Do you have any new tricks you'd like to share with us?

"Well, I did roll over a couple of times today, but I'm not really sure if I did it on purpose..."

Hey -- can you make a REALLY funny face for us?

"Sure, how's this?"

Well, happy 2-month birthday, little Kilo! Is there anything else you'd like to say?

Yes -- Happy 1058-month birthday, Mor-Mor-Mor!

Easter 2009

At our neighborhood Easter egg hunt, Colsen was scared of the Easter Bunny -- preferring instead this balloon. Rayna, on the other hand thought the big Easter Bunny was way too cool and spent a lot of time hugging him, giving him high fives, etc. I finally had to pull her away!

Other highlights this year included making baked "empty tomb" creations, having another egg hunt in our backyard, and having some friends from our life group over for Easter dinner.

How thankful we are that we have a Risen Savior who gives us abundant life!

CCCC

Today was the Closing Ceremony for Classical Conversations!


For 24 weeks, Strider and Rayna have been part of this academic program (here's the national web site if you're interested), and today was the end for this year. All the families gathered together for a program that all the classes put on, and for the handing out of awards.

(Rayna's class singing all the American Presidents)




Each child received a character award: Rayna got an award for "enthusiasm" and Strider's was for "wisdom." Rayna also received an award for memorizing John 1:1-7 in English and in Latin, and Strider got an additional award called "Memory Master" for learning all 562 facts (comprised of geography, math, English grammar, Latin, history, science, and timeline cards) that the kids worked on throughout the year. We are very proud of them both for working so hard.

Different personalities

I was reminded today about how thankful I am for the various personalities living under this roof.

Today I was making a protein shake for the kids and they were all gathered around me in the kitchen as I mixed it in a jar. As I started shaking it all up, I did a little impromptu dance... and their reactions were classic. Rayna immediately lit up and started dancing right along with me. Strider just thought I was being dumb and did not start dancing with me. And Colsen, Mr. Intensity, got very impatient and mad and started yelling, "No!' Don't! Maybe tomorrow!!!"

AFD, according to Strider

Strider wanted to recount our April Fool's Day, but says he types way too slow. So this will be me (Amy) typing, but Strider is doing full dictation!

Yesterday, April Fool's Day, I had a great day, starting really early in the morning when I went and got my dad's underwear and put it all in the fridge. Then I got socks and threw them at my mom in her bed as confetti. And then I went in Rayna's room and got her clothes and threw them at her when she was sleeping. Then we got all the balls in the house and put them in the pantry, so when my dad went to make breakfast all the balls were in there! And when I got dressed, I found all my clothes were in the wrong drawers, so I punched my mom. Just kidding -- hey there's YOUR April fool!

Then we went to our Classical Conversations co-op for our last week. We came home from that, did some more schoolwork, then did some more April Fool's tricks, such as hiding all my mom's underwear. When Colsen woke up from his nap, he had clothes all over him, too. I threw them on him (laughs)!

We played outside for awhile and when we came in, my mom told us that she had burned dinner, so she gave us these really weird cupcakes instead. The cupcakes had potatoes for the frosting and meatloaf for the cake part!

And I played a trick on my dad saying that a guy called for him named Mr. Lyon and I gave him the phone number to call him back -- of the zoo! My dad went to a meeting and we stayed home to watch American Idol.

And that's it!

Fool Foiled

Last night around 8 pm, I got that scheming, gleeful glint in my eye as I told Pete I wanted to pull a classic April Fool's prank on our kids: moving them while they were sleeping so they would wake up in someone else's bed. Here's how our night ended up going:

10:00 pm: Feed Miles, then talk to my friend Jen on the phone until 11.
11:15 pm: Put Miles to bed. Put Rayna in Colsen's bed, Colsen in Strider's bed, Strider in Rayna's bed.
11:17 pm: Bring a screaming Colsen into our room and let him lie in our bed.
11:50 pm: Turn out the lights with Colsen still in our bed.
1:15 am: Rayna comes in our room crying because Strider's in her bed. We take Colsen back to his bed, Strider back to his bed, and Rayna back to her bed.
1:30 am: Colsen is screaming again.
4:00 am: Miles wakes up because he is a baby and he wants to eat.
5:30 am: Colsen is crying again.
7:10 am: Strider comes running in our room, throwing (single) socks all over our bed as his idea of an April Fool’s joke. Then he runs into Rayna's room.
7:11 am: Rayna is yelling, "STRI-DER!" in a pained voice
7:12 am: Colsen wakes up and comes in our room, crying.

Needless to say, my first prank of the day definitely backfired, and I learned more about who the real Fool is in this house. Undaunted, though, I am still planning to continue with my other plan for dinner tonight…