Last night I went into Bella's bedroom... they had spent the whole day with Grandma and Grandpa, so I hadn't seen them since 9:30. she told me her philosophy on bedtime. "Sometimes it get dak, and we go sleep." I said "oh, is that right?". she replied "yeah, sometimes"as she did her cute sigh and shrugged her shoulders. If it's ever light out she has to mention that "the sun came up!! It time a be awake."

B's sound like G's ???

I wish I had a mental blog- the whole purpose of me doing a blog is so that when I forget all these cute things the girls do every day I can "write them down". Well, I took a nap and forgot a couple of cute things the girls did just hours ago.
Last night they needed to get out their last bit of energy and so they just started running and jumping. Then it turned into running from Rudy, the mean dinosaur on Ice Age 3. They decided to hide from Rudy on the back of the couch. I looked at them as they stood there trying to be as close to the wall as they could and Claire informed me "we're glending in". I told her "glending in" was a great idea.
Today we were in the car and the girls sometimes like to play Little Einsteins when we're driving. So they started patting their legs (which is what the LE's do when their rocket is about to take off), then they patted faster (you know gaining power), then they shouted "GLAST-OFF!". I've worked with Claire on this one before telling her that it is "b, b, BLAST OFF!". She grinned and said it wrong again. Then she decided to see what it sounded like with a "b". I am not sure what will happen next time they get into their rocket, but I would bet they use "g"-force to blast off.
There were about 5 other things that I wanted to post, but that silly nap erased them from my current memory. I thought the nap would do me good, but it deceived me.

Claire's great idea: well we use hand sanitizer quite often at our house. since the girls can't yet wash by themselves it comes in "handy". So, I went to her room after rest time I went to Claire's room to tell her to clean and come out. she had been singing at the top of her lungs some song about Jesus knocking at the door and letting him in (so cute). so since she was being so stinking cute I went in to hug and love on her because I just melt when they are so cute. Reached around her to pick her up... "why are you wet?" . C- "I didn't make it to the potty in time". Seeing as how she's only peed her pants like 6 times since she was 2.5 yrs old, I found it odd that being 20 ft from the toilet she wouldn't make it in time. So I inquired a bit further... "why didn't you get to the toilet? what were you doing?" The whole time I had seen her in her room all she was doing was singing at the foot of her bed. She told me she couldn't make it to the bathroom because the song wasn't over. Claire had wanted to finish singing a song, then she would go to the potty. So, she ran to the potty, couldn't get her pants down, and peed on the rug. she said later that she tried to stop it by positioning her hand as if it were a plug. Her bit of wisdom for my future reference was that sometimes the "hand" technique works, but this time (and she said this so surprised) it just kept coming. so after I found out her approach, I told her to go sanitize her hands. Well since she had been sitting on the bed I was taking the covers off to wash them, next was her pants, so her great idea was "wouldn't it be great if they had sanitizer for clothes?". I told her that was a fantastic idea. she said "yeah, we should buy that", apparently she thought someone had already invented it and we just needed to purchase it.

Bella's bunny she's so funny:
We were driving to K-mart, entered the parking lot, Bella says "look at da honkie". Mom asks "what is a honkie?" . B- "dat guy". Mom, laughing, "what do you mean? What is a honkie?". Here I'm thinking that she's heard Micah telling some racial joke. Bella "you da honkie". She is starting to get embarrassed at this point since she can tell I don't understand her. Turns out she was talking about the Pumba quarter ride in front of the store.
You know, Flounder from Little Mermaid is now named "Brewster"
and now Pumba is "honkie"

Bella was also using their little play couch as... well... just about everything today. she would close herself inside and say she was a bird coming out of the egg- "look I crackin".
she would close herself inside and think no one could see her. Many times I saw her pull the couch around her and then roll, kinda like a somersault- the way she was doing all this it was like she didn't even know we were watching, in a world of her own.
She was a ladybug, she just walked around folded in half with the couch on top of her.
What great entertainment. Something we've had for a couple years, entertained her all day.


At dinner we were having tortellini soup, well you can just guess how these picky- though they've made themselves that way- eaters reacted. they are so skeptical. I think it is genetic (Ed, Micah). so they are asking what the beans are and I told them "tortellini seeds". Well when they saw them in the bowl they figured it out. Claire - " I do not like that". I reminded her that we've had the noodles before. C- "well I'm not eating the beans". So Micah was helping her eat, He was hiding the beans under tortellinis, she had no clue. so then I said "hey where'd all your beans go, there's only one left? did Daddy eat them?". c- "I don't know. Daddy, did you eat them?". Bella also said "I no like dat, Blah!" . We are really working on good manners, can't you tell? so I say "we don't say 'Blah!'. You need to try the soup." she ended up liking the noodles, so then all that was left was beans and a tomato and I told her the mater was a red tortellini... will she fall for another one of mom's tricks?... is this why she is so skeptical?... Yes she fell for it. No, she didn't eat the beans.

Last night, after the girls had been put to bed, Bella was saying "daddy, daddy..." so micah went upstairs and Claire ran to the door "Daddy, Bella got out of her bed". He retorted "your out of your bed right now", and of course she ran quickly back to her bed.
so he went in Bella's room and she said "could you tell mommy to come up here". so instead of just calling for mommy in the first place, she had to send the message through daddy.
Well I went up to see what she needed... when I bent down to give her a hug, I felt wet blankets. So I asked her how that happened and she didn't know. I said "did you go peepee?". She defended herself and said "no, Claire peeped". I have no idea how Claire "peeped" in Bella's bed. The reason is just that our kids are so amazing their almost magical. I felt Bella's diaper and she had already soaked it. Then I told her how she was the one who "peeped" in her bed.

Claire was eating a few pieces of candy for a reward for doing school well. She handed me half of a piece I told her that was so sweet. She told me "I didn't want to get sick". She thought since we tell her that too much candy isn't healthy that she better not eat it, so she'll pass it off to good ol' mom.

So, last night as Micah was putting the girls to bed Claire added her "funny moment" to the day.

We have been reading a Christian girls series with Claire entitled "Mandie". She loves it and is so excited when we reach the next chapter. Well, Micah went in to read with Claire. He began reading and she had her earphones on, so she said "dad I can't hear". Thinking she meant she was unable to hear him reading the story, he suggested she should remove the headphones. She had a better idea "no, I'll just turn it up". She wanted him in her room to read, but she was listening to a book on cd. Aye, aye, aye!

Okay so we had many funny statements today. Let's see if I can remember them all.

we were doing school when Claire said "that's what we are should-posta do". translation "supposed"

Bella was jumping off the stairs into a pile of blankets, pillows and comforters and apparently something was funny. she said "that laugh me"

At supper we were having beef stew which must have looked questionable. Both girls were busy eating the other things on their plate or drinking milk. Since we have the rule that we have to try each item on our plate before getting down, I decided maybe I could spice it up for them. So I put a little salt on the stew (since it's from my meal co-op they usually need a little salt). Somehow Bella did not see me put the salt on her plate, but saw me put some on my own. She requested some on her meal, I let her know that she already had some "no, I don't". mom-"Bella, you do have some on your stew, I already put it on". Bella - "no, I not see it".
Mom- " well, I did and we don't want to put too much on". Bella - "no, it not on. It fell off". Mom and dad were stifling back laughter, or in Bella's words 'that laugh me'. She repeated that "it fell of, I need some". I convinced her to add some pepper and all was well.

Now Bella is still playing at the bottom of the stairs, only she is hiding under the blankets pretending to sleep. Occasionally popping her head out and saying "that woke my up".

Claire was playing a computer game and somehow she knocked something off the desk. I asked her what it was and she told me "the letter thing". I asked "the keyboard?" she replied "yes, the T-board fell, but it's not broken". I guess if it is a letter board then "t-board" makes sense.

Oh, here's another one- whew these girls need to be a little less cute or I'll run out of time to write it down.

We were dressing for Ballet class and I must have done something goofy (go figure, like that ever happens). So Bella says "you soopid, mommy". Now remember that sometimes she really mumbles, especially when she's unsure of how to pronounce something. So, since this was clearly her first time to call her mother stupid, she was unsure how to pronounce the word correctly. I asked "what did you say" trying to act like it was no big deal I didn't want to spook her, because then she'd never tell me. So she quickly repeated her mumble "you soopid mommy". she was saying it as if the word meant "silly". there was no disrespect or insult loaded into her small mispronounced sentence. I asked if she was saying "stupid" and she shyly cocked her head to the side and said "yeah". I explained that using that word was usually not kind. I told her that we never call someone that because it would hurt their feelings. I also told her kindly, since it was just a childish mistake, what the consequences would be if she said it again.
I'm glad I was in a good mood, because if I had been rundown and tired I may have handled that differently instead of being able to laugh about it.

I forgot

Bella did finally go potty today on the potty chair. Even once a day would be a success to me.

We went to Grandma and Grandpa's for another fabulous Monday night dinner- chicken parmesan, spaghetti, homemade foccacia, salad, and caramel drenched spice cake. MMMMMMMMMMMM!!

When we returned home... Usually we take our coats and shoes off on the rug right after we enter the house. We came inside, I took off my coat and hung it up, I looked over at Claire and instead of her shoes or coat being off her pants and undies were around her ankles. So I asked "what are your pants doing down?" She simply replied "I forgot". She knew something came off right away after walking into the house, but for some reason went for the pants instead of the coat or shoes.

Claire's great ideas for the day: "Wouldn't it be great if everything was blue". I told her that if everything was blue it would be hard to see, and we wouldn't have other colors like purple, her favorite. so her idea changed to "Wouldn't it be great if everything was rainbow?". Yes, wouldn't that be great?

Just to make it public so Micah has to follow through (even if tempted to renig) he told me tonight that if I put the kids to bed tonight, that he would do it for the rest of the week. Woo hoo!!

I like my house

Had our "cousin" Grady over today to play. The kids had a good time.

Claire is holding out on me... She told me when I went into her room after rest time that she had another "great idea", but forgot it. Rap Scallion (who knows what that means, just pirate talk- and Bella was a pirate this morning).

Bella noticed that her hair is "getting brown on this side and still yellow on this side". She would really like it to stay yellow.


Yesterday the girls took Valentines to their Sunday School teachers and when we picked Bella up she asked "where my baltine" I asked if she gave it to her teacher, she said "yes, but where is it?" Apparently she thought she was just giving it to the teacher for safe keeping and would get it back when church was over.

In the morning when we were getting dressed for church Bella asked "where we goin". I let her know we were getting ready for church to which she replied "we already went 'a church". (she oftentimes uses " a" in place of conjunctions) She was correct we went to the Saturday night service, but of course were going to Sunday School and the Sunday service. Bella told us "I no wanna go 'a church". Well, she may not have wanted to go to church when she woke up, but when we got to church she ran into the nursery with a smile on her face.

The night before when we were getting ready for the Saturday night service she had said she didn't want to go to church because " I wanna stay a my house. I like my house".

Potty Training Progress: she's sitting now, so we'll let you know

Language Barrier

This morning Claire and I were sitting on the couch when Bella wondered down the stairs. Bella came to sit with Claire and I. She said something to us and Claire, having my super sense of smell noticed "Bella you're breath is stinky. You, get away". Bella apparently thought this was not a command or request to move further from us, but thought that Claire had called her a name. The name "getaway". So, Bella who is very sure of who she is and what her name is says "No, I not Getaway, I Bella". I looked at Claire and we busted up laughing. Claire reiterated "no, you, get away". Bella continued to be confused and argued "NO, I BELLA!" We didn't try to explain any further. It would not have worked.

Okay so I thought, to make things a bit more interesting, I would add a couple "features" to the blog. Things that occur often around our house... such as falls, silly sayings and "giggle parties".
So at the current time Claire has "sayings" that she uses repeatedly and great ideas. This will be one feature I try to daily put on the blog.
Claire's Saying of the Week: has been "ahhhhhh, grrrreat"- note this is usually said in a sighing fashion, a sign that she is perturbed, losing patience or rolling her eyes.
As we hit the weekend and are going into next week I'm making a prediction on what next week's saying will be... "oh, biscuits". We were watching Phineas and Ferb on Disney when one of the characters said this phrase. Claire thought it was hilarious and has been using it since then.

Claire is also full of self proclaimed "good ideas". Most of them are very clever for a 4.5 yr old. So as another great feature of this blog we will have
Claire's Great Ideas: I have a great idea! the idea is... wouldn't it be great... it's something about paint... wouldn't it be great if we only had paint. well, and clothes. (this being said while she is finger painting).
Idea 2: I have a great idea! wouldn't it be great if the car was so big that the store was already in it so we didn't have to drive to get there???


Bella- well she's just hilarious all on her own. I'm not sure there will be a category for her daily funniness will be called.
Bella: comes into kitchen while mom is filling Jacob's bottle. mom is doing "step aerobics" while filling the bottle (gotta try to burn some extra calories) Bella-"wha ya doin, mom?" mom- "getting Jacob's bottle ready." Bella this time a little more deliberate and speaking with greater diction so that I am sure to understand "no. Wha your legs doin? dancin?" In other words "why in the world are you dancing around like a wierdo? the only people who can get away with dancin at odd times are people like me, two year olds."

Exposing them to a little "culture" today, or rather family history I decided to make German puff pancakes, a family favorite. It is a custardy, thin, puffed up pancake baked in melted butter. when it comes out of the oven you can put strawberry's and coolwhip, or syrup, powdered sugar, honey... pretty much whatever on the delicious pancake. So Bella would only take one bite, she didn't get honey or powdered sugar in her bite, so needles to say, that was her only bite. Claire ate almost a whole quarter of a pancake, then suddenly raelized "does this have egg in it?" I answer "yes", and she says "I don't like the egg in it". I asked her "does that mean you just like the honey and sugar?" At least she was honest and answered "yes".

We must be having a busy day because it's only 10am and I've already had much to say.

Okay, I never thought I would start blogging... who has the time. Well I decided that whether or not I had the time, I didn't want to lose the memories. Many days notes may be in short hand, once again "no time", but they'll be things I can look back at since my memory is so poor. So, here goes..
Today, one of our favorite pass times- cushion jumping. All the pillows, couch and chair cushions have all been moved to the family room floor. A great source of giggles and exercise. Keeps the kids busy, while I do important things (like start blogs, I mean housework).
Because we took the couch cushions off you can imagine what kind of things we found underneath... play bunny ears- with some sort of dead bug on them, the barbie wii game case, and nail polish (thankfully it was closed).
Thanks to daddy being home from a business trip both children slept through the night without a "peep".
Potty training update: nothing to take note of today.