All In A Day's Conversation

L: I'm just wiping away my tears.
M: Why do you have tears?  Are you crying?
L: No, there's just so much joy in my heart.

M: Mr. Butler is going to come visit in 3 minutes.
L: No, Mom!  I don't want to see Mr. Butler!
M: But he wants to see you.  He hasn't seen you in such a long time.
L: Well, you can just take my picture and Mr. Butler can see it on our blog.

(Side note in case I ever forget- Leah thinks Mr. Butler is a real person living in a box in my closet.  She talks to him while I am getting ready in the morning- tells him all about her day, her friends, her toys.  She explains holidays to him, and tells him when she is next getting on an airplane.  She likes to show him her new outfits or fancy hair-dos.  But she does not like sharing her toys with him, understandably.)

L: I'm going to draw a picture for Grandma Morales that says, 'Dear Grandma Morales.  I drew you this picture so you can be happy even though Grandpa Miller is dead.  He is in heaven now and he can hear again, so now you can smile.  Love, Leah'.

And a million more insights into a three-year-old soul that I can't even remember... but I sure do love my little smartie!

The Truth About Cats and Dogs

Leah really wants a pet.  Really REALLY wants a pet.  She talks about getting a pet all the time.  She asks me at least 5 times a day if she can please have a pet.  Thankfully, we are renting and the owners of the house don't want us to bring in any large animals, so getting a dog is out of the question.  Not that I'm even considering getting a dog at this point.  Some day, yes.  Today, no.

But that doesn't stop Leah from pretending that she has pets.   The dying Asian beetles continue to be a great source of entertainment for both kids.

Today Leah tried being a cat.  Which lasted about 2 minutes before the milk spilled all over the floor, which Adam happily splashed in before I could wipe it up.

And Leah has trained Adam to crawl around on all fours and pant like a puppy dog.  

He'll even fetch her things and retrieve balls that she tosses.  And then she rewards him with a good scratch on the back.  They both love it. 

And that's about the most pet we'll be seeing around here for a while, despite Leah's requests for a cheetah.

Dear Son,

Let me take a moment to thank you for waking me and your father up at 4:30 this morning.  I was a little worried about getting up and ready for Joy School by 9:00 because I foolishly stayed up until midnight working on my sewing project, but you kindly took care of that for me.  In addition to getting up and ready, I was able to cook a hot meal for breakfast, start two loads of laundry, clean out the toy room closet, alphabetize our collection of children's books, put away your clean clothes, and organize my bathroom drawers.  Had I dedicated the wee hours of my morning to a silly little thing like sleep, I never would have been able to get such a great head start on the day.

Yes, there were moments around 5:45 when my brain synapses were misfiring and my nerves were so completely shot that I was just a tad bit frustrated.  But you seemed so comfortable sleeping squarely on top of my chest (which was so much sweeter when you didn't weight 24 pounds) that I didn't have the heart to move you back to your bed.  That, plus the fact that you never stayed asleep for more than 3 minutes at a time.  And the fact that you screeched like a crazed banshee whenever I tried.  You made it clear that, as far as you were concerned, the night was over.

And then I realized that if missing a few hours of sleep is the best thing that I can come up with to be frustrated, angry, or otherwise upset about, then we are doing alright.  We are truly blessed, and I thank you for teaching me such a sweet lesson.

But really, I've learned my lesson, and I can assure you that you do not need to repeat it tomorrow morning or any time soon.

All my love,

Mommy

All Dressed Up

Oh, daylight savings, how I love you.  Your magical ability to trick my kids into getting a nap before 1:00 church, and even better, your ability to have them rubbing their eyes and ready for stories by 7:00 at night.  They are both well-rested.  No wonder they both had bright smiling faces today.

Now let's just hope they don't carry this over to tomorrow and come calling for me at 6:00 in the morning.  Then I might not be waxing quite so poetic!

The Big "N"

Adam has learned to say the big "N"- his no sounds so different from Leah's- much more manly, I think.  In this video, with prompts from Leah, he also says "yes" and "please". 

And just ignore the crazy stick-up hair and tired eyes- we were headed to a bath and bedtime!

Turkey Turkey

A slight variation on this song, we're getting excited for Thanksgiving!

Turkey, turkey I've been thinking

You're the finest one I've seen.

Soon you'll be a tasty dinner

All made up for Thanksgiving.

(doodle-doodle-doodle-doooo)

Monkey See

 Monkey Do

 Silly Babies

 I just love them!