T.G.I.F.

I heard Judah and Elijah having a grand old time wrestling with each other.  Hey, why not?  They were all squeals of glee and laughter.  No need to stop them (I think).  All of the sudden, Elijah was spilling forth with laughter, and I had no idea what was so funny.  Then I heard Judah say, "Just let me finish sniffing your eyeballs, and then we'll be done."  ::raised eyebrow

I've only seen it in comedic clips.  Never in real life -- until this week.  I was in Eden's room putting up a wall hanging when she decided she wanted to be picked up.  I told her to wait a minute, and she started in to throw a fit.  Unfortunately (for her), part of that included taking a step backwards which made her trip backwards and fall bum-first into one of her toy bins which subsequently tipped backwards, leaving her folded in half and stuck inside that bin looking straight up at me with bewildered eyes at what had just occurred.  I could only giggle.  And help her out, of course.

It's very hard to crockpot a roast when your sweet daughter keeps turning it off when you're not looking.  Not funny practically -- but it is humorous when I remove myself from the situation.  :-)  Just like wondering how on earth the floor kept getting wet.  Then I realized every cup of soap suds I gave Eden (to get her to play by herself so I could get some kitchen stuff done) was ending up on the floor being wiped with a diaper wipe.  Sweet child was cleaning my floor for me.  :-P

T.G.I.F.

I was doing school with the boys one night, and we got on the subject of the sun and its size.  It was SO much fun to see Judah's speechless amazement when I told him our sun was actually a small star in comparison to the other stars that are out there.  I explained to him that the sun is just big to us because it is the star we are closest to and that there are stars out there way, way, way, way bigger than our sun.  He all of the sudden made the sound of a gun exploding.  I grinned when I realized what he had done.  "Was that the sound of your brain exploding?"  "Yes!"  :-)

As Eden was getting toys for her bath time, she was having to maneuver around the toilet and side of the tub.  I don't think I've ever seen stomach muscles move quite like that as she tried to avoid touching the cold porcelain with her bare tummy.  So cute!  Maybe you just have to have seen it.

T.G.I.F.

My sons have both used the term "fast backwards" this week.  As in, rewind.  I love how simple and innocent childhood thinking is.

The other morning, I woke up and had a very gravelly deep voice.  The boys came in my room as is their custom in the mornings.  After saying good morning to them, Judah asked what was wrong with my voice.  I tried to explain something was going on with my lungs and it was causing my voice to sound strange.  So he deepened his own voice and with a silly smile imitated me while saying, "I'm 60 years old..."  Mmmkay.  You can stop now.  Watch it, son!

I'm sure I'll think it's funny some day, but my daughter can make a 2 minute powder/mascara job turn into 10 minutes of chasing her while trying to quickly get ready.  In the span of five minutes this morning, she had found a black sharpie and put a big black spot on her palm (Pirates, anyone?)...then I found her in the dark bathroom trying to clean the toilet.  All by herself, she had gotten into the linen closet and retrieved the toilet brush and a cleaning wipe then headed straight to the bathroom to start cleanin' that potty.  And it's not the first time she's done it.  UGH!  Thank you?  I promise I'll be more grateful for it in a couple years, Sweetie.

T.G.I.F.

I was reading the boys one of their stories for school.  Elijah felt the call of nature, so he promptly called out, "Mommy, can you pause?!"

We were indulging in some delicious bing cherries after lunch one day.  One of my favorite fruits!  I had pitted them and cut them in half for the boys.  Judah held up one half, cut-side towards me, and said, "You know what this looks like, Mommy?  It looks like a lung!"  Um, eww.

This is more precious than funny.  I've been sick since Tuesday, though now I think it is just the left-over exhaustion that comes from fighting infection and seeing life be so un-normal.  Thank You, Lord, for both the time to increase my reliance on You (though I did fail a few times...) and for the healing process.  This morning, I am doubly exhausted from having to take my daughter to the ER last night after a nasty noggin bump (she's ok!).  Waking up at 6:45 to giggling boys in the same bed was NOT my ideal.  Note About Me: If there is one thing that tempts me to be impatient and angry more than anything else -- and quickly, mind you -- it's disobedience when you're supposed to be still and quite in bed, whether it's naptime or bedtime.  We should probably add the sin of selfishness to that.  I'm sure I get impatient and angry over that because it's "MY" time for peace, quiet, rest, and to do what "I" wish.  ::sigh::  It may be the thorn in my side for life -- but God is faithful to work on thorns!  Anyway...  I was not pleased that the entire last hour of my night's sleep was going to be an interrupted one.  I finally got up at 7:30 to shower so that I wouldn't hear them disobeying.  It was an attempt to remove myself from the situation since Hubz wasn't home to intervene.  Then I was joined in the bathroom with both sons because they were afraid of the rain (enter another irritation).  Then I heard running as they played with their paper airplanes while I was supposed to be having a peaceful morning shower (a rare thing).  Argh!  I was mad.  I was wrong.  The madness continued, and I struggled.  After Hubz had come back from breakfast and gone to work, I pretty much lost it emotionally with my sweet boys explaining to them many things: Mommy's been sick and is tired, I get easily angered when they disobey in bed, they should love God and me and show it by obeying even when they aren't getting to do what they want, etc.  At the end, I told them I loved them and that we were going to watch a movie so I could rest up in order to get a few things done this afternoon.  Time passed.  I prayed.  The sun came out.  I made coffee.  Briefly chatted with a dear friend who always lifts my spirits even in 2 minutes.  Did my neti pot.  And felt the Sonshine inside again.  I told the boys with a smile, "I'm ok now, guys."  And do you know what my precious Judah said?  The one who struggles with anger just like I do?  "God answered my prayer, Mommy!  I prayed [inside my head] that you wouldn't be angry anymore."  Lord, let that resound with Him that You do answer His prayers even about the woman who is his imperfect example!  <3

T.G.I.F.

I was sitting with my mom and kids eating lunch one day.  PBJ's were on the menu.  I realized after a while that my sons were having a "competition" of sorts.  Judah was counting to 100, and Elijah was trying to finish his sandwich before Judah got to 100.  Boys.  No one has to teach them these kinds of things.  Anyway, my mom noticed Elijah started gagging because he had put too much in his mouth (go figure).  He spit it out on his plate, and we talked to him about what had happened.  A few minutes later after conversation had moved on, Elijah exclaimed, "Hey!  It's like a treat now!  It's like a treat!"  My mom and I looked at him to find that he was using a spoon to eat the PBJ he had spit out.  ::personal gag::  ::musters strength to finish the story::  "It's like a treat, Mommy!"  I (probably shouldn't have) asked if he thought it was more like a treat because it was "smooshy" from being in his mouth already, and he heartily agreed.  "It's like a treat now because it's smooshy!"  I can still picture him holding that green spoon with the biggest grin and sparkly eyes due to his new "recipe."  ::gaaaag::

It's been pretty cold outside lately, and we've had a few pretty flurries with zero accumulation to speak of.  Absolutely nothing to play in, that's for sure.  The family was talking about what we could do after lunch, and the boys were wanting to go outside.  Especially at the prospect of snow.  Kids.  Even a chance of snow gets them giddy!  Despite the pristine sunshine and dry ground outside, Elijah excitedly suggested, "We could get all bundled up and.... do we have skis??"

We were sitting around the dinner table when Hubz and I decided to let the boys know we were going to seriously formalize the house rules -- to the point of printing them out and putting them on the fridge.  They know them, but they have trouble obeying consistently.  And having a list on the fridge will help their parents be more consistent in reminding them...  Anyway, as we were telling the boys what the rules are going to be, things just escalated into hilarium in typical E family fashion as the boys started coming up with nonsense rules.  In addition to no running, no yelling, and no throwing things, we also apparently have no eyeballs, no hair, etc.  In the midst of the giggles and rising noise level, Elijah blurted out with utter enthusiasm, "NEITHER NOT NO LAUGHIN'!"  Pure silence followed, then laughter from all.

T.G.I.F.

My poor son Judah.  He's only 5, and he already has a recurrent gray hair upon his head.  I'm his 29 year old mother, and I've only found one on my own head a few months back that has not returned (yet).  So this rogue hair on Judah baffles me.  Either he is stressed by our family, stressed by his own level of energy, or is showing a physical sign of early wisdom.  I hope it's the latter!  Anyway, today, I noticed it is getting quite long and stray compared to the rest of his hair; and I gave a little sigh as I touched it.  Judah pranced away down the hall singing, "I'm turning into a grandpa!"  Makes me giggle.  :-)

You know those moments as a mother when you realize someday or another you're going to have to bite the bullet and teach your kids how to do tasks, knowing they will be messy and fail a lot until you LET THEM practice enough?  Yeah.  Cracking eggs.  I don't know what the books say about the appropriate age to begin teaching children how to crack eggs, but Judah always asks.  Today, I gave in.  How on earth do you teach a child to not squeeze an egg but to poke his thumbs in the crack at the same time??  We parents take for granted how "easy" things are...until we have to actually explain it in words.  :-P  As Judah was trying his hand at cracking the eggs (oh my heavens), Elijah ran up and saw him.  "I wanna hatch a egg, too!!!!"  HA!  So cute.  Then Judah asked, "How does an egg get inside the shell?"  ::stunned::  Praise the Lord for the "God made it that way" answer.  Cuz I don't know how to explain the answer to that question other than referring to the Almighty Creator of chickens!

T.G.I.F.

At dinner, we were all discussing our ages.  I asked the boys, "If I will be 30 on my birthday in January, what am I now?"  Without pause, Elijah firmly announced, "OLD."

Judah saw a picture of Newt Gingrich with hands outstretched.  He pretended to have a deep, manly voice and said, "I am the KING!"

The boys were commenting on a bird they saw sitting on the fence.  It was puffed up due to the cold weather, but they kept talking about how it must have babies in its tummy.  I explained to them the reason why "she" was all puffed up, that birds lay eggs rather than carry babies in their tummies.  Judah, smart kid that he is, asked, "But don't they carry the eggs in their tummies?"  Uh, actually, I don't know how that works, Judah!  "We could look it up online.  Computers know everything."  :-)

And here's a TGIF where I myself am the subject of the hilarity (read: embarrassment).  Several weeks ago, the kids and I went to a farm to do the traditional fall field trip of hayride and pumpkin patch.  It had rained the entire day before, so the ground was a bit soggy in places.  Another mom and her daughter arrived at the same time my friend Shannon and I did (with our 7 kids...brave, yes?).  So we parked all together in what I thought to be a stupendous spot compared to last year when we arrived AFTER busloads of kids rather than before.  We enjoyed our time for a couple hours and then got ready to leave.  Upon walking back to our vans, including the other mom and her daughter who finished at the same time, we discovered our spot was not as great as originally thought.  There was a big yellow bus parked right behind all three of us.  With two buses in front of it.  Just sitting there.  We waited a few minutes.  Still nothing.  So we asked Lady Busdriver if they were waiting to leave or waiting for their kids to get off.  She said they were waiting to unload but she wasn't sure what was going on that was preventing them from unloading.  Still longer we waited.  Finally, someone else found a way to drive around one particular farm building to get around the buses to the one exit road off the farm. Shannon was able to back up JUST enough to be able to pull forward and drive around the building.  Once she had moved, I had room to back up JUST enough to pull forward as well.  I put my van in reverse, slowly pressed the gas pedal, rolled back a little..... and then went nowhere.  I pressed a little harder on the gas, and my ears were met with spinning tire sound.  But if I pressed harder, what if I went too fast and hit the bus?  What to do, what to do.  I pressed gently again.  Spinning tires.  For real?

I was stuck in the muck.  I pressed the pedal even harder... and created an even louder spinning tire sound and felt the van sink just a touch.  Lost cause.  Shannon had stopped by that time, wondering why I wasn't following.  I looked to the lady in the van next to me and mouthed, "I'm stuck."  She gave an "oh no" with a pitying laugh and got out to help assess the situation.  I gunned the pedal again but to no avail.  They saw just how stuck I was.  Lady Busdriver was viewing the whole thing from her perch.  She attempted to direct me with which way to turn my wheel and to gun it, "HARDER!".  Still nothing.  I realized there was no one behind Lady Busdriver; and if she moved back, I could feel free to do whatever to get unstuck without hitting her bus.  I asked her if she could back up, and she said sure.  So with fiddle faddle in hand, she backed that thang up!  (Bus drivers sure do know their stuff!)  She went slowly so as not to hit the line of cars we were in.  Old Gentleman walked up and started helping her ease backwards.  She finally cleared the back of my van, so we tried again to press hard on the pedal and turn the van wheel correctly.  I was demonstrating the phrase "going nowhere fast" perfectly.  Older Gentleman decided he would try to push while I gunned; and by this time, Older Gentleman 2 had walked up to help.  So with two kind men behind me pushing and Lady Busdriver telling me how to operate my vehicle, we tried again. Nope.  Older Gentleman came to my window and told me to put my van in first gear and walked back to push again.  I looked down at my gear shifter... and there was no number 1 to indicate first gear.  All these years of knowing cars have different gears used for different situations, and I had no idea which number meant which gear!  Enter Phase 1 of embarrassment.  So I called out to him to ask which number was first gear.  "All the way to the bottom," he said.  So I looked down again and shifted to first gear (number 2, by the way... makes perfect sense, right?)  As I lifted my eyes back towards my windshield, a little red light on my dash caught my eye.

"Emergency Brake."

You know those moments in film when everything goes dark and the camera zooms in on a speechless, stunned actress as she realizes something monumental?  Yeah.  That happened to me.  Phase 2 of embarrassment.  I quietly and quickly turned off the emergency brake, and I tell you my van JUMPED forward with glee that its driver had finally gotten a clue.  Cheering ensued from my dear helpers -- and the audience that had grown -- as they had "succeeded" in freeing me from the muck.  I stuck my hand out the window with as regal a wave as I could muster and with a sparkling grin loudly thanked everyone as I drove off to skirt the building to the exit road.  I did NOT have the heart or courage to inform them all of my incredible oversight.  "Let them feel as though they've done a good deed... just slink away and let them believe... let them tell the legend of how they helped a poor mother stuck in the muck get free..."

(For the record, I never use my emergency brake.  I only used it that day because I knew I was parked on a slight incline that was a touch soggy.  Heaven forbid my van should slide backward while we were enjoying the farm.  Never used emergency brake means brain not used to checking if it's on or not...)   ;-)

T.G.I.F.

One afternoon, I let the boys lay in my bed for nap time because it was thunderstorming. There was a spider web in our window with a spider in the middle. It had captured lunch and was tending to it. So we watched it as we lay there listening to the storm. After a little while, Elijah (who is pretty much paralized by thunder) softly asked Judah, "Should we pray to not be afraid?" Judah said he didn't know, so I said that one can pray anytime they need to. I asked Elijah if he'd like to pray, and he said he did. In the sweetest little boy voice, "Dear God, please help mommy and daddy. And please help me not to be afraid of the thunder and lightning. And please, Lord, help the spider and his food to be safe from the rain and thunder." It was just too cute with a sweet edge of compassion.

As I was making breakfast-for-dinner, I asked the boys if they enjoyed seeing the chickens some friends from church had. I asked them if they thought it was cool that our friends could just go out in their backyard and get fresh eggs.

Judah: To do what with them?

Me: To cook them and eat them, of course! So yummy!

Elijah: NO! Then they wouldn't be baby chickens!

Me: Aww, well, Elijah, those eggs are eggs to eat, not grow into baby chickens. You have to have a daddy chicken to have baby chickens.

Judah: Hmm, that's different. I know that mommy grown-ups have babies; but with chickens, it's the daddies that have the babies.

Me: (Oh dear.) Well, no, you have to have a daddy chicken and a mommy chicken to have baby chickens. Just like you have to have a mommy and a daddy to have a baby. (And we'll end it there for now!)

While eating Spanish rice with dinner, Judah asked, "Will it turn us to speaking Spanish?"

T.G.I.F.

I was drying my hair and putting on very light make-up one afternoon before my Hubz got home. Judah was watching me and asking why I was doing it. I said that I wanted to look a little nicer for Daddy. "Why?" Because I love him. :-) When I was finished, I turned to Judah and fluffed my hair. I smiled and asked him if I looked a little nicer. "Sure." ::pause:: "And with a smile on your face, you look even more nicer." Ah, Lord, let him always remember that principle when dealing with women. :-)

While I was cleaning up for breakfast one morning, Judah asked "Mommy, can I cut my heart out?" LOL No worries. He meant that he wanted to draw me a red heart and cut it out -- he saw a boy do it in a book we read the night before. But it sure was weird to hear my 5 year old innocently ask that question!

T.G.I.F.

While watching Little Einsteins in which the instrument of the episode was a French horn, Judah logically asked, "Are French horns for people who speak French?"

As we were sitting at the table eating breakfast, Elijah was being pretty silly. He was waving his arms around then all of the sudden stopped mid-air. "I'm paused!" Did you just say "I'm PAUSED!"? "Yes." Gone are the days of "I'm freezed/frozen/froze." It's been modernized.

To get some background, listen to this clip from Brian Regan (and disregard the lame graphics). This week, I received my first moment referenced in this little sketch. The boys were playing outside. Judah comes tearing through the front door into the kitchen where I am. "Hey, Mommy!!!" (pause) During the pause, he raised his hands in front of his body as if to calm me down. "Don't worry." (pause) Uuhhhh....you better start talking, son! I don't even remember what happened, but it wasn't serious. Thankfully!

We discovered Elijah calls bookmarks "nookmarks." Ironically, that exists, too.

Judah was pretending to be Superman, complete with blanket cape hanging down his back. He "flew" to the doorway of the kitchen and in a deep voice declared, "I'm Superman!" I played along. I went over to him and put my arms on his shoulders and cried, "Superman, save me!!" He held up his hands and said (still in a deep voice), "Uh, hold on. I have to go save someone." ::speechless:: What am I, chopped liver?? I'm your MOTHER! :-)

T.G.I.F.

We were driving home from Target with the windows down since it was so nice out. As we were going slowly through the neighborhood, we could hear the evening songbirds. I asked the boys if they could hear them. "Yes!" Judah suggested that maybe they were looking for their family. I said maybe they were looking for dinner. Elijah? "Yeah, they're having chicken nuggets for dinner!"

There's something about picturing a songbird dining on chicken nuggets that just seems...wrong.

T.G.I.F.

Judah, from the living room, "Are these Eden's socks? No, these are her kankee pants." Then he walked into the room holding the "kankee pants" mid-air by the toe. They were tights. I have no idea where he got "kankee pants" out of tights.

Elijah to Nurse Elaina, "Do I get a shot today?" He really wanted a lollipop. "No, no shot today. Do you WANT one?" Elijah nodded his head yes and had a very thoughtful look on his face. "In my bones. Because they are tight and won't hurt. My knees are bones. But I don't want a shot in my knee. I want one here." as he pointed to the front of his shin. Uh, I think a shot in your bone would hurt MUCH worse than in your muscle! But Elaina affirmed his thought process as creative. :-)

I told Judah to go upstairs and get dressed while I finished feeding Eden her breakfast. He called down from the top of the stairs, "Mommy, I don't think I can wear this guinea pig shirt. It's too small." My mind raced through his wardrobe, wondering what on earth he meant by guinea pig. I asked him to clarify. "I can't wear this guinea pig shirt because I think it's too small." I told him I couldn't think of any shirt that had a guinea pig on it. Maybe he meant size? We did watch G-Force a while back. Maybe he was trying to be cute saying a guinea pig sized shirt would be too small for him. Then it hit me and made me chuckle. "OH! You mean your Razorback shirt?" He said yeah, and I assured him it would fit. That's for all you Arkansans! Woooooo, guinea pigs!

T.G.I.F.

I overheard Judah and Elijah getting dressed one morning. Often times, they consider things a race with each other. Judah chanted, "I'm the champion!" Elijah, loud and angry, responded, "NO YOU NOT! GOD is the CHAMPION!!" Judah simply said, "No, He's not." Elijah - "YES HE IIIIS!!!" Made me have a little chuckle before addressing each son's issue. :-P

We had cantaloupe with dinner the other night. I think it must be the first time I've purchased one in the boys' "grown-up" life. They enjoyed it, 'Lij more than Judah. Towards the end of dinner, Elijah ever-so-sweetly asked for more "neb-uh-loaf." Still later, he called it meatloaf. SO cute!

T.G.I.F.

Judah & I, at lunch...

Where's Matt? Map? No, Matt. Mah? No, MATT. Matt? Yes. Matt who? Your HUSBAND! (with a roll of his eyes) You mean, DADDY? Yes. He's at work. Where's Matthew? Matthew who? You know. (with a glimmer in his eye) Your daddy? Yes! At work, silly boy!

Judah started talking about a "raspberry cup" when we were talking about what kinds of fruits make different kinds of jelly. I asked him what a raspberry cup is. "It's raspberries all connected together with chocolate cake in the middle and icing on top and candles in it that you blow out for your birthday." Sounds yummy to me!!

Elijah came to snuggle in bed with Eden and I one morning when it was time to get up. Noticing a missing person, he asked, "Where's Daddy?" At work already. "Oh, before I even smelled the coffee on him." I guess Daddy's morning coffee is now a permanent part of the boys' day. :-)

T.G.I.F.

One morning as the boys were sitting on the couch, Judah noted that one of the van lights was "on." I checked, and it was simply the sun reflecting off one of the mirrors within the light's compartment -- very bright! I explained what it was and that you shouldn't stare at things that are so bright or it could hurt your eyes. I also told them that we shouldn't stare at the sun either because it could "burn" your eyes and you wouldn't be able to see anymore. Fast forward to after nap time... For some reason, Judah was summarizing my earlier teaching about not staring at the sun. I took the opportunity to to teach the boys that when someone can't see, they are called "blind." Judah said that when he opens his eyes really wide, he is blind. I corrected him and said that was "blurry" and not blind. I had them shut their eyes and said that when you are "blind," you can't see anything but darkness -- no light, shadows, shapes, etc. Judah popped his eyes open and said, "OH! So Daddy must have stared at the sun and gotten blind!" Ha!! Then I had to launch into explaining that, yes, Daddy can't see "anything" without his glasses, but he's not blind.

As I was about to throw away a chicken carcass while cleaning up from dinner, I said aloud what I was doing. The boys were in the kitchen and asked what a "car-ah-cuhs" is. I brought them over to the cutting board and explained that it's basically the skeleton of the chicken we ate for dinner, that it's the bones of a chicken. Judah: "The booooones?? Oh. So chicken comes from a chicken." Congratulations, son! :-)

Most people who know our family know which one of my sons can tend to be mischievous. If you call out for Elijah and he doesn't answer, you'd better find him fast. I went upstairs for maybe five minutes to put a basket of clothes on my bed. Came back down and saw Judah where I'd left the boys, but no sign of Elijah. "Elijah? ..... Elijah, where are you?" Still nothing. It was kind of eerie because usually there are sounds or signs of where he is, but I couldn't figure it out. So I walked around until I got all the way into the kitchen. There he was, hunkered as far into the refrigerator corner as a human can possibly be with the [cutest] big-eyed gasp-she-found-me expression on his face... and a huge chipmunk cheek. "What are you eating?" Silence. "Elijah, WHAT are you eating??" My mind was frantically coursing though what I may have left within reach on the counter -- but there was nothing. All sweets were out of reach. "Elijah, open your mouth." A huge ball of chewed up cheese was inside. "CHEESE??" He shook his head slowly as he continued trying to chew it all. I HAD to smile. Matter of fact, I giggled a little. Here was the classic hand-in-the-cookie-jar moment. And it was cheese. I asked him where he got it from, and he pointed to the meat/cheese drawer. I opened the trash and found the wrapper neatly laid inside. This kid knew exactly what he wanted and how to hide it. At least it was cheese, I guess. Good protein and calcium. :-) I asked him if he was hungry, and he pitifully said yes. "Sweetie, if you're hungry, just ask!"

T.G.I.F.

Seems like Judah takes the cake for this week's TGIF collection...

While discussing what we were going to do after dinner, Judah came up with his own idea. "We should watch a movie and have something that starts with a 'P'," he said with a twinkle in his eye. "It's made with corn and starts with 'pop'." Gee. I wonder what it could be!! It was quite tickling to Matt & I.

Judah went into the bathroom one morning and closed the door. I heard celebration, then he came dancing out of the bathroom, his footies unzipped. "I have some happy neeeeeeews......I'm DRY!" There's one for your marketing, Huggies Overnights.

When Matt gets in the kitchen, usually good things happen. I had a bad headache one afternoon (I think my eyes are showing more signs of aging and need visual aid more than I care to admit), so he made French toast and eggs. I should add that when he gets in the kitchen, he also usually tries to be creative. Sometimes it works...and, well, you know. There was that bacon disaster on Mother's Day a couple years ago... Anyway, he decided he was going to chop up frozen seasoned French fries and mix them in with the scrambled eggs. I protested several times, not wanting anything to be wasted in what I thought was a crazy idea headed for failure. Ok. It was GOOOD! We called it "French Dinner" - French Eggs and French Toast. Here's the funny part... When Matt put Judah's plate on the table, Judah took one look at it and said, "It looks like a junkyard." ::stunned silence from his parents:: What did you say? "It looks like junkyard eggs." I don't even remember if Judah ate them all. But we're callin' them Junkyard Eggs from now on. :-) (Elijah picked his French frie bits out of his eggs.)

We had our first big (and close) thunders of this year a few moments ago. I told the boys that they could get in my bed with me for a few minutes until it passed and then they could finish their nap. I had left my computer open with the radar up, so when they came to my bed they saw it. Having grown up in a Southern state, I'm used to the drill of watching the skies and checking the radar. I think my boys, in their short little lives, have already learned that drill. "Oh, the radar is up!" I was showing them how the storm was moving and where we were. One of them asked where it was moving, and I motioned up the USA coast. Judah said with a hand gesture, "Is it moving northeast?" ::stunned:: Uh...I...uh...well, yes. HOW did you know that?? "Because they say it on the news." Whew, ok. I was about to be very afraid of his smarts if he knew the direction just because. ;-)

Back to nap time!

TGIF

The boys have been hungrier lately. Breakfast this morning consisted of cheerios with banana, more cheerios, then scrambled eggs. While I was trying to finish cooking mine and Matt's eggs/toast, Judah said, "Mommy, you are a good cook. Since you're a good cook, you should work at a restaurant... like Chick-fil-A!" Wow, thanks for having such high aspirations for your mother. ;-)

T.G.I.F.

Oh boy. We've come to the little kid stage of hilarium. Judah has recently discovered his comedic skills with knock-knock jokes. Here's a few I've heard (I'm sensing a theme...and I have no idea where it's coming from):

Knock, knock. Who's there? Banana. Banana who? Banana, why are you painting your toes when you're too close to the fire with a big fan? It will hurt you and spit you up.

Knock, knock. Who's there? Banana. Banana who? Banana, why are you going to paint an ear when you are going to be jailed on a sailed while you're on a furnace?

Knock, knock. Who's there? Boo hoo. Boo hoo who? Boo hoo, why are you going to light a candle on the furnace?

Just a cute little thing Eden did: I had just eaten a small brownie before I picked her up. As soon as she smelled my breath, she whipped her head around and just stared at my mouth. And stared and stared, contemplating. Hmm. Perhaps the female love of chocolate is a predisposition we are born with? ;-)

T.G.I.F.

Judah asked me if I would race them after dinner. I said we'd see. He said, "Well, nevermind. Mommies can't run after they have babies." I tried to clarify to see if he meant mommies can't run while they have babies inside their tummies. "No, they just can't run after they have babies." Why, Judah? Because we're out of shape? "No, just because they can't. Boys can run whenever they want to..." And off he went into a tangent.

Elijah, innocently, at breakfast: "Can I have more banana butt cheerios and bananas?"

T.G.I.F.

Seems like a lot of funnies happen at the table...

While eating dinner, Elijah and I started having one of those typical "I love you more" conversations. Very cute. But he beat me. When I said, "I love you even more!", he followed with a supremely adorable and definitive voice saying, "I love you even mucher!" Ok. I'll take that. :-)

The other day, the boys and I were discussing facial hair. I was explaining that Eden and Mommy don't grow hair on our faces. Daddy does because he is a man. And someday, Judah & Elijah will. After some thought, Elijah asked enthusiastically, "Will I be Santa Claus??"

Today at lunch, Judah said he was five and then asked me how old I am. I explained that I'm 28 now but will be 29 in a few days. His eyes got huge and he exclaimed, "WOW! That's more than I can count... that's... that's higher than ONE HUNDRED!" Yes, son, you can because I've heard you count higher than 29 -- and thanks for making feel old. ;-)