“Mommy! I haven’t wiggled at all yet!” (Sophia whispered loudly three-quarters of the way through Sunday’s sermon)
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All the girls learned to say “Yeah” as their first positive response; and we were thrilled with that… when they were babies. However, lately I’ve been realizing that that is still their initial response and wanted to bring it from a “yeah” or “yep” to a “yes” or “yes, ma’am.” So I told the older three girls what I expected and then we played a little game where I would ask them a yes or no question, and they would have to reply correctly. Of course Hope answered with precision. Gracie got mixed up between sir and ma’am, and Sophia…
“Sophia, are you two?”
“No, ma’am!”
“Sophia, are you four?”
“Yes, ma’am!!!”
“Sophia, do you like pickles?”
“Yes, mammy-sir!!!!!”
“Sophia, is it dark outside?”
“No, mammy-sir-ee-b0b!!!!!!!!”
And then we stopped.
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(Gracie to me) “What’s your name?”
“Mommy.”
“But you call yourself Christie.”
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(Mckayla, every time Paul walks in the door) “Daaaaaa-deeeeee!”
This is from my dear friend Amy at Ita Vita African. It cracked me up, and I thought you might enjoy it, too. Let’s just say, where they serve in South Africa, people have names that are hard for us to understand.
Seth: I have to go to a funeral tomorrow.
Amy: Oh! Who died?
Seth: Hitler’s mom.
Amy: Ohhh. That’s too bad.
Seth: No, not Hitler from church. The other Hitler. The man.
Amy: Do I know him?
Seth: I don’t think so. He worked on the road with me.
Pause.
Amy: Oh! Oops. I was thinking of Saddam Hussein’s mom.
Seth: Yeah, it’s hard keeping all those moms-of-tyrants straight.
They creep through the house, quiet and trembling. I watch from my place at the sink as they hurry into their room and close the door. After a few minutes, the door swings open and four little girls come running out, screaming, “A giant! The giant’s here!” Laughing, giggling, and talking over each other, they come to me and try to explain their game.
A few weeks ago, we found an adorable old book at Salvation Army called The Giant’s Shoe. The girls know it so well that they go around quoting it.
Also a few weeks ago, my husband decided in the middle of dinner to demonstrate the height of Goliath with a tape measurer. (Goliath had been the topic of many of their conversations that week)
Maybe these explain all the giant talk in our house lately???
One giant game I’m particularly fond of is the one that requires they hide between the piano and the wall, covered in blankets and completely quiet. They stay there a long time!! It’s amazing what kids do to entertain themselves.
Hope and Sophia think it’s great fun, but every now and then Gracie runs into the kitchen because she’s truly frightened herself. Mckayla just follows them wherever they go and laughs.
One day Gracie was talking about how much they eat and so I asked her, “Gracie, what do giants eat?”
The answer: “Lions!” In her most dramatic voice.
That night I asked her again to see if she would say it again, but this time she replied, “Five pizzas!” Again, dramatic voice.
Another time I asked her, “Gracie are you scared of giants?”
“No, they’re not sca-wy. Giant’s are nice, just big.”
Well, the giant in the book ran away in a torrent of tears, but from the sounds in the hallway, I’m pretty sure ours is still sticking around. = )
These are some of my favorites from the days of College Choir.
We Shall See God
There’s a glory in creation that testifies of One,
Who’s splendor is beyond the world we see.
The words of the prophets, though eloquent and true,
Cannot describe all that He will be;
And our minds can only dream of what our eyes have never seen
As our hearts keep running onward to that day.
What a wonderful surprise
The day we look into His eyes,
And at least behold the beauty of His face!
We shall see God
In all of His glory.
We shall see God
As we bow on our knees and cry, “Holy!”
Of everything heaven is promised to be,
The greatest sight of eternity
Will be the moment that we shall see God.
Picture a vision arrayed in purest white,
What wonder and what joy we’ll feel within.
God is there before us, a blaze of holy light.
What a glorious sight when we see Him.
What a wonderful surprise
The day we look into His eyes,
And at least behold the beauty of His face!
We shall see God
In all of His glory.
We shall see God
As we bow on our knees and cry, “Holy!”
Of everything heaven is promised to be,
The greatest sight of eternity
Will be the moment that we shall see God.
(I found a “We Shall See God” by John Coates on sheetmusicplus.com, but it was currently unavailable. I’m not sure if these are the same songs, but here is the link: We Shall See God)
We have had a wonderful week; especially because Daddy’s been home every night. Yay!!!
First of all, the few pictures I got from Sophia’s birthday ~ she’s four now!
A birthday breakfast date with Daddy. To Biscuit-bill!A happy send-off from her sistersAnd her familiar pose next to her favorite cake ~ Lemon Pound Cake
Then, I am sort of disappointed because I took other pictures for this on another memory card and forgot that my computer doesn’t recognize that card. Ugh. I will try to work on that and get them up soon. = )
These pictures are from my phone at the park today. We had a blast! Such a good time that we all came home and slept… except for… you guessed it… Sophia!!! At least she colored quietly until I got up, and then bounced on her trampoline until the others got up. = )
Hope, wearing Mommy’s jacket, worked on making a house out of sticksSophia got really muddy doing everythingGracie stuck to her beloved slides and swingsMckayla also enjoyed the slides, swings, a rocking pelican, and tromping around in the leaves.
And last, but not least, we have yet another milestone for Gracie.
Her bed doesn’t have a rail anymore!And look how long she is… = (
And how sweet is this.
Sophia’s gone over to Hope’s bed almost every night this week.
Quote of the week: “I get to sleep in a big girl bed! I can get up in my bed! Yay Duke! Go Duke! Mommy, what is Duke?” (Right now, Duke gets a cheer every time something exciting happens in Gracie’s life.)
She volunteered to wipe down the cabinets!In her element, “playing” with water
If I’ve heard my husband say how he first noticed me once, I’ve heard it a million times.
“We were working at this camp together, and it was my job to give out the responsibilities. I noticed that this girl was always where she was supposed to be, didn’t mess around, worked really hard and did great at everything…”
Blah. Blah. Blah…little did I know in a few years he’d want me to have four kids in a row, take care of them, clean the house, make the meals… no wonder he noticed a hard worker! = ) Totally kidding!
A funny thought occurred to me a few weeks ago; maybe it was after hearing him begin that story for the bajillionth time.
I actually wasn’t a good worker at all as a kid.
My parents, who were very committed to teaching us how to work and be responsible, had to remind me constantly to keep working. I would daydream, do a half-hearted job, ask to go do something else, or just plain stop. We weren’t allowed to whine or complain at all, but I do remember not being very happy about working on the inside.
To their credit, my parents never really criticized me for this. I don’t remember any lectures or “No more, or else!” moments. They just quietly, consistently kept giving me jobs, talking about the value of work, and expecting me to do my part for the family. I don’t remember at all it being a negative memory; I just know that in my heart, I would have rather been swinging, reading, or climbing trees.
I do remember a big light bulb moment towards the end of high school. (Sorry, Mom and Dad that it took so long!) I literally remember thinking, They ask me to vacuum and wash the car every week! Why don’t I just do it before they ask me so it won’t be so annoying when they tell me to do it and I’m in the middle of something? Like I said, light bulb! I began to do it first thing every Friday and I was so much happier! By that time, I actually enjoyed the jobs that I did; and finally taking ownership of them was even better.
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Now I remember what made me think about this: I was watching Hope do some little job and thinking, She’s just not a very good worker. Then I remembered, Oh yeah! Neither was I; for a looong time. Then I thought, Ha! Isn’t it funny that the “hard worker” character trait was one of the first things that Paul noticed about me.
So, the point is, if you have a child that’s not inclined to work, don’t despair. Even the worst of us can be reformed.
I’m proof. = )
(Now just don’t ask me about what happened to that stellar work ethic after I got married and pregnant!)
According to my estimation, there are three stages of your life with regards to toilet paper.
1. When you have no clue what it is.
2. When you think it’s a toy or a snack.
3. When you have (hopefully) moved beyond stage 2 and use it for it’s intended purpose.
All four of my girls have now progressed through stage two, save one who shall remain nameless in this sentence. And every time they reach that point, I’m reminded again of how annoying it is.
Okay, at first it’s cute. They come waddling down the hallway with a long train of their new found treasure; and it is kind of cute. Or least the huge smile on their face is.
But then, after you pick up 479 pieces of ripped up toilet paper a day; it’s not cute anymore, and you finally say “Enough!”
Mckayla, I love you; and I promise to remember this stage with some measure of fondness… once it’s long gone!
Sometimes my mommy calls me T-R-O-U-B-L-E.I just can’t figure out why.I mean, look at me……perfect angel. 100% o’ the time.
For a long time I have wanted to have a place where I could write down all the ridiculous things that are said in our house on any given day. My sister gets a great kick out of some of the things she overhears during our phone conversations. We’ll see if I can remember to record them as they come.
For today, here is your first edition of What the fly on the wall heard:
“Can you please get me that can of chickpeas that you put up on the piano, Sophia?” (Christie)
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(Hope, teaching kindergarten to Sophia and Gracie; just after she taught them how to spell “owl”) “And the way you spell ‘ouch’ is O-W-L-T-H.”
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(Gracie, on the way home from getting vaccines) “I’m going to tell Daddy the doctuhs huht me!”
Hello, and hooray for a second week of sharing pictures! Most of these are from weeks gone by; the big news in pictures for this week was that Gracie learned to button her shirt herself! And she was very, very proud…
Yes, this is my proud look.A very rare good smile caught on cameraNo trouble with smiles from this one
And to say good-bye with…
… a lovely shot of the girlies and their beloved Daddy.
small steps, big picture 