bangs and marriage

colby turned 6 last week. crazy!!!

molly will be 4 next monday. also crazy!!!

their party is this weekend, and we got them a playscape for their birthday. allen, my dad, and our friend brandon all got out thursday to work on it and get it built. the box said it would take 30 hours, or maybe it was 25, but it only took them half that. they finished most of it thursday, and then dad came back over friday afternoon to help allen wrap it up.

brandon is a stay at home dad, so him coming over to help meant me watching his boys; jaxon, 4, and cannon, 7 weeks.

jaxon and molly have been each others professed future spouses for several months, but when brandon came over that morning, he told me that jaxon would no longer be marrying molly because he has now decided he's going to marry his mimi. the consolation is that, in jaxons words, "cannon can have her."

so that afternoon i'm sitting on the couch and the kids are playing on the floor and i said

me: "jaxon, you're going to marry your mimi?"

jaxon: "yes."

me: "why arent you going to marry molly?"

jaxon: "i only marry big girls."

molly: "i'm a big girl!!"

jaxon: "no you're not."
molly: "yes i am! i'll be four in ten days!"

jaxon: "you can marry colby."
colby: "no! i've already chosen who i'm going to marry."

molly: "i dont want to marry colby. i just love him."

and it kind of died down after that. i love listening to kids talk to each other.

mollys been pretty adamant lately about wanting to grow her hair long like mine. she cried the other day because she doesnt want bangs anymore, but she doesnt understand that they have to grow out. she kept telling me to cut them off, and she would push them all the way back off her forehead and say, "like this." we've been working thru that.

yesterday morning we were getting ready for church and she said it again

molly: "mommy, i dont want bangs anymore."

me: "ok, well, we can grow them out. its going to take some time though."

colby: "mommy, do you not have bangs?"

me: "no, my hair is all the same length."

colby: "were you not born with bang holes?"

me: "it doesnt work that way. this is where my bangs would be."

and i showed him, kind of, how it would work if i had bangs.

bang holes. awesome.

i wish i had some reason to use that term in everyday conversation.

this week we're preparing for the birthday party on saturday. mimi and papa are coming for the day thursday to celebrate with the kids, and give them their gifts. then next thursday, the 11th, i leave for africa!!

hope everyone is doing well,and enjoying the very gradually cooling weather--at least down here in texas. i know some of you are up north, and its probably already freakishly cold.

here are a few pictures form the weekend...

tada!!!! the newest addition to our backyard. hopefully it will get lots of use!

cinderella closed this weekend. it was SUCH fun show!! i'll definitely miss it. this is the other stepsister (sam, on the left), the stepmother (suzanne, in the middle), and myself (on the right).


the kids in their halloween costumes. i'm thinking this is the last year they'll let me coordinate their costumes, but we'll see. they really dont seem to mind. this year they were the mad hatter and alice.

post punishment prayer

last night as we were getting the kids ready for bed, something happened and allen had to get on to molly for not following directions. she cried through him brushing her teeth, and then he handed her off to me and i took her into her room. she climbed in bed and i tucked her in, and she said
molly: "daddy punished me. thats why there weres (she mixes up was and were) tears coming down my face. and it made my heart sad."
me: "molly we love you so much and we only want whats best for you. thats why we punish you. its so you'll learn to follow directions."
molly: "do you love me?"
me: "yes i love you. do you think i love you?"
molly: "yes."
me: "do you think daddy loves you?"
molly: "no."
right about then allen came in
allen: "molly, you dont think i love you?"
molly: (shakes head, bottom lip sticking out)
she told him the same thing about her heart being sad, and he told her pretty much the same thing i told her about us punishing them because we love them, etc etc.
then colby came in and we decided we'd all say prayers together. colbys been saying his prayers at night and then whoever is putting him to bed also prays when he's done. molly hasnt wanted to pray out loud yet, not on a regular basis at least.
last night, though, allen said
allen: "molly, will you pray?"
molly: "yes."
colby: "i want to pray."
allen: "ok, colby you go after molly, and then mommy and daddy will pray."
molly: "dear Jesus, thank you for this day, and just...for this beautiful day. and please God, that daddy would respect me......."
well, i lost it. i got that giggles and they would not quit. she kept praying, but i didnt hear any more of it because i was doing a pathetic job of trying to get myself together for the rest of the prayer.
colby: "mommy, why are you crying?"
me: "i'm not crying."
colby: "are you laughing?"
allen: "keep going molly."
molly keeps praying, colbys not paying attention because hes distraced by me laughing, which i'm still doing, and allen is squeezing my finger to get me to stop, which is only making me laugh harder.
do you ever get the giggles, and for some reason you cant quit, and everything else thats happening around you only makes the situation funnier; like when you're in church?
so then colby prayed, and i pulled it together and prayed, and allen prayed, and everything ended nicely.

allen told me later that right after molly said "help daddy to respect me, " she said, "and help me to respect daddy." i of course missed that part.
shes got the right idea i suppose. as the prince says in cinderella (a show i'm all to familiar with at the moment), "everyone deserves to be treated with love and respect."

amen.

colby-isms

i've decided i need to take more road trips with the kids. thats where i get the good stuff.
we went to fredericksburg saturday, just the three of us, for a pioneer festival at a museum there in town.
first of all i thought fredericksburg was, like, an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes away. turns out its two hours. by the time i figured this out i was alread halfway there, so we just kept going.
whenweot there and i saw what it was were were going to, i worried it would be lame. there were hardly any people there and it didnt really look like there was much going on.
we had such a good time!! we were able to go inside some pioneerhomes and buildings from the 1800's and early 1900's. there was even a man in the school that had actually attned that school and was able to show us the desk he sat in and everything. pretty neat.
the kids got to churn butter, wash clothes on a washboard, watch wool being spun into yarn, make a rope, watch a blacksmith make nails (and they each got one), have their faces painted and do a craft project with seeds and beans. they had a blast!!
i told allen it was the most fun i'd had with them in a long time
i was surprised at how good it turned out to be, and we didnt have to wait in line to do anything because it wasnt crowded at all.
the kids were so well behaved and we even got a little christmas shopping done after we finished up at the exhibit.
and the drive is beautiful!!! that by itsself was worth it for me.

i accidentally left my camera at home, so i didnt get any pictures unfortunately.

as we were loading up that morning, colby and molly were messing with each other (they do that A LOT!), and i said
me: "if ya'll cant get along, we're not going today. i dont want to spend the day with you if you're going to fight and argue with each other."
colby: "we just have to get all our misbehaving out of our systems before we leave. then we'll be good."
and they were!! i dont think i had to get onto either one of them the rest of the day!

also when we were on our way there, colby blew his nose in the backseat and said
colby: "ah. my brain feels much better."
me: "your brain?"
colby: "yes. when i blow my nose, it makes some more room in my brain."
me: "oh, so if your brain gets too full, you just blow your nose."
colby: "right."

rewriting the bible

i dont mean that literally. thats of course completely NOT okay to do.
colby, however, has been getting a bit mixed up with his latest memory verse.
john 3:16, a good one to know.
i wrote it on the white board in the school room and we review it each day. we start with me just saying it, then he repeats after me till eventually i can just say the first word and off he goes.
we were a day or two past the "repeat after me" stage, and i prompted him,
me: "for God..."
colby:"for God so loved the world, that He gave His only forgotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
me: "begotten"
colby: "what?"
me: "begotten, not forgotten. begotten son."
i was of course laughing, which only encourages him to keep doing it, so we had a few days of incorrect recitation. i told him tonight at bedtime that he really needs to start saying it correctly. we'll see if he remembers that tomorrow.


cinderella opened this weekend. allen came friday night with some friends of ours, then came again today with my inlaws, nephew, and the kids.
colby waved at me from the fourth row for two hours. i dont think he quite understands that i cant ackowledge him from the stage. but they enjoyed it very much. one of my closest friends is cinderella, so it helped that they know her as well. in fact, molly wouldnt pose with me for a picture, because she was more interested in having her picture taken with katie (cinderella). sigh. she's already outgrowing me.
later this afternoon i was talking with colby
me: "thanks for coming to the show, buddy."
colby: "you're welcome, mommy."
me: "did you like it?"
colby: "yeah! it was great!"
me: "what was your favorite part?"
colby: "the part where you sing your silly song."
me: "i like that part, too."
colby: "you're actually pretty funny, mommy!!"
me: "....thanks."

i'm glad my son finds me mildy humorous.

my first and favorite costume in the show

this is what i wear to the ball and for most of the show, really. the combination of cheap fabric and sweat turns my arms green. lovely.

this is the best i could get with colby after the show today.

picture with cinderella

passing gas

we've been having a lot of "toot" issues around here lately. as in , the kids, well really its colby, are discovering that their bodies do this, and theres usually an odor that follows.
i picked him up from the church childcare the other night and the teacher said that he was sitting against the wall by himself, and he said
colby: "it smells bad over here."
teacher: "why does it smell bad?"
colby: "because i tooted."

then last week i had an off night at the theatre and allen was out of town, so i took the kids up there to watch some of the other cast rehearse for the show to see how other parts were coming along. my friend katie and i were sitting there with the kids, and we smelled this really bad fishy smell. we looked at each other at the same time...
katie: "do you smell that?"
me: "yeah, its bad."
colby: "its probably the toot i just did. excuse me."
me: "its not a toot smell, colby, but thanks for owning it."

turns out the guy behind us brought his dinner in with him and there was shrimp in it, explaining the fishy smell. ick. bad choice in close quarters for those of you who may find yourself wanting to eat shrimp in a small building with other people. just sayin.

on another note, the kids have starte their extra-curriculars, so we're officially part of the "im just the chauffer" club. colbys doing swim team. well, more like prep to be on swim team. mollys doing an hour of dance, which she loves. i'll try to get some pictures of her up at some point. colbys hard to get to at his practice, as far as getting a good picture goes, but i can probably get a few of mojo.
they're getting so big!! molly turns four in november and colby turns six next month. he's lost two teeth now, and has two more loose.
we've been talking birthday party preparations and it looks like we're going to have a ballerina and bug party. they're birthdays are a week apart and for now they're still ok doing a joint party as long as they each get their own cake. looks like we'll have plenty of leftovers. which can be good or bad depending on how you look at it--and how strong my self discipline happens to be that day.

i hope everyones doing well as we enter into fall, and finally maybe perhaps start to see some cooler temperatures.
have a great weekend!!!

mollys tummy ache remedy

molly and i were laying on my bed cuddling earlier and she said
molly: "mommy, my tummy hurts."
shes been saying that a lot lately, and i selfishly didnt want her to get up, so i said
me: "maybe you should lay here and rest with me. laying down always helps my tummy feel better."
molly: "pooping helps my tummy feel better."
me: "oh. well, yeah, i guess that would do it, too."
molly: "and if its really really hurting i poop, then sleep. poop and sleep should do the trick."

so if you find yourself with a tummy ache in the future......need i say more?

making friends

first week of school!
molly started a 3-day-a-week mothers day out on wednesday at the academy at our church, and i started homeschool with colby that same day.
i love the curriculum i'm using and he's enjoying it, too, so i'm really excited about our year together!!
molly did great, too. her favorite things are playing on the playground and lunch. shes definitely allens daughter. :-)

i went saturday morning to the welcome brunch for the co-op i'll be taking colby to on fridays. he's taking three classes and i'll be helping out in a couple and teaching p.e. for the k-2nd graders. we start sept 10th.

last night when i was giving colby his bath i mentioned something about him making a lot of new friends when he starts co-op, and he said
colby: "i know how to make friends, now."
me: "you do? how?"
colby: "first, you ask them their name, which i forget to do sometimes. then, you ask them if they want to be your friend. if they say no, you just walk away, but if they say yes then you ask them if they want to play with you."
me: "what if they say yes they want to be your friend but they dont want to play with you."
colby: "well then, you ask them if they'd like to sit down and watch some t.v. with you."
me: "and what if they say no to that?"
colby: "hmm...maybe they dont want to be your friend after all."

i remember the days of running up to someone and asking "do you want to be my friend?" they usually said yes, but if i got the occasional no, i'd shrug and go try again with someone else. things were some much simpler then. i wonder what kind of reaction i'd get if i did that today. hahaha!!