Stop and smell the flowers!

While glancing at my planner, I am quickly reminded that before long, the beauty of the warm, sunny, summer days will soon be over.

Earlier this week I was on my way to check the garden. As I hurried along at a rather brisk pace, Emilee ran up beside me.

"Momma, smell this pretty flower," she said.

For a brief moment, I contemplated uttering, "Honey, I don't have time. Momma's in a hurry."

But, I didn't.

My quick pace came to a complete halt. I knelt down, looked into her precious, innocent eyes, leaned forward and took a deep fulfilling breath.

Once again, she nurtured my soul.

Thank you, sweetheart. Momma needed that, I thought to myself.

At that moment, I was reminded that the time I have been given with my children will soon be a distant memory, just as these summer days. Summer will end and crisp, autumn mornings will arrive to greet us.

Don't let the precious moments that fill your life pass you by.

Stop and smell the flowers.

You will be glad you did!

Out of the Mouth of Babes: Austin

While going through his clothes today, downsizing, Austin said:

I have seven pairs of underware. That is enough for seven weeks.

After laughing, I asked him if he meant days. He said no.

Oh, Boy!

Oh, my....

And so, the joys of parenting have come through yet again.

I was about to start dinner when Austin came running up to the house.

Mom, Katelyn said a bad word!

After further investigation, it was determined that she did, indeed say a bad word!

A bad word!

The kids were playing a game where the town was full of dinosaurs. Austin and Katelyn lived in the mountains. Apparently, there was an old man who also lived in the mountains. Austin asked the old man for food. This must have irritated the old man. He didn't want to give any food to the kids and yelled out at the kids. Since there really was no old man (or dinosaurs, for that matter), Katelyn decided that she would be the voice for the old man. And so, she yells out at the kids as the old man...

Bastards!

Now, I have no clue where she heard this word! When I questioned her on where she heard it, she said

When we had cable, it was on Spongebob.

Thank Goodness we've dropped the cable.
Unfortunately, we've also dropped the ball. *sigh*

Good News!

This week has been filled with good news.

The kids are on the mend with the exception of Katelyn. Her sickness has passed but we think she may have a UTI. Poor baby girl!

I'm feeling much better as far as the strep. Now I just wish the GI issues would shape up or ship out! (no pun intended)

Jonathon learned the proper use for a whoopie cushion this weekend. Cute, yes. Thank goodness he's only three.

Next week is spring break for me with my college classes. I can use the break.

My EMT Academy is only a couple weeks away from being complete. It's hard to believe that the end is in sight already. I've really enjoyed this class.

I had a job interview on Tuesday. It went very well and I left there feeling very positive. Today, I received another phone call asking me to return tomorrow for a peer interview (with the coworkers). I'll be doing that tomorrow morning. I'm hoping it goes as well as the first two have gone.

I have an exciting opportunity that lies ahead of me. I'm going to discuss it tonight with a friend to get a better grasp on it and see which direction I should go. It's there for me to grab, I just have to take hold and move forward.

Today, I landed two tickets to Sylvia Browne here at the Soaring Eagle Casino. I know that some people are against what she does but I am a firm believer and truly am intrigued by her work. I have wanted to see her for quite some time. It just so happens that my birthday is the day before so these will be a birthday gift for me! :D I'm taking my mom with me. I can't wait!

The sun is shining, the weather is warming up, and the kids are outdoors cleaning up the yard and doing their chores. All is good here!

I'm about to start dinner and then head out for a while before I receive a phone call that could change things for us.

Until then, here is a conversation between Jacob, Austin and I. It's quite amusing...

Jake: Mom, why don't you ever have any money?

Me: What do you mean?

Jake: When Dad gives you money, you never have any left.

Me: Well, I use that money for the things like groceries and stuff we may need.

(Austin pipes in...)

Austin: Mom gets the NEEDS, not the wants.

Jake: Mom gets the wants though too.

Austin: No dad does!

Jake: No, Mom does!

Austin: No, Mom and Dad get the wants!

**We sure do kids...we sure do!***

Have a great day everyone!

Suck it up, Butt Cake!

The other day, Emilee had tried to copy something she heard us say earlier in the week. The only problem; however, is that she didn't hear us correctly. So, instead of "Suck it up, Cupcake" she said, "Suck it up Butt Cake!" It was one of those moments that you just had to be here to appreciate. :)

Another one of those moments was watching a friend of mine, while sitting with my inlaws, try to utter an explaination to her daughter who asked what "this means" (as she did the hand gesture for "Doing it", you know, the way we might have done when we were in middle school). I'm not sure who was more shocked, my friend or myself. My inlaws just giggled as we tried to let her know that it was an inappropriate gesture.

Things here are settling down. It's taking a while, but I think my blood pressure is starting to decrease and my mood is beginning to improve. Today has been one of the better days in the past week. It has been a difficult and extremely stressful week but I am thinking that we are now on an upswing.

Today, we worked on cleaning the house, doing the laundry and making sure wood was cut and stacked. It took most of the day but it was so worth it. I love looking at a kitchen with clean counters and clean floors! I mopped all the floors the old fashioned way, on my hands and knees! My hands are dry from the cleaning solution and my back is sore but the look and smell of clean floors makes it worth it.

Tonight I had my ER orientation. I'm pretty excited about the ER clinicals. I'm also a little nervous too! Afterwards, my hubby met myself and three other classmates and we all went for a burger. We shared some interesting stories, had plenty of laughs and enjoyed our time out. It gave us two hours of time together which we needed!

The past two days I've been spending researching different options for my future. I'm feeling "burnt out" with school. I'm becoming more frustrated with the RN programs which is causing me to just want to "give up" on my goals. So, I've spent some time reevualating my goals and looking at what called me to the nursing field to begin with. I want to help people. And so, after talking with my hubby and several people, I realized that maybe I needed a change of pace. I have no doubt that my calling is still to help people. I still believe that medicine is where I belong. However, for now, I am going to try another route until I can resubmit my application. As I continue with my EMT academy, I am looking into the Sonography (General, Cardiac or Vascular) and Radiology programs too. I've checked the classes needed and I had nearly every single one already. Applications for the program are due Jan 31st and I would begin in May, if accepted. This would give me about a month off after ending my EMT academy before starting classes again.

So, maybe I need to continue with EMS, allowing myself the opportunity to help others and fufill the calling I feel I have, while pursuing Sonography or Radiology. Maybe I wasn't meant to be a nurse afterall. Or at least, not right now! During our orientation tonight, we were introduced to a "newly licensed nurse" who worked as a tech for ten years before getting his nursing degree! So who knows, maybe someday I'll get there.

Something else I wanted to add... Have you ever had a conversation with someone about something that, at the time, didn't ring any bells? Last Friday, I went in for some cardiac testing. I had an Echo done by a woman who told me she had been doing Cardiac Sonography for the last five years. She went on to say that she had been going to nursing school, moved and dropped out. She then later became interested in Sonography and pursued her present career. She said she loves her job! Near the end of the Echo, I shared with her that I had been trying to get into the Nursing program and was currently in EMT Academy. She wished me luck and I went on my way. It wasn't until I had come home, checked an email from a friend a day later and realized that maybe this was the sign I had asked for previously.

Maybe it is...maybe not. In the mean time, I need to keep my focus on what I feel my true calling is. To help others.

Just so I remember...

This weekend during the flood big rain storm, I made the kids wear ponchos. When I went to grab the umbrella, Emilee said:
"Momma, why do you need the umbrella? You already have a pan-cho on."



Jonathon loves to yell for the boys at football. This weekend, it was:
"Go Awnin" (Austin)

When asked what his name is, he says "J R"

His vocab is just exploding. I love it!!



Katelyn was sitting at the table tonight when she said:
"I don't remember what it's like at the races. I know that they give you tickets and stomp your hand." :) Can I have that job please?

But why?

What do you get when you mix a drenching rain and a curious two year old?

Give up?

I bet you're about to say a wet muddy toddler. Am I right?

Wrong!

How about a giant puddle of water intended for nothing other than drinking from.

Yes, that is exactly what I caught my two year old doing Saturday. He had ran ahead of me on the path. I turned my head away for just a second and when I turned back around, here he was laying flat on his tummy, face planted in the mud puddle, lapping up the water like an animal.

His new theme right now is to pretend to be a cat.

I was able to squeal "Jon-a-thon" but not before the people behind me witnessed his trick. The upside is that they thought he had fallen into the mud puddle. When I explained that he was drinking out of it rather than having fallen, they giggled. ALOT! I, on the other hand, reminded JR that we had juice back in the truck to drink and quickly walked away motified.

This child is such a pistol.

Enlighten me...

We beat it into their heads teach children to never place a plastic bag over their head as it is a suffication hazard. Yet, we try to encourage them to wear a giant monkey suit poncho in the middle of a downpour.

Does that make any sense at all?

This weekend, I had to convince the kids that it was okay to cover our heads with these giant pieces of plastic.

Even so, we still looked like drownded rats.

Check Jonathon out in his monkey suit poncho.



"Go Austin, GO!"

What do you get when...

You have one toilet and three boys who have full bladders?

Give up?

As much as I'd like to say I heard this joke from someone else, I can't. This evening, my nephew is over. After sending the boys to bed, I started hearing some ruckus. I went upstairs to see what was going on when I was met by three very guilty looking boys.

And then, the stare began. Me at them. Them at me. Back and forth, their eyes darted. Who was going to be the one to tell me what was going on.

Stepping forward was Austin who exclaimed, "Mom, the boys peed on me!" Stunned, and shaking my head side to side, I asked him to repeat himself. Again, he said, "Mom, the boys peed on me!" As quick as he could repeat his statement, denials came flying from the other two boys' mouths.

In the end, I had to remind them that it doesn't matter how many boys have to use the bathroom. There is a limit of one boy per bathroom rule. Surely, if one boy can't use the restroom without spraying the tank, floor, wall or seat making a mess, neither can three boys!

So, the answer to my question is... a wet leg!

Apparently the two boys on the outside tried to look away and miscalculated their aim. In turn, the boy in the middle (Austin) ended up with a wet leg!

Singing in the rain....

As posted last night, we all gathered around our firepit for one last time. Off in the distance we heard thunder and started seeing the flash of lightening. Knowing we were about to be rained out, Tim grabbed a bag full of what we thought was cardboard and paper. He threw it on the fire, turned around, and suddenly, "Singing in the rain....I'm singing in the rain" starts playing. Emilee bursts into tears because we threw her toy in the fire! What were we to do? For a good 15-20 seconds, this toy is singing in the fire.

Lesson for the day: When you tell your child they can keep their broken toy and that you'll file it in the circular file, make darn sure she's not there when you decide to burn the circular file.

A wave of emotions

Eleven years ago, I was a very pregnant twenty year old, first time Mother. My toes and fingers looked like sausages. My legs and ankles were double their normal size. My belly, stretched to the limit, as it safely cradled my first born child. Little did I know that I would soon be hooked up to monitors and medications as we forced our son out of the safely of my womb and into this, at times, harsh world. Jacob, born June 3, 1997, weighed 6lb 9oz. Eleven years later, he's about 80 pounds heavier.

To read about what led up to Jacob's birth and his birth story, please visit this page.

Tonight, I sit here remembering the ride of parenthood I've been on over the past 11 years, my emotions wash over me. Bittersweet is one word that pretty much sums it up. Knowing that my son is just seven years away from graduation, being an adult, and could quite possibly chose to move out from under our wings, has my heart feeling sad, honored, humble, and very scared. So tonight, I'll spend some time remembering some of the wonderful things we've experienced together the past eleven years.

My handsome Son,
Tonight, as I sit here thinking about the past eleven years, tears stream down my face. You have changed my life in so many ways. I know you can't remember much of your early years. I, however, do. I remember the fear of the unknown. The uncertainty of being a young married couple of just 19 months and adding the pressures of parenthood on top of it. The anxiety of what I was about to have to go through and how it would change my life. I remember the crowd of people who gathered to be with Daddy and I while I was in labor. The several family members that joined us for your birth and shortly thereafter. I remember your Uncle Mike being there waiting to meet you, biting down on his first finger as I labored through contractions. I remember the look in his eyes the first time he saw your face. Eleven years later, Uncle Mike still doesn't have children of his own. Maybe watching you come into the world was enough to scare him out of fatherhood. (I hope not!! Since he just got engaged, maybe he's warming up to the idea of a little "Mike" running around)

I remember your Daddy's Niece, Lorene, meeting you the first time (and breaking her ankle while she was off chasing your Uncle Mike up and down the hospital stairs while I was in labor). Here she is, expecting her second baby boy just three days after your birthday. Daddy's other Niece, Wendi, is in the hospital today having her first baby. So many little ones born around the same day you were.

I remember feeling so proud knowing that your Daddy and I created such a handsome, healthy baby boy. You were perfect. I remember being honored that the Lord chose us to be your parents. We were so overjoyed.

I think back through the years and remember all of the things we used to do together. One of the memories that stands out is taking you to Uncle Mike's baseball games. I remember packing every single thing I thought we might need over the next two hours, cramming it all into a tiny Winnie the Pooh bag. Well, it actually was quite a large bag, just overstuffed with unnecessary items. Your playpen, toys, food and even the little bottles of lotion and baby wash went with us. Looking back, I laugh at how much I over prepared for our outings. I realize now that I had so much to learn.

Through the years, you were our only pride and joy. Just two months before your third birthday, you became a big brother. You have been a fantastic big brother over the years as you've watched us bring home your four siblings. You amaze me at how loving and nurturing you can be to them. Of course, sibling rivalry rears it's ugly head at times too.

The first day you started school was another life changing event in our lives. It was the first time we had to learn to let you go. Bit by bit, you have pulled away a little further from us. This past year, we have watched you enter middle school. The transition was been rocky at times. You're learning your own way, making many of your own choices, and dealing with the consequences that result from those choices. You've talked about classmates having girlfriends, had your heart broken when those who you called friends turned their backs to you, and have suffered hurt feelings after you've been picked on by others. With each passing year, you have grown and we, as parents, have grown too.

As we all travel on this journey and approach your teenage years, we strive to raise you to be a respectable, self sufficient, honorable young man. It has become obvious that you have a strong will to speak your mind as well as express just how much you know, that we don't. We want to encourage you to continue with your strong will and voice your thoughts as long as you remember to be respectful and understanding. While we won't always see eye to eye, you can always rely on us to love you unconditionally, forever.

So tonight, Jacob, my hopes are that you may have another year filled with wonderful memories that last a lifetime. I pray that you will always feel our love pouring over you. May you always know that you can come to us with anything, about anything, anytime.

Thank you for being you. Thank you for teaching us even more new things over the past year. Thank you for doing all the things you do that make us laugh, smile and even cry. You continue to amaze us each and every day. We love you, Jacob.

Happy 11th Birthday, Buddy.

Love,
Mom & Dad


** I just found this in one of my older journals:
Wednesday, April 20, 2005: I love it!! I just heard the kids playing (the boys) and Jacob said, "This is the fire truck that takes people to the hos-ti-ble"

A bit of everything!

I'm sorry I haven't updated. It seems that the last few days my mind was flooded with so many thoughts and emotions. I've thought about many things lately and had some time to reflect as well. Instead of getting all sappy tonight, I'll just share what our last few days have been like here.

Saturday I had class bright and early at 8AM. A quiz and Exam later and I was on my way home to go to bed. I didn't sleep Friday night so that I could stay up studying. Believe me, by 10AM, I was exhausted. I came home and slept eight hours! Saturday evening we spent time with some of our best friends. We (the other wife) and I went shopping L-A-T-E in the evening for a birthday gift. While there, we found some Easter items 75% off. One item I found was this carrot "bat" and ball set. I thought for .35, what the heck. I was sure Jonathon would enjoy beating up his siblings with it it. Who would have thought the adults would enjoy it more! We chased eachother, running circles in the house. We wrestled around trying to proclaim victory. And we woke up the children because we were too rowdy! OOPS! It's okay, I promised her pancakes the next morning! And yes, I was held to it even though we didn't get to bed until nearly 5am! Ah, to feel young again!

Sunday was a lazy day for me. I watched the race until I fell asleep half way through it. When I woke up, we went grocery shopping, grabbed dinner, came home and put the kids to bed.

Monday morning was a dental visit. Lots of money and four appointments to correct all that is needed is to follow. Not a good day for my mouth or my pocketbook!

Tuesday was Microbiology.

Wednesday was an optical visit. My eyesight has continued to worsen yet again. It's amazing how much we take our eyesight for granted. I've been told it is now in the severe myopia stage. Let's hope this progression comes to a halt sooner rather than later.

This afternoon, I decided to go outdoors with the kids and blow off some steam. We raked leaves for two hours. Scratch that, I raked leaves for two hours. They hauled piles on sleds to the dumping location! We came inside, showered, put PJ's on and had Mac n Cheese for dinner. Then it was time for bed. At 7:33pm, Jonathon laid his head on the pillow. At 7:35pm, he was snoring. Tired boy! Emilee soon followed crashing in the chair before 8pm. The fresh air and exercise did them good!

And before I slip into bed myself, let me share with you a couple funny "out of the mouth" stories.

4/1/08: Riding home from Austin's concert (will post about that tomorrow).
Katelyn: "I saw it on TV"
Me: "What did you see on TV, honey?" (Thinking of all the horrible things she could have seen.
Katelyn: "Well, there was these cops that had donuts and they dunked them into their coffee."
And before I could say a word...
Austin: "Yeah, Cops do that all the time, Katelyn."
I just kept on driving...

4/2/08: Bathtime
Emilee: (out of shower, drying off) That's a pee-thing. (pointing to Jonathon)
Me: No honey, that's Jonathon's penis.
Emilee: Yeah, his peenis.
Jonathon pipes in now with some word that your not able to distinguish.
Emilee: "No, penis"
Jonathon says something again...
Emilee: Peeenis (getting more agitated)
Jonathon says something else...
Emilee: (Clearly ticked off) It's your PENIS Jon-a-fin
Me: Trying desperately not to laugh.
Jonathon: Ahem, has discovered his manhood and is clearly very interested in it.
Emilee: (Has finally had enough and yells) Jon-a-fin, stop playing with your penis!

Oh boy! I nearly had to leave the room! Sometimes your just not prepared for what will come out of a childs mouth!

A recent Austin "funny"....well, as long as it's not directed at you! As we sat watching another reality show, Austin turns to me and says, "Mom, would you like to be on this show?" I clearly wasn't thinking because I muttered, "Yep" because you know, reality shows, the opportunity of winning money, well why not. Right? Uhh, wrong! Especially when your watching "The Biggest Loser" After hearing my "yep" Austin said, "I bet you'd lose some weight." *sigh* Sometimes you just have to love them.

Or my sweet little best friends daughter niece who tells me yesterday, "Aunt Becky, Your a princess." And after a short pause yells, "April Fools!" Little stinker! Speaking of, I took some pretty awesome photos of her this past weekend and suprised her parents with a photo poster 16 x 20. Then I left the proofs in two photo books so they could show off their little princess.

Jonathon's new words are "K" (okay) "Why" "What" "wuv ew" (love you) "ow" (ouch) "my spot" (as he's stealing Dad's seat) "Dog dog" (what he calls our dog) "Cat" (he screeches if he sees one of the cats) He's puttering as he pushes the hotwheels, tractors and anything else with wheels on it. He's a big daddy's boy. Loves his Aunt & Uncle and will do anything to pick on them. "Zip zip" is what he says when it's time to zip his coat. But beware, if you're top or bathrobe happen to have a zipper, be prepared to have yourself exposed. Yep, Momma experienced that first hand when he unzipped my robe half way in front of others! Little turkey. He's growing up so fast. It's bittersweet actually. He is doing things in his own time but clearly taking his time on his talking. His pediatrician said he will begin to excel but because he was so premature, we must give him a little extra time. In the past month, his vocabularly has exploded. He's talking nonstop, some you can understand and some you can't. He'll get there.

Well, I'm babbling. Meds have kicked in, eyes are heavy and my little guy is stirring. Need to run.

Have a great week!

That's one way...

We've taken the girls' bed down so we can get their room ready for the new one. As we're cleaning, Katelyn says,

"We need a bed in here so we can put stuff under it."

I told her,

"That's one way to make sure you clean your toys up then, isn't it? To take your bed away."

She replied with,

"We like to hide things under our bed so we don't have to clean so much."

I laughed and said,

"I know Katelyn. Mommy did the same thing when she was a kid."

I didn't tell her I still put things under the bed. *smile*

Stumping... Out of the mouth (Emilee)

Katelyn, being the typical hormonal six year old, decided she would sling a little attitude my way. (Where she got that, I have no idea)

She huffs off towards her room and Emilee (with hand on hip) says:

She keeps stumping her feet! She's going to wake up Daddy.

I said,

"Well, she better stop stumping her feet or she's going to be putting her nose on the wall."

Austin follows with:

"What if she turned into a tree?"

Crazy children, I tell you!

Hatching Eggs! Out of the mouth of babes...Jacob

While riding home from town:

Jacob: Hey Mom, did you know that you know who your Mom and Dad are before you are ever born?

Me: Really? How?

Jacob: Well, after you hatch out of the egg, you can hear your mom and dad's voices while your in your moms stomach.

Me: Oh? So you have to hatch out of the egg first?

Jacob: Yeah, but you can still hear while inside your moms stomach.

So, there you have it. The "birds and the bees" in the words of a ten year old.

Out of the mouth of babes!

Yesterday, we took Austin to find some new jeans. The kid is growing like a weed. While looking for pants, Austin and I have the following conversation:

Austin: Mom, you need to buy me some new party clothes.
Me: Party clothes? For what?
Austin: You know. A funeral.

Not exactly my kind of party, Son.

Everyone still seems healthy here (whew). Looks like there could possibly be a delay for the kids tomorrow morning with the dense fog that has moved into the area. We shall see.

Tomorrow I have my first Microbiology Lab exam. Hopeful for a good grade.

Still no progress on the bathroom. I'll have to get some photos soon to document the before/after. Of course, we will need to repaint, especially since my dear nephew decided to hang from our towel holder and ripped it out of the wall. *gasp* Of course, I can't repaint with everyone all shut inside so that will have to wait until a bit later in the spring. We really need to repaint the entire house but I'm not sure I'm ready for that challenge yet. EEKS! :) Maybe this summer. We shall see. We need to get the family room painted and the trim finished up.

Oh, in case anyone is interested, the local Target stores have the baseball/softball/teeball gloves (kids, adults) and the "cups" for the boys clearanced out. I was able to snag a mitt for Austin for $4.98 and one for Jacob for $9.98 (reg. 39.99). The "cups" were under $3.00 (with supporter). I know that baseball starts here shortly and for those prices, I could pick them up and it'd be okay even if they decided not to play.

Also, Meijer stores had their winter jackets 75% off (girls jackets 9.xx and boys 6.xx) They also ended up scanning buy one get one half off the clearanced price. With five children, I'm constantly looking for the "great" buys. So, the girls and Jonathon have winter coats for next year! Wooo hoo! (As well as two other little ones I bought for).

I'm going to hit the pillow now I think. I have been staying up way too late for the past few weeks and it's really wearing me out! So...off to bed I go. Have a great day!
-Bec

Some not so good moments...

Some not so good moments lately:

Out of the mouth of babes...
*Katelyn telling me today that she had an idea. "Maybe you should lose weight so you can be skinny." I asked her if she needed a shovel to dig her hole a little deeper! Little Stinker!! I told her that I hoped one day she had five wonderful little children who acted just like she does. Because I'm certain that at least one of them will say something similar to her! :)

Forgetting to remember to....
*Remembering that we forgot to renew the plates on both vehicles. ACK! Guess we'll be doing that tomorrow and paying the late fees!

Sleep...I need more sleep
*Having to get up for an 8am Chem class on Saturday morning. Went to bed at 4:30am, up at 7:00am.

Another out of the mouth...

While chatting with the kids the other day, Katelyn was telling me about a girl in her class that had been absent for quite some time. She went on to tell me that her teacher said the young girl was at the doctors because she was trying to lose weight. This caught my attention. I said to her, "Is she chubby?" Katelyn said, "Chubby? What's chubby?" Before I could reply, Austin says, "Wide? Is she wide?" Silly boy!!

"I am going to have..."

Emilee: "I'm going to have a stripper party. Not a slide party."

Dad: "Can I come?"

Em: "Sure! There will be Happy Birthday at my stripper party too."

I'm curious to know who planned this little party because it sure wasn't me! And I am trying to figure out what she might have been trying to say instead of stripper.... Sticker? Maybe!

How do you really feel?

So, I hesitated whether or not to share this story with you all but I just had to. Ever had one of those moments when your child says something that catches you totally off guard? Perhaps they choose to say it at the most inappropriate time or it's their choice of words that make you cringe. Regardless, most parents go through this senerio at one time or another. So it's in that kind of spirit that I share this story with you. Parent to parent.

Last night, as we were cleaning up and getting ready for bed, Emilee decided she was going to take a break. This is when I heard the following take place:

"I need to call my friend." I hear her chattering away on the phone and she appears to be getting her panties in a wad about something. As she argues with her imaginary friend on the pretend cell phone, I continue cleaning up toys. Suddenly, her words stopped me dead in my tracks. And she says....

"Well, YOU is always pissin ME off!"

I gasped, which caught her attention. I called her over to me and we spoke the following conversation.

Me: Emilee, what are you doing?
Em: Talking to my friend.
Me: Who?
Em: My friend, Kennedy.
Me: What did you have to say to her?
Em: Nuttin
Me: Did you just tell her she was pissing you off?
Em: Never mind. (as she tries to hide her face)

And that was where Momma and Emilee had to sit down to talk.

Just another reason we must censor what the children see and hear. They absorb everything just like a sponge. Eventually, they will spill it out. I'm just thankful that we had nobody to witness her little episode today. Well, except each of you now! :)

I remember all too well the time I took Jacob into the dressing room with me when he was a youngster. I was sprouting that fabolous postpartum-jiggly-belly-thighs-and-buns look and all I wanted was just one outfit that would make me feel normal again. You know, because the tent style was just no longer cutting it! So, off we go leaving baby brother at home with Dad. As we are in the dressing room, I literally poured myself into tried on this must be a toddler sized shirt. I turned around to look in the mirror when I see this little boy staring right back at me. He looked a bit confused but spoke so clearly. As loud as he could, he says "Momma, I think that shirt would fit better if you lost a little bit of weight!"

Of course, I couldn't have been the only one there to hear his honest, yet painful words. Oh no, the entire dressing room had to be full. And as I stood there holding back tears, I could hear the gasps, snickers and giggles of several other women who surrounded us. Somehow, I managed to utter, "Your right Son."

So tell me, what little (ahem) stories have you been exposed to by your children?