Knickerdoodles

Aden (6 years, 3 months)

The kids often ask questions about sports team names like, "What is a Laker?" "What is a Jazz?" etc. When they asked what a Knick was we did what we often do and got online to find out. The term "Knickerbockers" traces its origin to the Dutch settlers who came to the New World - and especially to what is now New York - in the 1600s. Specifically, it refers to the style of pants the settlers wore...pants that rolled up just below the knee, which became known as "Knickerbockers", or "knickers". 

Well, a few days later Uncle Ralph was quizzing the boys and when he asked Aden what a "Knick" was Aden said, "I know, I know, Knickerdoodles!" And yes, we had recently made Snickerdoodle cookies. =)

Swans and Moths

Aden (6 years, 3 months)

Aden: "Mommy, come quick. There is a swan in the backyard...a baby swan!"

Me: "A swan?"

Aden: "Yeah, come see it!"



A swan, a moth...you know.

"I love Lulu the most!"

Aden (5 years, 9 months)

I was giving Aden a pep talk today about the new baby. He is very excited but is quite determined to have another little sister. I explained to him that God knows what's best for our family and that might mean us having a little boy. Aden was insistent and said that we needed another girl because he loved Elizabeth so much and wanted another sister just like her. I said, "But you love Boozie (Jonathan)...wouldn't it be fun to have another brother like him?" And he said, "But I love Lulu (Elizabeth) the most of everyone!" And I said, "You don't love her more than us, you love her differently than you love the rest of us." He said, "No, I love her the most!"

What can I say, he adores his little sister! He is so tender with her and treats her like a princess (well, most of the time!)

Come Tuesday we'll either have an ecstatic little boy on our hands or one who will need to adjust his expectations a bit! Pray for him! =)

Ladder Ball

Aden (5 years, 3 months)

While playing "Ladder Ball" on our camping trip I caught Aden trying to climb up the pvc frame. I said, "Aden that's not meant for climbing honey, get down." He said, "If you're not supposed to climb it then why is it called "ladder ball"?" =)

My Thoughtful Boy

Aden (5 years)

A couple of weeks ago Daniel and the boys headed out on Saturday morning to go to the Home Depot Kids Workshop. They got two miles down the road when the van broke down. They had to wait for AAA to come tow it and since Sissy's car seat was in the van Dave had to go and retrieve them all from the side of the road. All that to say, the morning hadn't gone as planned and here we were an hour and a half later and Daniel and the boys still hadn't left for Home Depot. Aden decided at that point that he wanted to stay home. Surprisingly, Jonathan still wanted to go with Daddy. Usually he's the homebody who chooses to stay home with Mommy when Aden goes off to do this and that with Daniel. I think the fact that the Home Depot project was a race car may have pulled some weight in his decision. =) Anyway, Home Depot is about 45 minutes away and we always have toys and books in the van to keep the kids occupied on the drive. Since Daniel and Jonathan were taking the Corolla instead I ran in the house to get Jonathan a couple of books to read in the car. Just as they were getting ready to pull away Aden came running out of the house with Jonathan's favorite space shuttle, and said, "Here Boozie. You can take this." A smile spread across Jonathan's face and he said, "Thanks Aden." This simple act of kindness left such an impression on me. I'm not sure why. Maybe because it was clear that it was done simply out of a love for his brother...

Fun with Calculators

Aden (4 years, 11 months), Jonathan (3 years, 5 months), Elizabeth (16 months)
Last month when my mom was here visiting she bought the boys calculators at Walmart. They were only 50 cents each...what a deal! Well, for two weeks straight they followed us around the house with calculators in hand asking, "What number is this?" with 685,987,431 showing on the screen followed by, "And what number is this?"... 754,999,012. It was great fun. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective) Lizzie got a hold of them and bit all the rubber numbers off and ate them. Yes, ATE them. I was finding red calculator buttons in her poopy diapers for a week straight! So, I'm thinking we'll re-introduce calculators when the boys have learned a little about place value and numbers (and can answer their own "what number is this?" questions) and once Elizabeth gets past the "bite, chew, and swallow everything" stage. =)

"A" is for Aden

Aden (5 years)
A couple of days before Aden's birthday we noticed that a roadside shrub had climbed a nearby pole and wire creating an "A" with it's leaves and flowers. We (my Dad, Carla, and I) got real excited and pointed it out to the kids and said something like, "Isn't that neat, Aden...the flowers grew and made and "A" just in time for your birthday! What a fun present!" (To add to the excitement, the flowers were orange...his all-time favorite color!) Note: these pictures were taken a week + after that and as you can see, the "A" is starting to grow into an "N" but when we saw it for the first time, it definitely looked like an "A"! Anyway, a few days after his birthday we drove by and Aden asked why the "A" was still there. Somewhat confused I asked him what he meant. He answered, "Well, I thought it was just there for my birthday and it's not my birthday anymore!" So the cute boy thought that it truly grew into an "A" JUST for his birthday. And then, because he's always got something cute to say, Jonathan chimes in with, "Yeah, when's it gonna be a "J"?"

Spelling Lessons

Aden (5 years)

A couple of weeks ago I was working with Aden on spelling. We were sounding out the words/names of each of these pictures and as we'd sound it out he'd write the corresponding letters. He did a great job and did most of it correctly on his own. However, when he got to "umbrella" he wrote a "u" at the end. Makes sense...um-brel-luh...there's definitely a short "u" sound there. But I corrected him and told him that it was actually an "a". He looked at me like I was crazy! I went on to tell him that there are lots of times when English is silly and doesn't follow rules and that he needed to change it to an "a" to have it spelled correctly. He was troubled by this and said that he'd just keep it a "u" because he didn't like it with an "a" at the end. Well, I made him change it anyway but you can tell that he only half-heartedly erased the "u". Too funny!

Boys and Dolls

Aden (5 years)

Aden loves taking care of his baby. And he really does a great job of it too. He feeds her breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  He puts her down for naps, tucks her in at night, changes her diapers, and pushes her around in the stroller.
Some of my favorite related quotes:

"Mama, I put my baby down for her nap so can you be a little more quiet?" 

"My baby is almost done with her breakfast and then Lulu (Elizabeth) can use the highchair." (Never-mind that the real-live baby in the house is fussing because she's ready for some food!)

"When I'm gone will you put my baby down for a nap when you put Lulu down for her nap?" (And of course, I totally forgot...what an awful babysitter I am...and you should have seen the look of disappointment on his face when he got home and saw that his sister was sound asleep and his baby was wide awake, never having been put down for her nap!)

"I'm not a daddy, I'm a mommy!"
(in response to me telling Aden that he was "such a good Daddy")


Anyway, a couple of nights ago long after the kids had gone to bed I walked into our bedroom in search of my laundry basket and saw these two babies (one is Aden's, one is Jonathan's) tucked into their "cradle" for the night. Notice the care he took to provide a padded surface for his baby. (So THAT'S where the sofa pillows went!) He's such a sweet, tender-hearted boy and I love him so very much! He really will make a good daddy some day!

UPDATE** A few days after I posted this Aden announced that he wanted to bring his baby to preschool for show and tell. He proudly carried his baby out to the car that morning all the while I was fretting over how his classmates (the boys in particular) would respond. It turns out, ALL preschool age boys play with dolls! Ms. Connie laughed at me and said, "Are you kidding, they all (the boys included) fight over who gets to push the dollies around in the stroller!" Phew...I was preparing myself for one sad little boy upon pick-up b/c I figured he'd get teased. I'm glad to know that sweet innocence CAN still be found among 4 and 5-year olds!

Ho-wee Mowee

Aden (4 years, 8 months)

We were out on a bike ride when we passed a row of Norfolk Pines. Aden shouted, "Whoa! Ho-wee Mowee! That's a HUGE twee!"

I'd never heard him say "Holy Moly" before (and I'm not sure where he picked it up!) and I just had to laugh at his pronunciation and the expression in his voice.

I love you so so so so much...

Aden (4 years, 9 months)

Every night after the boys get their teeth brushed they come and give me goodnight hugs and kisses (aka "snuggles"). Tonight Aden said, "Mommy, I love you so so so so much I'm gonna give you extra snuggles tonight!"

I had just spent much of our family dinner time marveling at how grown up and mature he is getting so his "little boy" declaration of love for his mama was all the more special.

A Little Leaven

Aden (4 years, 9 months)

Lat night during Bible time Daniel was reading 1 Corinthians 5 with the kids. When he got to verse 6, "...Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?" he asked the boys if they knew what "leaven" was. Aden nodded his head "yes". Daniel said, "You do not." Aden said, "Yeah I do!" So Daniel said, "OK then, what's leaven?" and Aden replied, "It's a number Daddy."

Children really are precious!

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

Aden (4 years, 7 months)

Last week we made "Happy Grandparent's Day!" cards for all the grandparents. We got out the paint (all 12 bright and colorful colors!), stickers, sequins, glitter, markers, and more and set to work at making beautiful cards for "Grandpa" and "Grandma who belongs to Uncle Lucas", "Grandpa Jesse" and "Grandma who belongs to Grandpa Jesse", and "Grandpoo" and "Grammy". This was Aden's painting for "Grandpa" (I think). When he said he was finished I said, "Aden honey, don't you want to add a little more color?" he said (with conviction), "No, I like it this way. It's perfect!" He wasn't being stubborn or a quitter or anything...he just genuinely liked the way his "masterpiece" looked. Yes, beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder!

He Notices

Aden (4 years, 7 months)

Tonight I put a new floral table cloth on the kitchen table and within 5 minutes my sweet boy noticed and said, "Mama the table looks pretty!"

Bless his heart, he notices. He notices things and has the thoughtfulness to comment on them. He'll notice a small vase of flowers on the windowsill, fresh towels on the towel rack, a new blouse that I have on, clean sheets on his bed, a nicely ironed shirt, a freshly swept porch, a carefully planned meal, etc. He notices and he lets me know...usually with a sweet smile or a giggle of excitement or an expression of gratitude. What a blessing and encouragement that is to me! There's nothing quite like hearing his sweet little voice say, "Wow Mama, you did a good job!" or "That looks nice!" after having worked hard on something! In such a good way this little boy encourages me to develop more and more discipline when it comes to housekeeping. What a dear child he is!

Tennis Shoes

Aden (4 years, 5 months)

I wear tennis shoes nearly everyday because of my plantar fasciitis. Otherwise I would probably wear sandals or flip flips (a.k.a slippahs) 365 days a year. The boys wear flip flops or Crocs (or go barefoot!) and neither of them even own a pair of tennis shoes much less worn a pair of tennis shoes since we moved here. Well, lately Aden has mentioned that he would like a pair of tennis shoes. This morning he mentioned it again so Daniel asked him why he wanted a pair and Aden (in seriouness) said, "To wear to my tennis games!"

Ha! WHAT tennis games? I don't think he's ever even seen a tennis match....unless, of course, the Wii counts!

Wed Potatoes

Aden (4 years 5 months)

Today I was pushing Aden in the swing in our backyard and he said, "Mommy wook! Dere's wots of potatoes and dere wipe. I know cause Dem are wed!"

Translation: "Mommy look! There's lots of TOMATOES and they're ripe. I know because they are red!"

He's so sweet!

Pronoun Problems

Aden (4 years, 5 months)

Aden is still figuring out the whole pronoun thing...

"Where are them?"

"Them are coming over today!"

"Her is going to get it!"

"Is her going to sit in her carseat?"

The cute thing/bummer is that Jonathan initially said these correctly but after listening to his brother say them incorrectly all the time he now says them incorrectly as well!

R's and L's

Aden (4 years, 4 months)

Aden uses the "w" sound for nearly all "r" and "l" sounds. This quote is from him commenting on the view he saw from the motor-home window on our camping trip to Union Valley Reservoir in Northern California.

"Mommy, I see da wake, a wog, a wock, and da bafwoom."

Yeah, the "th" sound is a tough one too!

Early Morning Eyes

Aden (4 years, 2 months)

This morning (really early morning...the garbage trucks came at 5:15!) Aden and "Grandma" were snuggling on the couch. Aden looked at her and (simply making a statement about her eye color) said, "Grwamma, your eyes are bwue...and wed!"

Poor tired Grandma! Bless her heart...she let me go back to bed!

Getting Eaten

Aden (3 years, 9 months)

Last fall a Gardener Spider had made our back porch his home. He spun a huge web in the corner of the porch and just sat there week after week. Those who know me well know that I don't mind most bugs and I actually like spiders. This particular spider wasn't hurting anyone (they're harmless anyway) and they are pretty spectacular to look at, so I let him be. Poor Jonathan was not pleased. He DID NOT like the spider and would hesitate to walk out on the porch because of it. (In his defense, I will say that the spider was huge!) Well one day I set up lunch on the back porch and when I called the boys to the table Jonathan stopped at the slider and hesitated. He didn't want to come outside because of the spider. Aden, being the sweet big brother that he is said, "It's OK Boozie, spiders in Kauai won't eat you. Only the spiders in California will eat you. In Kauai only centipedes will eat you." (Of course he meant "bite" and he was referring to Black Widows) But the best part is that Jonathan didn't even bat an eye at the mention of getting "eaten". All he said was, "Yeah." and then be proceeded to the table to eat his lunch.

And for the record, shortly after that incident I had Daniel relocate the spider and Jonathan has been happy and carefree on the back porch since!