all the funny things...

these little people i live with say the funniest things.

helping henry learn to read has been frustrating on occasion. things are falling into place now, but we had some pretty hairy reading sessions together this summer. one day after we finished reading, lily said, 'mom, sometimes when you read with henry, you sound like mother gothel.' (you have to have seen Tangled to understand why that was a jagged little pill to swallow :)

several nights ago we had a magical summer thunderstorm. the kids danced outside 'til they were absolutely soaked (and drenched with delight, too). at one point henry came running in and said, 'mom, if you come outside right now i can give you a sweet mohawk in your hair!' i declined the mohawk, but nate and i did go out to frolic with the kids. and smooch in the rain. we have some pretty special moments in our love-history that happened in the rain :)

packin up to run away

a few weeks ago the kids packed up henry's dog sled (i'll have to tell you the story behind the dog sled - it is so darling) with a huge assortment of their belongings and announced that they were running away. they weren't mad. it wasn't mutiny or rebellion...they just thought it would be fun to run away. i loved it when henry took a little piece of paper with his name, address, and phone number and tied it around his neck with red yarn..."just in case we get lost, someone will know where to bring us," he assured me.

a few days ago i let the kids get some chocolate milk when we went to the grocery store. henry ran to the big fridge at the back of the store and grabbed 2 little bottles. i didn't even look at them 'til we got home and when I was pulling them out to pour the kids a glass of milk, i realized that henry had grabbed mocha milk - frappuccinos, essentially. "darn!" i lamented. "this isn't chocolate milk, it's coffee milk - we're not going to drink these. maybe we can go back to the store later and exchange these for chocolate milks." lily was pretty disappointed. "oh mom, it just breaks my heart that those aren't chocolate milks!"

she has us laughing daily with expressions that are a few sizes too big for her vocabulary. each time i announce that it's time for a nap she has a whole list of things she needs to do first, "homework, learn some school, take care of her babies, make a few phone calls..." and whenever she perceives the slightest injustice she tells me I'm "no fun at all!" and that I "never even let her do anysing!" she's quick to remind henry about "the rules" and to encourage him to make choices that will "help our family." she's also been using the words 'difficult' and 'impressed' a lot lately. the other day while we were doing school, she said, "henwy, i'm so impwessed wiss yow school wowk!" and i overheard her reading a book to herself this weekend, talking about how "sings (things) can be really difficowt!" sometimes i find her curled up under my desk with my phone, sneakily watching little disney video clips on youtube (she loves hakuna matata and the love song from tangled). i'm amazed at how handy she is with my iPhone - it's crazy. she adores music, loves to dance. and a lot of times when she hears a sweet, mellow song she gets snuggly with me and asks, "does this song make you a little bit sad, mom? 'cause it makes me a little bit sad." i think that's the only way she really knows to describe the soft, tender feeling music can bring. we have a pretty lullaby version of "i am like a star shining brightly" (lily loves it) and whenever it comes on she tells me longingly that she wishes she could "sing pwetty like dat lady."

especially dear (to me) is the way she reminds us at every prayer to pray for a baby in our family. even when we're dining away from home, in mixed company, if a blessing is being said over the food, she reminds whoever is praying to "please bless a baby in our family."

as i'm sitting here typing this, the kids are in bed. they share a room and they have the funniest little conversations before they nod off to sleep. (the conversations have been longer lately since we got rid of binky (lily) & blankey (henry) and they have a harder time falling asleep without those little comforts.) just a minute ago i heard lily ask, "henwy, what do you want to sink about dat's happy so we don't have bad dweams?"
and henry said, "maybe you could think about fancy nancy. and how cool her room is. and i can think about what i want to build with my new tools and the wood from brother beckenhauer's shop." so sweet.

these two! little darlings. little pals. we hit the kid jackpot.