Overheard: Smells

We were on our way to church when I popped a wintergreen Altoid in my mouth. This is what I heard from the back of the minivan:

F: It smells like a toilet in here!

I had quite a laugh at the fact that F was equating my mints with our toilets at home! Any guesses what I use to clean my toilets? No, not wintergreen Altoids. I like using Lysol Toilet Bowl Cleaner--it smells like wintergreen! :-)

Overheard: Baby Proofing

J is 16 months and is into EVERYTHING! Her favorite perch is in the middle of the dining room table. She can move chairs and stools to reach or get on top of about anything she puts her mind to. She thinks it's hilarious to grab someone's food off the table and shove it into her mouth as she runs away. She climbs on top of the girls' desks while they are doing homework and instantly gets into any pencils, pens, markers, crayons, or any other supplies left lower than 3 feet from the ceiling.

H: Mommy, we really need to baby proof this house!
Me: Girl, after 5 kids it's about as baby-proofed as it's going to get since we still have to live here!

Overheard: Diapers

F (almost 3) was sitting on my lap, and we were playing things like "This is the Way the Ladies Ride" and other songs. Here's a funny conversation that followed.

Me: I know, let's do "The Wheels on the Bus".
F: Mommy, do the "diapers" one!
Me: I don't think I know the "diapers" song.
F: Yes you do! The "diapers" on the bus go swish, swish, swish!
Me: (laughing) It's not "diapers", it's WIPERS! Like for the rain!
F: Oh!
Me: I don't think we would want diapers swishing on a bus, do you?
F: No, that would be really stinky!

Overheard: Anniversary

We recently celebrated our anniversary, and the girls kept wishing us a "happy anniversary" all day. Sweet little F did the best she could making sense of a word she didn't know. She kept going around all day saying,

"Happy in-your-nursery"!

Overheard: I Love You

I overheard this conversation between M (4.5 years) and F (2.5 years) as they were eating a snack:

M: F, I love you.
F: I love you too, M.
M: F, I love you more than my birthday.
F: M, I love you more than the rooftop.
M: I love you more than the moon.
F: I love you more than the sky.

(this sweet conversation continues back and forth a few more times, then evolves. . .)

F: M, I am going to go to the bathroom. Don't eat my cereal, okay?
M: Okay, I won't.
F: Make sure you don't eat it, okay?
M: I know, I won't.
F: I'm just gonna go to the bathroom and then I'll be back, so don't eat my cereal M, okay?
M: Okay! Okay! Just go, I'm tired of hearing you talking!

Ahhh, feel the love!

Overheard: Pioneers

M: (age 4, in the red bonnet)
"Mommy, I want to be a pioneer when I grow up!"

Overheard: My Heart Smiles

It makes my heart smile to hear Ted putting the girls to bed. They ask for a bedtime song, and the next thing I hear is them all singing the duet, "Lida Rose" from the Music Man. Ted sings "Lida Rose" while the girls sing "Dream of Now". Without skipping a beat, the girls launch into "Lida Rose" while Ted sings "Dream of Now." Priceless.

Overheard: Mindtrap

H pulled another new game out of our game cabinet--Mindtrap. Here is a variation we made up on one of the questions we got last night.

"Jessica and Ted have five children. Half of them are girls. How is this possible?"

Because the other half are ALSO girls!

Overheard: Scattergories

I taught H and G how to play Scattergories this week. It's been fun hearing what they come up with for answers--they often get points for creativity and thinking outside the box, which is what the game is about! Here are two of my favorite answers.

Letter J
Category--Get you from here to there
G's answer: Jesus

Letter G
Category--Heroes
H's answer: God

Overheard: Can I Have a Cell Phone?

H: Mommy, can I have a cell phone?
Me: Why?
H: The kids at school have them.
Me: Kids your age?
H: Yes.
Me: What would you use it for?
H: (shrugging) To call my friends.
Me: (trying HARD to contain myself) But you don't even call your friends from our regular phone! Do you want to call your friends? You can use our home phone, you know.
H: No thanks.

Are landlines just not cool? On a sidenote, she's homeschooled, but I sent her to summer school so she could take some fun classes (computers, art, etc), and this is what she came home with after one week, wanting a cell phone before she even turns 7. I guess it could be a lot worse. . .

Overheard: Windmills are Like Coupons

Whenever we pass windmill turbines, we explain to the girls that they are generating electricity for buildings when they are turned by the wind. Ted even dreams of having one of his own someday!

Ted: Girls, look at the windmills!
H: But they're not turning, there's no wind.
G: Does that mean there's no electricity in the buildings so they can't turn on the lights?
Ted: No, when the windmills turn, it's like "extra". (Ted went on to try to explain a couple different ways that they don't generate instant electricity, but give a "credit". They weren't getting it.)
Jessica: Girls, windmills are like coupons. When they're turning, the people in the buildings save money on electricity.
H&G: Oh, that makes sense!

Everything comes back to coupons with me! :-)

Overheard

Ted and H had the following conversation the other day:

Ted: You are growing up so fast, you know that?
H: I can't go any slower, Daddy.

No truer words. . .

Overheard

G needed some new socks, so I was looking online at Amazon to see if I could use some of the free gift cards I have earned from Swagbucks. The following conversation ensued:

G: What are you doing, Mommy?
M: I'm trying to find some socks to buy for you.
(pause for precious child thought processes)
G: Mommy, if you buy my socks on the computer, do they print out of the printer?

Overheard

When we were visiting my family, my sister and I took the kids to a rodeo. It was getting late and my sister was explaining that we had to leave because it was a school night for my nephew.

H: What's a school night?

Only from a child who is homeschooled. :-)

Overheard

We passed a limousine last night and pointed it out to the kids.

H: Wow, that guy must have A LOT of kids. 'Cause if he has such a big car, it must be FULL of kids!

Overheard

We were having dinner the other night and a conversation started about the salad dressing.

Me: G, would you like some French or Ranch on your salad?
G: French. Why is it called French?
Ted: Some things are called French because they come from France. French dressing, french fries, french bread. . .
H: French toast!
Ted: Yes. You know what else? People in France speak French. People in Spain speak Spanish.
H: So who speaks Ranch?

Overheard

I was drinking tea at my in-laws' cottage last weekend when H noticed my mug.

H: Mommy, why does your mug say, "No. I cook?"
Me: What?
H: Your mug says, "No. I cook." What is that supposed to mean?

Why is the word "number" abbreviated as no., anyway?

You ate what?

Me: G, what did you have for snack at preschool?
G: I had a "Babyloney" sandwich! (pronounced like a combo of Babylon and baloney)
Me: (trying not to laugh) You had a what?
G: A "Babyloney" sandwich. You know, with meat, and cheese, and lettuce!

Locusts

We learned about tapping maple trees for sap to make syrup, but we don't have any maple trees that we can tap, which prompted the following conversation.

T: Hey H, do you think we could get any sap out of our locust tree?

H (laughing): No!

T: Well if we tap it, do you think we'd get locusts out of it?

H: If we got any locusts out of it, then I would probably want John the Baptist to come over here!

T (laughing): Why?

H: Because then John the Baptist could eat them all up with honey!

J (laughing): H, you're awesome!

H: Well, if John the Baptist wasn't here, then there would be locusts everywhere!

Can't argue with that logic!

Someday...

The other day at lunch I told the girls I was making more yogurt and bread. They started talking about when they could learn how to make things in the kitchen. H decided she'd make the yogurt, G could load the breadmaker, M would mix the honey in the yogurt, and F could set the table (that one might have to wait awhile!). After they divided up the jobs (only in discussion, of course!), H, the oldest said, "We'll do all the jobs and then you can relax, Mommy!" Aahhh, what a day that will be! :-)