Discoveries

You know, I love my children.  I think they are bright and, by most standards, they really are.  My oldest daughter is very, very, book smart.  My second daughter is much more street smart.  My youngest daughter will be turning three this week, but she's already much brighter than her two older sisters were at this age.  The verdict is still out on Xander, but so far he is promising.

At any rate, my eight year old is finally old enough to have a decent conversation with her.  She has a very beautiful and insightful soul.  For example, we have a friend who is dependent on a walker and is like a grandmother to her.  When Evy, my eight year old, was the tender age of five, she wrote this beautiful poem and illustrated it.  The illustration?  It was a two paned picture where, on one side, was a little girl staring out a window admiring a spring day.  The other side was of an old woman in a wheel chair, staring out the window and admiring the fall colors.  The poem indicated it was the same woman in both panes.  The depth of her understanding amazes me for a girl of her age.  That poem made me want to cry.

However, this girl has a hard time with jokes.  The most current example was from this weekend when we went to a theme park.  She is finally big enough to ride the adult rides, so we stood in line for the newest, hottest, rollercoaster.  As we were waiting, we were comparing how scared we were.  I told her that I'd bet she was so scared that she would pee her pants.  She denied it.  Then I asked, "How do you explain the puddle in your shoe?"  The funny part:  She looked!  Me: "You had to verify whether or not you peed in your shoe???"

Good morning :)

I woke up this morning to the sound of my kids playing in their room.  As I grab my smartphone and go through my email, I hear the sweet little voice of my two year old (almost 3), Penny say from her bathroom, "Mommy, I'm out of tullet paper..."  At this point, I'm really glad she didn't mention arse cream (ICE cream, Penny).

So, I grab her a refill and when I walk in to replace it, I see a cute little bare bottom girl, wearing a leopard halter top and bright pink pants that have dropped to her ankles, and messy hair to top her off.  She looked directly at me and made an elegant motion with her hand to display the empty toilet paper roll much like the models would on The Price is Right, "See, mommy, it's all gone.  You need to replace it.  The empty one needs to come off."

This is not necessarily what I want to be doing first thing in the morning, but, in other ways, I'd rather do nothing else.  The scene was just adorable :)

Today's Serenisms

We went to the lake today, up in the mountains.  While Evy, Penny, and I were swimming in the water, Seren refused to come initially, because she couldn't see her feet at the bottom because the water wasn't clear.  Then I finally just tossed her in so she would start enjoying it.  She was swimming and having fun for the longest time.

I was sitting around the shoreline in the water and playing with Penny when Seren decided to sit on my lap.  I told her that if she was still, she could feel the fish come up and nibble on her as I felt them nibbling on me.  She sat and waited.  She felt one or two nibble on her legs and giggled.

All of a sudden she screamed, jumped out of my lap, out of the water, and accused a fish of biting on her toe.  She screamed as if she was being hunted by the very creature we all know as Jaws.  Of course, Seren has never seen the movie Jaws and, after today's experience with a teeny little fish, I don't intend to anytime soon.  I tried to convince her that it was ok to come back in and the fish wouldn't hurt her.  She screamed, "But Mommy!  Fish biting my toes is CREEPY!"  Eventually I had to throw her in the lake to clean her off and she forgot about the fish for awhile.

When we got home and unpacked the van, Seren was taking inventory of what was in the ice chest.  She said, "Mom, the sodas are getting icky.  It's because the ice is melting.  We'll have to drink them all tonight!" 

"The sodas will be fine, Seren..."

Downs' Syndrome

This is our version of Downs' Syndrome at the house of Downs:

So, as Mike was making breakfast, the kids were commenting on SmartBalance not being real butter.  The container was on the table and I commented that it tastes alot like butter because it's made with whey and milk, but also with canola and soybean oil.

Mike interjects that it includes palm oil and coconut oil...To which I counter that I didn't see it in the ingredients, which I was READING off the container...of course, I tell him that I see "Palm Fruit" and he argues that it's another name for palm oil.

Then he asks if it has vitamin B1 or B12 or B5 and I suggest that he inquires of the makers of Smart Balance whether it does and if palm oil is part of "palm fruit".

THEN Seren makes the observation that I have cheesy eggs.  Goading the Downs within her, I remark I have eggy cheese.  She insists that I have cheesy eggs...

AND, to top off breakfast, as I'm sitting there, minding my own business, trying to finish my eggs...Mike pulls a pair of the girls' panties out of the washer (as he moves the load to the dryer), holds them under my nose and exclaims, "SEE!  The carpet odor remover got rid of the peepee smell!"

I have technically been off work since Monday and on vacation through today and am supposed to go back to work tomorrow.  After the refrigerator breaking on Monday, shopping all day Tuesday for a new one, spending all of our vacation money on the new refrigerator, and spending the rest of the week sick or wiping the noses of other sick and cranky people, I think I'm ready for my "vacation" of my secular job starting tomorrow.

The Pennish/English Dictionary

In Pennish: In English:
Benchin' Convention
Elegator Elevator
Arse Cream Ice Cream

Penny: "(Gasp) We're going to Benchin'!" 
Mommy: "Yes, Penny, we're going to the convention."
Penny: "We take the elegator?  Where's the elegator?!"
Mommy: "The elevator is over there, Penny."
Evy: "And if we're good, we get ICE CREAM!"
Penny:"Arse cream?!!!"
Mommy: "ICE cream, Penny."

Welp

Seren survived her first 3 days of kindergarten.  Barely survived.  She "befriended" a boy on the first day. She came home with a scraped right knee the second day.  Today, she came home with a really banged up left knee.  I was informed that her friend pushed her down both days but the teacher saw it happen today and sent him home.  Seren proclaims his innocence.  Woe to him next week if he does it again and Seren no longer proclaims his innocence.  I'm not sure that there will be much of this "friend" left to send home.

Penny Thoughts and Humor

I was changing Xander's diaper in our minivan while Seren and Penny watched from their seats.  As I was wrapping up Xander's icky diaper and he was still "commando", Seren asked if I was going to put a new diaper on him.

I replied, "No, Seren.  I will not be putting another diaper on him.  I am going to buckle him up in his carseat and he can be just as he is the rest of the day."

"WITH SHOES!" Penny chimed in, as Seren contemplated how serious I was about Xander going without a diaper the rest of the day.

Now, the part I find interesting about Penny's comment is that I never put shoes on Xander.  Why would I?  He isn't walking yet.  So, as my 5 year old contemplated whether I would really let Xander go "commando" the rest of the day, my 2 year old recognized my sarcasm right away and immediately inserted her own sarcasm suggesting that I do something else I never do as well.  What a comical visual picture she painted with that suggestion!

On the other hand, Seren probably did recognize my sarcasm, but knows that I can be crazy enough to mean exactly what I say sometimes.

In the end, Xander did get a diaper. Pun intended.