Kidspeak Continued

Kristin wrote a great post on September 2008 called Kidspeak. It's Sunday night, and I'm tired and lazy. So, I'm viewing this as a addendum to her post...

It probably has something to do with the fact that they've watched quite a few of the Star Wars episodes of late, but the kids, especially Sam and Chase, love to sword fight. As they were battling last week, we overheard Sam say to Chase, "Do you want a piece out of me?" (Instead, of course, of, "Do you want a piece of me?")

All of the kids love to jump off of the furniture. As she jumped off the bed recently, you could hear Ava bellow, "Blast over!" (Instead of "blast off.")

Ava sneezes and then says aloud, "Bless me." (Instead of "Bless you" -- which her Mom says, so I'm not sure it counts as a misquote.)

This may not fit exactly with the angle of this post, but it was recent and very funny...

The kids typically meet me at the end of the driveway each day as I come home from work. Chase and Sam like to help me drive, and Ava typically prefers to sit in the back seat (although, of late, she's been wanting to help me drive, too). On Friday, it was Chase's turn to drive. We were pulling into the garage as Kristin came out to greet me with, "Hey handsome." Before I even a chance to process her remark, Chase had already responded with, "Hey."

I'm just scratching the surface here. It seems like there are 2 - 3 publishable misquotes per day in the Arnold casa. We can't capture them all! Boy, I wish we could -- with HD video. Does anyone else have any funny misquotes from their kiddos?

Easter Bunny Stories

This story is better told by my dad with the twinkle in his eye at the thought of his firstborn and the exaggerated moves of an actor. My sister was born in August of 1968.  At the time, Daddy was an actor playing the lead role in the Legend of Daniel Boone at the outdoor theater in Harrodsburg, Ky.  When he got word that my mom was in labor, he took off in his costume to get to the hospital…coonskin cap and all.  Somewhere along the way, a state trooper pulled him over and Daddy got out of the car to explain things.  In his haste, he said, “I’m Daniel Boone and I’m going to have a baby!”  

The trooper didn’t miss a beat and said, “I don’t care if you’re the Easter Bunny, you were driving too fast and you’re getting a ticket.”

Apparently, once he slowed down and explained more clearly why he was driving so fast in a Daniel Boone costume, they came to an understanding.       

Kissing Your What?

Parenting is a constant education for me.

Ava does almost everything at the top of her lungs.  Yesterday we tried to figure out where this little chant was coming from as she marched through the house.  Go ahead, say it out loud, in a marching rhyme. Imagine it in the cadence of a two-year old. This is what we heard:

"Eatin' peanut BUTtuh, kissin' your CHUDda."

Kissing your what did she say?

She said it over and over and over again.  Finally we asked where she learned it. A neighbor girl apparently taught the kids the new ending to an old elementary-school incantation.

Mister Tiger Missus Tiger sittin' in a tree.

K-i-s-s-i-n-g.

First comes love, then comes marriage.

Then comes the baby in the baby carriage.

Eating peanut butter, kissing each other.

Oh....kissing each OTHer.

Whew.

Marshing Mellows by the Fire

We've had a fire pit in our woods for a few years to burn brush. Last Autumn, after clearing and burning brush, we'd typically make s'mores or just sit by the fire and talk. 

Our fireside fun is up a notch this year with the addition of a fire pit closer to the house and five or six fireside meals so far. I'm not even sure if it's technically Autumn yet! Because the pit is closer to the house (don't worry, Mom, it's not that close to the house), Grandaddy is able to join us now and shuttling food and drinks isn't nearly as troublesome.

We've had a great time with each and every fire. I especially like that this time feels like an escape of sorts and clean-up is a breeze. It doesn't hurt that we're typically joined by neighborhood kids or visiting family members or that the kiddos almost alway something or 

do something that's hilarious. For instance, last Sunday Ava asked me, "Dad, are we marshing mellows now?"

Anyone else have fond fireside memories?

Anyone Missing a W?

If you are, it's because Chase has stolen them all.  

He's a busy man.  He has swamwiches to eat, swecwet tunnels to build.  And, he chooses a dwiffwent movie as his fwavwite every day.

I'm sure he'll return all those "w"s unharmed soon enough.

The Great Cantaloupe Chase

My dad, two of my four brothers, Chris and Derek, and Chris' girlfriend,  Rachel, came into town Friday night for a visit. Since I'm new to the Blu-ray world, and Dad is a veteran, I asked him to bring a bunch of Blu-ray discs.

Late Saturday morning we needed a video that would appeal to both the kiddos and the adults in the room. Planet Earth – a visually stunning nature documentary series – fit the bill. A few of us started watching, but one by one the others left the room leaving Ava and me. It wasn't enough for me to just let her watch, though. I gave her a running commentary throughout. The best part is that she was actually listening to me.

One of the first sequences we watched together showed African hunting dogs chasing what I thought were antelope (moments later I learned that the antelope were actually Impalas, but that's beside the point). Great stuff for a father to show his two-year old daughter, huh?

The most intense sequence was filmed in northern Canada. It showed a portion of the longest overland migration of any animal: a 2,000-mile trek by three million caribou. 

The caribou encounter hungry wolves along the way. One of these wolf-caribou encounters is actually caught on film. As we watched the gut-wrenching sequence, which shows a young caribou getting separated from its mother and caught by a wolf, little Ava looked up at me and said something along the lines of, "Look at the doggy chasing the cantaloupe, Daddy."

He Never Asked for Us Once

Brian and I had an opportunity to go on a company-sponsored event together last week to Disney World.  The only hitch was that we couldn't take our kids.  It was a bit tricky finding a second home for all three of them for almost a week.  The girls ended up going to my hometown to be spoiled by their "Gi Gi" and her sister, my sweet Aunt Betty.  Chase was adopted by by good friend and neighbor, Cindy.  Well, Cindy AND her whole family.

The email updates from her were hilarious.  Here are some excerpts:

Chase had a great day. He was so, so good. We just stayed home all day. There was lots of sword fighting, lots of stacking things, lots of tv. (sorry.) :) He never disobeyed, he never destroyed anything, he ate well, and seemed very happy! :) Here are some of my favorite quotes from the day:

Chase- What is that for?
me- It's for a recipe I'm making.
C-I know recipes. I eat all recipes. I help my mom with recipes. I'll help you with recipes.

(Tattling on Cheddar the dog): "Ava is by me again!" :)

me-Tomorrow you get to play with Ben!
C-I think Ben went to Kroger with all his family.

me- What did you like doing at my house today?
C-I don't know. I only know what food I want.

me- Did you have fun playing at church tonight?
C-Yes
me-Who did you play with?
C-I don't know.
me-What friends did you play with tonight?
C-I don't know what kind of people they have at that church.

me-Who do you like sword fighting with?
C-Swords. I can do it up. Or down. Or up up side.

me-You're going to sleep at my house tonight, and you're going to stay in bed until we tell you it is time to get up in the morning, ok?
C-Squirrels can eat at morning time. Squirrels AND monkeys.

And a few days later, we called to check on him and I told her I couldn't understand a THING Chase said on the phone. She filled me in...

Shelby said Chase spent the whole time telling you how he's not getting in trouble. :) He really has been so, so good. You should be proud. A couple little times he said, "NO!" to Scott and had to sit down for a minute, but it lasted about two seconds and both times he didn't want to go to bed even though he was exhausted! :) So I think he is happy. He slept through the night last night. (The two nights before that he woke up and screamed once or cried, but only for a minute and fell right back asleep. Weird.)

He went to the bathroom my niece asked if he washed his hands. He said, "No. I didn't wash my hands. And I didn't wipe, either!" ;)

He thought our pizza was a "lil SPICY!"

Brynne woke up to find him in her bed the night he stayed in Cassie and Shelby's room. She asked him why he was in her bed and he said, "Oh? Your bed? I thought it was my bed."

me: "What do you like to eat for breakfast?"
C: Ummm... macaroni and cheese
me: "What do you like to eat for lunch?"
C: Ummm...macaroni and cheese

Thanks, Cindy, for taking care of him and for giving me memories of my boy even when I wasn't there to experience them in person. She captured it so well.  She captured how adorable he is and why, possibly, I'm incapable of having sensible conversations.

Kidspeak

Rather than post each time my kiddos say something cute, I've saved up a few.

If Ava ever visits your house and is wanting a drink, she'll say, "Seetea."  That's all we drink around here and she picked it up fast.  

When Chase was her age, he was hollerin' for "baf" at the end of his messy, messy supper. Ava asks for a "poon" and "nakin" to keep things tidy.

My favorite is a phrase she learned from Sammie: "pee picey."  Sammie says it of our salsa. Ava thinks my chili and my tooth paste is "pretty spicey."

I'm sure Chase had lots of fun misquotes at her age that I can't remember, but he came off with a funny one the other day when he saw Grandaddy with a BLT.  "Mommy, I want a swamwich, too!"

Sammie is almost six, so she gets most of her words right or fixes them after one correction.  I have yet to correct a couple just because I think they're cute.  She gets the k and f mixed up and says "breafkast".  And, I suppose because I say it so fast, she calls one of our Southern favs "turn it greens."  (For you brave folks, I'll post that turnip greens recipe some day.)

I'll never forget Sam's most memorable misquote.  Chase was brand new, so she would've been only two and a half.  Some dear friends of ours had a daughter being baptized. We had such a sweet time of worship beforehand.  We sang a song you might know called "Here I Am To Worship."  Check it out at itunes.  

Here I am to worship. 

Here I am to bow down.

Here I am to say that You're my God.

Perfect for a baptism!  It's funnier if I could sing it for you, but if you know it, try to sing out loud what I heard Sammie singing for the next several months....

"Here I am to worrrrk it."

Funny, huh?  After I thought about it, I realized she might have gotten it right after all.  We can never do anything to earn it, but once we've accepted God's free gift of eternal life, we are here to work it!  

Ephesians 3:8-10 says this: For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

So, what does God have you workin' on?

Hot Girl

Chase loves the classic super heroes:  Superman, Batman and especially Spiderman. We've been renting the "new" cartoon versions from the library and Blockbuster.  I sat down a month or so ago to watch with him and three things made me ban Spiderman for a while.

First, I heard someone ask the leading lady (who, second, was dressed in a half shirt and stick skinny), "What the hell was going on." Then, third, I watched as one of the characters was shot repeatedly with a gun and nothing happened, I decided his little three-year old eyes and ears are just too young to watch this cartoon. 

I felt, on the one hand, like an old fogey and on the other, I just KNOW that's not what I want him to see as normal.  Where's the Spidey from "Electric Company" that I know and love?

The funny part of the story is this....Brian rented a DVD from the library called "Justice League", which is a new version of Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Superman, etc.  They often watch TV in Grandaddy's room.  It's right off the living room and I can hear what's going on from the kitchen.

As I listened the other day, I heard Grandaddy ask, "Chase, who is that?"  I heard Chase answer, "Hot Girl."  

Grandaddy is trying to get it: "Hot Girl?"

Chase:  "Yeah, Hot Girl."

Grandaddy:  "Sammie, did he say HOT Girl?"

Sammie stares at the TV and answers, "Yes, Hot Girl."

Of course, my ears perked up at the first mention of Hot Girl.  I assumed it was some character that had fire power or something, then I remembered the half-ne-ked girl from Spiderman and thought I should check it out.

While I wouldn't call her super hero corset "modest", I was a little relieved when I went in and saw a lovely woman with large, brown wings and a mask with a beak.

HAWKgirl to the rescue.

Just A Little Thing I've Been Workin' On

I've had so much fun putting together this Star Chenille Quilt for a sweet friend of mine who's having a baby girl in a few weeks.  I couldn't tell you about it, because it was a surprise!  Well, now that we've showered her abundantly, I can show you.

I had a few extra squares and sewed them together for a baby doll blanket. I thought she might find it fun some day to snuggle her baby in the same kind of "bankick" that she has. (That's little Ava's pronunciation.)

I'm not a great seamstress, but I love to play around. My very crafty and talented mother-in-law taught me how to do this.  Here's the website if you want to get the pattern for yourself.  I only spent about 8 dollars on fabric for this one.

Seriously, you CAN NOT mess this up. If you can sew straight (even sort of), you can make this in any size with any kinds of soft flannels you like.  Choose between two complimentary fabrics or lots of different ones even if they don't look like they match.  That's why they sometimes call this a "crazy quilt" or "rag quilt". You sew the batting in between the individual squares and then sew the squares into rows. I made a manly looking plaid-ish one for Brian a few years ago and made a fancy one for my Mom's formal living room after that.

As an aside, this kind of project is like therapy for me.  Something that is just mine and I can get lost in it.  I can work on it a little at at time and there's something beautiful when it's finished. A project that has a beginning and an end.  Unlike never ending laundry and such!

Try it!  Try it!  You'll love it!

Tomato Warning

We had a tornado warning for a short while on Friday night, so the kids and I hung out in the basement finishing some chores while we waited for Daddy to get home from his week-long trip and for the storm to pass.

Whenever it thunders, Ava says, "Storm, mama."  But sweet Sammie comforts her.

I tried to explain to the kids that the winds wouldn't hurt us in the safety of our basement.  So, lots of conversation about "tornado this" and "tornado that."

We came upstairs when it was over and I heard Chase tell Sammie, "We need to go back downstairs, Sam, or the tomato might see us!"