life

Ethan told me after he went to the bathroom that his prize for going potty was to play in the sink water.  I let him turn the faucet on just a dribble and left to play with Rayen.  After a while, I heard water splashing onto the floor, so I came back to see what he was doing.  He had plugged the sink drain and filled the basin, taken off all his clothes, and sat in the sink, spilling water over the edges.

Ry was playing on the little toy marimba.  She clicked the sticks together, "one, two, three!" and then started playing a song.

We were heading home from my parents' house one night at bedtime.  Ethan said he was hungry, but I told him it was bedtime and we were just driving home.  He was quite for a few minutes, then announced, "Next stop: In-N-Out!"

I noticed Rayen using her plastic Ariel doll's head to dig a hole in the dirt. She did this until she realized Ariel's hard plastic skirt was a better tool.

Ry came up to me and said, "I Ci'rella. (sigh) Prince. Dreams true!"

Rayen is always singing.  Only recently have I been able to understand the words to her songs.  Recently she sang, "Prince sleeping. Dancing, dancing. Ci'rella, where'd you go? I have a dream! Dreams true. Prince dancing. Car wash, car wash."

I overheard Rayen playing with her Cinderella and Ariel dolls, "Hi, Ariel! How you doing? Pretty dress!"

A few days later, this time she's playing with Cinderella and a T-Rex. Cinderella says, "Ah! Di'saur!" The T-Rex says, "Rarrr!" (T-Rex bites Cinderella's head) Cinderella responds, "No! S'op eating me!"

Recently, on our way to church, Ethan told me, "Momma, we better hurry! We're really late and all the kids are going to leave!"

I say a family prayer with the kids every night.  Last week, Ethan said, "Momma, I'm going to say the family prayer tonight. Dear Heavenly Father: Thank you for this beautiful day. Please bless that I had a fun birthday at Rob's and at Daddy's. Please bless us to sleep well. Please bless that we could go to two Monster Jams and see Gravedigger and all the other Monster Trucks. Please bless us to have good dreams and to feel safe in our nice home. Please bless us to be happy. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

Rayen was on the potty and I said, "Let's listen for the pee!" She held her little hand up to her ear and called, "Hello, pee? Whereaaoo?"

Rayen said, "Have two Mommas!" I said, "Really? Who's your other Momma?" She stuck out her tummy and matriarchicly patted her own chest, nodding solemnly.

In the bath, Rayen told Ethan, "I eat a whale!" He responded, "No, Rayen; whales are pretty big." She opened her mouth as wide as she could, "Ahhh!" Then apparently she changed her mind. She blew water at me, saying, "I whale!"

Brett buys the kids glow-in-the-dark wands every once in a while.  Rayen calls them "ba-boo" (Bibbity-bobbity-boo, right?)  I noticed her wandering around the house looking and calling, "Ba-boo? Whereaaooo?"

I told Ethan he could play in the puddles in our back yard, as long as he didn't get his clothes wet.  After a few minutes, I noticed him sitting naked in the middle of the biggest puddle.  Sneaky.

Dad gave us bird feeders for Christmas.  Alice (the cat) loves them.  One day I noticed her sitting directly under one of the feeders.

When I came outside a bit later, I noticed her in the tree above the feeders.

I wasn't able to get a picture of the last stage, but when I came out the last time, she was sitting behind the tree, peering around the trunk at the bird feeders.