Mackenzie's Birthday

Somehow, among the chaos of this past week, my baby girl turned 7 years old! She is in the second grade. This was the first full week of school, and between early mornings and full days in school, we are exhausted! She has complained of not feeling well all week. Josiah has a cold with classic clear runny nose and sneezing. My case load at work has doubled, which is what I requested in order to have plenty of hours...however, one of the cases was "inherited" from another case manager who kinda went missing. Weird. She just stopped working. She did not really go missing, but she is not returning her calls or getting her responsibilities done. Therefore, her cases are being "off loaded" to other case managers. Problem is, there are MANY things left undone on all her cases that need immediate attention. I got one of those cases. Ha. No worries. I have an ultra supportive team of coworkers. I am truly and completely blessed with this team of people. I am getting plenty of hours and grateful for the job, too. That said, it was a crazy busy week....and it is not finished!

Tomorrow is Mackenzie's birthday party! Her birthday was Wednesday. She and Lauren, from church, are having a double party tomorrow. They have planned this party for about a year now, lol! I hope they have the party of their dreams tomorrow. It will be a pool party at a local gym. There will be lots of kids there, and the girls are very excited! I just can't believe how quickly her actual birthday came and kept on going...

We celebrated on Wednesday by taking sugar cookies with icing in between them and sprinkles, too, (like sandwich sugar cookies) to her classmates at school. After school, we celebrated with presents, ate at a Japanese restaurant so she could have mushroom soup (her request), and came home for cake and ice cream. It was a blessed day, and we are blessed to have her in our family.

On a side note...Josiah, as I tucked him into bed tonight, said, "Mom, the judge came into our class today and read Chester Raccoon to us." "The judge?" I asked. "Yeah, the judge. She came in and read to us and talked about not bullying." "Oh! You mean the principal?" I said. "Yeah." Josiah answered. That cracked me up! The judge. How cute is that?!

He also climbed onto the toilet, found the liquid Mucinex, took it to the sink, and attempted to draw his dose into the oral syringe. Sadly, he took an unknown amount. He showed me exactly where the dose came to in the syringe and told me he did that twice. Here's hoping that he is a good historian and is telling me accurately....if so, he got a "6 to 12 year old" dose. Should be fine. Sigh.

Did I mention that I witnessed a guy on a bike get hit by a car today? And the driver of the car zoomed off as fast as possible. The bike rider was fine. I rolled my window down and checked on him. Crazy world we live in, isn't it?!

Guess I was in the mood to type tonight. I mainly wanted to record a little about Mackenzie's birthday week. Kinda ended up rambling...He, he.

I will try to post about Mackenzie's actual party soon. She has enjoyed a wonderful birthday, and is eager to celebrate with her friends tomorrow. We love her and are very proud of her.

Work & Play

Today was a day when I needed to spend a little bit of time at work, and since the kids are on fall break, they came with me! I am so incredibly blessed to have joined a wonderful team of over 300 nurses in this area this past July. Then, in September, I received a phone call. Suffice to say that I said yes and am now a part of the case management team with the same company! What an unexpected blessing. While I was there today, I was included in the Christmas Card photo.
Each year, the management team sends out a Christmas card to all our patients in this area.

I was excited to get to be a part of that this year. Not everyone was able to be there. There are about 20 case managers and a handful of office staff. We are obviously not all in the above pictures, but it is a fun group!
After we were done in the office, the kids and I pulled through Sonic and headed to a wonderful park.

Mackenzie stopped long enough to pose for a picture.

Josiah did, too.

I love this one of the kids at the top of the huge slide.

Mackenzie at the bottom of the huge slide.

Josiah at the top of the same huge slide. This gives you a little perspective about just how huge this slide is. It is certainly the biggest slide I've seen in quite some time. We all enjoyed our time together today. The kids enjoyed seeing where I work, as well as our time at the park. I had fun showing them off to everyone.

On a funny note...Josiah kept singing today. He has been singing, "Jingle bells," a lot lately. After our trip to the park, we headed to Kmart. All through the store he sang, "There's smart, and then there's Kmart smart! Mom, you're Kmart smart!" Then he'd sing Jingle Bells for a while and begin the process over again. Suffice to say that he brought smiles and laughter to a lot of strangers today. While at Kmart, we found very nice Zhu Zhu pet costumes on clearance for $4.99 each. Josiah excitedly began to pull down his pants to reveal his underwear and exclaimed, "Mom! I think these are Zhu Zhu pets on my underwear!" Oh, boy. He keeps me on my toes. Through our laughter, Mackenzie and I had him pull his pants back up. (He only had them part of the way down, not all the way to his knees or anything.) I explained that he has ground hogs on his underwear, though they do look a lot like Zhu Zhu pets. Funny guy.

Funny Words

I've been enjoying the cute things my two kiddos say, and I'm going to record them here as I simply don't want to forget.

Mackenzie has always referred to pig tails as "pink tails." Also, she says "college cheese" instead of cottage cheese! I don't expect these cute words to continue much longer with her, but I have so enjoyed them!

Josiah says "extructions" instead of instructions. He has plenty of others, too, but for now that's the one that is coming to mind.

And there are so many more. I'll try to record them as I think of them. :)

Sweet, cute kiddos.

The things kids say...

I was completing a Shutterfly photo book (from a vacation we took almost 2 years ago!) on our computer this evening. I did it! I finished it! I just started it this week, though it had been on my mental "to do" list for quite a while. It feels GREAT to be finished. Now...I just need a good sale on photo books so that I can order it! Ha. Anyways. Mackenzie was sitting nearby and I needed input about the background color for a page in the book. I asked her which one she liked better. She told me; I agreed. As I moved on to the next page, Mackenzie announced, "Mom, do you need my appendix on anything else?" It was all I could do not to burst out laughing, which would have totally embarrassed her at this point in her life. She does not like to say or do the wrong thing, and she is very sensitive to what others think about her. Inside, I was falling apart laughing; outwardly, I managed to maintain composure. I thanked her and assured her that I would ask for her opinion on the next page, too. She paused, obviously processing the word I used and the one she used. I think she figured it out, though I never said anything more about it. Appendix...Opinion...hey, they do sound a lot alike!

As I tucked her in tonight I asked some broad questions, just to see what she would say. I try to do this occasionally, usually choosing different questions but always using broad ones. Her answers were so priceless that I am recording them here.

My first question: "Mackenzie, what is one thing you are really happy about today?"
Her response: "I'm really happy that God made you so that you could be my mommy!"
I melted. I don't know what answer I expected, but that was not it. What a compliment!

My second question: "What is one thing you are sad about today?"
Her response: "I'm really sad about all the people in the world who don't know Jesus."
Wow. I, once again, was floored by her answer. I am so thankful that church, school, and home are all working towards the same goals in her precious life. I am awed at her response.

My third question: "What is one thing you are wishing for?"
Her response: "Hmm. To loose some of my teeth!"
So funny. Several of the kids in her class are loosing their baby teeth. A lot of the kids in her class are older than she is. She wants to loose her teeth! Cracks me up. Wonder if she'll be that excited about it when it actually happens? Ha.

I totally enjoyed my time visiting with her tonight.

Earlier in the week, Josiah looked out the van window as we were driving along. He spotted the dirty snow piled on the edge of the roads. He did not miss a beat in saying, "Look at all that rotten snow!"

I cooked cornbread muffins this week. To my amazement, both kids ate and enjoyed them. Last time I made them, one of the kids...I sadly don't remember which one...peeled the paper off the muffin, took a big bite, ran to the trashcan to spit it out, and announced, "Mom! Those muffins are rotten!" I think the child was expecting something sweeter...like blueberry muffins or cupcakes! Every time I eat corn bread I think of that announcement about the muffins being rotten. Kids are so much fun. Their perspective can brighten the gloomiest of days.

Here's to hoping you all have a wonderful day with lots of laughter!

The Things They Say...

Mackenzie: "Mom, the only kind of spider that I like is Papa Long Legs because I know that kind won't bite me."
I fell apart into a fit of laughter as that is one of the funniest things I have heard in a long time. I think she was embarrassed by having called the spiders by the wrong names. She is a child who likes to be right and do things the right way, you see. I tried to explain that what she said was really cute, and it's okay that she called them something different. I loved it! Anyways, to really get the impact of her statement, you have to know that my dad's name is "Papa Long," so when Mackenzie had heard about Granddaddy Long Legs, she just morphed the two together to create the name Papa Long Legs for the friendly spiders. (I know, I know...they are extremely poisonous but their mouths are too small to actually bite humans, therefore they are harmless.)

As I tucked Mackenzie in tonight, her pajamas were full of static and making really pretty sparks under her covers in the dark room. We called Josiah in to see the "fireworks" and talked about static electricity. Both kids thought it was pretty neat to actually see the sparks. Then David took Josiah to his room to tuck him in. Mackenzie looked at me and said, "Mom, it's so cool that Grannie New got me light up pajamas for Christmas! I didn't even know they made light up pajamas!"

I worked today. While I was at work, Mrs. Susan and Mr. Frank kept Josiah for the morning. When I went to pick Josiah up from their house this afternoon, they were playing in the yard. Josiah LOVES to be outside, and lately it has been too cold for him to be outside. He loved his time outdoors today, and spent a good deal of it playing with sticks. He began to dig, and dig, and dig at the base of a tree in their yard. I asked what he was doing...thinking he might say something like trying to dig up the tree, or dig a hole, or something like that. We got a good laugh at his actual answer. "I'm digging to find my friends, the worms." It was said so seriously and so sweetly that is was hilarious.

My kids have said several really funny and cute and sweet things lately. I fear that I don't record enough of them! For now, at least those 3 moments from our day today are on record, so-to-speak.

Josiah Stories

We had a wonderful visit with David's parents this weekend, and I'm so sorry that I have absolutely no pictures to share! We all enjoyed the time together so much that I forgot to grab the camera. Anyways, the Josiah said some funny things this weekend, so I'm going to share those stories.

As we were enjoying supper at Abuelo's (thanks Zearl and Betty!) on Saturday night, Josiah crawled into my lap after eating his meal. He then began to tell me that his feet hurt. Then he said, "Mom, there's something in there!" So, I pulled his shoe off thinking I would surely find the object causing the pain. Nothing. Josiah says again, with more urgency in his voice, "It's buzzing around in there! Get it out!" At this point I have not only his shoe off, but his sock off as well. That's when I realized his foot was bright red as the blood flow was returning. He must have been sitting on his feet while eating his supper, because his feet were tingling as they had gone to sleep. I felt bad for him that his feet hurt, but his terminology was so funny!

On our way home, Josiah was talking with Granna and Z-Pa about things that fly, like hang gliders and rockets, and Granna said, "You have your Z-Pa's genes for flying, Josiah." (David's dad flew helicopters in Vietnam and a plane for a university.) Josiah paused for a few seconds while he inspected his jeans. Then he announced, "No I don't, Granna! These are my jeans!"

Funny Kids

For your entertainment:

As David and Mackenzie played a game with cars a few days ago, I sat nearby and listened. Mackenzie began naming the color of each car. "Green, Red, Purple, Gray, Mold, Blue" and as she named the colors of each car, I fell apart in a fit of laughter. I have never heard of the color "mold," but she was right on with her description! The car was a olive green or army green color. Just like mold. When I asked her about "mold," she was quick to reply, "Well, Mom, I don't know what that color is really called, but is sure likes look mold to me, so I called it mold." Too funny. What's sad is that my kid knows what mold looks like! He, he. (Yes, you should check the loaf of bread before eating from it when at our house-Ha.)

A sweet story:

As I woke Mackenzie up one morning this week to get her ready for school, I sat in the floor of her room with her in my arms. I gently rocked her back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And as I did I said, "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always. As long as I'm living my baby you'll be." (I'm quoting verbatim from the book Love You Forever. I give the author the credit for the words of the above paragraph!) I had barely gotten those words out of my mouth when she replied in a gentle whispering voice of the early morning hours, "Momma, I'll still be your baby even when you're in Heaven." How precious is that?! I, of course, wholeheartedly agreed with her. Then we had a fun conversation about Heaven and how we'll all be there together one day. Pretty cool start to the day.

Random:

As I tucked Mackenzie into bed last night, she asked me, "Mom, if you're still alive when I get married, will you come to my wedding?" I assured her that I would love to come to her wedding. Then I asked how old she planned on being when she got married. She did not miss a beat in replying, "I'll be 99, Mom!" As we talked some more, she kept changing her age from 99 to 6 to 31. Then she announced that she still intends to marry Grant Miller, and their wedding would be at the mall so everyone could have fun. Kids and their ideas just crack me up.

Josiah ran up to me earlier this week, completely out of the blue, and announced, "Mom, I'm gonna marry you!" To which Mackenzie informed him that I was already taken. Exactly why my kids are so stuck on these ideas/thoughts/questions regarding marriage lately, I have no idea! It's pretty cute, though.

Embarrassing:

Josiah was sitting in my lap watching TV earlier this week. He ran his hand over my ankles. Stopped. Looked up and said, "Mom! What are those spikes?" Yep, I know I need to shave when my 3 year old notices!

Sweet:

Josiah was getting ready to pile into the van yesterday morning. It is early when we load in to take Mackenzie to school. He looked outside and with wide eyes said, "Wow! Look at that pretty sunset!" (Did you catch it? He was seeing the beautiful sunrise, but had no word for it other than sunset. We used to not be early risers here at our house. ;))

Well, that's all my updates on what the kids have said this week that I just don't want to forget. I figure if I record them here, I can reread them someday later in time. :)

Josiah's Chocolate Milk

While watching fireworks out the upstairs windows of our house last night, the kids were enjoying a bowl full of pear slices. Mackenzie and Josiah decided to move from one room of the house to another room. Mackenzie lead the way. Josiah picked up the bowl of pears using two hands and being so careful, and he turned to head out of the room and follow Mackenzie to the next room. However, he stopped halfway out of the room, looked over his shoulder at his precious sippy cup of chocolate milk still sitting in the window sill, looked at me, looked back at the sippy cup, and said so seriously, "Mom, watch over my chocolate milk for me." Then he turned and left the room. Too funny! He does treasure his chocolate milk, but his sincerity just cracked me up.

My Two Kids

I just loved how this pictured turned out! I snapped it as we were building our garden boxes and filling them with dirt yesterday. I'll have to dedicate another post to the project itself...you know, the before, during, and after pictures! For now, I just had to share this pic of the kids. When Mackenzie saw it, she stared at it for a moment. Then she asked, incredulously, "Mom, did you really write our names on the fence?" Josiah, after studying the same picture (currently my computer wall paper/background), asked, "How did I get in there!" What a hoot. I love those precious thoughts and comments!!!

Josiah's Cute Comments

As we were preparing to go pick Mackenzie up from school today, Josiah looked at me as serious as could be and said, "Mackenzie lives at school." Oh, boy. What will the fall be like when Mackenzie starts Kindergarten and is in school five days a week instead of just two partial days? Poor little boy! :)

Then later this evening Josiah wanders into the bathroom where I am, looks into the tub, looks at me, and with surprise and delight in his voice, exclaims, "Mom! Are you having a soapy bath like us did?" LOL! A soapy bath! I'd call it a bubble bath...but, yes, I was "having" a soapy bath! His phraseology cracked me up, too. He's usually so proper with his sentences and sentence structures, so the "having" and "us" instead of "we" struck me funny, too. He and Mackenzie did enjoy a Mr. Bubbles Sensitive Skin bath tonight!

And that's more information than you really wanted.... ;)

Yummy Boogers

As David changed Josiah's morning diaper, I witnessed the following conversation:

Josiah: "I have a big booger, Daddy!" (Holding out finger with aforementioned booger on it for him to see.)

David: "Yes, you sure do."

(Josiah begins to move finger with booger still on it towards open mouth.)

David: "No! Don't eat it!"

(Finger pauses in midair...)

Josiah: With lower lip protruding in a pout, "But, I'm soo hungry!"

Doesn't anyone feed this child?! ;)

(No, he did not eat it. Yes, we did feed the boy some breakfast!)

Josiah's Announcement

We (all four of us) went out to dinner. You know, out at a sit-down restaurant. O'Charley's, to be exact. Nice enough place to have been stunned by this:

Josiah, who is standing in the booth beside David, opens his mouth and burps--real loud. My eyes got huge as I exchanged a look with David. You know the one...a combination of "who heard that" embarrassment plus "that was too funny" giggly grin. Yeah. The look was no sooner exchanged when Josiah belted out, "I burped!" He smiled so proudly as he giggled at himself. Oh, no...now it's getting funnier...then he paused. After a brief moment of serious expression, Josiah announced loud enough for all hear, "I pee peed!"

Yep, that's my boy. ;)