She's got it

Yesterday Emma got to play with one of her favorite buddies, Micah.  They were playing so sweetly together so I asked what they were playing.

Emma: We're playing mother's day.

Me:  Fun!  How do you play?

Emma:  I'm the mom and you just lay in bed and sleep while the husband gets everything ready downstairs.

Nailed it, Emma.

I'll call this 'Emma's take on Charlie"

I took this video several weeks ago, initially trying to get Charlie to coo.  He didn't perform very well so I almost deleted it. But then I listened to the lyrics of Emma's original song and knew this was a keeper.

Translation:

and you are the one who eats food from Mommy's boobies
and you are the only one that dos it
and every time you have a nappy
you alone (something something) clappy
and you know how to nap, nap
and nap and nap and nap
and you know how to nap
and you know how to nap
and you nap and you nap
and you cry and cry
you don't every high
and you always spit up someday
and you never see what you never hide
never see what you never hide
never see
never hide
anyhow

More on the Middle

Emma, our newly crowned middle child, keeps us on our toes.  She's had some good moments lately. We were at Target recently and, as we were strolling through the shoe aisle, she says, "MOM!  Can I show you what's fabulous?  These shoes are fabulous!"

Girl's got fancy taste.

This is a regular sight around here...  Just in case Chars (her nickname for him) gets lonely..

That girl.  :)

Oh, Emma

Emma has been cracking us up, as usual.  In between her highly dramatic ways, she's quite the funny little thing.  She's been insisting on taking over the praying before dinner duty each night.  Her prayers are a combination of sweet, thoughtful, random, and hilarious.  Tonight's fell under the 'hilarious' category...

Dear God, Thank you for our food.  And thank you for our family.  And when we get to heaven, I'm gonna be nice to you.  And I'm gonna wear braids up to heaven.  And then Mommy's gonna uncurl it.  Amen

Never a dull moment (or dinner prayer) around here.

Funny

Emma saw this picture and was fascinated.

Emma: Grammy and Babu getting married.  They ARE getting  married.  I knew it!  I wish I was married to Babu.  They look so cute in those clothes.

Kiddo Quotes

Life with kids is just so funny sometimes, no?

Here are a couple of my favorites as of late.

Claire was feeling nervous about her first show & tell at her new school.
Emma: Sissy, sometimes I feel nervous when I have to go on stage and then I do it and I feel SO MUCH BETTER!
(Love the attempt to relate, but how often have you really been on stage, Emmy?)

After school one morning, Emma and I were catching Claire up on what we did that morning.  When filling her in on how the playdate went, we told Claire that Emma was having trouble being nice to her friend.
Claire: Emma, you shouldn't do that.
Emma: But I missed you.
Claire:  Well you shouldn't do that when you miss someone.
Emma:  Well what should I do if I miss someone, Sissy?
Claire:  You should just say I miss someone.  Like I miss my sister or I miss my cousin or I miss my friend.

Emma-isms

Emma brought me this with a sad look on her face.

Me: Oh no, what happened?

Emma:  Your scissors broke it. 

Kid Quotes

Some recent Emma originals....

When someone asks her if she thinks the baby is a boy or a girl, Emma always says, "God's gonna pick!"

E: Mommy, I'm not a white lady.
Me: You're not? Well what kind of lady are you?
E: A black lady

Out of the blue the other day, "If I was God, I would live in the sky and make things new."

And Claire has said some sweet things of her own lately...

When watching a movie with a 'bad guy' recently, Claire said, "Well he just doesn't know Jesus!"

I was talking about how the weather forecast for the day ended up being wrong and Claire said, "Well the weather people don't always know about the weather.  Only God does!"

Goodness, I just love being mama to these little loves.

Emma-isms

Emma and I were on a walk on the trail the other day and she started up a game of 'I Spy' with me.  First she spied Daddy's blue shirt, then the green trees.

Then, Emma: I spy something....pondy!
Me: Ummm... the pond?
Emma:  YES!!

Emma:  I spy something...rocky!
Me: Hmm... the rocks?
Emma: Yay Mommy!

We live at the end of a cul-de-sac and the girls like riding their bikes around it.  Emma was trying to explain to me that she wanted to go ride her bike.

Emma:  Mommy, I not know that thing with three houses.
Me:  Oh, the cul-de-sac?
Emma: Yes!  Can I ride my bike in the cul-de-sac?

6 times in 9 years

You know you move too much when your kids starting playing moving.  Emma, pretending to be the mom, said to Claire today, "Come on, babe!  We have to pack our stuff so we can move to our new house."  ;)

Hoping this move is the last for awhile... but only time will tell!

Here's the new house we're calling home for now.



Justin isn't too fond of the yellow.. but I kinda like it - I mean, what better way to show our support of the Hawkeyes than a black & yellow house?!  ;)

Kid Quotes

There are so many small moments I want to remember.. these two stuck out in my mind and, if you know me well, you know I have the worst memory!  I figured I better blog these before I forget..  ;)




My little Emma Lou is NOT the chocolate lover that her mama is!  One of our new neighbors brought us these cake pops as a sweet 'welcome to the neighborhood' treat.  Claire and I ate ours up in no time.  Emma spit out the one bite she took and decided to focus on the 'sparkles' (read: sprinkles)

"Mama, I just eat the sparkles.  I not like the blackness."




While coloring a picture the other day, Claire was explaining to me how her teacher at school doesn't like when the students scribble.  She said if they color without scribbling, Mrs. Sherrin gives them a sticker.  She then started telling me about one of the kids in her class who does his best but still scribbles.  "Even though he scribbles, Mrs. Sherrin gives him grace and he gets a sticker anyway."  I couldn't believe my four year old is starting to understand the concept of grace!  What a sweet moment!

Kid Quotes

While looking at a picture of our old back yard in Iowa:

Claire: I feel like I want to move back to Iowa.

Me: Ooohh, but don't you like living in Georgia?

Claire: I do Mommy, but I just miss my friends in Iowa. 

While playing in the playroom and telling me another elaborate story:

Claire: I love playing with my stepbrother.  His name is James.  

While praying before dinner last night:

Emma: Dear God, Pray for Nora.  Go on the potty.  Obey Bridgey.  Not climb in baby Molly's crib.  Amen

While listening to a Casting Crowns song on the radio:

Claire:  Who is singing this song?  Is it Jesus?  It sounds like Jesus.

While driving home from our trip to Iowa:

Claire: I want to have 12 kids and live in an apartment in Milwaukee.  And Liam will be my husband.  I want to teach daycare.  And Liam will teach swimming lessons.

 
While driving in the car one afternoon:

Claire: Mommy, I just love school. And leotards. 

Quotable

Here are a few cute things the girls have said lately.  :)

Me: Claire, what do you want for your birthday?
Claire: A flower dress
Me: Oh, like a dress that has flowers on it?
Claire:  No, I mean a fancy dress so I can be a flower girl in someone's wedding.

Yesterday Emma was with me when I went to the post office to mail a present to my BFF's new baby.  As we were walking in, I said: Emma, do you know who this present is for?
Emma: For Nora's new baby.
Me: Yes! It's for Nora's new baby sister.  Do you know what her name is?
After several seconds and much thought,  Emma says: Obama!

Out of the blue the other day while driving in the car, Claire says: Do you know who the governor of Georgia is?
Me: (I've only lived her for a few months so I had no idea) Umm, no honey, I don't know.
Claire: It's Nathan Deal!
(I googled it and she was right! I guess she's learning something in preschool!)

Some funny ones

Just overheard Claire singing her latest made-up song:

I love God because he bes the best. He is the best. He is the beeeeest.

Some other recent favorites:

Emma calls all princess dresses 'beauty'. I think she heard Claire say she wanted to wear her Sleeping Beauty dress one time and now whenever she wants to wear one of the dresses, she points to her tummy and says, 'beauty'. Super cute!

Emma's answer to any 'where' question (where is your blankey? Where do you live? Where is your sissy?) is always Iowa.

Claire has been very vocal about her love recently. I was gone on a girls' trip last weekend and got to Skype with the girls one morning. Claire said, "Mom, I miss you. Do you miss me?" and frequently tells me she loves me. This is perfect for this words of affirmation mama! ;)

Emma thinks the way to say excuse me is 'beep'. When you are in her way or a toy is in her way, she says beep. Even if I tell her to say excuse me, she says, 'beeeeep'.

Claire's current list of imaginary friends that come into play every day are Lish, Bea, Leo, and Huntrainea. Seriously, that last one is Hun-train-e-a. Don't ask. I have no answer.

Emma's current favorite song is Mary Had a Little Lamb. She is always asking me to sing it. She says 'Mary' and points to my lips to ask me to sing it.