I can't Make this stuff up!

Today, after pulling apart a pompom, Andrew says to me:

I've taken the tuft from the Truffula tree...now when you have another baby and learn to knit, you can knit a sunbonnet for the baby, like Baby Carrie had. And then, we can have another one, that'll make seven, and I'll find another truffula tree and that baby can have an orange sunbonnet.

No, I'm not pregnant!

The little idiosyncracies that he pulls from the books that we read amazes me. We leap from couch to chair, pretending to be the panther chasing a horse (his sister) from Little House in the Big Woods. We collect taxes like the Sheriff of Nottingham and store tangerines in our backpack in search of an adventure just as the narrator of My Father's Dragon.

Life is never dull when you have a five year old who loves his books!

Look Who's Three!

Sweet Marcail, how fast you've grown! Wasn't it just yesterday we were holding a squalling baby girl in our arms?

Three years old...opinionated, sassy, prone to temper tantrums, loving, caring, full of life...you are a joy sweet daughter! Enthralled by all things pink and sparkly, you asked for pinkalicious cupcakes for your birthday and mommy was happy to comply.

Some days you are a mystery to me...lost in the world of My Little Ponies, playing quietly and contentedly with your dollhouse, giggling with delight when Ethan laughs at you, screaming when Andrew looks at you the wrong way, sorting and organizing your hair bands. Being a mommy to you takes on a different look than being a mommy to Andrew!

Happy Birthday sweet girl. You bring such joy to our lives and we are so blessed to call you our daughter!

Go with what you know...

A recent walk around our house revealed:
Our oldest curled up amongst every blanket and pillow he could get his hands on, hidden behind a chair, reading a book.

Our daughter on the table surrounded by playdough, content to "cook" for all those in the family.

Our youngest, taking a brief break from his destruction...long enough to lull mom into thinking she may catch up. I know it's not true, but a girl can hope, right?

What I should be doing...

the list is endless: laundry, sweeping, baking, washing dishes, folding clothes, Sunday School prep. But, it's a sunny 75 degrees, there's a light wind and the laptop and I have moved outside. And I watch and listen: my oldest two children are on a nature hunt in our backyard. Each carrying a simple plastic box, I can hear the oldest say to his sister: "This is nature Marc. God created everything, even this leaf. A feather...Mommy, what type of bird does this feather come from? Is this a seed from a tree? Look, purple flowers."

The laundry, the cleaning, the baking...that's not going anywhere. But these moments with my little ones are fleeting and so I sit and enjoy.

"Where's the Entrance to Get Out?"

Asks Andrew of his little mouse house.

Thank you, Laura Joffe Numeroff, for entertaining my son for a full hour as he painstakingly built his very own mouse house, complete with desk.

All we're missing is the mouse....so for now, Farmer Jed will have to suffice.

Overheard this afternoon:

"Andrew, baby Jesus crying. Sing."
"No, Marc. I don't wanna sing."
"Andrew, baby Jesus crying. SING."
"Oh all right. Zacchaeus was a wee little man and a wee little man was he..."

I forgot...

...just how much fun two year olds can be. Marky's vocabulary feels like it has exploded overnight; just yesterday she pulled a blanket off the sofa and asked me to snuggle with her. It's almost as if she's been blind and is now seeing the world with renewed vision. She's funny, opinionated, charming, flirty, caring, sincere and a complete mystery to her father. In some ways she is so much like her older brother and in others, she is the complete opposite. I never knew parenting could be so much fun, so humbling, so frustrating, such a blessing.

A belated Happy Valentine's Day. We spent ours nursing colds, one of which turned ugly and sent us to the ER, and replacing a toilet -- the romance never dies, does it? :-)

thumbprint hearts on salt dough clay ornaments for each family member graced our seasons tree

homemade heart shaped doughnuts were a special treat during the blizzard of 2010