I love your argues

Recently Lydia and I were teasingly arguing.  I was being mock-frustrated with her and she was giving it right back to me.  Anne was standing there, looking back and forth between us as we did this.  We looked over at her and she giggled with a big huge grin on her face. "I love your argues," she said.

I asked her "Why?" - she said, "It's because you love each other."

I replied, "Right - and we enjoy teasing each other - you know we're playing, right?"

Anne responded, "Yeah."

Things overheard while cleaning

Overheard yesterday while Anne was cleaning the bathroom

and I unbutton my jeans while doing my school
I’m sittin’ at my desk and I’m so comfortable

you should get a car that has seat belts
they will keep you safe
oh yes, ham and avacado will keep you safe
oh yes it’s so good

now she’s switched to singing the same spanish word
over
and over
and over

nueva

oh yes I like it
oh yes I like it
oh yes I like it
and you better too
or else I’ll flick ya in the eye

Where does she get her violent streak? (I'm blaming Lydia)

Conspiratorial Glances

This has been happening for at least a year now, but whenever her brother, cousins, extended family, friends, and even complete and total strangers do things, say things, or are dressed oddly or inappropriately, we get

The Glance

Where Lydia and I would just glance at each other, Anne gives us

The Glance

Sometimes it is is accompanied with a mouth click. "Tsk" - Glance

There are many different glances that are all categorized under this title.
There's the "my brother is doing something really funny but naughty at the same time so I'm not going to laugh out loud, but I want my mom and dad to know that I know that it's funny - glance." This one is sometimes preceded by the quiet "Dad|Mom, look at me." We look, we see "The Glance"

There is the "Look at the way that kid is behaving" glance. Which is a completely serious look that says, "No way would I get away with acting like that"

There is the "That person is wearing a (short|skimpy|tight|immodest|gross) outfit" glance. Lydia has a near 100% success rate at predicting this glance. She notices the outfit and looks at Anne right as Anne turns her eyes from the offending outfit to Lydia to make sure that she can execute "The Glance" - this one is accompanied by a slightly raised eyebrow.

The glances we see on a daily basis are as varied and diverse as life itself. You can make your own. Just add a kid, with a sense of morality, humor, irony, and a whole lot of legalism and out comes "The Glance"

Once removed from the situation, "The Glance" is resolved either through a group laugh, an explanation, or a reprimand to be more understanding/forgiving of the way other people live.

I've been a-salted with a question

We were at Whole Foods Market yesterday. Anne and Lydia were in the seasonings aisle - Lydia was looking for salt.

Sea Salt.

Celtic Sea Salt
$5.99 a pound Celtic Sea Salt (health benefits and all...)

Lydia, being the fantastic home school mom was telling Anne all about sea salt.

Anne asked, "Does all salt come from the sea?" She paused, then in typical kid fashion, asked another question before waiting for the first to be answered, "Does the sea make pepper too?"

Lydia told her, "No." and before she could answer those two questions, Anne began "peppering" her with more questions about the origins of all spices in the aisle.

"Does the sea make anything else?"
"Like... are all the things on this shelf from the sea?"

First grade will be fun. No, seriously.

Two highway patrol cars: Double the ticketing fun

So we were on the highway the other day, coming home from Grandpa's birthday party when we saw two patrol cars in the median of the highway. They were facing different directions - driver's door to driver's door.

We were coming up on a speed zone and I told Lydia to make sure she watched her speed and pointed the patrol cars out to her.

Anne, ever curious Annie, said, "Huh... There's two of 'em. What are they doin?"

Lydia said, "I don't know, probably talking."

Anne agreed, "Yeah, they're probably giving each other tickets."

Then followed many giggles from the back seat as she enjoyed her own funny little joke.
Or maybe it was because Lydia and I were laughing...
Or maybe it was because the idea of two policemen writing each other tickets tickled her funny bone.

There was a reference to "pulling you down" - her way of describing being pulled over, or being stopped for a ticket.

What to do in case of fire

Talking about what to do if the house were on fire... we just got a new alarm system with fire and smoke detectors...

"I would look both ways and then go to suzy's house and use their phone - 'cause I know Nanna's number."

"If you were to die I would grab your cell phones and the cordless so at least we wouldn't waste phones."

She's such a Wii addict that if she were to take the cell phones, she would probably call her aunt and uncle so she could play video games the rest of her life. Wii boxing and bowling!!! Yeah!!!

She has told us that's where she wants to go if we die (yes we do discuss it, but rarely).

"Jumping out a window would be a really good idea... I would just find something to bash it with."

Fifer, the tiny cow-child of teddy bears.

This is Anne, playing by herself, with stuffed animals.

"The little one, the little tiny cow is named Fiffer.
The white one, the sister, is named Lucky,
The daddy is Bucky,
And the mommy is Lydia, she has the big tummy 'cause she's pregnant."

Did you toot?

Anne:
"Dad, did you toot?"

Me:
"No."

Anne:
"Don't tell a lie!"

"I'm not."

Anne:
"Ok, we have a dead mouse."

Apparently my toots smell like dead mice.

That's a really bad thing to find out about oneself.

Dealy-Bob

Anne:
"Well dad, I think I'm going to have to go to the Doctor."

Me:
"Why?"

Anne:
"Well I will if my dealy-bob doesn't start feeling better."

Me:
"Dealy-bob?"

Anne:
"I'll tell you after I get through eating my cookie."

(5 minutes later)

Anne:
"Ok, are you ready to listen about my dealy-bob?"

Me:
"Sure"

Anne:
"Ok....

When I do this it hurts (flings her left arm straight out from her body)

And earlier when I was taking a nap my leg hurt. Both legs. It's weird."

Me:
"That sure is weird."

The Bible is SEEERIOUS!

Lydia just told Anne it's time to get ready for bed.

Anne: Mommy, can we do Bible time?

Lydia: Yes.

Anne: I like Bible time... 'Cause the Bible is SEEERIOUS! Those things REALLY HAPPENED!!!

Lydia: Yes they did.

Anne: I know!

I'm glad she has been listening to me. Every time I read to her from the Bible, I make sure to remind her that the Bible is an account of things that actually happened, not just stories like from her books.

Annie Bakes a Cake

December 15th, 2006 (I've been meaning to post this for a while)

Anne spends almost as much time in the kitchen as I do. She loves to watch me and help in whatever ways she can. Almost every time I go into the kitchen to start cooking or baking I can pretty much count on her joining me with her chair in tow within about 2 minutes.
I was baking yesterday and Anne had been watching me for quite a while. The idea entered my head to let her make her own cake, just for fun. I asked her if she wanted to and told her that I wasn't really going to help her. She got the biggest grin on her face and immediately set to work. She was positively giddy. She came up with the entire recipe on her own and it's pretty creative. The only thing I had to set her straight on was the very first ingredient, flour, she said, "Hmm, I think I should start with 7 cups of flour." After I told her she probably should start with one, she pretty much did all the measuring herself. On a few of the ingredients, she sought my opinion sneakily by stating what she was going to do with a bit of a question mark at the end. She didn't want to appear to be new at this! Well, here is her recipe.

Anne's Chocolate Cake

"We always use a bowl for all the flour and sugar and dry kind of things, don't we."
In a large bowl, combine:
1 Cup Flour (no, not 7)
1 Cup Sugar
3/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
"A little salt" (about 1/4 Teaspoon)
1/2 Cup Cocoa

In another bowl combine:
1 Stick Butter (softened)
1 Egg
1/2 Cup Buttermilk ("We like to put buttermilk in our cakes and things because it's gooood.")
"Some Vanilla. Vanilla doesn't taste good when we drink it plain but in a cake it's so gooood!"
Add to dry ingredients with mixer.

Then add, (because "It needs something to make it creamy." Off to the fridge!)
4 Ounces Cream Cheese (softened)


"It's kind of chunky and thick. Yeah, it's too thick. Sometimes it's ok to add water isn't it."
Add 2 Tablespoons water

Mix until smooth. In fact, I don't know that you can over-mix this cake. Anne likes using the mixer. Pour into a greased 8x8 pan. (Anne used a small rectangular one I had but it's probably about the size of an 8x8.) Bake at 350 about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.

From Bakery

From Bakery

Is that Even Good for Us?

I looked over at Tim who was lying on the couch holding his nostrils open with his fingers.

I said," What are you doing?"

Anne was lying on the floor looking at the phone book and saying random phone numbers and having imaginary conversations.

Tim said, "I'm breathing."

Anne stopped in the middle of a phone number and said, "Breathing? Is that even good for us?"

Lazy Daddy

I was eating supper tonight, and went in to get some milk. Lydia had the van today and was supposed to go to the store - but didn't.

There was enough milk for half of a glass.

Very disappointing, but I got over it.

Then I ran out of milk and the sky fell.

I said loudly in a pouting voice full of grump and whine, "I want some more milk!"

Anne said, "I'll go get you some."

I replied, "There isn't any more."

"Oh," she replied, "I just thought you were bein' lazy."

You Should have Covered

I just sneezed - with a small amount of food still in my mouth. Very small, just the little bits and pieces actually - not enough even to swallow.

There is a small pattern of said food on the curtain in our family room. I said, "Oh no - it's all over the curtain."

Anne comes trotting over to see, "Ew, gross - you should have covered."

Which is what I am constantly reminding her to do.

She was right. I should have covered.