Funny Stories

Life with my two kids...

A few days ago Andrew and I had a date. We had not spent any time alone together in a very long time. Here is how I told him...
Me: Andrew, do you want to go to town with mommy?
Him: Nope. I want to stay here and play.
Me: Well, then I guess I will have to eat out by myself.
Him: YES MOMMY! I DO want to go to town.
:)

We had such a good time together. I managed to convince him that we didn't have to eat at McDonalds today. I told him that it wasn't good to eat there too much because their food is not good for our bodies. He chose to go to IHOP. He told the waitress he was on a date with his mommy and that he was having fun. While we were eating he said, "Mommy, I'm glad we are eating here because if we eat at McDonalds too much we could die. I wonder why people like to eat there so much?" LOL!!!

When we left IHOP we happened to drive by the mall. He asked if we could go there so he could play at the play area. I told him we didn't have time to play because we had to get all of our shopping in and get right home because daddy had a meeting at 5 o'clock. He sighed and replied rather sadly, "Okay."

When we were in Target he out of the blue apologized for not getting me flowers for our date. He said, "Mom, I'm sorry I didn't get you any flowers for our date. I'll have to tell dad to get you some next time you go on a date with him. So you'll just have to wait. Sometime you should get a babysitter to stay with me and Carole so Daddy can take you out and buy you flowers."
*sniff* My heart just about melted! What a sweet, tender little guy!

On our way out of town we passed the mall again. He said, "There's the mall. You know what? We didn't go to the mall and play and I still had a lot of fun today. I love you, mom!"
*sniff, sniff* My little boy is growing up!

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This past week Carole learned a new word from Barney. Yes, my daughter absolutely loves that obnoxious overstuffed purple dinosaur. She doesn't get that from me. :) Anyway, the new word she picked up from him was "stupendous." She was so proud of herself. She was running around saying it over and over again in a sweet sing song voice. And then, of course, everything became stupendous... "Mommy, you're stupendous. Daddy's stupendous. Ando, you are stupendous." On and on it went. Later in the day she asked to call her Nana so she could tell her the new word. When Nana answered the phone, Carole blurted out, "Nana, you are STUUUUUUUPENDOUS!" She said it with such great gusto. Of course we all laughed. Once Carole proudly told Nana her new word, she bounded off to play. While I was talking on the phone, I heard Carole scream in terror, "NO ANDO!! YOU'RE STUPENDOUS! GIVE IT BACK!" Andrew had taken a toy from Carole and shoved her and she became very angry. Apparently, Carole does not really know what the word "stupendous" means. To her it was like calling her brother a name. Of course we all laughed and then she got mad. Life with Carole. :)

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Phil left this morning to attend a funeral. While he was gone Carole asked me, "Where's Daddy?" I told her that daddy went to see "so and so" because she was sad. That answer seemed to satisfy her. Andrew suddenly blurted in and said, "No he didn't! He went to a feeder." Phil had a chat with him before he left and told him he had to go to a funeral. Apparently Andrew couldn't remember what it was called and the word "feeder" came out. :)

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Here is a conversation that happened at supper time tonight. The difference between boys and girls is very evident.

(while looking out the sliding glass door in the dining room)

Carole: Look Mommy! It's a squirrel! Awwwww. Look at him. He's cute.

Andrew: Bang! Bang!!!

Carole: NO ANDO!! (yelled very loudly) Don't shoot him!

Andrew: Don't worry Carole. It's just water. It's okay.

Carole: Oh. Okay. But it still scares him.

The Joys of Playing Outside!

We have recently had a few really nice days. By nice I mean it has been in the 50's and 60's. Although many young people around here think that this is shorts and sandals weather, I beg to differ. But it is a welcome change from our very cold winter. It has been nice to be able to get out and get some fresh air.

Andrew loves riding his bike. Last summer he learned how to do it without training wheels. This year, he is trying tricks. Where did my baby boy go?? In these next two pictures Andrew would ride up the street and then coast downhill yelling, "Look Mom! Look at me! I can do tricks!" LOL! I don't have a good picture of it, but he was also driving one handed and saying, "Mom! Look! I can steer with one hand!" So far there have been no injuries, but we are stocked up on band aids and antibiotic cream. :) He is such a rough and tumble boy! All boy through and through!




Here we have Andrew "trying" to teach Carole how to pedal. I was laughing the whole time. Andrew said, "Mom, I have been teaching and teaching her but she just won't do it!" I quietly replied, "You did the same thing when you were three." He said, "Oh. Well, now I am five and I can pedal and do tricks!"



Carole loves to sit on her bike but so far she just can't get it to go anywhere. She is happy to just sit on it knowing full well that her big brother will soon come along and give her a push.


I just LOVE this next picture. We have a bunch of these dead flowers along the side of our house. Carole thinks they are something special. Everyday she brings me a bouquet of them. It is the thought that counts, right? And who can resist those eyes?? :) I know I can't.


Those of you who know Carole, know that she just does not have a lot of hair for a three year old. Lately, she has been asking for ponies (meaning ponytails). It is so hard to get her thin hair into one ponytail so I started trying pigtails. She loves them! She sits so still (well, mostly) while she waits for the finished product. Yesterday I braided the pigtails. Now she has a new favorite hairstyle. :) She is such a girlie girl.

One night Carole asked for sketty (spaghetti) for supper. I told her she could help me cook. She was thrilled! She ran and retrieved our step stool and set it up right at the counter before I could count to three. Her job was to break all of the noodles into small pieces before we cooked them. My kids have a much easier time eating spaghetti this way. So she set to work breaking each and every piece. I am sure we will be finding bits and pieces of broken spaghetti noodles all over our kitchen for awhile, but is was so worth seeing the joy on her face as she "helped" mommy.

Carole Turned Three!

Today was Carole's third birthday. I still find it so hard to believe that I actually gave birth to my own child. God gave us such a precious gift! We serve an amazing God!

This morning Phil took Carole with him when he took Andrew to school so I could set up her birthday present. We found a really cute Fisher Price Loving Family doll house on ebay. In the kitchen the refrigerator, stove, and an overhead light actually light up. The phone rings, the doorbell rings, and birds chirp when the patio doors open. Wall lamps light up, the fireplace lights up, and the computer turns on. She received different furniture sets from Papa and Nana and Great Grandpa and Great Grandma. Grandpa and Grandma got her the people which she has so proudly named. There is Daddy, Mommy, Andrew, Carole, and Shayna (her cousin). The grandparents names range from Grandpa and Grandma to Papa and Nana. :)

So while she was gone with Phil I set it all up. She came home quite surprised!

Here she is admiring it all.

After naps we took the kids to the small town park that is about half a block from us. The weather was not as warm as yesterday but it was quite pleasant. The kids had a lot of fun getting some fresh air.




After supper it was cake time! A dear lady in our church volunteered to bake Carole's princess cake. Yes, the princess requested a Princess birthday. We all had to wear our crowns. :)

Mmmmm. Yummy cake!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAROLE!!! We love you so much!

Twins?

I survived an 8 hour car trip with an almost 3 year old and a 5 year old. We arrived safely in MI about 6:30pm last night. Our original plans were to leave on Sunday morning. Yesterday morning I checked the weather around 8:00am and saw that is wasn't going to be good to travel through the Chicago area on Saturday or Sunday. By 10:15am we were on the road. I don't think I have ever packed so fast in my life.

The kids did great much to my surprise. We stopped at McDonalds for a quick lunch because I wanted to get back on the road to try to beat the Chicago rush hour traffic. While we were in the restroom in McDonalds a lady noticed my well behaved children. I actually thought I had left my kids behind and ended up with someone elses kids for the trip. She kindly asked if they were twins. *shock* I think I might have looked at her like she had a third eye. I stammered a bit hoping she would realize her mistake, and then I answered no. She quickly apologized and commented on how they look so close in age. I said, "He is 5 and she is almost 3." At this point I could tell the lady was embarrassed so I quickly explained that Andrew is adopted and yes, he is small for his age. I will admit, that is the first time someone has ever asked if my kids were twins. I would think that a dark haired, dark skinned boy and a fair skinned, blond girl could never pass as twins. But then again, what do I know? :)

Princess

I just wanted to share these pictures of Carole that I took yesterday. She spent some of her Christmas money from her great-grandparents on this beautiful princess dress. I think it makes her look so grown up. She says that this dress is her Sleeping Beauty dress. :)

Entertaining Children

First of all check out these pictures of Carole. When she came into the kitchen to show me, I just starting laughing and grabbed the camera. LOL! She is sporting big brothers Curious George hat, her new scarf from Nana, and some beautiful pink sandals.

I don't know about you, but I just love the sock and sandals look! :) Just kidding.


Okay, and now for the funny stories.

Story #1
Yesterday Andrew and I went out on a date. We went out to lunch and went shopping. He had some birthday money burning a hole in his pocket. Anyway, while we were shopping I told him we needed to pick up some thank you cards for him to give to people who gave him birthday presents and money. He didn't say much at that time and just went right along with picking some out. On our way home I mentioned that after his nap he needed to help me write his thank you notes. He said, "I don't need to do that, Mom. I will just tell Jesus that I said thank you and then He can tell everyone else what I said." LOL! Out of the mouth of babes.

Story #2
Lately, Carole has been taking forever to eat her meals. I just leave her sit there and she knows she can't get down until her food is gone. Well, last night everyone had finished eating and had left the table. Phil and Andrew went to someone's house and I was in the kitchen cleaning up. Carole was still sitting there playing with her food. While I was rinsing the dishes and loading the dishwasher I heard her mumbling. I turned the water off and turned around to look at her. Her back was to me, so she could not see me. She was sitting there holding her spoon up to ear like a phone. This is what I heard...

Hello? Ando, are you there?
pause
This is Cawole. How are you?
pause
Are you at the mall?
pause
What are you doing?
pause
You need to come home.
pause
I said you need to come home and take a bath. You stink.
pause
Ando, you better hurry up and come home and take a bath cause you really stink, okay?
pause
Okay. Bye, Ando

I starting laughing so hard!! She turned around and realized that I was laughing at her and she quickly put her spoon down and started eating. I think she was embarrassed. :)

Birthday Boy

Here are a few pictures from Andrew's 5th birthday.

We all received Batman tattoos for the day. Andrew was very proud of his.

Here is Carole proudly sporting her Batman tattoo.

We had Andrew's party at the local bowling alley. He had so much fun!

Here he is proudly blowing out his candles with is new friends standing by.

Everyone was so eager to help small Andrew bowl.

Here is Carole wondering around the bowling alley. She came up to me and said, "Mommy, I'm boring." I think she meant to say that she was bored. And I am sure she was.

We really had to keep our eye on Carole. She was fascinated with the computer.

Carole took bowling very seriously. :)

Five Years Ago Today

In February 2003, God laid it on our hearts to adopt. We began the process and then waited on the Lord.

Five years ago today our lives were changed FOREVER!

On Saturday, February 14th, 2004 late in the afternoon we received a phone call from our social worker. She said that a baby boy had just been born and his parents fell in love with our profile. They really wanted their son to go to us. We were so excited! We also learned we would have to stay in the state of his birth until all the paper work went through, but we were close enough to home so that Phil could still preach on the weekends. We were told that the baby boy was born a few weeks early and weighed only 4 lbs.15oz. He would have to stay in the hospital for awhile until he was able to eat on his own. Our social worker then asked us to come as soon as we could to meet the birth parents and our new son. She made arrangements for us to stay in the Ronald McDonald house which only charged $5 a night. We had nothing for a baby, so before we could go meet our son, we had to do some major shopping. We were so excited as we shopped. We bought a car seat, blankets, clothes, etc. We had so much fun picturing our new son. We could hardly wait to meet him!

February 15th, our social worker called us back and said that there was a chance we may not get him because some legal mess came up. So we waited an excruciating 2 days until our social worker got the legal stuff all figured out.

On Wednesday, February 18th, we met our son for the very first time. The nurses were so kind to us and provided a room for us to stay in with Andrew during the day. Because he still wasn’t eating very well he had to stay in the hospital hooked up to an IV. Believe it or not, but Andrew began to eat a lot better when we became a part of his little world. Before we came, the only attention he got was from the nurses.




A few days after meeting him, Andrew was released from the hospital. Since we couldn’t leave the state, we took him home to the Ronald McDonald house. A few weeks later, after all the paper work was approved, we got to take Andrew home. I finally had a baby! The Lord had answered our prayers! We can't imagine are lives without hims! What a precious bundle straight from the Lord!

Having some fun with Daddy.

Reading with Mommy.

In loving memory of Buster. He was such a good cat for Andrew. He tolerated a lot.

This was a rare moment with young Tigger. He did not like Andrew, but was fascinated with his bath time.

When Andrew was 8 months old we finally got to finalize his adoption in court. The judge didn't stay behind his podium, he came at sat at the table with us. What a special day that was!

Here is our handsome boy today. HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY!!! We love you so much, Andrew!!!!

Checking In

Hi friends! It's been awhile. Yes, we are still alive. Once Carole got better, Andrew got sick. He didn't get it near as bad as Carole, but he was still pretty sick. Of course I had to get it too, but I cannot complain. It didn't affect me like it did them. So we are pretty much back to normal.

Here is a picture of Andrew when he was sick. He reacts completely different than Carole does. He acts like he is dying and the whole world just might cave in, while his sister keeps on living life to its fullest.
One day while Carole was sick she came into the kitchen looking like this. She wanted to go play outside. Do you see anything wrong with this picture? :) Crazy girl! I guess she was feeling a bit stir crazy.

I did create a few cards over the past week. My Dad's birthday was yesterday. He is Mr. Fix-It type of guy. I found these stickers at Wal-Mart.
Phil came up with some witty sayings for the inside. I thought it turned out cute.

A couple in our church lost their elderly father in a tool shed fire this past week. I had to come up with quick sympathy card when I didn't feel the greatest.

As most of you know, Phil is on our town's Volunteer Fire Department. As a result he has been taking Firefighter classes two nights a week. This past week he had to go in his gear for some hands on training. I can't resist my man in uniform! And in the kitchen, no less! ;) I love you, Phil!