January Happenings

AVERY
-Avery was pretty sick one day. "MOOOOOOM! I have hot slobber in my mouth!"
MACY
-Macy wanted to know what parents do when their kids want to follow Satan. Pretty interesting discussion for me to have with a 4 year old.
-Macy was super excited one night when I told her she could blow her flute in the morning to wake up Carston and Avery, but only when I said it was time. She woke up bright and early, ran into my room, and asked if it was time yet. She got a little shy when the time came and wanted me to go with her, but that made her day :)

December Happenings

CARSTON
-Carston had a bad dream and came into our room at night. He said it might help him go back to sleep if he told me the Doodle Bob Johnson story he made up and told the girls that night. Ten minutes later, and like a hundred times of saying "Doodle Bob Johnson," John had had enough and sent him off to bed. Luckily, his theory worked and he was able to sleep.
-Grandpa George gave Carston a hat that he wore when he was in the army. He was super excited about it and wore it everyday and sometimes at night for weeks.
MACY
-"Mom, you have good rules. Like putting people on timeout when they make a bad choice because it helps them remember."
-Macy just figured out how to read "met." "Yeah, like you could say I just met someone handsome!'
-Macy is earning fuzzies for her good behavior, the things she does that make her happy. She is doing such an amazing job at responding to that incentive and changing her behavior so she will be happier.
AVERY
-Avery went to eat at The Smoking Apple with us. "I thought it was for evil guys, but now I know it's not because they have a no smoking sign."
-We went on the non-scary version of a little Halloween train. It was still too scary for Avery. She cried and wanted to get off, which wasn't an option. Macy said that if she got scared again, "she'll hug her because she isn't scared of anything!"
KATE
-Kate is such a loving girl. She is always saying I love you. When the babysitter came over, she crawled up in her arms and said, "I wuv you Kami."
-"Guess what? Gwanma babysit us!" Kate loves Grandma Robin and asks just about everyday if we can go to "gwanma's" house.

November Sayings

AVERY
-Avery was so excited to have her RadKids program. She invited grandma. She couldn't wait for it. We went and watched her sit up on the stage with her friend, holding hands. They came out and showed us some defense moves and practiced yelling, "No, no, you're not my dad!" It was pretty funny. Then, they brought out something the kids had never seen before. They had a guy completely covered in a padded suit with a helmet, you couldn't hardly see him. The kids were all supposed to take a turn putting on pads themselves, walking past him and getting grabbed, and then escaping from him using the things they learned. As soon as Avery saw him she started crying. We didn't know what to do because she was up on the stage. Pretty soon she was hiding behind the curtain. It was so sad because she had been so excited about it. Pretty soon her teacher brought her down to us. It took awhile for her to calm down and believe us that she didn't have to do it if she didn't want to. She finally decided to go back on the stage if she could sit by Ava. I was happy that she found the courage :)
-Avery has been drawing like crazy!
-Avery was playing with Carston, running around with a blanket on her head. She ran hard into the corner of a wall. Grandma wanted to know who won when we told her that Avery got into a fight with the wall. "The wall!" She said.
KATE
-Kate always says, "NO! I'm not a baby! I'm just Kate!" "I'm not a sweetie! I'm just Kate!"
-Whenever Carston calls Kate by her backwards name, Etak, she starts punching him and saying "he-yaw!" I guess she can't distinguish between "Etak" and "Attack"
CARSTON
-Carston has been drawing like a crazy man!
-Carston loves finding little craft projects online and making them.
-Carston has given everyone their backwards name. Whenever he calls Kate by hers, Etak, she starts punching him. That's what happens when it sounds like attack.
-John accidentally cut Carston's skin the first time he tried to cut his fingernails as a baby. Carston knows this story, and it has made him too scared to ever attempt to cut his own nails. I finally put my foot down and he cut his nails for the first time :)
MACY
-I picked up Macy from preschool and as she got in the car, she informed me that "she quitted preschool." What does that mean? "I quitted. I just sat on the couch and didn't do anything." What? You sat on the couch for two hours? Macy Roberts sat for 2 hours? I got her in the car and went to talk to her teacher who confirmed the preposterous idea. Apparently, Macy was mad because she didn't get to sit on the color of carpet that she wanted. So what did she do? She quitted. She sat on that couch and held her ground despite her teacher's antics to change her mind with fun activities and candy. Each of her classmates tried to get her to budge. No way. She had made up her mind to quit and she was not going back. When I talked to her about it, she didn't mention the carpet. She just said that she only wanted to go to preschool when it was her birthday and that was it. I informed her that was not an option. She could either go to all of preschool and do everything, or she could not go at all. The choice was hers. She said she would think about it. A few hours later she informed me that she had decided yes, she would go to preschool. Luckily, we haven't had any trouble since.
-"Mom, when Avery is afraid of stuff she always wants me to protect her. Cause I ain't afraid of nothin'!"
-Macy ran in and saw my mom's nativity. "Look guys! The Activity! Isn't it beautiful?"

October Sayings

MACY
-Macy is constantly saying "I love you" accompanied with super tight hugs.
KATE
-Kate got sick one night. She told us, "I don't have hiccups. I have throwups in my mouth."
-When we left Kate with Chelsey and Grandma for our trip, she started peeing her pants. When I got home, I would make her sit on the toilet and go. She was so mad the first time I made her do it. I told her good job for doing pee pees, to which she adamently replied, "No! It's not pee pees!"
-Kate is always telling us, "I'm big!"
-Kate tells us she'll go take care of it if the kids are fighting or Sadie is barking. "I'll go take care of it."
-I told Kate I was going to eat her because she was delicious. "No I'm not! I'm yucky!"
-Randy was asking Kate how old she was. Then he asked her if she was yellow or brown. She took a minute to look herself over and responded with, "No, I'm chocolate," as she held up her brown hair.
-The kids had an activity at the school. We went to do an activity in the computer room. The teacher was nice enough to get Kate set up on one. As soon as he had the right page up, she grabbed the mouse and told him to go away. She was a big girl and could handle it from there.
-We were at the park when Kate had to go potty. The doors were locked. I was desparate and we were the only ones there so I decided to have a first and let her go on the grass. I pulled down her pants and got ready for the stream of pee. It wasn't pee. It was poo. And right at that moment an old lady decided to come to the park. Super Gross.
CARSTON
-We left the kids for a week when we went to Hawaii for our 10th anniversary. When we got home Carston said, "I'm soooo happy I get to see you! I'm sooooo glad you're home!"
-Carston has been missing Grandma Gladys and Grandpa Dick lately. There have been a few hard nights with tears as he remembers them and wishes they were still here.
-There was a spook alley at the school. The girls were too scared to go so Carston headed in with some friends. He said he was so scared that he totally screamed. Halfway through they saw an exit sign and he said, "I suggest we go that way!" And out they came.
-Carston got glasses! He was really hesitant at first about getting them, but we went to a nice doctor and once his glasses came, he loved them. He couldn't believe the difference it made for his vision.
AVERY
-Avery loves dancing at her new studio. She comes out skipping and whistling. She works really hard in class and does a great job watching and copying her teacher.
-Avery decided she wanted to get her ears pierced. She was pretty set on it and so I thought I'd take advantage of her courageous attitude. Bad choice. She was great getting the first one pierced. And then she didn't want anyone to come near her second ear. We spent 15 minutes trying to convince her. I was just about to take my pirate daughter home when she got up the guts to do it. I was so happy that she summoned the courage. A few months later though, an earring got snagged and fell out. She really wanted me to put it back in......and she really didn't want me to touch her. I tried in her sleep. I tried in the shower. I tried as much as I could. I was not successful. So now, Avery is a pirate. One hole grew in, and yet she won't take the other earring out :) Bless her heart :)