Cute things my kids have said: Part 12

It has been over a year since I last posted one of these!!  A YEAR!  Wow...so here is edition 12 of cute things my kids have said.


1/9/15  Trying to explain that the color of a country on a map does not reflect the color of the actual place. I showed the kids a map of the US. "Is Wyoming really purple? Is Nebraska really yellow?" Jasmine: (with a mischievous twinkle in her eye) "Nebraska is really red." #huskercountry  :)
wink emotico#‎huskercountry‬

1/14/15  Eden: (after her orthodontist appt) "My teeth feel like soldiers." (Because they are so stiff.)

1/17/15  Eden: "Mommy, do you know what inflexibility is? It is invisible flexibility!"

1/17/15  Jasmine: "Mom, why are you pulling the hairs out of your face? They're just going to grow back while you sleep."

1/21/15  Jasmine: "I get naked when I go number two."

1/23/15   Me: "You guys didn't get any of your homework done." Jasmine: "At least we were playing and using our imaginations instead of being on technology!"

1/26/15  We could hear the bass in the car next to us...discussing what it sounds like, Acacia says, "Or maybe God stomping his foot on the earth."

2/16/15  Eden was pouting because I told her to go work on her homework...I was talking to Acacia who had asked me a question. I answered, "partially." Acacia: "what does 'partially' mean?" Eden(in her pouty voice): "It's a vegetable." And then she started laughing at her own joke.

3/11/15  Kira: "I see the moon, Mommy!" Me: "What? Why is it there during the daytime?" Kira: "it's stuck!" Me: "What should we do about it?" Kira: "Climb a tree?"

3/11/15  Jasmine: "I don't know what it's like to have a brother but I'm pretty sure it's not fun. It's not that I don't like boys..."

3/27/15  Earlier tonight Eden mentioned that she had a sore throat. Jasmine says to her, "Don't you wish you were a bee? Then instead of talking you could just dance!"

4/26/15  Me: "Kira, how did you sleep last night?"
Kira: "I'm wearing Jasmine's shoes."
Me: "That doesn't answer my question."
Kira: "Yes. It does."

5/4/15  Kira was sitting with me at Acacia's violin Sprouts lesson watching intently. I turned and asked her, "Do you want to learn to play the violin?" Kira answered, "No. I'm gonna play my harmonica."

5/13/15  Overheard this morning after Jasmine reminded Eden of something they had planned to do together... Eden: "That was the nighttime me. This is the daytime me and I'm too tired!"

5/17/15  I asked Kira where her shoes were. She answered, "I took them off. My feet are full."

5/19/15  Used my vehicle's rear wipers today...Jasmine: "Oh! So that's how people's back windows make rainbows of dirt!"

5/24/15  After our recent party I have punch & 7-up in the fridge. Kira: "Mommy, can I have some 8-up?" (She was talking about the punch!)

5/27/15  Kira: "Mommy, my shirt has sneeze on it."

7/3/15  Yet another thing I never imagined myself saying, "Kira! Do NOT eat your shoe!"

7/3/15 Kira (about the fireworks): "That scared my ears."

7/26/15  Eden: "I want to go to Target and sniff the clothes!"

8/12/15   Today the girls & I were talking about how hard it was to teach Eden to read and how Acacia basically taught herself. Eden said: "Teaching me to read was like teaching a squirrel how to dance!" Acacia: "And teaching me was like shaking a tree branch."

8/22/15 Kira: "Daddy, I'm ready for my piggy bank ride."

9/16/15 Kira (after I told her not to do something): "I know it's bad but I like it."

9/24/15 Eden while trying to tell us where sushi is made: "I forgot what the other China was called."

9/30/15 Eden: "Utah is like a giant chocolate bar with one of the squares eaten off it."

10/13/15  I asked Kira if she felt any different now that she is three. She said, "Yeah, my teeth feel bigger."

11/6/15  I asked Kira why her baby was naked. Her answer: "Because she has no clothes on."

11/19/15   Jasmine: "Sometimes I use the cc cards when I'm multiplicating."

11/27/15  Kira: "I'm scared of animals. I'm scared of dinosaurs and puppies. But I'm not scared of cats."

12/2/15   Kira scraped her finger earlier today and I put a band-aid on it. Just now she came to me because she wanted a new band-aid. I asked her why she took the other one off. She told me, "That band-aid was having a bad day."

12/25/15. Kira to Russ who was wearing sunglasses on his head in the house. " I told you to quit it with those glasses!"

12/31/15  Kira: talking about having boobies "But they hurt." Me: "No they don't". "But you're going to have a baby and that hurts. I'm guessing."

12/31/15  I threw something at the trash and missed and gave an exasperated sigh. Kira: "it's okay. You can pick up when you get out of the bath." Me: "But I'm pregnant and can't bend easily so you're going to have to do it." Short pause. Kira: searching her body with her hand. "But my back hurts."

1/6/16  Kira found a bottle in bathroom and asked me what it was. "Lotion". "Will it die me?" "Only if you eat it." "So I can put it on my hands but if I put it in my mouth it will die me?"

1/14/16  Kira was looking in the mirror and I heard her say , "You don't respect me!" Then she came around the corner and said to me, "The Kira in the mirror doesn't respect me."

2/1/16  Kira peed on the kitchen table.

2/12/16  Just overheard my kids singing 'Happy Birthday' to Abraham Lincoln.

Books I read in 2015

Books I read in 2015

• 01) 'A Study In Scarlet' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 1/15
• 02) 'The Sign of the Four' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 1/19
• 03) 'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' by Sit Arthur Conan Doyle 1/22
• 04) 'The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 1/29
• 05) 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 2/3
• 06) 'The Return of Sherlock Holmes' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 2/12
• 07) 'Interrupted: When Jesus Wrecks Your Comfortable Christianity' by Jen Hatmaker 2/18
• 08) 'His Last Bow' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 2/24
• 09) 'The Valley of Fear' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 2/28
• 10) 'The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 3/8
• 11) 'Matched' by Ally Condie 3/9
• 12) 'Crossed' by Ally Condie 3/12
• 13) 'Reached' by Ally Condie 3/14
• 14) 'Own Your Life' by Sally Clarkson 4/23
• 15) 'In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day' by Mark Batterson 4/24
• 16) 'Operation Tree Roper:An Eye Above' by Robert A. Polk 5/5
• 17) '100 Ways to Motivate Yourself: Change Your Life Forever' by Steve Chandler (audio) 5/17
• 18) 'Soul's Gate' by James L. Rubart 7/18
• 19) 'Memory's Door' by James L. Rubart 7/20
• 20) "Treasure Island' by Robert Louis Stevenson (audio) 7/22
• 21) 'Call the Midwife' by Jennifer Worth 8/11
• 22) 'Spirit Bridge' by James L Rubart 9/3
• 23) 'Under the Never Sky' by Veronica Rossi 9/10
• 24) 'Through the Ever Night' by Veronica Rossi 9/12
• 25) 'Into the Still Blue' by Veronica Rossi 9/17
• 26) 'Armada' by Ernest Cline 9/25
• 27) 'The Scent of Lilacs' by Ann H. Gabhart 10/6

The one with all the birthdays...

Thirty-five years ago...my mama did what mama's do and brought me into the world.  After all my earlier musings I thought it might be fun to make a birthday post with pictures and memories from some of my birthdays gone by.

My family always did birthdays well.  They weren't always big productions...but there was always a stack of presents, the family's undivided attention and a special cake.  Oh, the cakes!  My mom or grandma would always put some work into our cakes in those early years!

1st birthday

 

2nd birthday

3rd birthday

 

4th birthday

 

5th birthday

 

6th birthday

I can't remember much from my early birthdays.  But I've often been told the story of my 1st  birthday when I sat with my Grandpa Jim and didn't want anything to do with anyone else---or so the story goes!  :)

My seventh birthday is the first I can really remember.  It was my first birthday that I had a party with friends and not just family.  My mom, grandma, aunt & second cousin worked really hard to make a special day for me.  If I can close my eyes I can almost put myself back at my grandma's table, surrounded by my friends and all the happy noise of a kid's party. 

8th birthday

 

I got a bike for my 9th birthday...

10th birthday

 

The next birthday that really stands out in my mind is my 11th birthday.  My mom let me have a slumber party with my 3 friends from school.  We went roller skating, stayed up late, played truth or dare and acted just as silly as you'd expect from a group of 10-11 year olds in the early 90s!  There is a cassette recording in a box somewhere that documents select portions of that night.  My favorite being our rendition of  "Goodnight Sweetheart Goodnight".  

12th birthday

Not all the most memorable birthday memories are good ones...I remember on my thirteenth birthday, we had a big scene because I was not opening my presents or at least was going annoyingly slow and people got impatient and I ended up crying in the bathroom.  I was too embarrassed to tell everyone that I was stalling because I was hoping that if I waited a little while my cousin, Ryan, would get home from basketball practice and would be there for my birthday.

14th birthday

 15th birthday

 

A couple days before my 16th birthday, I was at my grandma's house watching Scooby Doo and my mom told me to come with her to drop something off at my friends house.  I was irritated 'cause I was enjoying me some Scoobs but she talked me into it!  Turns out it was a ruse to get me to the surprise party my friends were throwing.  As much as a appreciated the sentiment and had a lot of fun...I'm not a fan of surprises.  I hadn't showered or anything and was all grungy and feeling ugly while all my friends were shiny, clean and dressed for the occasion!

17th birthday

 18th birthday

I can't even find a picture from my 19th birthday!

20th birthday

 I was in college on my 21st birthday.  Unlike some people who spend their twenty-first with their first legal bout of drunkenness, I spent mine with my family.  My parents came over to my dorm and took me out for pizza and a movie.  They brought cake, which we ate in my dorm room.  It was memorable because we got out my video camera and taped some of our good-clean birthday shenanigans. 

I always look back on my 22nd birthday with a bit of melancholy.  I had moved to a new city with my best friend a month before.  A week before my birthday my boyfriend and I broke up.  The day before my birthday my family drove up to see me and celebrate.  They went home in the afternoon and that evening my best friend and I had a group of new friends over.  My ex and one of my other good friends stopped in as well.  It was a really fun night with just a bit of a sting.  However...my actual birthday was spent alone.  It was Superbowl Sunday.  My best friend had to work.  I decided to go to the mall and use my birthday money to buy myself a ring.  I then spent the rest of the night sitting in the dark watching a stupid football game by myself and feeling sad.  

By the next year, however, I was dating Russ and my 23rd birthday was spent with the man who was very soon to be my husband.  I wrote a poem that year.  I guess birthdays cause me to wax poetic...and get all introspective.  

Since marriage--and thus, "real life" has begun--my birthdays have become, for the most party, just another day.  Russ & I have tried to do something special for our birthdays over the years with dinners out, overnight trips out of town, and whatnot but birthdays as an adult just don't pack the same punch as they did before.  

24th birthday

25th birthday

26th birthday

For my 27th birthday, Russ & I dropped Eden off with our parents and spent a night in Rapid City.  The only thing I remember about the trip is that we ate at Chili's and for some reason or other we ended up getting our meal free.

Fast forward a couple years because apparently it didn't seem necessary to take a picture to honor my 28th & 29th birthdays.

I think Russ & I went on another overnight trip to Loveland for my 30th birthday.  Only took the nursing child. 

For my 31st birthday I finally got my dream camera and promptly took my first selfie.  (Actually I had a 6 year old do it, I think.)

My 32nd was one of my most memorable birthdays over the last few years. I spent it away from my family at a "Captivating" retreat in the mountains of Colorado.  It was one of the most powerful experiences of my life...and worth every moment...but it was kinda strange spending my birthday without any family. 

33rd birthday

Last year for my birthday I had an anti-Superbowl birthday party the night before my 34th.  I didn't get any pictures of myself last year either...just the food. 

AND now....I present me on my 35th birthday....drum roll?

TA DA!!!

I said it before and I'll say it again, birthdays as a grown up just aren't the same.  But that's okay...the birthday parties may get staler but the person just keeps getting finer with age.  Am I right?

Birthday musings...

Once upon a time a baby was born  to a young couple in western Nebraska...and that baby was me.  And 'once upon a time' was, in fact, exactly 35 years ago.  

Birthdays are a funny thing.  So much hoopla is made on what is simply the anniversary of the day you emerged from your mother's uterus. "Congratulations, Person, let us reward you for the pain & agony you put that woman through!"  

In seriousness though, we know that it isn't the act of being born that is being celebrated but the very existence of a new life that previously wasn't and now is affecting so many other lives simply by his/her presence in this world.   We so often hear the birth of a child described as "a miracle."   It is only one of the most commonplace experiences on earth and yet despite the plebeian nature of the thing, there is no better word to apply to that moment when that which was previously two unrelated minute pieces of two completely different people emerges as a fully developed young life with his/her own look,  personality and temperament.    

I imagine that the concept of the "birth day" celebration was started by a mother.   No one quite appreciates the day someone was born more than the one in whom that person once lived and who felt the "miracle" of that life in the most tangible of ways.   To celebrate ones own day of introduction seems a bit vainglorious!  "Hey, All of You Out There!  I began to grace this world with my presence exactly 35 years ago today!  Make with the merriment, will you?  For I have enriched your lives by my very birth!"  Yeah...perhaps there are a few out there that feel that way...but I'm still putting my money on a mother.

That would also explain why birthdays are more elaborately celebrated in childhood.  I know, as a mother of young children myself, that my children's birthdays hold far more meaning to me than my own.  And I want to cherish those memories and make the most of these fleeting moments now when I can still see glimpses of those new wrinkled baby faces that I met in their first hours in their now fresh childish faces that keep maturing before my very eyes.  Every year--with balloons and cake and gifts and special meals--I am remembering that day (however many years ago) that I held them in my arms for the first time and I am beaming with pride at how their birth changed the course of history...at least for me.  The child doesn't remember that day.  All she knows is that today is important.  That it's all about her.  She is special.  She is loved.  And she is worth celebrating.

At least that is how I felt as a kid and how I strive to make my kids feel.   

 

As I approach (what I  hope is at least) the midpoint of my life, the less significant each passing year becomes.  The years get shorter and making it around the sun another time doesn't feel like much.  Autonomy means that instead of big elaborate parties with colored streamers and a group of friends, you get a card in the mail that you read in between errands.  The ironic thing is that the smaller the outward celebration...the larger your impact on the world has become (hopefully in a positive way) and the more there is about your existence that is worth celebrating.  At least that's what we should all be striving for.

I may not be that important in the scheme of history.  My name may not be remembered more than a generation after my death.  And I am more than okay with that.  My ambition is not one of grandeur.  I just want to be a positive influence to those around me.  I want each year that I get to see another February 3rd come and go, to be another year in which I was the best version of me that I can be.  I want to spend each day I get to breathe in this ol' planet's atmosphere, living--really living. 

There are no balloons up for me today.  There are no streamers.  There will be no slumber parties or piles of presents.  And I'll be making my own cake.  But today I will celebrate my life and thank Jesus for letting me be a part of His plan.

                                   

Books I've read in 2014

• My reading goal for 2014 was to read more books than I did in 2013.  I succeeded in that goal.  I read a pretty good mix of books this year.  Some christian fiction, biography stories, classics, dystopian YA novels, a few re-reads, lots of good times!
• A couple of the books that really stood out for me among the thirty-two books I happened to finish amid the craziness of life are 'In the Presence of my Enemies' which is the true story of missionaries who were taken hostages by a group of Muslims--very raw and life changing--and "Ready Player One" which is a fiction novel set in the future where people spend a majority of their lives in a virtual world. The main character is on a mission to find an easter egg hidden in the program by its 1980s-obsessed creator.  So fun!  Anyway--here it is--my list...
• 
  

• Books I've read in 2014

  • 01) 'A Promise For Tomorrow' by Judith Pella & Tracie Peterson 1/3
  • 02) 'Good, Clean Murder' by Traci Tyne Hilton 1/6
  • 03) 'In the Shadow of Lions' by Ginger Garrett 1/11
  • 04) 'Small Town Girl' by Ann H Gabhart 2/4
  • 05) 'In the Presence of My Enemies' by Gracia Burnham 2/7
  • 06) 'The Noticer' by Andy Andrews 2/15
  • 07) 'The Noticer Returns' by Andy Andrews 2/19
  • 08) 'Made to Crave' by Lysa Terkeurst 2/20
  • 09) 'My Story' by Elizabeth Smart 2/21
  • 10) 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' by Douglas Adams (audio) 2/27
  • 11) 'The Restaurant at the End of the Universe' by Douglas Adams (audio) 3/2
  • 12) 'Life, the Universe and Everything' by Douglas Adams (audio) 2/7
  • 13) 'Hands Free Mama"' by Rachel Macy Stafford 3/17
  • 14) 'Mostly Harmless' by Douglas Adams (audio) 3/18
  • 15) 'Divergent' by Veronica Roth 3/21
  • 16) 'Insurgent' by Veronica Roth 3/22
  • 17) 'Allegiant' by Veronica Roth 3/24
  • 18) 'The Giver' by Lois Lowry 3/31
  • 19) 'The Husband's Secret' by Liane Moriarty 4/3
  • 20) 'Beautiful Outlaw' by John Eldredge 4/14
  • 21) 'The Great Gatsby' by F. Scott Fitzgerald 4/22
  • 22) 'Stepping Heavenward' by Elizabeth Prentiss 7/21
  • 23) 'The Maze Runner' by James Dashner 9/14
  • 24) 'The Scorch Trials' by James Dashner 9/19
  • 25) 'The Death Cure' by James Dashner 9/20
  • 26) 'Indivisible' by Kristen Heitzmann 9/27
  • 27) 'The Kill Order' by James Dashner 10/6
  • 28) 'Uglies' by Scott Westerfeld 10/21
  • 29) 'Pretties' by Scott Westerfeld 10/23
  • 30) 'Specials' by Scott Westerfeld 10/25
  • 31) 'Ready Player One' by Ernest Cline 11/10
  • 32) 'Same Kind of Different as Me' by Ron Hall & Denver Moore 11/18

Cute things my kids have said: Part 11

A few more adorable memories from the past year!  Check out past "Cute" posts HERE.

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April 19, 2014:  At the grocery store, Jasmine was trying to embarrass Eden by chanting that E loves Justin Beiber. Eden attempted to one up her by saying "YOU love Justin Beiber because God says love you enemies!" Jasmine comes back with..."YOU love Justin Beiber because God says love your enemies. HA!" 

May 14, 2014:  I think I have been successful in passing down my love for books...Jasmine says to me "I like the library but I don't like that I have to take the books back." 


May 19, 2014:  After asking Acacia multiple times to pick up the clothes in her room, she comes out with her saddest face and and says, "Mommy, I just want to have a good time. And you're ruining it."

June 6, 2014:  Eden's takeaway from Disney: "Never trust an old woman who wants to give you an apple. Unless she's your grandmother." Jasmine: "But what if your grandmother is evil?"

June 11, 2014:  Eden (while reading a book about alligators): "Ohmygoodness! Alligators live up to 50 years! Uncle Tim is 10 years younger than them." 

June 19, 2014:  Driving between Bridgeport and Sidney, Nebraska, Jasmine looks out the window and says, "This is what it looks like when you're lost." 

June 21, 2014:  Jasmine: "What if someone had NO underwear and had to wear pizza instead?!"

June 23, 2014:  At lunch, after anyone took a bite, Acacia would throw her hand in the air and yell, "Fifteen points for Gryffindor!"

June 28, 2014:  Eden: "I hope Vaughn walks in with a disco ball or I'm going to freak out!"

July 3, 2014:  My kids are outside playing in their heavy coats. When I asked what they are doing, "We are pretending that it's winter."

July 8, 2014:  Eden wanted me to put in a cd that they could dance ballet to. I had her grab a cd from our classical section and she gave me a Mozart disc. It started playing and she reacted with "no not this". When I asked her why she said, "This is too 'is he dead or is he not?'."

July 18, 2014:  Eden: "Let's just pretend that Acacia is a drop of sunshine that grew into a girl."

July 18, 2014:  At a backyard BBQ--Me: "Jasmine, sit down and eat the rest of your hot dog and then you can have a S'more." Jasmine: "Some more what?" 

July 20, 2014:  Sitting at the dinner table discussing how a princess would and would not eat her dessert. Jasmine: "Being a princess is hard." Eden (in a condescending tone): "Tell me about it."

August 18, 2014: Jasmine came to me with this cucumber on her wrist and said, "If you go to fashionfood.com you can buy this beautiful jewelry."

August 19, 2014: The kids were just singing a version of 'Do you want to build a snowman' where they substituted almost every noun with the word 'Sherlock'.  And now they are just walking around saying random things like, "I thought Sherlock was for Sherlocking."

August 19, 2014:  Jasmine (while making a fruit smoothie-which was her idea): "Mommy, good ideas always pop into my head!"

August 25, 2014: The girls were playing with Barbies and Jasmine says asking for a new outfit for her doll (in her falsetto voice): "I need a sexy...oops...i mean, I need a fashionable one."

September 13, 2014:  Watching the "Whip it" video: Eden says, "Eww they are nuditing her!"

September 15, 2014:  Jasmine & Acacia asked Jesus to be their Savior.

September 18, 2014:  Jasmine wanted to know how we got the whipped cream out of the can. Eden replies without even so much as a sideways glance while eating her pie, "Chef's secret."

September 22, 2014:  Jasmine: "Mommy, why would people want to come to Nebraska? It's cold right now and it smells like cow poop."

September 29, 2014:  Eden: "I'm starting putrid!" Me:huh? Eden: "I was reading that book about how babies are born and it said girls start putrid at 8 or 9 and boys start at 10 or 11." Me: "Oh, you mean puberty!"

October 2, 2014:  I got a late night giggle when I got up to use the restroom and heard one of my girls talking in her sleep (I think it was Jasmine.). She said quickly, "Duck, duck, duck, duck, duck , duck, duck."

October 9, 2014:  Russ & I were just passionately kissing in the kitchen at lunch as people in love are want to do; Eden turns away in disgust and says, "You are not in a movie!"

October 23, 2014:  Found this while cleaning! Apparently Jasmine was practicing her ballet!

November 14, 2014:  The other night Eden was singing "All about that bass" to herself and I said "Do you even know what that song is about?" She replied, "It's about liking your body no matter what."

December 17, 2014:  Kira: (Pretending to take my picture) "Say cheese & mayonnaise!"

December 18, 2014:  I asked Kira if I could have a hug. Kira- "No" Me- "please?" She looks at me with a scowl on her face and says matter of factly (as if she's explaining something to a stupid person) "No means no."

December 21, 2014:  I asked Kira where the wipes were. She put her finger to her lips and said, "hmm, let me think."