my little chefs

Dress Up

"Shwim!"

Like I've said before Kate loves to swim. The other day she was riding her bigwheel when she saw a puddle. She yelled, "shwim!Shwim!" and then drove head first off her bike into the puddle. This photo was taken a few days later and doesn't really do it justice, but she has 6 different cuts on her face. Overall, she is a really tough girl, but this spill caused some tears.

Kate and Dad

Words

The other day when Kate was brushing her teeth I told her, "make sure you get the back." She took her toothbrush out of her mouth and reached around to brush her back. I laughed out loud and now she "brushes her back" every time she brushes her teeth.

Grant: Mom, I visited heaven the other day.
Mom: How exactly did you do that?
Grant: When we were in the airplane coming home from Florida, when we were in the clouds. I saw Jesus.
Mom: Really?
Grant: Yep. And God too.
Mom: It's not often that we see God, but if I are very quiet we can hear him.
(silence)
Grant: I heard him. He told me we need to go to the gas station and put gas in our car.
(I'm surprised God didn't tell him to visit a carwash.)

Round 2

We just got back from visiting grandma and grandpa Koss in Florida again. Unfortunately, the kids were sick the whole time. They did not sleep through the night a single night while we were there. While everyone was exhausted by the week's end I was really thankful to have the help with the kids.

Sing about my day

Grant is the king of stalling when he's going to bed. He asks for water, begs to brush his teeth again and requests us to sing songs while we play with his hair. He consistently makes the request, "sing about my day." We have to pick a catchy tune and recall all the fun things he did throughout the day. When we leave him in his bed we remind him to think about his favorite things.Tonight when I got done he said, "but I don't want to go to bed. I don't want to think about my favorite things. I can only think about sad things. I was tired and not up for cheering him up so I said, "fine. Just think about sad things." He got all cheerful and said, "okay. I'll think about disobeying, that is very sad." (said with a grin)

Making people smile

Yesterday Grant received a toy from his treasure box for going potty in the toilet. He chose a mini guitar. He insisted on bringing it everywhere. When we were driving to the grocery store he asked if he could bring it inside. He said, "I'm going to look for people who are sad or angry and I am going to play my guitar for them to make them smile. I love making people smile." So, off we went into the grocery store with Grant searching the crowd for unhappy people. But, everyone he interacted with was smiling and complementary of his guitar playing. We got in the car and he said, "Mom, I didn't find any unhappy people. Are you unhappy?" I told him "no, I'm very happy today." He then asked, "Could you pretend to be sad so I can cheer you up?" So, for the rest of the ride home I fake cried so he could play the guitar and sing. I am so thankful for my boy who is so filled with joy!

Kate and play dough

See ya Snow

It has been so nice out lately so we've been spending a ton of time outdoors. Both kids like to ride the big wheel and Grant likes his training bike that we got him last summer but he never rode. Kate loves to blow bubbles and pop them in her hands. Today we made it to the park. Whenever we pass a park Kate yells, "Weeeee." Grant can finally go on a regular swing but hasn't quite figured out how to make himself move. I'm really looking forward to summer when we can spend more days like we did today.

Pet Store

Today I took the kids on a special adventure to the pet store. The whole experience turned out to be a bit of a bust, but we surely started out on the wrong foot. From the moment we got on Woodward Grant began yelling, "easy, mom, easy." I asked Grant what he meant and he said that is what you are supposed to say if someone is going over the speed limit. No idea who taught him that. Jim, if you are reading this I was not speeding.

We got to the pet store and it wasn't long before Grant discovered that they had a vacuum. I allowed him to pretend to vacuum for 5 minutes(it wasn't even on) before the manager got really upset and we had to quit that. Then Kate stuck her hand in a fish tank (they should keep them covered) and we got another scolding. The last straw was when Grant found some lettuce on the floor and tried to feed the 2 foot tortoise crawling around the ground. Okay, so it was my idea. The science teacher in me should have known it was dangerous, but it seemed like a great way to pass the time. The manager didn't think so. We'll dress in disguise next time we go.

Tidbits

Kate's favorites:
Book: "Teeth are Not for Biting" (now if only she would listen)
Song: "B-I-B-L-E" (she pats her legs as it plays in the car)
Activity: swimming (pronounced "shwim, shwim!")
Food: cereal (this is a great way to keep her occupied after dinner)
Phrase: Me Tate! (while patting her chest)

Grant's favorites:
Book: Arthur and the Trouble with TV
Song: "All you Need is Love" (dancing with mom or dad)
Activity: climbing the structures at Kiddie Klub in Rochester
Food: mac n cheese
Phrase: "I love it when you call me Big Papa." (don't ask)

Florida Picts

The Villages

The kids and I met up with Jim at his parents house in The Villages for the second part of our vacation. The weather was slightly better so the kids even got to play in the pool once. We also took our third annual trip to "Uncle Donald's Farm" where the kids had fun feeding the cows hay and feeding the goat from a baby's bottle. Kate's favorite part was trying to climb the animals cages. Jim's mom calls her “dexterous." The thesaurus defines this as “able, active, adept, agile, apt, artful, clever, crackerjack, deft, effortless, expert, having the know how, nimble, nimble-fingered, prompt, quick & skilled.” We decided this is a very fitting description of Kate. Jim is excited to have someone to rock climb with him in a few years! We had a great visit and hope it won't be quite so long before we make it back.

Freezing in Florida

The kids and I are in Florida this week visiting my parents who spend the winter there. The record-breaking lows have made our vacation unlike any other we've had in Florida. The kids have been playing in the sand wearing their fleeces and sneakers. We've found interesting activities to do each day like visiting the Naples museum yesterday and the Discovery Science Center today. Thankfully, the kids are pretty happy as long as they have things to climb on and a place to run around. They proved the first night that they could not sleep in the same room (at home they have a barrier between them) so Grant is now sleeping in the shower. He woke up twice the first night crying but he's been okay since.

Fo' sho

Derme went back to Africa and left her mark on our family. When I ask Kate if she wants to do something she has been answering "fo show!" I definitely get double takes when we are out in public.

Grant is finally at that age where he is using his imagination. It is so much fun to watch him play. Yesterday he made a fort with a hole on top. He was trying lower one of his guys down it and said, "Look mom! I'm lowering the paralyzed man down to Jesus so he can get healed." It sure beats playing war!

Quote of the Week

Grant: Kate, when you get big like me you will grow a penis too to shoot pee in the toilet.

Kate: A huh.

Where's Kate?

Some places where Kate was found this week:

1. Locked in the bathroom (thankful for the old paperclip trick)
2. Painting her face with Jim's chapstick
3. Putting paperclips in her ears saying, "(ear)Rings Mom!"
4. Naked in the bathroom (took her own diaper off) brushing her teeth
5. Screaming next to the pack and play which she just climbed out of

Basketball Practice

Not sure we have a star in the making...nor do I think he really cares. :)

Sick Again

Yesterday Grant had a horrible day. We were in the grocery store and he cried the entire 30 minutes because he wanted to get out of the cart. Then, at basketball practice he wanted to sit on the bench with me and when I told him no he completely flipped out and threw a sobbing fit. This was not my typical joyful kid.

I started feeling bad that perhaps Grant didn't feel loved enough or secure enough or something (I know, typical mom guilt), so I planned to take him out to lunch just the two of us today. But, when I picked him up from Bible school the teacher said he wasn't quite right and that he had green puss oozing out of his eye. Great. My plan for lunch was foiled. At least this explained Grant's weird behavior. We instead went to the doctor and found out that he has pink eye and a double ear infection again! He just finished his antibiotics from the last ear infection on Sunday. Unfortunately, I have pink eye too, for the third time since the beginning of December. Please pray that our infections would go away for good and would not spread to the rest of the family.