Severe Conversation Warning

A severe thunderstorm has just blown through. Here is a snippet of our conversation as Graham and I watched it roll in:

Me: Wow, do you hear that thunder?

Graham: I don't like that thunder bouncing around my ears.

Me: It's loud, isn't it?

Graham: What is thunder?

Me, searching the annals of my brain to remember: It happens when the clouds rub together and cause friction between the particles. [Which isn't really correct, apparently, after looking it up.]

Graham: No, it isn't. Look, the clouds are not moving. Thunder comes when the hugsher up top blows the trees.

Me: A hugsher?

Graham: Yes. It's the yellow lightning. It will blow the bottom house down.

Me: Oh, okay.

Graham: See that tormato on those trees?

Me: No, Graham, there's no tornado.

Graham: Yes, there is. See that tormato right there?

Me: Graham, there's no tornado. I promise.

Graham: You are upsetting me! The tormato is right there on those trees.

That's when we walked away from the window. If he could see a tornado that I couldn't, I figured I didn't want to be there anyway.

July 4th

We made last-minute plans to visit Will's family over the 4th of July holiday, and who knew it would turn out to be such a good decision? The kids had a blast with Grandma, Grandpap, and the rest of the family. Will and I got to see everyone. Everyone helped watch the kids. We were not complaining. It was nice.

We met Grandma for ice cream on Friday, then went to over to Chris's house for a cookout on Saturday night. We were slightly worried at first that there wouldn't be much for them to play with. Turns out, all you need is a creek. Crayfish are a bonus.





On Sunday evening, we went over to the campground to see Will's dad's family. Another creek. More fun for the kids, only this time, we drove away with the wet clothes on top of the van. Luckily, Will's mom noticed before we left the kids' skivvies all over the countryside.

Below is a picture of Chase that night, drinking a plastic barrel of red sugar water. I don't have a problem with them drinking it, but they don't get those at home. It was such a treat that he drank the entire thing with only one short pause for air. His love of beverages is amazing.

Travelers

Fun in the Fountain

One of the local malls has a fountain for kids to play in. Jayme kindly went with me to take my three unsuspecting children. I say "unsuspecting" for two reasons:

1. It was 80 degrees out, but the water was at least 20 degrees cooler.

2. If you were not carefully studying the fountain's patterns, you would get surprised by a sudden blast of icy water. This happened to Chase as he peered down to see what was inside one of the little black holes. I don't think it did much for his curiosity as the icy water shot up his nostrils.

The other two seemed to enjoy the water, and there was a train to watch, so it didn't ruin Chase's whole morning. Graham did try to encourage Chase to get in the water at one point.

It's Logical.

I caught Graham digging gum out of my purse. Here's our conversation as I took it from him:

Me: Graham, you are not allowed to have gum. Don't take it out of my purse.

Graham: That's not gum. That's candy.

Me: No, it's gum, and you might choke on it. Please go throw it away.

Graham: Next time, don't put gum in your purse where I can find it.

Catching Up

I'm running behind on my blogging... I guess summer officially begins today, but it seems like we've been going constantly since Memorial Day. Here's a recap of our unofficial start to the summer:

1. Our water babies.



2. We got to visit with Matt and Leigh Ann, Kaelyn and Evie, and Dave and Charlene around Memorial Day. We had a wonderful time, but unfortunately, we have no pictures. We will just have to reminisce in our minds. Which means this was a rather meaningless #2.

3. Visiting a museum of natural history. Graham finally got to see some dinosaurs, and they also watched their first baby planetarium show. Note to self: the kids are not old enough for a planetarium show.







4. On the way back, we stopped to see Sam and Abbie, Saya and Eldon. Our kids had never eaten ice cream cones before. Technically they still haven't, since Will had to finish them all.



5. Graham is doing more things on his own now, like buckling his own car seat (yay!!), picking out his own clothes (hmmmm...), and dressing himself (yikes).



6. Jayme went with us to the science center (thank you!), where Graham got to see some more dinosaurs and the other two never stopped running. Except to take this picture.



Finally, I need to post an update on all the crazy things these kids are doing now. For instance, Graham is standing on the deck watching the church's lawn service. Chase is standing at the back door in his underwear saying "I'm gonna bite you!", which I don't think he really means--he's just trying to irritate Graham. It's a constant battle--I just hope it doesn't get any worse.

Now Chase is screaming. I'd better run.

Quarters and Sense.

Graham has no concept of the value of coins. We have tried to teach him a little at a time, but when I pay for everything with a credit card, he doesn't get much real world experience.

I told him that if he helped us out around the house, he could earn some money and maybe he could afford a new Cars 2 toy. I gave him a few quarters last week for vacuuming the entire downstairs. Then last night he helped set the table. Here's the conversation that followed:

Me: Did you tell Daddy that you helped set the table tonight?

Graham: I helped set the table, Daddy!

Will: That's great, Graham!

Graham: I need to earn some mon-dey for that.

Me: Well, I guess I could give you a nickel for it.

Graham: No, I need a quarter.

Me: How about a penny? (Trying to make it sound really exciting.)

Graham: No, a QUARTER.

Me: Okay, how about FIVE pennies???

Graham: No. NO PENNIES. I need a QUARTER.

I shudder to think of what his teenage years will be like.