Just do it.

We pray with the kids before bedtime, and lately, the way my kids talk to Jesus has been cracking me up. The other night, Graham led a rambling prayer about excavators and other construction equipment, and then signed off with, "Let's get to it, Jesus. Amen."

Chilling Together

I came into the family room the other day and the kids were all sitting on the end of the couch together watching Chase play on the computer. It is so rare for them to be in such close proximity without fighting that I had to take a picture.

Grocery Store Reprise...

...this time in the cheese aisle. Chase started quoting a line from a movie to an African-American woman in her 40's.

"Hey, watch out there, young fella!"

Luckily, she thought it was hysterical.

Do we really need food?

I took the 3 kids to the grocery store yesterday. This means several things:

1. I load the kids into one of those X-Large carts that are as long as a semi-truck and twice as loud. (Seriously, I think they should put Wide Load signs on the back and install back-up sirens.)
2. Without fail, the kids get frustrated halfway through our trip, at which point I pull out large amounts of snacks and fervently pray that they last through the checkout lane.
3. We make an extended trip to the lobster tank to watch lobsters and run off energy.
4. My efforts were futile. The snacks never last through the checkout lane.

It is no wonder that I go alone when buying more than three items.

Gabriella has a few new habits lately, including pulling down her pants in public places and saying hi to everyone she meets. Yesterday, she said hello to every person we passed in an aisle. If they acknowledged her, she would say, "What you name? I Gabbywellwa." We saw an older gentleman in the toilet paper aisle and she went through the drill.

Gabriella: Hi! What you name? I Gabbywellwa.
[Man looks at me quizzically.]
Me: She said her name is Gabriella.
Man: Oh! I'm Mark.
Chase: There's a Chase Monkey back here!
[Man does not understand why he is talking about monkeys. Turns away.]
Chase: Hey! Come back here! I gotta talk to you!

Ordinarily, I would make a quick exit, but this is physically impossible with the aforementioned enormous cart. So we make a slow, rumbling exit made only more embarrassing by the fact that Chase was still yelling at his new friend who refused to pay attention to him.

Keeping My Spots

Getting sunscreen on before we go outside is a major pain. I don't want to scare them by talking about skin cancer, but after having a suspicious mole removed, we're not taking any chances. How do you explain that to a 4-year-old?

Me: Let's get sunscreen on so we can go outside.
[All kids scream and whine.]
Graham: Why do we have to use sunscreen?
Me: So you don't get spots all over your arms like mine. Do you see them?
Graham: Mommy, you look bootiful in your spots.
Me: [heavy sigh]

If anyone has any ideas, let me know.

deja vu

I remember doing this with my brother and sister.

Watch Out, Danica Patrick.

This is why motorized race cars and girls with long hair don't mix. Gabriella's hairstyle could now be described as a "semi-mullet".