Out of left field

"It's Mommy's turn to say the blessing for the food."
Mia looks like her puppy just died.
"Do you want to say it, Mia?"
Tears popping out, "Yeeaaah!!"
"Okay! It's okay, Mim, you can say it."

"... and please help us to be good in bed..."


"Mom- do you know the way to dance class?"
"Yep- we're almost there."
"Mom knows the way to dance class. Check.
Mom hates Yo Gabba Gabba. Check.
We're almost at dance class. Check."


"Mim- it's really late, lay down. We're done- go to sleep."
"Can I have some V8?"


We pass a big truck going the opposite direction.
Both babies: "Choo choo!"


"Mia, go wash your face, you have brownie all over it."
"Okay, but then can I go camping? I want to go camping outside."

"It's time for bed, babe."
"NOOOOO! I don't WAN'T to go to bed!! I want some gum!"
"Mia, gum is for daytime. What if I give you a piggy-back ride upstairs!"
"No- I want an upside-down ride."
"What is an upside-down ride?"
"Hold my legs and I'll be upside down!"
"Did Daddy do an upside-down ride?"
"No..."
"When did you do an upside-down ride?"
"Ummm.. I dunno. Hold my legs!!"

So much fun!

New shoot

I've got a funny-bone ache THIS BIG

I'm sitting with my head in my hands waiting for the Ibuprofin to kick in.

Mia grabs her pretend doctor kit and asks "Are you sick? Do you need me to fix you?"

"Yes, Dr. Mia."

"Okaaaay. My doctor kit is open! Now I will make you feel better! Do you need a shot?"

"Ummm- yeah, I think so."

"Okay!" She marches up and sticks her fake little needle into one of the arms supporting my head. "There. On, no! You have a broken funny bone!... in your head!!"

She grabs her pretend stethoscope, and seeing that the chest of her patient is hunched over knees and behind two arms, sticks the diaphragm end on my head. "Now let's listen." She pushes the sound button, and the stethoscope sounds a fake heartbeat and coughs. She removes it from my head, "Sounds good. Hmm- your funny bone is still broken, though."

A quick sift through the remaining tools in her kit, "You need a Band-Aid!" She marches up and pops the pretend plastic Band-Aid on my thumb. "There! I fixed your funny bone! Do you feel better?"

Pound, pound. My head has no idea how well it and it's funny bone has just been cared for, but my brain is feeling 100% improved.

Blarney

Grandma Van sent a whole box o' green stuff, and we've had a fun time going around in our matching shirts and not getting pinched by anyone.

Getting Back Into It

Take a peek. :)

Toddler Family Home Evening

"Okay, Mia gets to choose the song!"
"Twinkle Twinkle!"
"Mm- let's do a church song."
"I have a family here on eeeeeaaaarth, they are so good to meeeee..."
burp
"Anya! hee hee hee"
"I want to share my..."
"Roaaaaaaar!!!!"
"Breeeeee! hee hee hee"
"life with them through aaaalll eternit..."
"Roaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrr!"

"Okay, let's say a prayer n-"
"I'll say it! Dear Heavenly Father... please bless us to go to Abby's house..."
From her perch on my lap, Anya looks up at me in her heart-shaped sunglasses and tries to shove my shoe insert in my mouth
"Please bless us to..."
"Rooooooaaaaarrrrrr!""

Lesson time!
"Mia, do you want to help me with the lesson you got at the Primary activity?"
"Yeaaaah!!"
"Okay- you put these on the felt board as I read the lesson- here's the first one."
She puts it on. Anya pants excitedly as she waddle/marches over, promptly takes it off again and hands it to me; "Hee go!"
"NOOOoooooo, Anya!!!" Mia snatches it back and sticks it on the board again.
"Uh- yeah. So let's continue our lesson on how families should treat each other..."

"Okay, time for a closing song."
"Let's sing the temple song!!!!"
"I love to see the temple, I'm go-"
"Rooooaaaaaarrrr!!!" *hee hee hee hee*
"To read the holy scriptures..."
quizzical look
"Is that how it goes? I think it's 'feel the Holy Spirit...'"
"Oh, yeah- how many times have we sung it the wrong way? Oh well. '...to feel the Hoooooly Spiiiirit, to"
"Roooooaaaaaar!"
"Bree- that's enough."

Activity... Take turns getting lifted into the air while sitting on grown-up's ankles.

Treat time!
Wait- we haven't had dinner yet.
Um- dinner time!
"Who wants to say the blessing?"
"Roaaaaaaaarrrrr!"

Hide and seek, Mia style

Back in the day, when I was one of those they were talking about when they said "kids can be so cruel," my version of hide and seek with my gullible younger siblings was called "hide-n-no-seek." I wanted to read, and the little twerp (name was applicable to any one of them) wanted to play.
"Fine, twerp- wanna play hide-n-no-seek?"
Little face would light up. "Yeah!"
"K- I'll count, you go hide."
Twenty minutes later, little twerp would be at my side again wondering why the heck I didn't look for them. I'd repeat the name of the game more slowly. Dallin never forgave me- I'm not even in his top friends list on MySpace.

So, I try to be a little nicer to the kids I'm dealing with nowadays, so as to earn the privilege of gracing their top friend space when they grow up. Even though by then it will be a "top hologram space" in their living room, and lifesized 3-D images of their favorite people will be standing in their living room and will start talking and moving when each person is online, and it will be kind of creepy, I still hope to achieve some kind of "top" status.

I have devised a simple method for accomplishing this objective: do the oppostite of everything I did to Dallin. (And Zach thinks the reason I won't paint Mia's fingernails is because I'm trying to get her to stop picking them... ;)

And "Hide-n-no-seek" has again become the game I played in my pre-evil-sister days... just a little glammed up and dumbed down.

Mia requires princess costumes to be worn while playing. (Which reminds me- I've got to change out of my Sunday skirt before I haul the girls to get our propane tank refilled. They're finishing up their raspberry flavored peaches- I'd better type fast.) She also requires: help with her hiding place, "cover me with these cushions!" helping you with yours, at least one giggle from the hider during the search, and two places to be wondered about out loud after the hider has been spotted. If any of these essentials is omitted, correction will be made: "Moooom!.. you have to giggle now!" "Noooo! You can't find me yeeet!!"

She actually got me after this one. I had to take an extended counting trip to the princess room, and when I got out, I had no idea where she was. I almost went upstairs, but I got my courtesy giggle and headed back to the living room.
Where in the?
She had squeezed under the couch. I was quite impressed.
"Wow- Mim! What a great hiding place!"
She giggled as she scooted out. "Thanks!"

Sigh.

Shoulda played with the twerps.