{Juice}

Oh how I wish we had video cameras installed everywhere to capture these spontaneous outbursts. When you read this, you have to imagine "Oprah voice" for Will's exclamation (the italicized portion).
On a recent trip to Costco, I couldn't find the juice boxes I normally buy for Will & Olivia, so I instead bought Fruitables, which have a mixture of fruit & vegetable juice.

When Olivia woke up, after Will returned to get his beauty sleep, he informed her "Olivia, there are new juice boxes downstairs. They have different colors than we usually have. I tried a pink one and LOVED IT!"

He got me twice in a row. I again spent the next several minutes laughing hysterically.

{the secret to his cuteness}

This morning I woke up to both Will & Olivia in my bed. Will went downstairs to get himself some breakfast, and when he came back up, he informed me he still wanted to sleep.  He cuddled up next to me and said, "Mommy, next year for Christmas, my best Christmas wish would be for me to get my Beauty Sleep."

I spent the next 10 minutes laughing hysterically.

{overheard on christmas morn}

After all of the presents were opened, Will exclaimed "Wow Mommy! I think we were so good that Santa brought us ALL of the presents from his sleigh!"

When I finished emptying my stocking, Will said sadly, "I guess you weren't very good this year because Santa didn't put very much in your stocking." Ouch. Actually, Santa was just working long hours, including all day on Christmas Eve. I'm sure he'll make it up to me.


Olivia after opening her Pink Castle: "Oh! It's exactly what I wanted! Thank you soooo much!"

"Mommy, which of these should I do first?" Will asked, referring to the two presents from Grandpa Chapman (a Color Explosion color board & Crayola Glow Station).
              "Whichever one you want to play with Will, it's up to you."
"But I'm so excited for both of them.  Will you please choose for me? I can decide because I want to do both of them!"

From both Will & Olivia: "This is the Best Christmas EVER!" and in reference to the cookies I made for Santa that they of course each sampled, "Mommy, you are the best cookie maker ever!"

{perfect day}

On our first full day in NYC, we took the kids to Times Square & upon seeing the lights and buildings for the first time, Will exclaimed, "Wow!"

Will & Olivia zeroed in, almost immediately on the huge Toys R Us store - and had to go in. Inside they have a huge ferris wheel with character cars & you can actually go for a ride. Of course, Will & Olivia wanted to ride, and so we did. When the ride (which gives you a view of the store's 4 levels) came to an end, Will said, "This is the kind of day I want to have everyday."

{So convenient}

Olivia just got herself a drink of water from the fridge and after taking a couple large gulps asked me, "Mommy, can this be my bedtime water?"  Not sure what bedtime water was, I asked her.  "It's like when I'm sleeping and I wake up and I ask myself, 'Hey Olivia, wouldn't you like something to drink?' And then it's there on my vanity and I just get up and have a drink. That's what bedtime water is."

{Dear Santa}

We had an impromptu visit with Santa the weekend of Thanksgiving. We headed into Georgetown for lunch and yummy cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcakes.  As we were walking through the mall to our destination, Phil and the kids were literally grabbed by Santa's elves.  Apparently Santa was bored because there wasn't a line of children waiting to see him. Though I was planning on their first (and only) Santa visit to be at SantaLand in NYC next weekend, Will & Olivia readily jumped up on his lap and made themselves comfortable.

Afterwards, I asked them both what they had asked for.

Olivia told me excitedly, "A pink castle!"

Will surprised us all when he said, "I told him I wasn't sure what I want. I said I'd have to think about it a little bit and get back to him."

Wow. I bet that was a first for Santa!

{Ad Man}

I was wrapping some presents the other night using a Scotch brand pop-up wrist dispenser.  Will came downstairs and saw the tape's packaging.

"Hey mom. Is that Scotch Tape?"
Yes.
"Oh yeah, cuz I saw a preview (commercial) for that the other day. Hey! You must have seen it too and that's why you bought it!"

{Open Air Radio}

Today on the way to school, while we were rocking out to Adam Lambert's new CD, Will said,  "Hey mom. Open the windows." Why? "You know how sometimes you can hear people's music in their car when they have it turned up real loud and their windows are open? Well, I want to be one of those people!"

Because I'm so awesome, I of course obliged, but it was too cold to leave the windows down for too long.

"Thanks mom! I sure hope someone heard us!"

{Pink Positive}

This morning Phil took Will and Olivia to play basketball at the church.  On the way home, they wanted to listen to Pink, so Phil played her song, Please Don't Leave Me.  Will asked what the song was called and Phil told him. He observed that she sure says (the title) a lot, and decided that was why the song was named that.  Olivia then guessed that it was called that because her kids had just kissed her and she wanted them to stay with her and not leave.

{Restricted Dancing}

On Saturday we were driving home from Georgetown after a yummy excursion to Georgetown Cupcake with Grandma Kat.  We were all in great moods, listening to music and chatting away.  A new hip hop song started on the radio and Will perked up, "Hey everybody! Dance!  Get out of your car seats and Dance!"

{NEXT!}

Today, although we are busy preparing Thanksgiving Dinner, my mom made Will & Olivia waffles with strawberries and scrambled eggs for breakfast. Will ate 4 waffles. Seriously, is this boy a teenager already? Less than an hour after eating, they are both began pestering me for a Halloween Candy (aren't we out of that yet?!) and I nicely told them no.

After an unsuccessful bid to Grandma for the same, Will exclaimed, "But I'm still hungry! I could sure go for another waffle."

Olivia,  without missing a beat, tackled Will on the leather armchair and said, "I could sure go for another brother!"

{4 Sisters}

Olivia has apparently reached the stage where she has immaginary friends, or in this case, imaginary sisters. For awhile now she has told me things about her sister, Alia. "My sister Alia does this or doesn't do that, etc."

However, she recently informed me that she has FOUR sisters.  Some of them live in Virginia. Some of them live in a different Virginia (West Virginia, I suppose?) and some live in California.

I asked her what the names of all her sisters are.... and are you ready?
1. ALIA
2. SILKY
3. DINKA
4. NINA

I got the giggles so bad and had to keep asking her to repeat the list over and over because I just didn't want to forget anyone, especially Dinka.

{BEE Grateful (for Priceless Moments)}

I hope I can do this justice and I so wish I had been holding a video camera to capture this precious moment.
Last week, as I was leaving for work, Olivia came upstairs to show me her dress up costume. She and our babysitter Kathryn were having lots of fun getting dressed up like princesses. I suddenly remembered that I had purchased a bee costume for her at CVS before Halloween. They had all their costumes on a ridiculous sale and I couldn't pass up the darling bee costume. I figured it would be a nice addition to her dress up box and was waiting for the right time to give it to her.

As I pulled it out of the sack and Olivia saw if for the first time, she exclaimed (and enunciated each word).
"OH. MY. GOSH!  IS THAT FOR ME? OH MOMMY! THANK YOU SOOOOOOO MUCH! IT IS BE-U-TIFUL! I LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT!"

She stripped off her princess dress in record time so that she could don the bee costume.  Her reaction was so much more than I could have ever hoped for.

{Master Manipulator}

A couple of nights ago, Olivia had an unfortunate accident. She fell down our (wooden) stairs! Once I got her calmed down, I had her point to which stair she had fallen from. Sadly, she took me to the top of the staircase!  It's amazing to me how resilient little kids are. A little motrin, pink blanket and some TLC and she was as good as new.

A little while later, however, when it was time for bed, she looked at me, held her head in her hand and said, "I can't go to bed, Mommy. My brain is still broken."

{Tic Tac Awesome}

Yesterday when I picked up Olivia from school, she had a darling bag of treats care of the twins who celebrated their birthdays in class yesterday.  One of the fun treats was a wooden tic tac toe game, pink and purple with flower & heart pieces (so girl - so Olivia).  Since we have about 25 minutes to kill before we pick up Will, I told her we could play a few rounds.

For the first game, I let her go first, and then the next game she let me go first.  I placed my piece on the board and she said, "I'm going to go here right next to you. Because you're awesome."

{Civic Duty}

Overheard this morning:

"Are you going to go voting with us today, Olivia?"
"Yeah."
"It's boring." (Totally trying to discourage Olivia from honing in on his time with Daddy.)
"I like it."
"You don't even know what voting is."
"Well, I still like it."

{Super Cute Transformer}

Yesterday I took Will and Olivia to the mall to have their pictures taken in their Halloween costumes.  Will is going as Optimus Prime & Olivia is the purple butterfly from PBK.

I mistakingly parked further away than necessary, so we had to march through most of our huge mall just to get to Picture People. Several people stopped to compliment or comment on the kids' costumes & I have to admit they did both look pretty darn cute.  As we were speed walking through the mall, Will turned to me and said exasperated, "Mom, everyone keeps telling me how super cute I look in my costume."

{Overheard at lunch today}

Will loves hot sauce. Yep, he's four and loves hot sauce.  Today for lunch he was enjoying a quesadilla that he meticulously dipped into a mixture of mustard and hot sauce (so NOT my son when it comes to condiments, but I'm so happy he has an adventurous pallet in at least one area.)

Olivia, who was feasting on a flower-shaped peanut butter & honey sandwich, inquired, "Will, why do you like mustard and hot sauce so much?"

Will answered without hesitation and with much enthusiasm, "Because I'm super awesome!"

{Great Play Date, Indeed.}

Today was the "Great Play Date" in Olivia's preschool class. It's an opportunity for parents to spend an hour in the life of our preschooler. We play what they want to play, get to see all their favorites in the room, meet their friends, do crafts, etc.  Today's play date was really fun. Olivia and I hammered golf tees into pumpkins, made masquerede masks, played dress up, and sang songs & read books.  A perfect day.  As we were leaving, I asked Olivia if she had a fun time.  She said, "Yeah, Mommy it was really fun. Do you know what the best part of it was?  That YOU were there with me."

Ahhhhh.....making you happy is the best part of my day, little girl.

{Tied for Best Mommy}

Today I decided last minute to take the kids to see a local kid-friendly band, Rocknocerous that plays at Jammin' Java each Wednesday morning. We had a ton of fun at their show and got to meet the band afterwards. Will high-fived each of them and told them, "I like your music dude!" and "I'm a rock star!" Then, on the way to school I stopped and got them each a kids meals at Wendy's.

After all that, Will exclaimed, "You're the best mommy in the whole world. Well, actually, there are two mommy's that I think are the best and that I really like. You are one and the other is Katherine." Ouch! Well, Katherine is my best friend here in VA and I guess if I have to be tied with anyone for "Best Mommy", I'm happy to be tied with her.

{Even Super Heros Have Their Limits}

I overheard Will talking to Phil this morning:

"Daddy, I'm a SUPER HERO! I can tackle anything, even a giant. Even a giant chicken! But not a giant bouncy ball. That would be too hard for me."

{Juiceaholics Anonymous (or J.A.)}

Will & Olivia are juice-aholics. A la Homer Simpson, they are addicted to "Juiceahol". If they had their way, they would pound 10+ juice boxes a day and consider alternativies (ie water or milk) torture treatments. So, we have a new "two juicebox/day" rule at our house. A rule that is not surprisingly met with much resistance.

Today, both Will and Olivia attempted to exceed the maximum allowed several times and were bummed when I repeatedly told them no. At one point, Olivia pitched a fit when I told her she could have milk or water (something I had already told Will earlier). At that, Will rolled his eyes and said, sarcastically, "Welcome to my world, Olivia."

Preschool News

Today Olivia's preschool teachers came to our house for her home visit. When you are a new student at Country Day School (CDS), the teachers make a "house call" so that the child can meet their teachers on their own turf, where they will be most comfortable. Olivia lucked out and was placed with the same teachers Will had last year, Ms. Yolanda & Ms. Yakub. She got to know them throughout the year and was hoping they would be her teachers. She is so excited to start school and has already informed me that she will be making me a rainbow on her first day. I can't wait to see it!

Tomorrow Will has his classroom visit & will get to meet his new teachers. His first day is on Thursday! I can't believe summer is already over.

Olivia has her classroom visit on Thursday and her first day will be Monday.

9 letter word: To make due with materials at hand

While we were at Pottery Barn Kids picking up a few things today, Will found a table-top foosball game to play with, but it was missing the ball. Will informed Anne, one of the managers, that the game he wanted to play was missing an important piece.

"Oh, we put the ball away so that it wouldn't get lost or thrown around the store" Anne explained.
"Well, couldn't we just improvise?" Will implored. "Maybe I could wad up a piece of paper and use that as a ball!"

Both Anne & I were stunned to hear improvise come out of his mouth. Sure enough, his idea worked like a gem. Will informed us that he scored 10 points & both Anne and I marveled at hid brilliance.

Update: Phil was equally impressed that Will had pulled out improvise, so the next morning, he asked Will what improvise means. "It means when you don't have exactly what you need, you find something else that will work."

See - brilliant.

When I grow Up

"Mommy, when I grow up, I want to be the Incredible Hulk," Olivia informed me this morning.

"But you are such a cute girl. Are you sure you want to be the Incredible Hulk? He's kind of scary."

"I can still be a cute girl too, Mommy."

"You can?"

"I have a switch on my leg, right here, "she said, pointing to her thigh. "See, I can be both a cute girl and the Incredible Hulk, just by flipping this switch."

When You Wish Upon A Star

We tried to make the most of each and every second we had at the beach. Last night, I took Olivia down to the beach to take some last minute pictures and when we returned, Phil took Will for one last beach hurrah as well. They watched the waves, the lighthouse and decided to watch the stars come out from atop the lifeguard's tower.

When the first star appeared, Phil told Will that he could make a wish. "I wish we could stay at the beach forever," he said seriously. (Me too, buddy.) Then another star appeared and Will told Daddy it was his turn to make a wish. "Will, I wish that we will always be best buddies." Will looked at him and answered mater-of-factly, "Daddy, that's a wish that's going to come true."

From the Beach

Today, as we were spending another glorious day on the beach, Will made (another) new friend. (He makes several each trip we make to the beach and they include people of all ages and all shapes & sizes.) This one was a woman in her sixties, who was walking her little dog close to the surf. Will struck up a conversation with her and we marveled from our beach chairs at his ability to talk to and make quick friends with anyone.

Later, the same woman walked by us and, glancing at both Will and Olivia said, "They are just so cute!" She moved a little closer and continued, "Earlier, he was telling me that the sky is the ocean upside down and that the sky is the doorway to Outer Space. He is just so cute, so precocious."

We couldn't agree more. We are so lucky to know you, Will and love hearing your perceptive observations about the world around you.

Resurrection Takes FOREVER!

Awhile ago Will learned about Jesus being resurrected from the dead after just 3 days. Recently he asked us how many days we (our family) would be dead before we were resurrected and we tried to explain to him that we just didn't know but it would likely be much longer than three days.

Today as we were driving home from going to breakfast and visiting friends Will asked, "Dad, is Grandma Albrechtsen still dead?"

"Yes, she is still dead."

"Man! It's taking forever! [for her to be resurrected]"

Little Man

While our babysitter Kathryn was bathing the kids last night, Will informed her, "I'm a grown up. Well, not a big grown up...I'm a little grown up."

Hunger Pains

This morning:

"Mom, I am so hungry!" said Will. "I'm so hungry my stomach is making gurgling noises. It's like a volcano in my tummy!"

"Yeah, I'm super hungry too!" chimed Olivia. "My tummy is hurting for food."

"I'm hungry for death!" continued Will.

"You're hungry for death?" I asked dumfounded and then realization hit me. "Oh! You're hungry TO death? Like you're starving to death?"

"Yeah." He points to the top of his hand, "see Mom: this is my food temperature and it's getting really hungry!"

I'm not sure where they come up with this stuff, but they certainly keep me entertained! By the way, I'm making cinnamon rolls for breakfast, with a starter course of yogurt. It's the least I can do for their hungry tummies.

Broken Rules

The number one rule in our house (born of necessity) is "Do not make Olivia scream." It's really a rule for Will. I don't know why big brothers insist on tormenting their little sisters until they scream (and drive Mommy crazy) -but apparently, it's encoded in their DNA and Will is no exception.

Yesterday, I was trying to get Olivia ready for bed and she was upset that I wouldn't let her take her new Princess CD player to bed with her. She pouted, argued, etc and then looked me dead in the eye and said, "Mommy! You are making me sad and it's a rule that you don't make Olivia sad!"

Face the Facts

Yesterday, Will & Olivia spent a few hours at my Dad's house. It's been a year since they have seen each other and everyone was looking forward to spending time together.

They had a great time jumping on the trampoline, playing with his Cocker Spaniel, playing REAL drums and they even went over to the nearby elementary school to play on their jungle gym. While at the school, Will looked at my dad and said, "Your face is different than last time I saw you. I was really hoping it would have stayed the same."

That's an understatement

Amy's Dad is a hobby taxidermist. I remember hanging out in her basement surrounded by various stuffed creatures: deer, fox, bears, elk, moose, etc. Kind of creepy, yes, but also kind of cool - in a creepy way. Well, Papa Marshall has since built a shop next to their house for his hobby and moved all of his "acquisitions" to the shop. At one point, Olivia went into the shop with Grandpa, scanned the large building full of large, life-like animals and announced, "This is a weird room."

Grandpa's Little Helper

Last night we got to spend some time with my good friend Amy at her parent's house. Will & Olivia quickly made themselves right at home and made fast friends with all of the visiting cousins. They also adopted Amy's Dad as "Grandpa."

"I need a drink of juice, please," Will pestered.
"Oh, sorry. I don't think we have any juice," replied Amy's Dad.
"Yes, you do," insisted Will, "here, I'll show you." Will opened the door to the fridge and sure enough, there was some juice.
"See!" he said.
"Well, what do you know, I DO have juice!"
Amy's Dad poured Will a class of juice and handed it to him. Will took the class, smiled at him and said joyfully, "You can count on me - Grandpa!"

Little Miss Independent

Olivia is growing up right before my very eyes.

Yesterday, she climbed up to my mom's desk, started pushing keys on the computer and informed us, "I have some important work to do. Please be quiet while I do my work."

Today, she got on one of my mom's pianos. After I helped her get settled, she said, "Okay, go away. I need to play my special music."

A Hairy Tale

Today we took the kids to Bear World. While riding the train, I was sitting behind Olivia and dared to staighten out her hair.

"Stop it mommy! Stop it!"
"I'm just playing with your hair."
"Well, my hair is NOT a toy!"

Them's fightin' words

Tonight, while cuddling with Will & Olivia after a long day in the sun, both of them wanted to lay right by me in the exact same spot. I tried unsuccessfully to get them to compromise.

"Olivia, I really don't like you guys fighting over me like this."
"But mom, that's what kids do."

Photographic Memory

My mom has an engagement picture of Phil and I downstairs by her computer. When Will saw it he said, "I really need to draw a couple pictures of my dad, so I don't forget what he looks like."

What's in a Name?

While getting the kids in the car to take them to their next big adventure Will & Jessica had this exchange:

"Melissa, can you please buckle me in?"
"Sure, Jessica replied. "But my name is Jessica."
Will paused for just a second and came back with, "Well, Melissa is easier to say, so I'm just going to call you that."

Dream Weaver

This morning, Will woke up and told me about his dream:

"Mom - do you want to hear about my dream I had? It was about a ride. There was a big tree and bees and you blow on the bees to make them go away and then there is a slide and there's another tree at the bottom - but you just have to blow on it and then it goes away behind the door. And there are other bees and the only way you can get them to not buzz anymore is to blow on them. And it was a really cool ride."

Disney Mania

This morning, Will woke us up with:

"Wake up Dudes! It's time to go to DisneyLand!"

Olivia at 3

If you had been in our house this morning as Olivia opened her birthday presents, you might have heard:

"Oh my gosh! I am going to freak out!" (when I told her the big green present was from Daddy)

"Oh that is bea-u-tiful!"

"Thank you so much Mommy for getting me a Hello Kitty watch." (She told my friend Jana at church that her watch is fragile. Jana said to me, "What three year old knows what fragile is?!")

"You have got to be kidding me!"

"Oh! It's GORGEOUS!"

"Mommy, can I open the next present, please?"

"Look at how CUTE this is!"

"OH! MY! GOSH! I LOVE IT!"

There were also many GASPS! and "WHAT!'s"

Olivia's big present was a play vanity from Pottery Barn Kids. I assembled it late last night and snuck it into her room, complete with a huge pink bow. I was sure it would be the first thing she saw when she woke up and couldn't wait to hear her reaction. She came running into my room and exclaimed,

"Mom! You are never going to believe what is in my room! It's amazing!"

And so are you, sweet Olivia. Happy Birthday and we hope this year is your best yet!

Little Miss Sunshine

Today at the pool it was kind of chilly because clouds kept covering up the sun. Every once in a while we'd get a break in the clouds and were awash in the Sun's warmth.

As we were leaving the pool, there was once again a break in the cloud cover and Olivia was giddy.

"Oh! There you are Sun!" She tossed back her head, stretched out her arms, and with eyes closed began to sway back and forth in the sunshine. She looked like just a hippie child at Woodstock. I was once again reminded of how amazing it is to see the world through my children's eyes.

Oh how we do love to bask in your warmth, wonderful Sun.

So fresh and so clean clean

En route to the grocery store after Will's swim lesson:

Will: "Mom, can I please have a piece of gum?"
"No, not right now."
"But Mom! I need a piece of gum to make my breath fresh so that when we go to the grocery store all the people will see that I have fresh teeth."

It's a Miracle!

Last night when I got home from work, our babysitter Kathryn informed me that while they were on their walk, Olivia complained that her shoes were hurting her, so much so that Kathryn had to carry her for most of the walk, but towards the end of the walk, Olivia was "magically" able to walk the rest of the way on her own.

Today, Olivia told me the following while we were at the pool for Will's swim lesson:

"Mommy, yesterday when I was walking with Kathryn my feet were broken and she had to carry me....But then it was a miracle and my feet weren't broken anymore and I was able to walk on them. Yeah - it was a miracle."

Breaker Breaker 1-9

Yesterday morning, Phil called from LA, where he is working this summer, to talk to the kids. This is part of what I heard Will telling him:

"OH! Daddy! I was thinking of something that you should have taken with you to California so I could hear you better. My Walkie Talkies! Yeah! If you had Walkie Talkies then we could really talk and hear each other better."

Huh - better than talking on the phone? So cute.

Best Friends

As I was getting ready for work last night, Will ran into my bathroom really excited.

"MOM! Olivia just told me I'm her BEST FRIEND and I said YES!"
"Wow. Does that mean that you guys are Best Friends now?"
"YES!"

Oh my gosh - what more can you ask for? If only they will always be best friends.

Happy Father's Day 2009

Borrowing a great idea from Will's preschool teachers, here are Will & Olivia's questionnaires about Daddy.

WILL

My Daddy's name is Philip Marsh

He is 64 years old.

When I'm at school, my Daddy likes to read poems.

My Daddy's favorite food is salad, chicken and jam plain.

My Daddy is so smart. He knows all about numbers and guesses things really well and even guesses things far away.

My favorite thing to do with my Daddy is fun things and going out to dinner and he's the best because he plays all the time. Well, not all the time - just on Father's Day.

I love my Daddy because he always does the best things.


OLIVIA

My Daddy's name is Philip Marsh.

He is 5 years old.

My Daddy's favorite food is salad.

My Daddy is so smart. He knows all about food and the fireplace.

My favorite thing to do with my Daddy is eat food.

I love my Daddy because he likes to eat.

Ladies Man

Today I stopped by our club pool to sign Will & Olivia up for private swimming lessons. Earlier in the week I had asked Will if he would prefer a boy or girl teacher. He said he would like to have a boy teacher. On the way home, I brought it up again with him today.

"Will, are you excited? You're going to take swimming lessons! Do you think you'll get a boy teacher or a girl?"
"I already told you. I want a boy teacher because I'm a boy."
"But what if the best teacher is a girl?"
Pause
"Okay, fine then. We can have a girl. Just get one with pretty hair."

Imaginary Traveler?

Yesterday as I was driving Will to his last day of pre-school, we had the following conversation:

"Mommy, how long would it take to walk to North Carolina?"
"Walk to North Carolina? That would take a long time. Why would you want to walk to North Carolina?"
"Just how long would it take?"
"Well, I don't know. Probably a week or longer if you walked all day."
"The reason I wanted to know is because I heard a guy talking about someone and he said, 'He's going to walk to North Carolina.' That's why I wanted to know how long it would take."
"Who was this person you overheard?"
"I don't know. He was just a guy in the woods. See - right there. Did you see him?"
"No."
"Oh, he's gone now."
"What did this person look like?"
"I'm not sure. I mean, he had blue eyes, but I'm not sure what the shape of his head was. Actually, I think he had a round head and square arms."
"Huh. Interesting."

Notes to Will's teachers

Today is Will last day of school at Country Day School (or Crunchy Day School if you ask Will). His school is truly a special place and I am so sad the year is already over. I am excited, though that Olivia will get to attend next year.

I asked Will to draw a picture for each of his teachers on the card we were including with their end-of-year gift. And then I had him tell me what he wanted to say to each of them. I'm sure they will treasure these sweet cards forever:

To Ms. Yolanda:

"I love you so much and I am going to miss you so much this summer. Thank you for being my very best teacher and for loving me as much as I love you. I hope you have a really fun summer and I hope your heart is filled with really happy. I can't wait to come back and see you when I am older and I just love you so much. Love- Will"


To Ms. Yakub:

"Thank you for being my teacher this year. I love you so much and had so much fun with you. I will miss you this summer and want your heart to be filled with happy. I can't wait to see you again and I will miss you so much when I am having fun this summer. Love - Will"

Sweet Nothings

I started a very time-consuming & expensive project: file folder activities. I just hope my kids actually will play with them during Sacrament Meeting. If so - they will be worth their weight in gold, which is not far off from their actual cost.

Tonight, I got out some sheets I have to color myself (for the others I opted to print out color copies). Will and Olivia were immediately mesmerized by my coloring and hovered closely. This is a conversation that just took place. So cute!

Will: "Mom, use the blue marker next. Use the blue one, Mom!"
Olivia: "She's going to use that one next, honey."
Will: "Yeah, honey, she'll use the blue one next."
Olivia: "Don't worry honey."
Will: "Wait, I'm not honey, you're honey."
Olivia: "Because you are the boy?"

Mike Tyson in training?

A good friend's husband is having hip replacement surgery (and no - he's not 90) today and we are having their two boys over for the day tomorrow so that Julie can spend time with Joe in the hospital.

In preparation of having a house full of kids- I started prepping Will & Olivia with my expectations for tomorrow.

"Now, tomorrow when we have friends over, you guys are going to play nicely downstairs and not make huge messes..."
Olivia interrupted me with, "OH! Can we FIGHT downstairs?!"

How did she know I was just about to say, and "No Fighting."?!

Putting 2 & 2 Together

Monday night is laundry night at my house. In preparation, this afternoon I started gathering up the dirty clothes and threw in our sheets before getting the kids ready for bed. Our new washing machine has a clear top through which the kids love to watch the fascinating washing process.

I was in the family straightening up when suddenly, from no where Olivia ran up to me, exasperated:
"Mommy! Come look! The laundry room is a HUGE mess!" Assuming she was the culprit behind them mess, I told her I would look at it later.

A few minutes later, Will came up to me:

"Mommy! Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"What?"
"I'm thinking that mess was made by Olivia! Yeah - that's what I'm thinking!"

Yummy Tummy?

Today Olivia and I were spending a little Girl Time while Will was at school. She informed me she was the "Mommy" and I was the "Sister." I asked her, "Who is your Mommy?"
Olivia pointed and smiled.
"I'm your Mommy? You came out of my tummy?"
"Yep. I was in your tummy."
"What were you doing in my Tummy?"
"I was eating your tummy."
You were eating my tummy? Did it taste good?"
"No."
"What did it taste like?"
(Smiling) "Like Peanut Butter and Jelly, Silly!"

She continued to inform me that someday I would be in her tummy so she could be my mommy. Cute.

The Mayor of the Nile

Apparently, we don't like The Mayor of the Nile. Of course what Will is trying to say is, we don't like the American Idol.

Still trying to explain we do like Kris, we just prefer Adam. My kids are such loyal fans (of mine).

The Eleventh Commandment

Awhile ago, Olivia learned about doing "Cheers" (clinking our drink glasses together). It's pretty cute -and I wish I could claim the credit, but honestly, I have no idea where she picked it up. At her insistence, we do cheers a lot at home and when we go out to eat. One morning, I made smoothies for us and Olivia and I were drinking ours in the car. While I was stopped at a stoplight, Olivia held her cup towards me and said, "Let's do Cheers, Mom."

Will: "We don't do Cheers in the car, Mom. It's against the rules."
"I'm pretty sure it's not against the rules, Will. We can do cheers wherever we want."
"Yes, it is. When Jesus was alive he said, 'NO DOING CHEERS IN THE CAR.'"

Well, then. If Jesus says.

Words of Wisdom

It seems like lately, Will has had more than his fair share of owies. Today he said to me:

"Mommy, I just want to have no more owies. I just want to be all together for once!"
"I know. We don't like owies, huh?"
"Yeah - but do you know why we get owies? Because they are just a part of life. Daddy told me that."

Speechless

Yesterday, as I was getting read to leave for work at Pottery Barn, Will said:

"Mommy, can you go to work for just one minute? Because I like you so much and I don't want you to be away from me for more than one minute."

Are you kidding me? How did I get so lucky?

Two going on Twelve

On a recent trip to the grocery store, Olivia found a beach ball with all the Disney Princesses on it. It was if she had found the Holy Grail. She has carried that ball around with her and even slept with since we brought it home. Just a few minutes ago Will kicked it and it accidentally went into our fireplace (there is still not a cover on it - just one of the many construction items that still need to be completed).

When Olivia discovered her "precious" in the fireplace she was upset. I quickly got the ball to wash it off and she said,

"Will, you put it in there?"
"It was an accident."
"You put it in there so the mean guys could get it and eat it? That's unacceKtable."

And I thought it was caused by gamma exposure

For some reason, my kids are not big milk fans. Olivia will drink it with cereal, Will not so much. Their doctor has told me not to worry - it's just a beverage with calcium - so as long as they get their calcium elsewhere, we're fine. Luckily they both love yogurt and cheese and for some weird reason, they don't mind milk when it has the word "chocolate" in front of it.

Still we worry. Today Phil sent me an article about the link between Calcium and Autism, oh my, so I redoubled my efforts, bribing the kids with a cookie if they would each drink a glass of milk. I mean, who doesn't like milk with their cookies?

Olivia finished her milk first and I launched into a spontaneous "I'm proud of you. Look at your strong bones" song. Olivia flexed her muscles and dancing along with my song said, "Look, Mom. I'm the Hulk. I'm the Incredible Hulk. I'm green." First of all - cutest thing ever. Second, who taught her about the Hulk?

Update: Will just finished his glass of milk. HALLELUJAH!

The Whippy Whippy Spider

Today while making cookies with the kids, Olivia serenaded me with this song:

"The Whippy Whippy Spider went up the water spout.
Down came the rain and washed the spider out.
Down came the sun and dried up all the rain
And the Whippy Whippy Spider went up the water spout."

I only wish you could see her cute face and hear her sweet voice when she sings it.

Whistle while you work

Will whistled for the first time today! He's wanted to for awhile now - and finally got the hang of it.

Way to go Will!

Now I know why I love to shop there

As part of dinner, I sliced the kids some of their favorite fruit: strawberries. This came from Will.

"Mom, do you know where strawberries come from?"
"Where?"
"God put them in a machine and sent them to Target."

Happy Mother's Day 2009

Probably my favorite thing this Mother's Day is the card Will made me at school. His teachers are so creative, inside the card was this questionnaire about ME! His fun answers are in bold.

My Mommy's Name is COURTNEY

She is 8 years old. I think she is, but I'm not sure. I don't remember.

When I'm at school, my mommy takes a nap with Olivia when Olivia gets a little grumpy.

My mommy's favorite food is soup, chicken & fishies.

My mommy is so smart. She knows all about toys and bubble wrap popping.

My favorite thing to do with my mommy is going to museums to see gears, machines and water spinning things, just like a washing machine.

I love my mommy because she takes me to eat waffles and pizza and chicken nuggets at Wendy's. She also takes me to eat quesadillas and hummus.

Will keeps us in stitches

Will cut his thumb today while (unbeknownst to me) using a "condiment spreader" to cut boxes from our move. He's such a big help around the house and thought he was making life easier for us. I was upstairs with Olivia and his ear-piercing scream sent me flying down the stairs a few at a time. There was blood EVERYWHERE. I took him to the bathroom sink to rinse his hand and try to find out where the blood was coming from and then I wrapped his thumb in paper towels to stop the bleeding while I tried to reach Phil. Will, who is not-so-tough when he gets really hurt and tends to have a flair for the dramatic (huh- wonder who he gets that from?) sat wailing on the floor:

"I've just KILLED myself! I'm broken!"

Later that night at the ER, while the doctor was giving him 2 stitches, Will yelled at the top of his lungs:

"GET ME OUT OF HERE!" Over and over.

He's such a grown up little 4 year old.

Oh - and he calls his stitches "Spikies"

Update 1: At first Will was terrified of his "spikies" or stitches. He wanted them under contanstant band-aid cover and would freak out when the band-aid invariably came off. After several days of this I said, "Will. You do not need to be scared of your stitches. They are your friends. They are helping your thumb to heal and keeping it from bleeding. I think you need to tell them Thank you."
"They are my friends?"
"Yes."
"And they are keeping my finger from bleeding?"
"Yes."
"Thank you Spikies for making my finger better."

That was the last time he was scared of his stitches - but he did thank them several more times before getting them taken out.

Update 2: Will ended up developing "cellulitis" a bacterial infection of the skin - but after a round of antibiotics is doing great. He got his stitches out (with only a tiny bit of fussing) and is now proud to show off his healed thumb.

The Best Secret Ever

Olivia ran into my room, climbed up on my bed and informed me she had a secret for me. She grabbed my face with her cute, little hands and turned it so she could whisper in my ear: "I love you!"

I heard that

Today as we were leaving to take Will to school, Olivia threw her shoes down the stairs (rather than taking them like I had asked her to).
"Olivia - we don't throw our shoes down the stairs. Go get them and put them on so we can take Will to school"
Will (whispering): Throw my shoes down.
"Will, don't tell your sister to do something I just told her not to do!"
"Mom! How did you hear that? I said it in super quiet voice!"
"Because Will, I can hear everything you say - and I know everything you do too - so don't try and pull anything over on me."

Let's just hope that will leave a lasting impression.

Papa can you hear me?

After his nap I found Will looking out the window at the driveway.

"What are you doing Buddy?"
"I'm watching for Daddy. Because I miss him when he's at work all the time - so I'm watching to see if he's coming home yet."
He paused a few seconds.
(Sad) "No. He's not coming home yet."

50/50 Love

Olivia got some chocolate on her shirt & I didn't have time to change her clothes before leaving to pick up Will from preschool at Country Day. As we were driving I noticed she was very upset.

"What's wrong?"
"I'm sad about my shirt."
"Oh, don't worry sweetheart. I'll get the chocolate out when we get home."
"But I just want DaddyI love Daddy!"
"I know you do. Do you love Mommy?"
"I love Daddy."
"What about me?"
"How about Will can love you and I can love Daddy."

Second Class Mommy

Will has decided that in addition to being a Doctor (Neurosurgeon) when he grows up, he would also like to be an airplane Pilot.

He told us: There are 2 seats so Daddy you can sit in the front with me. Mommy, you and Olivia can sit in the back. I asked if by the back he meant First Class (surely if my son is the pilot he can swing First Class for his mother!) He replied - NO! the back of the plane!

Update: He was talking about this again today and again told me that I would be sitting in the back. I tried once more, Can I sit in First Class? Please? He said, Yeah. Well - how about Second Class.

Dang.

BFF

Olivia crawled into bed with me this morning, put her hand on my face & said:

Mommy you're my BEST friend!


Update: She continues to say this to me frequently and now says: You're my best friend EVER!

Now if I could just bottle those feelings and give her a nice big dose when she's a teenager!