Monkey Shiner Babblings

M - *to the baby* What's wrong princess?
C - Mom!  She is NOT a princess! Her mom is not even a queen!

We moved Charlotte's to the basement and while bringing her stuff down, Mom asked her opinion.
M - Charli, where do you want to put your dress up trunk? Would this be a good spot?
C - Yes, mom, that would be a fine choice!
M - And what about your kitchen? How about in the corner?
C - Why yes, that would also be a fine choice!

While out to dinner at a Chinese restaurant:
H - Mom! I just ate one of those flat noodles in my soup and I didn't even know it was on my spoon!
M - That actually wasn't a noodle. It was a piece of bamboo. Do you know what bamboo is?
J - Wait. Isn't that the stuff that panda bears eat?
M - That would be the stuff.
J - So you're telling me we're eating outside food?
M - Actually just about all the food you eat is outside food. Carrots, broccoli, potatoes, fruit... Did I just blow your mind?
J - *nods slowly with eyes wide*

Look! We Match!!

My dear sweet Charlotte is approaching the age of 3 in a matter of weeks people. WEEKS! Her personality is really beginning to take form. She's very shy and reserved in public but a giggly and goofy little girl at home with mom. She loves puzzles just as much as JP does. She has two puzzle-piece puzzles that she enjoys putting together over and over and over again.

As of the past month, she's been big on matching things. We have red plates and brown plates in our kitchen. Hunter and JP have always fought over the red plates, so it figures that Charlotte throws a fit if she doesn't get a brown plate. Anytime someone else gets a brown plate, her face lights up as she exclaims, "We match!! We both have brown plates!" Having matching plates or bowls seriously makes her day.

Somethings are a lot less matchy, but as long as she believes they match, everything is good. We showered the other day and she watched me get dressed. Shortly there after she ran off to her room to put on her black undies so we could have matching undies. She doesn't have a black pair, so the pair she chose to match mine were actually white with Minnie Mouse on them. You know because Minnie has black ears. We match!!

Other days we match because we both have ponytails or we both have a coat on. Whatever she can pick out to be the same. She just loves it! The other day I had the twins at the house and they were sitting nicely playing in the living room, when out of no where Charlotte exclaims, "MOM! We match!"
M- We do?
C- I have shoes and the babies have shoes! We match!
M - Oh yes! You do match!
C- *takes shoes off and pulls up pant legs* *Gasp* WE MATCH!! We both have legs!
M - You do match! Wow!

The next day I was changing diapers and again I hear "We match!!" followed by a "We have the same peepees! We match mom!" I couldn't really contain my laughter. All I could do was agree with a "Yes, we're all girls!"

I wonder how we'll match tomorrow....?

Monkey Shiner Babblings

I've been watching a little 5 month old girl and the other day we were laying in Charlotte's room doing some tummy time. Charlotte was off playing kitchen and the baby was happy eating toys. I closed my eyes for all of 5 seconds when Charlotte sees me and comes running over.
C- No mom! No! Open your eyes! It's not sleep time!
M- I'm not sleeping.
C - Yes you are! Open them!
M - I'm just relaxing for a minute; I'm still awake.
C - No you're not! *storms out of her room closing the door behind her* I'm not doing this with you right now!

H - Mom, I know two presidents.
M - Oh cool, which ones?
H - Abraham Lincoln and George Washington
M - Do you know who our current president is?
H - No?
M - It's Barrak Obama.
H - Oh, do you know who you're voting for president?
M - You know, I haven't decided yet.
H - I'm voting for Abraham Lincoln.
M - You can't. He's dead.
H - He is?!

Monkey Shiner Babblings

JP just handed me my eyelash curler and asked, "Here mom. Do you want to straighten your eyeballs?"

I crouched in the hallway when I heard JP coming upstairs after getting his pajamas on. When he reached the top, I jumped out to scare him. He pulled out some ninja move and managed to scream, punch me in the face and do an in-the-air leg kick, all in a split second. I got him good!

These ones below are ones I sent to my sister, but didn't make it to the blog until now...

8/6/2015
JP came up to me bawling as I was cooking in the kitchen.
M - What happened?!
JP lifts his shirt and points near his nipple to show me a red mark.
M - What happened? All I know is something under your shirt hurts.
J -Charli *mumble mumble* my freckle.
M - Charli head-butted your freckle?
J - No! Her bed hit my freckle!
M - Let me see the freckle that was hurt.
JP lifts up his shirt again and points directly to his right nipple and I couldn't help but bust out laughing.
J - It's not funny mom!
M - No, it is. That's a nipple, not a freckle.

7/12/2015
H - Everything needs water to survive.
J - Nuh uh! Not pirates. They're extinct!

5/1/2015
J - Mom my ears are hot.
M- Someone must be thinking about you.
J - Yeah, God probably is....Or maybe the car is just hot.

4/2/2015
Hunter and JP were playing in the basement and I thought they might have been wrestling because I heard JP wimpering. I called to Hunter a couple of times to leave his brother alone, to which he would shout back, "I AM!" Then first quietly and the next time louder, I heard JP from the bottom of the stairs, "Hunter, go get mom! HUNTER! GO GET MOM!!" Apparently JP got the bright idea to somehow attach his shark hat by the straps to the railing to slide down it, like a make-shift bucket. Genius right? He got to the bottom and was stuck with his feet inside the hat and his arm between the rail and the wall and was just hanging there. On my railing. Helpless. If I had my phone on me, I would have taken a picture before freeing him.

3/19/15
M- Hunter, name five supeheros.
H - Uhh, Astronaut Guy.
M - Nevermind. JP name one superhero.
J- the Hulk.
M - Okay Hunter, thinking about the Hulk, name me another superhero.
H - John Superhero.
M- What? You're done.

Monkey Shiner Babblings

M-Is it okay that I didn't sign you up for soccer this fall? No hurt feelings?
H- No, I never want to play soccer. Too much running. And I never want to play football either. It's so dangerous.
M- What makes it dangerous?
H-Every time you get tackled, your brain wobbles around in your head, and I really don't want a wobbly brain.

Mom opened the bathroom door so Charlotte could go potty and found Jim just getting off the pot.
M- OH! Jim! Flush the toilet! Nobody needs to see or smell that!
J- It's okay mom. It's most just green poop.
M- I see that. Do you know why your poop is green?
J- Yeah, my poop knows I like green, so it comes out green.

H- knock knock
M- who's there?
H- banana
M- banana who?
H- knock knock
M- Hunter is that you?
H- no it's a banana. Knock knock
M- who's there?
H- banana
M- banana who?
H- orange you glad I didn't say banana again?

Jimmy just came in from helping dad in the garage...
J- Mom, dad can't get the oil filter out of your car.
M- Well that's no good!
J-*getting upset* Yeah, now we can't go to the round house!
M- uh oh. What do you think we should do about that?
J- *pauses to think* I guess dad will just have to start drinking milk again.
M- how will that help?
J- he'll get strong bones to pull it out!
M- touché...

C - Deer Mommy! Deer!

M - Where? Oh, no, Charli, those are cows.

C -  Yeah, cows-NO DEERS! Deers!

J - Look mom, the sun is following us!

M - No, it's just setting. That just means it's way past bedtime.

J - So you mean to tell me that that big ball of hot gases is setting?
M - Yeah, I suppose that's what I mean...

H - Jim, you know the world is just turning in circles around it.

J - No it's not!
H - No Jim, stop talking. The world spinning around doesn't involve you right now. 

M - Eat your dinner guys. I want to go to the Farmers Market afterwards, and the Carousal is right next to it.

*A couple minutes later JP still hasn't started eating.*

C - Keep eating Jim. Kill-a-self.

J - NOOO!

C - Eat Jim. Kill-a-self.

J - UH UHHH!!

Turns out kill-a-self is how she pronounces "carousal." I'd be pretty mad too if my sister was saying kill yourself to me too! Poor Jim!

Monkey Shiner Babblings

M - Oh! Charli! You stink! Did you go poo poo?
C - NO!
M - I'm pretty sure you did. You're really stinky!
C - *holding her baby* Baby poop
M - No, Charli poop!

M- I really like those new pants on you.
J- I DONT! The only thing I like about them....is that I can hide SUCKERS in them!
M- You probably shouldn't tell mom that...
J- Well... They have big pockets!

Hunter walks into the bathroom, unannounced, and finds mom leaning over the sink looking in the mirror.
H - Hey mom, why are you popping your nipples?
M - My what?!
H - Your nipples. 
M - I'm not. Do you you even know what a nipple is?
H - It's on your body...
M - Yeah, lift up your shirt and I'll show you.
H - Oh yeah! These are them! 
M - So yeah, I wasn't popping my nipples....I was popping my zits. Big difference bud. The last thing I need is for you to go to school and tell your teacher I was popping my nipples...

A few things about Charlotte that need to be mentioned...
-When she's done eating, she'll yell "I'm DONE!!!" at the top of her lungs. It usually comes out of no where, but it actually sounds like she's yelling "I'm DUMB!" which of course makes her brothers die of laughter. Every time.
-Since we cloth diaper, I dump her poo into the toilet (your supposed to with disposables too...) and this whole process is so exciting for her. We walk her poo to the toilet, dump it in, and as she flushes it down, she says, "Bye poop!" really excitedly. And then she's over it. Perry left for Spokane the other week and I said, "Say 'bye' to daddy" and she did. She said 'bye' and as soon as the door shut a few seconds later she said "poop". Later that week she flat out said "bye poop" to Nanny. Oops. 
-It's adorable how many times during the day she mixes up her brothers...

Monkey Shiner Babblings

I'm on the toilet and inconsiderate JP comes busting into the bathroom.
J - Mom, I want to dig for dinosaur bones when I grow up.
M - Oh, so you want to be an archaeologist?
J - *looks down and whispers* Don't you mean a paleontologist?
M - What? Yes, that's what I said...
J - No you didn't.
M - How about you get out so I can poop alone this time?
J - UUGHH!

M - What'd you do in art this week with Ms. Horning?
H - It's Ms. Horny!
M - Pretty sure it's Horning.
H - No, it's Horny!
M - Ms. Lubke wrote, "Ask about art with Ms. Horning." I'm pretty sure she knows the art teacher's name.
H - It's Ms. Horny, Mom! I said, Ms. Horny can you help me? And she did. It's Ms. Horny.
M - How about you just call her teacher then...

The boys made a tent in the living room last week. I was going to scare JP who was already inside, when Hunter started shouting at me. "No mom no! You're too fat! You're going to wreck it!" Thanks bud.

We went to Aunt Kim's house to watch the Oregon ducks play the other week. Some cheerleaders came on tv and we told the boys they were called cheerleaders. Hunter goes, "OOOOO" and everyone bust up laughing, obviously, he's a 6 year old boy. Later a commercial with Hooter's girls came on and Perry says, "Hunter those aren't cheerleaders." To which he replied, "Yes they are! They get you excited!" True I guess...hahaha!

J - Hahaha! Look! Charli has dandelion hair!

Noteworthy Happenings for the Week

When did miss Charlotte turn into a big girl? I must have missed it, or witnessed it and didn't realize it! At her 18 month check-up right before we left for Thanksgiving, I recall telling her doctor that she could say about 6 words, other than momma and dadda. By the time we made it home from our Thanksgiving vacation, she had added quite a few more - words like "thank you", "buckle", and "up".

Her word of the week this week is "helper". When frosting my dad's cake she had climbed up on a stool to watch and grabbed a spatula sitting nearby and said "helper." I squirted a little bit of frosting on to her spatula for her to eat. When she was done, she vigorously waved it at me and said "helper" again. The process continued until I was done. She'll also say it when someone needs to pass her the M&M's she can't reach... Let me just say this too - It is *adorable* hearing her say "thank you" because just about any time you hand her something, she'll say it, except it sounds more like "tank ew". Other words she's mastered this week include shoe and NOW - as in- Hunter and JP, clean up your toys, NOW! Cue Charlotte - NOW!

She's also working on perfecting her tantrums. Up until the other night, only Perry, Grandma, and I had witnessed one of her melt downs. I had a hard time controlling my laughter the other night when I took my phone back from Charlotte's possession, only to have her get violently angry. The looks coming from Aunt Kim and Papa Craig's faces were priceless. She's really good at throwing her arms and body around, plus screaming a combination of "mine" and "no"...One of these days I might be lucky enough to film it...

Hunter and JP have been busy preparing for Christmas. They both want green helicopters with remote controls...JP wants it because Hunter wants it. The other night at the table, we were all talking about Skippy the elf and the things he does...
P - I bet Skippy eats his dinner at the North Pole.
H - You don't even know that.
M - I do. Santa and I are in close contact. As a matter of fact, he told me they were out of green helicopters.
J - Ahh man....Maybe they still have red ones!?
M - *face palm*

I was really hoping they'd ask for something that was a little more age appropriate but helicopters just won't work in our house...I've been trying to plant the seed of a new bike in JP's head but it's not working...

Monkey Shiner Babblings

J - We should get dad some new shoes.
M - Why?
J - So he can go running.
M - Why does dad need to go running?
J - So he can get extra-size because extra-size makes people feel better.
M - That's nice of you, but dad has a head cold.
J - Oh.

H - Mom, you really need to talk nicer to dad.
M - I'm not talking mean to dad. I'm just upset that I don't have any friends and I'm just expressing that to him.
H - Well mom, I'll be your friend.
M - Oh thanks Hunter.
H - And James and Charli are your friends too.
D - Who are also her children...
H - Dad, do you need friends too?
D - [Looks at him with raised eye brows]
H - Okay, Roxy [the dog] can be your friend.
M - Boom. Hahahaha!

M - Oh my gosh. I do not feel good today boys.
J - You'll feel better if you take us to the park...

M - You know what we need to do? Start thinking about Hunter's birthday.
D - You know what you and I need to do, Hunter? Go pick out your birthday present together.
H - Yeah! And get a nurf gun!
M - More like something to help you play your favorite sport. What's your favorite sport? Football, hockey, soccer, baseball, tennis, volleyball, running...?
H - Dodgeball.
D - No, what do you like to play outside with me?
H - Croquet. No no golf.
D - No, golf isn't a team sport. What's the one you have to have others to play with?
H - Ohhh. Duck duck goose.
M - *face palm* We're looking for baseball, Hunter. You like to play baseball...

A Wreck It Ralph Themed Halloween

When I made Hunter a Wreck It Ralph cake last year for his birthday, I was surprised as to how many people hadn't heard of, let alone seen, the movie. It's a Disney movie! Obviously it's one of my favorites too! Despite my annoyance with no one knowing the movie, we went ahead and had a Wreck It Ralph Halloween too. I sat down with the boys in August and asked them what they wanted to be for Halloween, and this was one of their ideas that I could actually do! 

 JP was the lucky one who modeled the costumes for me the day before. He wasn't thrilled about putting on Ralph's hands though so we were in the middle of a meltdown...Can't you tell? 

JP has been counting down the days since the beginning of October until his Pumpkin Party on Halloween at school. As soon as I packed up Hunter's backpack and explained what he needed to do to get his costume on for his parade, I helped JP get into his costume and off to his party we went. Not surprisingly no one recognized him, even when I said he's Fix-It Felix from Wreck It Ralph. 

 After lunch, we took a trip to Hunter's school to watch the costume parade and to check out his party. I was responsible for bringing some fruit to the party. I was going to bring oranges that looked like pumpkins, or the banana ghosts that I brought for JP last year, but I figured someone else would. So I instead brought cantaloupe and used cookie cutters to cut them into bats. (I was going to cut them into pumpkins, but I forgot about the seeds in the middle....) As his teacher was rearranging the food table, she looked at the bats I brought and said, "I think someone has too much time on their hands!" Then there was an awkward pause as I slowly said, "That would be me..."

 Anyways...JP enjoyed watching the parade. He couldn't take his eyes off the "guy without a head." There were a lot of original costumes there!

 Charlotte didn't get to watch the parade because I brought her inside in her carseat so she couldn't run around. And with a failed nap attempt, she missed out on lunch and instead ate while we watched. Hunter was so excited to be Wreck It Ralph, but I doubt many people knew who he was... 

 After the parade, we went back to Hunter's classroom to stop by his party, but his class was at recess. Just as we made it outside to say good-bye, the bell rang for them to line up to go inside. JP wanted to say good-bye to Hunter, so we made it over to Hunter's line before they went inside. Words cannot describe how sweet Hunter was to his little brother. My heart melted for 20 minutes. Hunter immediately took JP under his wing and told him exactly what to do. "We have to stand in a line, so you can hold my hand and walk next to me, or you can walk behind me." (Gah! We're not staying, but okay...!) Once inside they had carpet time where they sang a pumpkin song. "You can just sit right next to me." 

 Then it was craft time, so we tried to leave. "Jim, you can sit right by me at my table. Just stay right here and I will go and find you a chair." I'm pretty sure he stole someone's chair for his brother, but now that he had a chair, we had to stay a bit longer. It took a lot of convincing to get JP to leave, and to let Hunter let us go. JP really wanted to ride the bus home, but Charli really needed a nap soon. 

 When Hunter came home from school, we packed up in the car and drove to Grandma's work to do some trick-or-treating there. I only showed Charlotte once what to do with her candy and after that she helped herself to the candy and filled up her bucket before we left. On the way out the door, JP still hadn't grabbed any candy so I told him not to pick the kinds I liked or he might not get to eat them. On the way home, he held up a Kit-Kat bar and a Snickers and asked if I like them. I told him I loved the red on he was holding and would trade him something for it. He put both back in his bucket and pulled out a Reeces as asked if I liked that one. I told him if he gave me that piece now, I'd let him have a piece to eat out of his bucket, to which he responded, "No, I'm trying to figure out which candy you like, so I can trick-or-treat for them and give them to you." Seriously, how cute is that? This kid is going to make someone REALLY happy someday. 

 

Other than not dying Charlotte's hair, didn't I do pretty good?

 Charlotte has the energy of Hunter, but with JP's personality, which has been making it really hard to take pictures of her. 

 After we had dinner, which is usually halloweenies, but this year I switched it up a little and made mummy calzones, we got ready to go out. We had 3 trick-or-treaters this year...down 4 from last year. And one of them was Aunt Kim dressed as a pretty scarecrow.  A combination of a little face paint and being over-tired sent Charlotte into a series of meltdowns when Aunt Kim nicely said "boo" to her. We attempted to trick-or-treat on our street, but everyone was already gone at 6:00. 

 While the boys were attempting to trick-or-treat, Perry and I stopped by the one neighbor's house who was home and chatted for a while. I watched Charlotte side-step a good half length of their car, careful not to touch the car or step on the grass. 

 Even though Kim stopped by our house, we went to her house to trick-or-treat to see her boyfriend Julian. Then we went to one of their neighbors. After doing those two houses, JP exclaimed, "Wow, we sure have done a lot of trick-or-treating!" Three houses total and he was ready to be done! But we went to Nanny and Papa's house anyways and the boys were excited to see Aunt Bobby there. 

After loading up on candy at Nanny's house, both Hunter and JP were ready to be done, but Aunt Bobby convinced them otherwise. Nanny came with us to take them to a few more houses, while Perry and Papa Craig stayed home to hand out candy, something neither of them enjoy doing. After going to the house across the street, Hunter checked out his basket and said to himself, "Okay...okay...that wasn't so bad." He apparently had to psych him up for it. A couple houses later, someone answered the door and said, "Who do we have here?" to which Hunter responded, "I'm Hunter." Hahaha, I'm pretty sure they were asking what you were dressed up as! After a few more houses, JP's basket was overflowing with candy, so much so that he was dropping it as he walked. Hunter's wasn't nearly as full. Reminded me of Easter this past year...maybe that's because they were using their Easter egg baskets...

Hunter sorted his candy out when we made it back and was very protective of it. Charlotte took her candy out one by one and then put them back in her bucket, one by one, over and over. 

I think it's also worth noting that this was Nanny's first Halloween where she's been able to hand out candy. Hunter was already a pro at it!

 And shout out to Kile's family! Remember when Hunter and JP dressed up as the monkey?! Casey is too cute, especially with chocolate all over his face. But check out him and his dad! Curious George and the Man with the Yellow Hat. Who would have thought this would be their last moments as a family of 3?! 8 hours later, Casey's brother, Dylan, was born! And I added another nephew to my list of favorite kids! 

Monkey Shiner Babblings

After Hunter's second day of school:
M - Did you meet anybody at school today?
H - Uh. No.
M - Are there any cute girls in your class?
H - No, there's not any.
M - Well maybe they'll get cuter when they get a little older.
H - Nope...they probably won't.

M - Hunter and Jim. I do NOT want to see you jumping and rough-housing on the couch again. Is that clear?!
H - Well then you better not watch....

On our way home from preschool, an ambulance drove past us with its siren on.
J - Oh. Someone must have got hurt by a tiger or something.

Monkey Shiner Babblings

H - I see a water tower!

J - I see another one!

M - You should count them and see how many you can find. How many do you have so far?

H - That's one, two. We have two.

J - Mom! Did you see that one?! It was a HOLY BIG ONE!

M - I must have missed that one.

H - It was bigger than dad!

J - No, it was bigger than a giant!

H - Have you even seen a giant?

J - Yeah....on Peg & Cat.

H - That was a dragon. 

J - Oh. Well it was still bigger than dad...

H - *nonchalantly in the middle of dinner* So mom...When Charli's done being a baby, can we get another one?

J- Hahahaha! I'm so funny I crack your head up!

H - *rubbing my belly* Mom, I see your tummy is getting bigger.
M - That was rude Hunter.
H - You must have another baby growing in there or something...

M - Have we decided what we're going to do tomorrow?
D - Hunter don't you have something to ask Mom?
H - Uh. No.

M - Do you want to go fishing?
H - Can we go craw-dadin'?
M - What's a craw-dadin'?
J - They live under rocks and in the night they come out and eat and play cards and stuff.
M - Oh they do? Where did you get this knowledge of crawdads playing cards?
J - Uh, I don't know.
M - Did you make it up then?
J - No, dad told me. Dad do crawdads come out at night and play cards?
D - I don't recall that I've ever seen a crawdad play cards.
J - Well...then no, he didn't tell me that...I must have made it up...

Monkey Shiner Babblings

H - And mom! On the way home we saw lightning! But we didn't see any thunder...

J - Yuck! Mom! You need to go take a shower!
M - Why?!
J - Because your legs are gross!
M - They just pokey, I just shaved them the other day.
J - Well you need to do it again, right now, because it's yucky!

H - Mom, how did Charli's hair do that?!
M - Do what?
H - Stand up like that?! It's like magic!
M - It's called a wet rag bud.

M - So here's the thing boys. I think we need to learn to ride our bikes without training wheels.
J - No, only kids in Kindergarten can do that. So we can't.
M - No, you can, and I think our goal for the summer should be to get both of you riding without training wheels. And if we can do that, I'll get you a special reward. What do you think it would be? What have you always wanted to do?
H - Hmm...I think...we should get some of Charli's animal crackers!
J - Yeah! Her animal crackers!
M - I bet you if you learn how to ride, I'll give you your OWN BOX of animal crackers!
P - Or maybe even the FROSTED animal crackers!
M - With the sprinkles!
J - YES! Let's learn how to ride our bikes so we can get those Hunter!!

Monkey Shiner Babblings

M - Hunter I'm going to the bathroom. Keep your eye on Charli.
***
M - Hunter, where is your sister?
H - Well she was playing with the antenna so I moved her. And then she was playing with the tv stuff and wouldn't stop so I moved her to her room for a time-out.

J - Mom! Hunter threw dirt in my face!
M - OH bummer! Well it's time to take him to school so let's do that and get rid of him for a couple hours. How about that?
J - No. I think we should just put him in the garage sale and get rid of him.

On our way to the round house, we stopped at my friend's house in Great Falls. Her daughter Rylee is the cutest little thing!
R - Look at this!
M - OH MY GOSH! (said with jaw dropped)
R - You have cavities like my mom.
M - Hahaha! Thanks!

We've had a few silly things said first thing in the morning. At Nanny's house, JP sat up in the bed he was sharing with Hunter and said in the softest up-to-something voice, "Yooou Whooo, Huuuunterrrr. We're going to have a long day todayyyy. You better wake up!"

While at Nanny's we watched the movie Frozen. The morning after we arrived home from the round house, Hunter woke up and I heard him knock on JP's door, "Do you want to build a snowman?" Mind you, there hasn't been any snow here for weeks... Hahaha!

H - Mom, where's all the chocolate that was on the stove this morning?
M - Why do you need to know?
H - Well, you see, I was down in my fort looking for the chocolate that was in there but it's gone so I need to get some more.
M - Why was there chocolate in your fort?
H - Uhh...

D - Hunter, have you thought about what you want to eat for a little snack? We could have chili, tuna melts, noodle soup...
H - Well...when I was outside, I was thinking and then God told me to stop thinking. So I did.

Monkey Shiner Babblings

P - If the train was on schedule we would be boarding pretty soon, but it's in Havre right now.
M - Hunter, do you remember where Havre is? Think really hard.
H - Uh yeah.
M - Where is it?
H - It's in the middle of nowhere!
M - I'm not sure you could have answered that any better if you tried!

Since most of all the snow has melted since the snowstorm 10 days ago, I took the kids to the park to enjoy the 50* weather we're having. Shortly after we arrived, a little girl showed up, as well as a little boy. Hunter was pretty much the park host, if there is such a thing! I was very proud him!
LB - Hi.
H - Hi! Do you want to play with us?
LB - Okay.
H - Okay! I'm Hunter and I'm just hanging out with my buddy Jimmy fighting bad guys. And that's our girl friend over there. We have to save her from the all the bad guys.
LB - My name is Carson.
H - Okay Martin! Let's go over here and you can help us play!

M - What's wrong Jim? Why are you crying?
J - My nose is plugged and I can't pick it!
M - Why don't you lay with me for a little bit and then you can go back to bed when you feel better?
*Ten minutes later*
J - Mom! I got it! I can go back to bed now!
M - Oh good! Can I have a kiss first?
J - Uh. No. You got one when you tucked me in.

M - What are you guys doing out here?
J - We're just playing in the mud we made!
M - What do you mean, "the mud you made?"
H - We peed on the dirt. I had to pee and then Jimmy had to pee so now we have mud! Can you go now so we can play in it?

Casey Gets a Puppy!

This weekend we spent some time hanging out with the Concienne's and their new puppy Cora.

 I'm sure for Kile and Chris, it was love at first site with their new puppy, but I think it's going to take some time for little Casey to warm up to him. 

 His first few hours with her were pretty cute though!

Good luck on your puppy training! 

Charlotte got in on the puppy action too, but she wasn't too amused either. Like with cousin Stevie, she was mostly interested in Casey's binky.

We ended the evening playing Apples to Apples, and Hunter insisted on playing as well. He quit when he was winning though. Because he can't read yet, or even know what the majority of the cards meant, he threw random cards. His most memoriable throws included playing "Bill Clinton" when the hint card was "trashy" and also playing "Women" when the hint card was "clumsy". Nicely played Hunter.

Monkey Shiner Babblings

H - Mom, I really wish the boogieman would stop coming to our house at night.
M - How do you know he's here at night? Have you seen him or something?
H - No I haven't, but have you seen Charli's hair in the morning? He keeps pulling it up all crazy! He must be under her bed...

I've been spending quite some time on Pinterest lately with JP's birthday coming up. The other day while I was looking at ideas for a Ninja Turtles party, JP and I came across a photo of a kid with a tin roasting pan spray painted green, strapped awkwardly to his back. Immediately JP began shouting at the computer, "I WANT THAT!! We have to go to the store to get that turtle shell!"

While waiting in the car for Hunter to finish school, JP and I sat and listened to the radio. Taylor Swift's song, "22" came on and she began to sing, "It feels like one of those night, to dress up like hipsters..." A few line later into the song, JP interrupted and said, "What? They're going to dress up like hamsters?"

JP picked out some spinning toys for his birthday for Nanny to give him. He and Hunter were playing with them in the kitchen when:
M - Why don't you guys put them in the area so they can fight to the death?
J - Yeah! Hunter let's do that! Let's make them ride to the deck!

M - Hunter, can you do me a favor since I'm folding laundry? Can you go upstairs and talk to your sister? She's playing in her room, but it's sounds like she's lonely.
H - *Goes upstairs and returns promptly to the laundry room* Mom! I can't find her! I can hear her but I can't find her!
She scooted herself under the crib...

Monkey Shiner Babblings

JP - "Hey Mom! Hunter and I are downstairs, and when we're downstairs, I'm asking you to not come down so we can't get in trouble!" Not suspicious at all...They were under Hunter's desk eating the Pez candy mom hid in the laundry room and whispering about mom coming down.

After their bath, I sent Hunter and JP downstairs to get their clothes on. JP told me I had to come with to help him get a shirt down. In the meantime, Hunter came back up because he needed help with his pants. By the time I made it to JP's room to help him, he had his clothes all laid out on the floor, so I asked, "What did you need my help with bud?" "MOM! Get out of my room! I'm trying to get handsome!" By handsome he meant he was going to surprise me by wearing a hat.

On the way home from dropping Hunter off at pre-school, Charlotte started fussing and crying. Super annoyed by this JP declared, "Ugh! Charli is not asking very nicely for a drink of milk! Just ask Charli, stop whining!"

H - Did Nanny buy a new car?
M - No, Grandma did a couple months ago.
H - Oh....Well maybe when Nanny gets old like Grandma, she can buy a new car too!

M - Ooo Jim, how about we wear this green shirt today? It has dinosaurs on it.
J - Gaaah. I don't like dinosaurs!
M - Well these ones are cool. There's a t-rex and a stegosaurus on it.
J - A steakosaurus? Is that where steak comes from?

Monkey Shiner Babblings

M - Hunter, can you take your stool out of the kitchen so I don't trip on it?
H - I'm not strong enough.
M - Yes you are.
H - No! I'm not strong!
M - You pick up the stool all the time. You are pretty strong.
H - *On the verge of tears* No, mom. I'm not strong! He *points up* is strong. Mrs. Stiff says I am weak and He is strong!
M - Good thing He can help you then. *Hunter proceeds to remove the stool from the kitchen.*

M - Jim, can you take two more bites of your food and then you can be done?
J - Uh no. I'm full.
M - You mean you don't want the rest of Papa's ice cream cake for dessert?!
J - No, I think we should just try again tomorrow to finish our food.

M - Hunter, please get off the bed. I don't like you jumping and rough-housing on my bed.
H - But I want to be on the bed! I have my pants on!
M - Irrelevant....get down.

I only heard part of the conversation, but cracked up when I heard them talking about "The Naughty List":
J- Hunter I think you're on the Naughty List.
H - No, Jim, we BOTH are.
J - Nope, I'm pretty sure it's just you....
H - I am not! There are presents under the tree with MY name on them!
J - We could take them back....

Monkey Shiner Babblings

M - Hunter, you need to decide where you want to eat at with Grandma for your birthday.
H - I already chose Old McDonalds!
M - I think you should pick a nicer place for dinner since it's your birthday dinner.
J - Like Wendys?

J - MOM! I just saw a golfing sign! That means NO GOLFING ON THE ROAD!
M - Or maybe it means there's a golf course right there?
J - No mom, you are not allowed to golf on the road!

I'm in the middle of working on this teething guard for Kiki's crib. I had accidentally sewed on a wrong piece of fabric and needed to rip the stitches out. I had an extra seam ripper, and since the boys were off fighting over a toy, I volunteered JP to help me. (Awesome fine motor skills practice!!) Eventually Hunter wanted to help too, so I went to put the lid on my seam ripper and inadvertently poked my finger. To see the boys' reaction, I tried *super* hard to squeeze a speck of blood out of my owie, and then pretended to cry. Hunter thought this was hilarous....JP started screaming (similar to the spider incident) and began shouting, "Stop! You're going to bleed out!!" Then he collected himself, calmly put the cap on his seam ripper, placed it on the counter and very quietly said "I don't want to do that anymore. I don't want to get hurt" as he walked out of the kitchen. I'm horrible right? But I did go hug him and say sorry. At least now he knows to stay out of my sewing stuff....

The faces he makes are amazing. I gave him a few jelly beans to show me his scared faces. They needed to be captured.