Sacrificing a Limb in Love

Back in October of 2013, Eli adopted an aloe vera plant from Ikea. He loves this plant. He named it "Baby Junior". B.J. lives on the windowsill above the kitchen sink. Eli checks on him often, although I usually water for him when I think of it. B.J. is very robust and healthy. In fact, he's done so well that last week we bought him a new pot and some extra soil. Jerry got after me for not letting Eli re-pot the plant himself. I guess I probably should have taken everything outside and let him help instead of doing it myself to avoid a mess. 

We have been fortunate in that we have not yet had an injury requiring B.J.'s services. Until today. And today it wasn't even really an injury, it was just a bit of a sunburn. The three older boys went hiking with some friends this morning and I noticed Eli got a bit sunburned. So, after evening showers I cut a small slice off of B.J. and called Eli over. 

He was NOT happy I cut a limb off his favorite plant! Tears were shed. As I was rubbing the aloe gel over his sunburned face I tried to explain that B.J. was happy to be of service. That's what his purpose is! I rationalized... B.J. would be fine, maybe even be healthier after the little trimming. Eli was having none of it; cutting off Baby Junior's limb was a terrible injustice. When I was done he cried again when he saw the pieces in the garbage.

You know what? His face looked less red (and felt super soft) within a hour! Perhaps it was the aloe? Or maybe it was the combination of aloe and salty tears? Either way, I pointed it out to Eli. He glared at me and went to bed.

Silly Speaks

Here are a couple items for the "Silly Speaks" file:

2/15/14
JD likes to join Annabeth in the bathtub. Tonight he was pouring cup after cup of water onto her little bath baby doll "trying to drown her". Before I could even tell him that wasn't a very nice thing to do Hayden straightened him out. "Uh, JD, that's called water boarding."

1/24/13
While doing school with JD today I asked him if he knew a letter. It was the letter I. He said no, he forgot which letter it was. I told him it was the letter I and that it says (short i sound). He replied, "Oh yeah! I (short i sound) like intimate." Um, yeah. I was thinking igloo or icky, but intimate works too.

Silly Speaks

I haven't done a "Silly Speaks" post in awhile and have a few good ones to share. For those of you who don't know, Silly Speaks posts are just the funny things the kids say that I want to remember.

First, one from a few days ago...
Eli (whining): "I hate doing handwriting!"
Me: "I hate it when kids whine!"
Justus: "Touché!"
I just about died laughing.

Today, I told the boys it's "Talk Like a Pirate Day". Hayden chimes in, "It is? That must have been what I heard those guys talking. I thought it was jibberish." When asked who he was talking about he said the guys that worked on the pool decking today. After I finished laughing, I had to explain it was neither pirate-speak or jibberish... it was Spanish. I don't think he believed me!

One more:
Jerry took the boys to the movies a couple weeks ago (on a Saturday). Upon arriving at the mall and encountering a parking lot completely packed with cars, JD exclaimed: "Don't these people have jobs!?"

How Do You Spell...

Here is another for the silly speaks file:

Hayden is a bit ahead of the game thanks to his older brothers and is actually starting to read a little bit. He knows how to spell every family members name, well almost everyone's...

Me: How do you spell your name?
H: H-A-Y-D-E-N
Me: Hayden, how do you spell Dad?
H: D-A-D
Me: How do you spell Mom?
H: M-O-M
Me: How do you spell Roz?
H: R-O-Z
Me: How do you spell Wesley?
H: W-E-S-L-E-Y
Me: How do you spell Eli?
H: E-L-I
Me: How do you spell Justus?
H: J-U-S-T-U-S
Me: How do you spell J.D.?
H: Uhhh, I don't know.

Silly Speaks

Every once in awhile I like to write down a few funny things the kids have said. Here are a few new JD entries to my "silly speaks" category:

When I am in the laundry room switching loads or folding laundry (which is quite often in a large family), JD likes to come in and keep me company. Sometimes he just sits there and chats with me while I work. Other times he asks me, "Can I play laundry? Please, Mom?". Sure JD, you can play laundry whenever you want!


The twins like to play on Starfall. (If you have preschoolers or younger kids it is a great phonics website.) One of the activities on the site shows a little gingerbread man running off singing the usual:

Run, run, as fast as you can!
You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!

JD some has his own way of saying it that cracks me up every time:

Run, run, as fast as you can!
You can't catch me, I'm in kindergarten!

Just Read It!

I took the boys to the library this morning. As we were heading to check out we passed a poster that said: "JUST READ IT!" I suppose that was the library's version of Nike's "Just Do It". As we walked by it, Justus asked me what it said...so, I told him without really even thinking about it. He looked at me, with a kind of hurt expression, and said, "But, Mom, I can't read yet." Wesley and I had a good laugh. Justus never did get what was so funny!

Speaking of books, if you are looking for a couple interesting reads, I just finished and recommend:

Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care by Jennifer Block
Very interesting book about c-sections, natural childbirth, homebirths, and our current medical system.

The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares
The first book I read off my LOST book list. Very interesting and nothing like I usually read.

Silly Speaking

Wesley, just tonight, said the the colors of the rainbow are: "red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and bunting". (If you're wondering...here's why!)

Those crunchy things on your salad? Yeah well, according to Hayden that would be a "toucron" (pronounced too-cron). We have salad just about every night. He always sits at the island and watches me toss it together. Every time he asks for a toucron "in his hand", which means he wants it now, he doesn't want to wait until it's served on his plate.

These will have to be added to the list of funny things the kids have said. There have been some other good ones lately, I'll add them later if I think of them. I'll have to do a better job writing these things down so I can make sure they end up in the next book!

Brotherly Love

Isn't this sweet? Hayden was trying to show JD how to stack their hands to do a "cheer".


Kids say the funniest things or so they say. I like it when the kids "mis-speak" or say something that has a double meaning. Following are two examples courtesy of Wesley.

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Wesley to Justus (what I heard): "There's only one you!"

What he meant: Not a pep talk to make his brother feel unique, although there definitely is only ONE Justus! They were playing with a felt letter set, trying to spell their names. Justus couldn't spell his name. Not for lack of spelling skills but because as Wesley was pointing out..."there's only one U"!

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Wesley to Mom: "Choose Life!"

What he meant: Good advice, but not what you think. It was snack time. Hmm...what should we have? Wesley wants LIFE cereal for snack hence "Choose LIFE!"

Learning Spanish with Wesley...

No picture today...just a funny story. Actually, I don't have much time...I have a lot to do before we have our first "showing" this morning at 11am. When they called yesterday to set it up the lady asked "Can we show your house at 11am tomorrow?" to which I brilliantly replied "In the morning?". Thankfully, the lady was nice and didn't say..."No, you idiot 11 at night!" I was just really surprised someone was coming in the middle of the day on a weekday. I expected evening and weekend visits. Optimistic Jerry says the person can come at that time because he/she probably doesn't have a job and won't be able to get a loan if they like the house.

[Update: The people who were supposed to come to look at the house canceled. Bummer.]

Anyway, on to the funny Wesley story... We were having hot dogs (Italian sausage for the grown ups) for dinner last night. Sr. Wesley was kind enough to explain to his hermanos Justus and Eli that some people call hot dogs "weenies" and some people call them "hot dogs". Then he told them, "So that means 'weenie' is Spanish for 'hot dog'!!!". Jerry and I thought that was pretty funny. Speaking of Wesley, I've been meaning to write that he has his first loose tooth! Last week when they asked for a "big, juicy apple" for snack (that means they want an apple, but not cut up) Wesley said his tooth was loose. I thought it was too early for that but sure enough one of the bottom teeth is wiggling. He is very excited about it and can't wait until it falls out.

Off to get things in order and make breakfast!!!!

Grammar Lessson for Wesley

Wesley has been coming up with some funny stuff lately. Last night at dinner we told him he had to clean his plate or he wouldn't get any dessert. When we tell him that his first question is usually..."did you make something special?". Because one must know if it is worth it right?! Now, lest you think we were being mean and asking too much of the poor guy...I believe he had 4 kernels of corn, 1 piece of potato, and 4 tiny pieces of meat on his plate. He wasn't really eating, even with the small portions, and Jerry said : "I see you are choosing to forego dessert?". Wesley's reply: "Yeah, I am choosing to go for dessert!" implying he was going to skip eating and go right for dessert! Jerry tried in vain to explain the difference between "forego" and "go for"! In the end, he did eat and get dessert which was nothing special after all...bummer!

Wesley isn't the only one saying funny things. Eli has been calling sunscreen by his special nickname "sunscream". He also likes to make shots with his little basketball into the "basketball poop". He is actually a pretty good shot and has on occasion even made a shot or two into the BIG poop...uhh, I mean hoop. Hayden is really starting to say a lot these days too. He tells you when he wants "out" of something...the highchair, crib, gate, etc. However, it sounds like "ouch!" or "owsh!" and if he really was you to get out fast he says "owie, owie, owie!". Ironically, when he gets hurt he doesn't say anything he just cries, but he is tough and doesn't cry long. I can't think of anything Justus has said lately...I'll have to pay more attention and post it later.

Can we talk about...

No picture to go with this one! But still a cute little story. Yesterday afternoon we were all playing outside. Jer and I were sitting on the swing in the shade and the boys were running around and playing. Wesley came up and starting asking about what to do when a tornado is coming. Keep in mind he runs to check the weather radio when it gets cloudy and often looks out the window for severe weather. Not to mention he knows how to check the weather on the computer and always believes the computer over what he sees with his own eyes out the window. Anyway, I reminded him you go to the basement and if you don't have a basement you should get in your bathtub with a mattress over you. He kept asking all sorts of questions...which mattress, how do you get it in the tub, what if you don't have a mattress... Finally, I said, "Can we just stop talking about tornadoes please?" His reply: "Okay, can we talk about floods?"

Go Diamond Deers?!?

Wesley got a little confused the other day when I put Hayden in this Milwaukee Bucks outfit. The colors were similar to the Diamondbacks which is a team he knows but he saw a deer on there too...hmmm...so he said to Hayden: "Oh Hayden, I love your DiamondDeers shirt!!" So I just had to take this picture of Hayden. (Who is sitting on the counter saying "CHEESE".) Go DIAMONDDEERS!!