"Look! It's My Crap!"

Yes, that's what Natalie, our almost three-year-old said.

But I should probably backtrack and tell you the story.

First of all, if you're offended by the word "crap," you may want to come back in a day or two and view the next post. If not, stick around.

As parents, we all say things that we probably shouldn't, just to hear them repeated back to you by the sweet little mouth belonging to your child. Ahem. We're no exceptions.

On Thanksgiving, we ran to K-Mart to try and snag a deal or two and let the kiddos get some fresh air. We shopped for just a bit and when I paid, David took the kids to the front door. Near the door, the ever-present quarter-toy machines summoned their attention.

Thinking it was something else, David jumped on board, purchasing a green die with various words on each side.

When it came out, Dave discovered it wasn't as cool as he originally thought. The girls quickly asked, "What is it?" He muttered, "A piece of crap."


I arrived at the door and asked Natalie what she was holding. She promptly, and excitedly answered, "A piece-a-crap!" (Picture a big grin...as if she had found a treasure!)

We laughed all the way home. And we continually laughed every time she mentioned her prized possession. The next morning, she asked, "Where's my piece-a-crap?" (You have to admit you're smiling.)

Let me just take a moment for a side story. I can't resist a good side story.

The die is like a not-so-fancy version of those Magic 8 Balls. You ask a question, shake the ball, or die in this case, and wait for the answer to "appear." Ally was playing with the die this afternoon and started asking questions...

A: Does Mommy love me?
P-of-C: Oh Totally.
A: Does Daddy love me?
P-of-C: Super Likely.
A: Does Chris love me?
P-of-C: Definite Maybe.
A: Does Natalie love me?
P-of-C: Doubtful.

Then she continued:
A: Will I get a time-out tonight?
P-of-C: Doubtful
A: Will Nat-Nat get a time-out tonight?
P-of-C: Super Likely.

I gotta say...there may be something to this twenty-five cent piece of crap.

Back to the point...

The small die gets lost in our piles of toys, so Natalie hadn't seen it in days. This morning, I heard her squeal, "Look! It's my crap!"

It never gets old.

The Neighborhood Spectacle

Last night was one of the rare occassions that our entire family was home and the weather was nice enough to be outside. We decided to go for a walk after dinner. Allyson wanted to ride her bike, which always makes walks a little less enjoyable, as one of us has to practically run to keep up with her.

We have taken a few walks with our little "bike rider" this spring, and we thought that maybe Allyson was ready to handle a longer walk last night.

From the start, Natalie was not into this idea and was screaming, but we decided to keep going. Finally, Natalie stopped crying and Allyson was following our directions to ride slow enough that we could keep up with her.

It was actually pleasant until we got to a point where there is a little hill. Allyson had been practicing stopping along the way, and we had prepared her for how she needed to use her break to slow her down as she went down the hill.

To make a long story short, Allyson fell off of her bike going down the hill. Don't worry, Dad was right there to catch her.... She skinned her knee (slightly....), but you would have thought that she had broken a leg by the way she was screaming. We had an old man come out of his house and ask if we need medical help!!

Allyson got in the stroller and was screaming so badly that she got Natalie worked up. So, everyone on the East Side of Janesville heard our daughters screaming in unison as we made our way home.

Thankfully, noone called Child Protective Services!!! :)

Maybe we will just all walk tonight!

A Kitchen Set in Your Bedroom???

On Thursday, Allyson woke up from her nap on a mission. She had big plans for me when I got home from work. She had figured out that there was enough of an "area" in her room for her $2.50 Kitchen Set (click the link to view the post if you don't know what I am talking about). It was quite cute watching her "design" how she wanted it to go in her room. She was waving her arms and continuously pointing out the "area" that was empty and needing to be filled with her kitchen set.

She looked like she belonged on one of those HGTV/TLC home design shows!

I obliged and fulfilled her wishes of having a "kitchen" in her room (What else would a Dad do??!!), and she was quite thrilled about it. Now, there is not a lot of free space in her bedroom, but that seems to be the way she likes it.

Kristen and I did not think about how having this extra distraction in her bedroom would affect naptime and bedtime. Fortunately, she has been going to bed at night without a problem, although she was up at the crack of dawn on Friday filling her teapot and calling for someone to come up there to play with her.

At naptime on Friday, we could hear the clanging of plastic dinnerware only a few minutes after she went to bed. Kristen hollered up to her and told her she needed to be in bed. Ally's response was a quick, "Oh....??" She acted like this was new information to her! Fortunately, she lay down and we didn't hear anything else.

3-year-olds sure are funny!

Out of the Mouths of Babes....

Just thought I would pass on a funny story from our small group on Sunday night.

As I was putting out the drinks (pop and water), one of the little boys asked me if there was "alcoholed". I didn't quite get what he asked, so I said, "What do you want?" He then repeated it and said, "Is there alcoholed? You know, it is for adults." At this point, I realized that he was talking about alcohol and noticed the embarrassed looks on his parents' faces.

It gave us a great laugh. Maybe it will cause his parents to be a little more careful about what they consume in front of him.

Have a great day.

Daddy keeping secrets...

As we were leaving the neighborhood this morning, on the way to preschool, Ally was chatting about red lights and how they mean we have to stop. (I'm not sure where this came from as there are no traffic lights in our neighborhood...) Anyway, I told her that we were coming up to a red STOP sign and I asked her what I should do. She quickly responded that I needed to stop. (Yeah, she's pretty quick.) Then she proceeds to tell a very interesting story that went something like this:

"Remember that day when I got popcorn with Daddy at the Farmer's Market?" (This was last Saturday, when I was at a church shower and Daddy and Ally were bonding.)
"Yes, Ally, I remember that."
"Well Daddy went through a red light."
"He did?"
"Yep, and he told me to 'Sshhhh.'"

At first I thought, she must be mistaken, until she said the Sshhh part - that sounded exactly like Daddy.

At these moments, I'm particularly thankful for cell phones. I dial up Daddy and say, "Guess what? Ally just tattled!" As you may have guessed, there was a story behind his law-breaking and he did look both ways before crossing. You'll have to ask him for the justification of his sin.

I'm telling ya...this girl's gonna keep us on our toes.