Blessed Normal

 I have been a memory-recording slacker lately.  I'm really trying not to get sucked into the facebook-is-where-I-say-all-the-cute-and-funny-things-I-don't-want-to-forget thing.  Therefore, for the most part, I just creep.  But then I still have no excuse.  So here are a few notes and random thoughts that I want to record for....well, for the record.

 This girl.  She's growing like a weed.  She wants to do everything - everything - the big kids do.  It's hilarious.  Just last week she decided that she's too big to sit in a booster seat with a tray.  We're still arguing about it, though I'm happy to report that I am winning.  She climbs like a monkey and I expect nothing less.  She is now putting together a few two-word sentences like "Bapa kikees (chickies)." and "Bapa cows." and "Hep' me."  and the lovely "No, NO".  Her hair is not stick-straight or coarse.  It's super fine and wavy.  Strange.  She's exuberant about everything.  If anyone of the four of us says anything indicating we're going to do anything, she shouts "YEAH!!!" and runs from wherever she is to wherever we're headed.  For example:

"I'm going to get the mail."

                                        "YEAH!!!"

"I think I'll brush my teeth."

                                        "YEAH!!!"

"I think I'll have a bowl of cereal."

                                         "YEAH!!!"

Love it.  Also, she has a sweet little way of showing her gentle disapproval.  "Heeeeey." It's what she says if someone takes her shoe or sits on her by accident or gets her wet or gets in her way.  Don't mistake it for passivity, though.  Lately she's developed her third-child muscle and is definitely learning to throw her weight around to get what she wants.  Such a fun, growing, learning, entertaining time she is.

Now, this one is growing way, waaaaay too fast.

Just look at her.  She's missing two teeth and has been for awhile.  No sense keeping a slightly wiggly tooth, says she.  Just yank it out and enjoy the hole for as long as it takes that permanent one to grow in.  So funny.

    Lily-girl is now officially a first-grader.  Although she liked school while she was there, she was as thrilled as all get-out to see summer arrive today.  She slept in, ate a leisurely breakfast, and wore her long shirt as a dress most of the day. [This was our year-long battle.  Seriously, you cannot convince a strong-willed child that long shirts are not actually dresses and no, tights are not enough to cover your bum.  Yay for wearing whatever-the-heck you want to when you're at home!]

    In other news, she can do her own hair.  She even put it in pigtails by herself!  I was very impressed as I thought I had until at least third grade or so to be the hair-do controller (sort-of).  Oh, and I tried to talk Lil into getting a cute haircut back in December but she would have none of it.  She wanted to look like Rapunzel, see, and short hair doesn't really "go" with that.  So finally I convinced her that if she got her hair trimmed it would actually grow longer.  And then, about a month ago she informed me that actually, she wanted her hair cut like Flynn Rider - the boy in Tangled.  Mm-hmm.  I wasn't biting.  I told her she could definitely do that since lots of girls have "boy" haircuts, but that she'd have to wait a couple months just to make sure that it's what she truly wants.  She hasn't mentioned it, but I honestly won't be surprised if she does.  (It's just hair, right?  Right?!) 

    Last week, Lily informed me excitedly, "Mom!  Me and Mason don't even say the N-word anymore!"  It's true, they don't. "No fair!" has been almost completely eradicated, thanks to Shandy's 25-cent fine for saying it.  We made about $1.50, too.  Woohoo!  What a wonderful, surprising, joyous, challenging, interesting time we're having with this big girl.

 And this boy.  Well, I'm trying very hard to keep him in his cheetah costume as much as possible.  It's so cute and makes me want to snuggle him up and keep him this size forever.  Did you know that leopards are faster than cheetahs?  Or are cheetahs faster?  I can never remember, even though I googled it after getting asked about 498 times.  But what's faster than our car?  If Paul Bunyan jumped on a trampoline it would probably launch him into outer space.  Did you know that Jupiter has a lot of stupider?  What's stupider? (hahaha!  I overheard that one last night as he and daddy were talking...thanks, kindergarten friends for passing that one along!)  ASV's work better in that muck, mom, and Bobcat's don't work as good in muck because they don't have tracks but Grandpa's Bobcat can haul two bales and his ASV can only haul one. 

    I could probably fill a college-ruled notebook per week with all the things this kid talks about.  I love hearing what goes on in his little buzz-cut, awfully roundish (thanks, helmet!) head.  I have been accused of speaking random thoughts to my husband (um, often), so I'm glad to see that I've successfully passed on my gene.  Although most of my thoughts do not revolve around machines.  (Oh, here's another: "Mom, what did dad use to make this fort in this picture?"  He used sticks, buddy.  "No mom, what did he use to make it?"  Sticks, and logs, and branches.  "Mom.  But what did he USE?"  Um, his arms?  "No, Mom!  What MACHINE did he use to make it?!")

   He's a worker-man.  Or a logger-man.  Or a wooder-guy.  Or whatever tough-sounding term one would use to describe whatever type of manly job he's doing.  And it's his birthday in a couple weeks.  He'll be four.  But he really wishes to be ten.  Or eleventy-thousand ("because then I'd be reeeeaaaaalllly big!").  But four will do for now.  And he's let me know very clearly about what kind of birthday cake he'd like.  He'd like a gingerbread house cake with lots of candy.  And a race car cake.  And a farm cake with candy rocks.  And an ASV cake with the ASV made out of chocolate.  And probably a chainsaw cake.  Yes, that's it, he reeeaaallly wants a chainsaw cake.  This boy will have to live to be eleventy-thousand if I'm ever going to make every one of his desired birthday cakes!  What a lot of listening and building and talking we've been enjoying with this boy.

As you have probably read, life has been normal.  Blessedly normal.  As I look back at all I've just written, my heart overflows with thankfulness to my Father for His incredibly "normal" blessings.  I'm so humbled to be blessed this much.