horse manure

I haven't done a "kids these days" post in a few months, even though these are some of my favorite posts to write.  Finally had the opportunity to pull another one together. :)

A few weeks back Ellie choked on her water, and Chloe asked if she wanted her to use the "horse manure", rather than the Heimlich maneuver.

We (me, Rachel, and Chloe) got sort of lost in town and had to pull into this center of nanotechnologies (or something like that) to turn around.  Chloe asked where we were and I said, "At this place where really smart scientific people work."  She looked at the building and asked, "Then why are we here?" 

Chloe has decided that we need to change Rachel's name to "Rachey" so everyone can be on the same page as she is.  Everything will apparently be easier if we make this change.

When I was at work the other day I overheard a man asking his son if they should buy a cow because the boy drank so much milk.  The man's son agreed enthusiastically and said they could put it in their backyard.  He then proceeded to explain how he would "get his whip out" and...

Ellie taught Chloe that irritating "Soft kitty, warm kitty" lullaby, and she loves to come and sing it to me really softly.  It's very creepy.

apologies aren't accepted here

I got a letter the other day from my little girl, Majoie, who I sponsor through Compassion International.  Her letters are very scripted--she's only six years old--so my favorite part of her letters is usually at the end where she asks me a question.  This time she asked, "When are you coming to Togo?"  If only she knew how much I long to come and meet her!

I also got a letter from my correspondence child, Cristian, several days ago.  He's fifteen years old, and I really enjoy his letters because he's much older and actually answers my questions.  We actually have conversations!  He is so encouraging to me in my faith, always sending me verses and telling me he's praying for me.  I just love getting letters from all of them.

Chloe asked me to tell her what my science teacher looks like.  When I told her his skin is about the same shade as mine, she automatically took that to mean that he is actually my twin brother and my mom left him at the hospital when "we" were born.  Not sure where Rachel fits into that picture...

Chloe was pretending to read a book we had lying around about marriage, and she told me: "Oh, you know what the book says?  It says that about six months after you get married, you get a baby sometimes!"  Then she told me that the book also said that "right after you kiss [at your wedding] you feel like you're married."

"If I ever get a Chihuahua, I'm going to name it 'Ouchie-Wa-Wa'."

She has this thing lately where, every time I say something's wrong with my physically, she has to go tell our mom.  "Chloe, I have a hang nail."  "Let me go tell Mama!"  "I don't feel very well."  "Mama!!!"  "My eye looks a little red."  Mama has to know.  It's a bit annoying--I have to constantly be in perfect health now. 

The other night Chloe gathered all of us to have a tea party at the table.  She'd watched the American Girl movie "Felicity" and wanted to recreate it.  She was making sure we were all very proper, and I accidentally added cream to my tea without realizing that she was the one who was supposed to do it.  She looked at me aghast and I said, "My apologies."  She lifted her nose primly and replied, "I'm sorry, but apologies aren't accepted at this tea party."

in which my professor plays with me at recess

Chloe's been cracking me up lately.  Here's some funny stuff she's been saying, as well as a memory.

She's started joking a lot and even using appropriate sarcasm.  It's hilarious!  She has also started learning how to beg more effectively--sad faces, making me laugh, etc.  So anyway, she was begging me to read her a book and she gave me her saddest face and said, "Please!  With sugar on top...and a cherry and a hundred chocolate milkshakes with zero cavities."  She's very concerned with her teeth.

Ever since I started school again this week, Chloe and I have been exploring the intricacies of college life in our conversations.  She was astonished yesterday, to the point of anger, that college students are not fed at school or given time to eat lunch.  She saw great injustice in this aspect of the system.

My science teacher is really strange, but lots of fun, and I've had a good time telling Chloe about him.  Tonight at dinner I was telling her about how he pretended to be a student on our first day of class.  He sat at one of the tables until our starting time, at which point he jumped up and shouted, "Ding-aling-aling!  That means class has started!"  I mean, really, who is this guy?

All that to say, Chloe loves this story.  After I'd told it to her again she looked at me in all seriousness and asked, "Does he play with you at recess?"  I'm sorry, I'm a horrible person and probably am not really helping to boost her self-esteem, but I couldn't help laughing.  I covered pretty well though.  She was further enraged to find out that college students don't even have recess.  I'm a real encouragement in her continuing her education.

I remembered another funny thing she did the other day.  Chloe was four years old, and we'd just come down from the store.  Chloe staggered in the house and said, "I'm so tired!  I think it's time for a nap."  My mom told her to take off her shoes and she exclaimed, "OK, OK!  How hard can you be?"  She chucked her shoes and coat on the floor, commenting again on how tired she was.  Then she spotted some cookies on the counter and said, "Maybe some cookies will help me."  She grabbed a handful, threw herself on the couch, and proceeded to eat.

Look over on the sidebar!  There's a new page! ------>

and then there was a party : : kids these days

I hope everyone's having a great Christmas Eve so far!  Mine's been pretty ordinary--I just cleaned up the house.  Tonight we're having a Christmas Eve service that I'm really looking forward to.  I really enjoy gathering as a church family for these special events.  It helps focus my mind on the real meaning of holidays and what is taking place.

I found this retelling of the Christmas story today and love it!  It's so cute.  I hope you enjoy it. :)

Merry Christmas!

kids these days

I thought I'd start a sort of mini series about the funny/strange things that kids in my life are saying lately.  It'll probably mostly be about Chloe, but also about kids at church and those in the class I observe.  I think it'll be fun!  I usually write down a lot of the funny things Chloe says in my journal, so that's where I'm going to be pulling from, at least for this first post.

Earlier this year, Chloe was going to do an experiment, but she needed dry ice.  So she got an ice cube and was trying to dry it on her shirt.  She was so disappointed when we told her it wouldn't work that way.

My mom has an iphone, and Chloe likes to play with the Siri app sometimes.  Once she was chilling on the couch with her shirt off, and she decided to talk to Siri.  After a lengthy conversation she said: "Siri, you're one of my bestest friends.  And it's not just because you're nice.  It's because your heart is working and beating fast."  Then she started to sing to the phone this opera-like, gibberish song while she danced around on the couch.

When we were on our way to visit my grandparents last month, we drove through a part of Ruidoso that was burned out by a fire about a year ago.  Chloe cried out that "she saw a Tuff Shed!"  She then proceeded to tell us that "if there's a tornado or something, your regular house will just fall down, but your Tuff Shed will be okay.  And then you can live in it until your regular house is built again.  You can have a stove in one corner, a TV in the corner, a bunkbed (for if you have a guest), and a chair to sit on when you watch TV."  It's obvious where her priorities are.

The following weekend, when we went to visit my other grandparents, Chloe was trying to explain something to my dad.  She was in a rush, trying to get too many words out at a time, and she finally blurted out, "Do you understand what I'm saying?  Sometimes I don't even understand what I'm saying sometimes."

And here's some old pictures of her that I found the other day.  She was about two.  Can't believe she's already almost seven!