Hahaha!

Joshy (in a serious sword fight against an invisible army): "Zzzzzzzzing! Ahhh! Raaaaar! Sswwwiiiisssssh!"

"Emmy! What are you doing out here??? You're a princess! You can't be on the battlefield right now. You could be injured - or KILLED!"

Emmy: "I know. I was just ... decorating."

I love three

Three year olds have the funniest perspective on life.

Addie shivering as I dried her off after a bath:

"I-I-I'm sooo chiw-lee! I get that way sometimes when my hair is all wet. It's all wet because I eated too much broccoli."
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We eat eggs almost every morning. Some like runny yolks and some like dead ones. All of my kids have a preference for runnies but sometimes I have too many irons in the fire and they get cooked a little longer. This morning Addie looked down at her egg as I cut it up for her.

"Mama, this egg is deadly."

"Huh?"

"Yes, it's more deadly than usually."
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While putting her diaper on before bed one night:

"Woo, *dramatic sigh* I think I'm going to fake."

"Fake?"

"Like Artos when he gotted hurt."

Pendragon is her current favorite.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thankful

A few weeks ago on the night we were celebrating seven December birthdays, including Addie's third, we had a good scare. Walter had been running a low grade fever of 99 degrees for a few hours and was clingy and fussy but not exhibiting any other symptoms. Josh and I took turns carrying him around throughout the party and then we excused ourselves to have family worship. During prayer, Walter folded his chubby little hands together, bowed his head low, and let out a strange sigh. Then his arms flew out to the side and he went into a seizure. I recognized what it was and called out to Josh. Walter was turning blue and convulsing uncontrollably in my arms. I swept my finger through his mouth to see if he was choking while Josh ran out of the room and shouted for Lonna to call 911. Josh thought he might be choking on his tongue so held him on his side and used his finger to keep his tongue down. Walter bit down hard it and also bit the inside of his mouth and tip of his tongue so blood started dripping out of his mouth. I thought he was dying!

The minutes seemed to eek by before he finally began to breath shallow little breaths again and the ambulance arrived. Never having dealt with febrile seizures before we had no idea what was wrong with him. He was pale and limp on the short ride to the hospital. They informed me that his seizure was likely due to his fever spiking rapidly. His little brain was simply too immature to deal with the sudden change in temperature and sort of short-circuited.

Once in the ER, Walter recovered steadily over the course of a few hours and we were sent home with instructions to lay him on his side and gently support but not restrain him if it occurred again. His fever lasted for another couple of days and he's been fine ever since.

We give praise to the Lord for our boy and are so thankful that it wasn't serious. I've never been so afraid in my life.

Psalm 56:3 "What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee."

He does smile...

He does smile..., originally uploaded by iamaprice(Amanda).

when he wants to. It's a challenge to capture it though because he's always on the go.

Clearly I need some new tricks.

Btw, have I mentioned that I love winter here? So far we've had snow a day here and a day there and then it melts. *happy sigh* It's a little chilly out (for a desert), but the driveway is bare and without need of shoveling. Life is good. :)

Dear Summer,

Dear Summer,, originally uploaded by iamaprice(Amanda).

I miss you. I know I'm spoiled in this desert climate wherein it is a confused mix of spring, fall, and winter all in one hour, but the day is incomplete without you, dear. Come back soon?

Love,

Amanda

volcano 2

volcano 2, originally uploaded by iamaprice(Amanda).

The kids had so much fun with this. Joshy asked me how volcanoes work one day so I decided to walk in Renee's footsteps and make a unit study of it. First we borrowed some books from the library to learn more about them, then found a couple of how-to videos online, rolled up our sleeves and paper-mached our model, drew diagrams, cut and pasted colorful bits of paper onto the dried mountain, had a chemistry lesson on the volatile nature of a combination of vinegar and baking soda, and then finally staged the eruption. We used a medium-sized water bottle that was easy to remove so we tried a few different colors for fun. Their favorite was "root beer". The sight of it foaming out of their volcano was apparently hilarious. What goes on in the mind of a four year old?

Anyway, it was messy but enjoyable. It took us over a month from start to finish as we only worked on it one day a week. I wish I had felt well enough to get my camera out for each stage.

4 kids

4 kids, originally uploaded by iamaprice(Amanda).

Had a get one of all four of them before we blasted our volcano.

Tough Nut

Tough Nut, originally uploaded by iamaprice(Amanda).

He's still a Walnut. Fat, brown, and tough to crack. Don't be fooled by that rough exterior though. If you can get past it there's a delightful little nut inside.

"O"

"O", originally uploaded by iamaprice(Amanda).

He is quite the conversationalist to those select few that he deems worthy of his notice and a scowling grump to the rest. Most of what he says is enthusiastic babble but a few words are sneaking through.

He says:

"Dais-see!" - when calling Ann's beagle Daisy

"Jossy" - for Joshy

"Bean" -for Emmy (I don't know why)

"ADDIE!!" - for Addie (emphasis his)

"Mom, Mommy, Mama, Dada, Daddy, DAAAAD"

"MomMom" - for his Grandma P

"Mama" - for Papa

"Pees" - for please

"I-I-I ha foo? Pees I ha foo?" - When he's hungry

"Bruss tee?" - when he wants to brush his teeth

"Pees I ha mmmmmm?" - if the food looks like desert or one of his favorites

"Danj-ee" - for his cousin's dog Ranger

"No!" ***cling*** - When I tell him I have to step out for a date with Daddy

Sound of a squealing piglet - for vexation of any kind

Sound of air raid siren - for indignation or acute pain

"Where Dais-see go? Dais-see come. Come Dais-see." - When Daisy is gone with Ann to Jen's.

Other curious facts:

He is very very kissy to his select few chosen ones. At least I'm one of them.

He cannot go 30 seconds without finding a piece of fuzz and eating it. He's not particular, he'll give me a hug just so he can pull a little snack off of the back of my sweater. He also likes to pull fuzzy hats out of the hat/glove bin. They are portable snacks, you see. :)

He is a runner. That walking stuff is for sissies. Incidentally, yes, I am very busy. Thank you for caring.

He dearly loves to pull out Addie's hair. At first I think he just wanted to eat it, but now it's a fun game. Poor girl is sporting something akin to a brother-induced mullet these days.

He loves "Blanket Time". That makes two of us.

He is an early riser. If he sleeps past 6:30 I check to make sure he's still alive.

because I usually get this.

Emily, could you please be a little more dramatic?

I was delighted to get this...

I was delighted to get this..., originally uploaded by iamaprice(Amanda).