I've was talking to alaina about the nerves in the body. I told her how nerves were the biggest tattletales in the world because every time someone does something to her, they run up and tell the brain what happened. Then I demonstrated how it worked by tickling and poking her while pretended to be the voice of her nerves, saying, "Hey brain, she's poking me. She's tickling me." Alaina's first inclination is to think I'm joking with her and didn't believe me for a few minutes. After I convinced her that I was telling her the truth she went down stairs and pulled Austin aside. "Your nerves tattletale everything to your brain. Everything." Austin, of course, believed her instantly and with a wave of understanding said, "Wow, Ethan's nerves must really tattletale a lot!" He was referring to Ethan's penchant for tattletalling on everything and everyone at every moment. Although, Austin comment was more true than he realizes.
I walked up to Ethan's classroom to pick him up after school one day. As he walked out of his classroom I noticed a crumpled up little piece of paper in his hand. Before I could say anything to him, a classmate of his called his name out. As Ethan looked back at the sweet little blond girl, she lifted her hand up to her ear in the universal sign for telephone and said, " Call me." Sure enough when I looked closer at the crumpled up paper, I saw 7 digits scrawled out in crayon next to the name Sydney. 1st grade? Don't I have a few more years before I have to beat away cute girls from my sons?
Rob was trying to figure out what to say in his talk for church. He was suppose to write about the atonement, and looking anywhere possible for inspiration he asked Laina, "What do we have to do to live with Jesus again?" She doesn't skip a beat, "Die."
At dinner Austin declared, "I have so many girlfriends that I can't even remember my girlfriends' names. Mama, I kind of like my girlfriends." Again. Too early for that kind of talk.
Alaina's class from Charlotte wrote her a letter and one in particular made her a bit twitterpated. She had me read it over and over and keeps it in her desk for safe keeping. It reads, "Alaina, I miss you, my little buten. I hop you fil betr soon. Camden." Every time she mentions it she gets a little starry-eyed. Here she is at a picnic in what she calls her 'picnic dress,' obviously.
Ready for bed, Ethan came down the stairs to give me a goodnight hug and kiss. I stood waiting at the bottom of the stairs and he stopped a couple steps above me. Looking down at me he said, with authority, "Mom. I want to be the King of Portland!" Austin, stomped down the stairs just in time to hear Ethan. I asked, "Well, how about the President of the United States. Before Ethan could reply, Austin said, "I want to be the President. The President of the Carolinas." (seriously...'the Carolinas' where did he get that?) I guess we need to learn how to aim a little higher around here.

Yesterday Austin refused to go to Heaven when he dies. "All the most cool golf places are here on earth. It wouldn't even be fun to golf in clouds." Random child. He was a puddle of tears when I told him there wasn't much choice. So he decided, "Well if I get there and there aren't then I'll just come right back down to earth." I informed him that I didn't think you could just come back down whenever you wanted...that this life was a one-time deal. Smarty pants retorted, "Well, Jesus did it."

The twins set up all their stuffed animals up by the window. "They are watching Disney movies" Do you think they are still going through TV withdrawal?

Putting Ethan to bed tonight I was cuddling up to him and told him I had to leave because I had to go and clean up the kitchen. "Well," he mused, "that works out pretty great for me. When I wake up it will be all sparkly and clean." I snuggled a little deeper in the covers. "Well, it isn't like I want to clean up but someone has to do it." Ethan, yawned and with half-closed eyelids, told me, "Well. I like cleaning." Then, after thinking about it for a second, " Unless my legs are tired." And thinking a bit more about it, his voice became a little more emphatic, " And I'll never clean up the WHOLE house. You can just forget about that." With that out in the open he relaxed and a few minutes later he was breathing steady and slow. It is amazing how quickly that child can fall asleep. Thinking about his last comment, I brushed his hair to the side and whispered, "I already have, baby." and I rolled out of bed to attack my kitchen.