Kid Funnies

Ben: "Do you know maple syrup comes from sap in a tree?"

Lily: "I know that, Papa told me."

Cora: "Actually, I learned that from Curious George."

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Hattie: "Mama! I forgot to do my avotions!!"

Translation: avotions=devotions

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Hattie (age 3): "He is risen!"

Mom: "He is risen indeed!!"

Hattie: "That's so important, I have to remember that in my brain!"

Mom: "He is risen!"

Hattie: "He is risen in oven!"

Ummmmm....so close!

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Hattie: "Mom, how do you say yes in Spanish?"

Mom: "Si"

Hattie: "How do you say one in English?"

Ummmmm....One.

Florida Recap...Leaving on a Jet Plane...March 12, 2017

Destination: Tampa, FL
Departure Time: 3:40pm
Layover in Michigan

As has been documented on the blog, we kept our vacation daisy chain, removing one chain each day until it got shorter and shorter and then there was nothing left of it.

We were so excited when that last chain was removed and we knew we were just hours away from leaving for the airport.

Grammie came and picked us up. We loaded in with such excitement.

We were dropped off at the airport where we promptly took a picture. After all, this was the first time for the kids to get on a plane where they were all old enough to remember it! We soon realized that in all our excitement, we forgot Hattie's carseat in the van. A quick call was made as well as a U-turn my Grammie and within about 10 minutes, she was back out front with our precious cargo.

My crew searched for our flight and found our gate. The plane was full so our seats were scattered all around the plane. Hattie and I were together, but everyone else...well that was a different story. At least God provided kind people to sit next to the kids. I was so nervous they would end up by some creepy person, but God took care of all of us.

The first leg of our trip took us from MSP to Michigan. I was glad that this was such a short little jaunt since we couldn't be by each other. It's hard as a mama to have your children all spread out!

Lily was the most nervous about having to sit between strangers. Luckily, God knew her heart would need some comforting so he placed a very kind woman next to her who helped calm her nerves.

This is how far Ella was away from my seat. Luckily she's tall so I could at least see her head.

Hattie passed the time by watching some movies. This was one of the nicest planes I've been on! It was so new and I loved that each kiddo had a screen to watch what they wanted. It also made the time "fly" by.

I did some research before hand on what is allowed through TSA and quickly found out that we weren't forced to eat horribly tasting and horribly expensive airport food. I would way rather save my money for a great meal in Florida. I packed up some super awesome chicken-avocado pitas, apples, pretzels, a cookie, and filled our water bottles once we passed through security. They didn't have a problem with any of our food whatsoever. I will be doing this every trip from here on out! Besides, I'm convinced that you could bring boring pb&j sandwiches and it would taste awesome by proxy of being at the airport on your way to vacation.

Everyone gobbled up their supper and I didn't hear even one single complaint from anyone. Success! It was also so much easier than standing in line and trying to eat quickly to get back to the gate. This was so much more relaxing.

The flights from Michigan to Tampa was maybe half full...so we got to sit with each other and that made the last leg so much more fun!! You can see that there really wasn't anyone even close to us.

Ella came and sat next to Hattie and me. We watched movies, drank our ginger ale, and enjoyed our complimentary cookies. The little girls thought they were so grown-up getting to order their own drink!

About half-way through the flight, Hattie decided to go sit in the middle of these two chuckle-heads. They had a great time!!

We arrived at 11:18pm...although with the time change and daylight savings time, we felt like it was only 9:18pm so we were still full of energy. The air outside smelled so good!! I was giddy, absolutely giddy. It smelled of warmth, dirt, living things, and of promise.

This picture just makes me smile...we were on an adventure! (Not to mention that Lily and Ella were pretty happy to be off the plane.) The 2nd leg really played with their ears and no amount of gum chewing was helping. Look at Hattie! She is too cute for words.

We got our rental car and went out to the row to pick it up! Jason wanted this one.

But he got this one. A very practical, 7-seater, luggage hauling mini van!

We got checked into the room at the Hampton Inn and Suites, put on our jammies, and everyone crawled into bed.

We were here. Florida. With adventure just waiting to knock on our door in the morning.

Kid Funnies

Hattie: "Look mom...I'm a magyptian."

Translation: An Egyptian.

**Don't mind the undies, that's her go-to outfit these days. I'm lucky I got her to wear a shirt.

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As Hattie and I were shopping for groceries the other day, we passed through the produce section. She immediately saw something she wanted:

Hattie: "Mom! Can we get seaweed?!? Please!!!"

I was so confused. Although I know she does like seaweed, we were in the middle of all the fresh fruits and vegetables.

Me: "Seaweed? I don't see any."

Hattie: "It's right there!"

Me: "Ooohhh, you mean kiwi?"

Hattie: "Yes"

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Hattie: "Mom....how do you make 'awesome sauce'?"

For example: We are having dessert tonight and everyone replies "Awesome Sauce!"

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As I'm laying in bed with Hattie:

"Mama, I'm so disausted...are you disausted? Cause I sure am disausted. I just want to go to sleep.

Translation: Disausted=exhausted...and she was very proud of the new word she had
added to her vocabulary.

So Tired of Being Sick...

I know that it's been a little hit and miss around here, but it's been for good reason.

Unfortunately, we've had a string of bugs come through our home and I'm very, very ready for warm weather so I can open up and air out the house.

We started a few weeks ago with Lily and Cora getting the flu bug within just hours of each other. Jason promptly pulled both of their mattresses onto our floor in the bedroom so he could help them through the night since the murphy's law dictates that if a child gets sick it will be just an hour after bedtime or smack dab in the middle of the night. He was such an attentive and compassionate dad as he nursed them through the wee hours of the morning.

Meanwhile, I was in Hattie's room helping her get through her own misery. She didn't have the flu bug, but she somehow, at the same time, got a nasty cold bug. Her nose was running so much that she almost gurgled when she was laying down. It was really rather nerve-wrecking laying next to her. She also had a fever to go along with it. She wanted to be snuggled up to me for comfort, but wow, she was like an oven. We kept the kids quaranteened for the next 3 days and when we felt like the bug had passed, we let them out. It's not easy being confined to your room for so long!

A few days later, Hattie started throwing up. I administered her cocktail of meds right away and Blessings Upon Blessings we were able to manage it at home and not head into the ER!!! It was hard to see her sick, but I was so relieved that we didn't require IV's or hospitalization. About 12 hours after Hattie started getting sick, Grammie texted to say that she had gotten it too and was sitting next to her new best friend, Mr. Bowl. This was a catchy bug for sure.

I spent a day or two feeling under the weather as did Jason. :) It is not easy when sickness comes into a large family...it spreads easily and it takes forever to work it's way through everyone. Luckily, Ella and Ben remained untouched. Whew.

Then a few weeks after that Ben came home saying his head hurt which is odd...cause nothing really ails this kid. I immediately thought of strep throat, but knew I needed to give it a day to see what came of it.

The headache just wouldn't go away, even with Tylenol and some good rest, so we make a trip to the dr where she confirmed by suspicions. Strep throat positive.

We stopped to grab the antibiotics and just as I'm about to pull into the development, Ella texts me. "Cora has bumps all over her face."

Upon walking in the house, I see that they are not only on her face, but her neck, arms, stomach, and back. Oh Joy. She was immediately sent to her room for quaranteening until I could figure out what was going on. So now I had Ben on the bottom level in his room and Cora on the top level in her room. I can't even tell you how many stairs I climbed that day!

Turns out Cora had scarlet fever and required antibiotics.

Each of them spent the next 24 hours in their rooms and we waited with baited breath over the next 5 days to see if anyone else would come down with either illness. I can't tell you how much quaranteening and washing hands does for helping to cut down on stuff spreading. I'm happy to report we just passed day 5 yesterday and we should be in the clear now!

I'm hoping for a much less eventful spring.

Ben Turns 11

How is this possible? Someone...please tell me.

11 years old?!?

Whew, time flies by much too quick.

This kid is growing up and I wish I could stop time.

Ben is a boy full of passion, a fight-for-what-you-want kid. He doesn't back down easily and can be tenacious. But beneath that tough exterior is a boy who can also be kind and compassionate, one who at times surprises me with his gentle heart.

We spent his day enjoying the warm sun outside, eating out at a Chinese restaurant (his pick), opening presents, and eating chocolate cheesecake.

*notice the lovely gift wrap...man, we are soooo bad at wrapping presents around here.

I watched him outside yesterday, patiently teaching some of the neighbor boys how to improve their basketball game. I was taken back by how he was calmly encouraging them (even when one was getting a little on the grouchy order cause he wasn't making the shot).

He loves his sisters, even though he would tell you that some times they are "annoying", but you can't fool this mama. He comes home from school and most often will start wrestling Ella to the ground, whether she's a willing participant or not. He just wants to reconnect with her and get her attention.

And the times that he and Hattie have one-on-one time is so cute to behold. He takes her little hand in his and teaches her how to build with legos or how to play soccer. And it melts my heart when he asks if she can have a sleepover with him or at least come down to help tuck him into bed.

I know God has great plans for this boy. With his tenacity, he could be a force to be reckoned with. He has set goals for his Awana verses this year in bible memorization and I trust that God is going to use those seeds that are being planted to bring Him glory. I feel so blessed that God brought us together.

Happy Birthday, Benjamin Jae.

The Things We Put Up With

Here is a conversation that just transpired:

As Ella is switching Hattie's outfit and redoing her hair for her pretend photo shoot...

Me: "Hattie, you sure do put up with a lot from your big sister."

Ella: "MOM, she likes it. Don't you Hattie!!"

Hattie: "Not really...

Then after a long pause...

But I love you, Ella."

I couldn't help but laugh.

Such a Pretty Shade of Purple...

Did I ever tell you about the time I was carrying Hattie up the concrete stairs to our hotel room while in FL? I tripped, and as any good mother would do, sacrificed my own body so I could minimize Hattie's potential injury as much as possible. She came out without a scratch while I got a bruise the size of a baseball.

I routinely trip going up stairs. I have no idea what is wrong with my depth perception or why I am so dog-gone clumsy...but this happens to me all the time. I should not be allowed to carry children. :)

This pic doesn't do the purple color justice.

Just know it hurt. ;)