The Nubs of November

"You are never going to have a lot of time, but you do have a little time here and a little time there, and those little times all add up to a life"
"That is the way of it. Children are meant to grow up. Maybe you have yet to come face-to-face with what that means. I hope you will take courage and allow your children to walk away with grace"
Cindy Rollins (Mere Motherhood)

I am more "face to face" with growing children, it seems every day. And always grateful and always trying to pause and capture the moments. Here are a few for our own little record, and maybe for your amusement.

Hunting in Bis/Mommy Fun Weekend in Minne-applesauce
Yes, the kids love to call this place "Minne-applesauce". Trev went to Bis-a-marck for a few days to hunt and gather, the rest of us had some fun times here. Per usual I try to be like "no big deal, see you later", and then my body says, "hi, you actually care, do you want to admit that?". My shoulders were so tense all weekend, and even though all went well and was fun . . .well, it's still not my fave to say see-ya to the man-o-the-house. Sweet memories: Punch pizza with Drew's fam, Galleria wanderings with Aunt Kate, watching Boss Baby, ice cream & play at McD's. A fave was seeing how refreshed Trevor was when he got home.

Baptism Birthday
Because, we all need reminders. Oh this precious child of God! Burgers per usual, candle, reading, remembering.

Zumba like it's a job
Eliza invited Karis to join her for a kids' zumba class, oh it was fun and Karis owned it. She was right up front and mastering the moves. While the moms joined in occasionally and mostly sat on the sidelines, where we are meant to be (ha).

Gymnastics
Found a place where they can both take a class in their age range at the same time. Boom. I get to watch through the glass and read. This is the good stuff.

Basement un-do
Trev rocked this project. And the pieces I could tackle with him went well too (after 13 years, we're learning how to embrace our unique gifts about home projects).

B-day Bonanza
Judah was invited to precious Poppy's birthday party. Epic one. Friday night, church gymnasium with bouncy house, pizza & cupcakes, glow-sticks in the dark, scooters. Our fam was welcome to join - Karis and I had planned a Potbelly's/Michael's date, so we did that and then came back for presents and treats. So dear. High bar for b-day parties, this boy has.

Children's Service
Always a highlight, the children leading us through the service with song and verse and prayers and blessing. Grateful (pic below, they picked out their outfits, which is a small miracle since usually they're trying to wear sweat pants to church).

Water Concert
One of the other Andreas in my life is in an orchestra, and as she's our children's pastor . . .several of Karis's friends and moms met in Wayzata for a Sunday concert. The focus was water, beautiful. My favorite was the bass solo of "Old Man River".

Arboretum/Kindred Spirits
Freezing fun, why not? When we got out of our cars, of course the kindred spirits were completely matching. Crazy. Kids built forts and moms froze and we went to the main building to see the huge tree constructed of poinsettias and the memories are already warm.

Pirate Play
The kids made boxes into pirate ships and hours of fun followed (Karis is in the middle of a book series about a girl pirate, love the imagination).
- "And we're not pirates, we're people"
- "Karis do pirates talk in English or Spanish?"

Thanksgiving
Watching our kids make memories in our homeland, so grateful. This year the weather allowed hikes behind the homes of both grandparents. Their wanderings and imaginings continue to unfold as memories go in the bank.

Pay Attention
3 times in one day: blindness (read a story about a blind man, met a blind man, Bible reading at night about a blind man)
2 times in one day in two different references - on two different days (about 2 months apart): Psalm 131
2 books at the same time (A Christmas Carol, 11/22/63): time travel/what if we could change the past & future
1 morning I wrote "pay attention" in my journal and hours later that was the title of the daily devotion of a book in Judah's room. Pay Attention!

Karis-isms
- "The only thing I don't like about being a pirate, I don't like biscuits!"
- "Well, it's not symmetrical, and it's not a-symmetrical" (while giving me a hint about something in her pocket)
- "Oh come on, mom! It's his automatic workout!" (horsey-ride before bedtime) and . . . "Did you see mom's face?" (while watching horsey-ride. It's impressive)
- "Well, that's peculiar" (looking at a hole in my jeans)
- "I set a timer for having 5 minutes a day with my fish. I call it fish & owner time"
- "Okay Judah, make a duke face!"
- "Well to tell you truth, I'm not surprised she stopped by. She's here a lot"
- "Well, I guess he's losing trust" (when discussing how Judah's been hiding her favorite things)

Judah Jabbers
- "Karis, mom and dad are teaching me to be a gentleman!"
- "So mom, let me tell you about my girlfriends"
- "So does the Lord put joy and love in our hearts all the time?"
- "Mom, why are you good at that?" (I reply "because I'm a mommy, I'm good at everything" clearly a lie) and he retorts, "Well you're not good at making costumes. Daddy's good at making costumes"
- "Hey mom, are there volcanos live in our land?"
- "Do volcanos have lava monsters in them?"
- "Mom, where do dinosaurs live?"
- "Mom, do people migrate?"
- "These are the fattest chubby snowpants I've ever seen in my life"
- "I just have one job for you to do, mommy. Brush my teeth"
- "Isn't it peaceful in here?" (holding a noisy fire truck in the car, and then "now it's not peaceful!" (making it noisy)
- "So mom, what does your hair look like when you take off your armor?" (what????)
- "I wish I knew how to do everything"
- "Mom, do monster trucks in our land have eyes?"
- "Mom, do I ask a lot of big questions? Bigger ones than Karis?"
- "I wanna be a monster truck when I grow up!"
- "I don't really know" (when he doesn't feel like answering your question)

Common Book

This one is for me, in process for perhaps months and just a place to . . .  catch-all on reading quotes - and a recounting of a new thing . . . (I think this is what would be put into a "common book"?)

The new thing: hand lettering. Novice stage, for sure, but oh so fun and the way it came to be I want to give voice to. The end of summer left me feeling tired and un-inspired. On the way to Tay/Kate's for donuts on Labor Day morning I asked Trev to pray for "a new thing", feeling an itch for a spark of something unknown. We're eating donuts and I see some framed hand-lettered words on their hutch and thought, "I love that. I could do that". And then we're leaving and Tay is talking about an online class he's taking and he was so excited . . . and so it all clicked and the minute we got home I went online to look for hand lettering classes and poof there was one happening in a few weeks. Register. Wait the few weeks. Go to the class - beautiful setting (candles, tunes, wine, materials), a mother/daughter duo adopted me at their table, I felt clumsy and then more confident and then realized I just need to enjoy the process and practice. So practicing I am and it's brought a lightness to the days. Grateful. Oh and -
Backing up, my friend Katy is an artist and master of words and has been encouraging me to "just do it" (write more). She gave me a book The Art of the Handwritten Note. Delightful, and fit this season's puzzle perfectly.

Recent Readings (well, not too recent now, this has been in process since summer) . . .

Twice in one week: writings on process cheese!
From Cork Dork (Bianca Bosker)
". . . I know, I know:  it's made with chemicals, and "cheese" is more a euphemism. But the mouthfeel is fantastic, it's the perfect smidge of saltiness to complement eggs . . . "

From Supper of the Lamb (Father Capon)


From Devotion (Dani Shapiro)
"Of course it's not possible to to take in every minute. It's hard to take in even a single minute"
"This was the way it had always been for me: all or nothing, I realized, invariably led to nothing"

"Even this, my son calling me Mommy - felt bittersweet. When would I be demoted to just plain mom? . . . I knew better, of course. I knew that trying to capture time - to hold on to anything at all - was not only useless, but a terrible waste. This moment was holy precisely because there was no other"

"I think of it as the edge of melancholy - at the same way I am easily cheered - in the best of times, untroubled times are the palace walls that protect our childhoods and allow us to move into our adult lives with confidence. And then we begin to understand how fragile life is. Is there some way I can do this life with my eyes open and my heart open and still love it . . . change is inevitable, change is happening right at this very minute"?

From Cork Dork (Bianca Bosker)
"Attaching a name to an odor makes the aroma more emotionally charged - it nails down the memory"

"Every person has the capacity to find and savor the soul that lives in wine - and in other sensory experiences, if you know to look for it . . . it begins with paying attention."

"Learning to cultivate (taste and smell) engages every part of us that elevates our reactions, endows our lives with meaning, and makes us human"

From The Mothers (Brit Bennett)
"A daughter grows older and draws nearer to her mother, until she gradually overlaps her like a sewing pattern . . ."
"'What does it feel like, being pregnant? . . . . It's strange, your body isn't your's anymore. And sometimes it's scary because I'll never be just me again. And sometimes it's nice because it's more than that' . . .  inside of her was a whole new person which was as miraculous as it was terrifying. Who would you be when you weren't just you anymore?"

Random: last year I read The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat - in one week in two different books, that book was referenced. Always makes me laugh. Oh reading.

From 11/22/63 (foray into Stephen King)
"Like all sweet dreams, it will be brief . . . but brevity makes sweetness, doesn't it? Yes, I think so. Because when the time is gone, you can never get it back." (this is parenting right now, all the sweet moments!)

Treats and Treats

Thought of the month . . . 
Joy is vulnerable. I read what's here, all the memories in 30 short days, and my heart can feel squeezed and I don't know what the feeling is. Deep joy, for sure. And then, vulnerable (this idea is simmering much as a result of some ideas from Daring Greatly). It's a choice to lean into the joy and feel the vulnerability - that such joy means the opposite is possible. That's being present, right? And of all things, as I write these sentences, I'm listening to a talk on C.S. Lewis, talking about joy - good reminders, the deep joy that can squeeze and feel so overwhelming, the sadness (he says the feeling is having an inconsolable longing that we yearn to experience yet have no control over) knowing joy can't last forever (here) - "the most probably explanation is that I was made for another place . . . these joys are only an echo of a tune we have not heard."

C.S. Lewis defined Joy: ". . . an unsatisfied desire which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction". Hmm.

In re-reading My Antonia this month, this passage stirred the soul and seems to fit here now: "In the course of (many) crowded years one parts with many illusions. I did not wish to lose the early ones. Some memories are realities, and are better than anything that can ever happen to one again."

We're living the crowded and joyful and vulnerable years right now, watching the early memories unfold . . .

Sister/Cousin/mom connection time
Loved having J/C/E here for a couple of week days, getting to E better and having some for real mom chats, sprinkled with a bit of brother bonding. I think I'm a fan of week day visitors, looking for more, hmmm.

Get Away
Much anticipated by all (parents, grandparents, kids - I don't know who was most excited?). Trev and I have an odd history of planning a night away from home and . . .  having it . . . not happen. This time worked and we're already eager to do this again, i.e. trade houses, i.e. go to the cabin for a couple nights while g & g stay here with kids. Oh the rest. Oh the simple meals. Oh the sweet time by the water with music and pens and paper. A couple games, a quaint coffee shop, a wine expert helping serve us at dinner, Trev finding a sport coat at the thrift store, listening to our tunes. And everyone here had a blast too (oh the laughs and loves, treats and toys, cuddles and memories. They first wanted to go to Barnes and Noble to get toys, ha! They also made it through a forgot-school-shoes-mini-crisis, did the arboretum, Snuffy's with D/M/L/C fam . . .).

Coming home was sweet, AND I was instantly nostalgic for the weekend, Margie Hack nailed it in a passage I "happened" to read that week - From God in the Sink: 

Connection Rejection
It's a thing. Judah ignored me for about 2 days after we got back . . . oh my word. I try to not care, but hello I am who I am and I totally care. It reminds me of when the family dog pooped on my bed after I got married, that helped me to both understand and laugh.

MEA (Samantha's Birthday/Lucy QT/little homemaker)
5 straight days off of school, just enough sniffles and coughs to keep things quiet, lots of home time and imagining. Neighbor granddaughter Lucy was here and also sniffling, perfect! She joined us for the library, lunch, some raking, hair braiding. My fave was that Karis decided it was (doll) Samantha's birthday. We had a little tea party for her with snacks and candle and song. Precious. Oh and Karis sewed a button for me and also repaired Judah's pootsie. Contented sigh, we do always want our children to surpass us, right?

School Updates
Poppy - Judah's bestie (and the feeling is mutual, I met her parents)
"Mom, my school smells like graham crackers"
Pajamas/Pepin - on the same day, Judah got to wear his pj's to school and Karis got to road trip to Pepin, WI (Laura Ingalls!). I discovered when Judah got home that he went to school commando. Laughed.

Judah the Decorator
We went into his room after rest time one Sunday and . . . "I made patterns!" . . . with a TON of stickers from an activity book. Karis was so upset (oh sweet girl!), Trev and I were unfazed (2nd child).

Inaugural Family Bike Ride (aka Mom Knows How to Ride a Bike)
Because mom joins the fun now. Story: one Sunday me and K had some time with the boys went kayaking. I asked what she wanted to do, and she said, "A bike ride! But mom, I think maybe you'll be too wobbly? I mean, I go pretty fast". The girl didn't know I could ride a bike! Oh dear daughter. We biked to a lending library and she was quite impressed by my skill. Ha. So a couple weekends later we all headed out together. Mostly successful, only a few bandaids needed (which weren't along, which meant me biking back and driving to pick up the damaged party).

Inaugural Breakfast in Bed
Because Karis is hilarious and loves to "mommy" her little bro. She also makes Trev's weekend french press coffee now.

Resourceful Little Lady
Because, Karis continues to wow us. In school the teacher breezed over the part where Potiphar's wife seduces Joseph. So she asked Trev about it. And he also breezed over the question. So she went and read the story for herself and happily reported, "Oh dad, it's no big deal. She just asked Joseph to sleep with her!". Oh honey.

Moon Watcher
Because Judah is a night owl, one night he called me into his room (sweetest voice, "Oh Mommy! Oh Mommy!") and then led me to his window, "Look, I can see the moon!". Heart melt.

Bob Dylan/Not-bob-dylan
Trev went to Bob Dylan (yay!), couldn't find a sitter so I bailed (boo!). Worked out in the end, I went to a fancy PULSE gala at the Vikings Stadium and got to see Mac Powell (love!). The night of the Dylan concert, I read the below - crazy. And good and needed.

Away with Fam/Waterpark Weekend
Arrowood, 3rd time with this group at this place so it was super comfy and familiar and fun. Eats and treats and laughs and chats and shops and waterpark. Oh, and Billy Big Mouth Bass made an appearance to wake up anyone who was sleeping later than the majority (I gave him as a gift to Trev while dating, Bob turned into a torture tool and so it eventually found the trash . . . Bob was recently inspired to re-order and re-institute the tradition. A hoot - for those already awake).

Inaugural Family Halloween/Everyone-got-a-treat
Because, again, mom joins the fun now. In the past it's been a cousin-come-over holiday, and now everyone is all grown up (kind of) and into their own 'hoods. Anyway, One neighbor commented, "Oh you don't usually go with them on Halloween!" (reply: right, I'm usually staying warm and enjoying an adult beverage with other moms inside!) That morning I felt like momma-needs-a-treat-too, so Judah and I swung by the local hole in the wall best donut shop on the way to preschool. Score for a new tradition, delicious donut, free coffee, everyone there dressed up. Judah's costume dream came true by our resident daddy artist: Tow Truck Mater (p.s. Karis was quite concerned that it was being made out of beer boxes. Mom and Dad - zero concerned). Oh my, he was so proud. Wore it all day, everywhere, and at every door he donned, "I'm Tow Truck Mater! I have a Tow!". There was a sweet little preschool costume parade, oh the deliciousness. After school the kids and I cuddled and watched "Mater's Tall Tales", had chili with dad when he got home, geared up, headed out. Home for a little Sofia and candy sorting. Trev was wiped and went to bed the same time as the kids (read: 7:30!). The next morning he told me about his treat: he woke up at 10pm, finished watching Stranger Things till 1, was sleeping by 2. Oh my. Oh, and Karis thinks she saw "Peek-a-Boo" (stray cat in our yard) at one of the houses! Wild.

Other adventures
Silverwood Park, Arboretum, Depot Coffee Shop, Panera with cousins, losing teeth, Wednesday play date trades, making outdoor play food beautifully, meadow runs . . . sweet season

Media of the Month
Anam Cara, Daring Greatly, It's Won't Be Easy, My Antonia, 11/22/63
He is Given (and Bifrost Arts in general)
This is Us (as good as everyone said it is)

Karis-isms:
- "I wish I had a robot. Well, mom, I guess you're kind of like my robot!"
- "Now Judah, FEEL the music"
- "Well, I've never really seen them quarrel . . . " (talking about friends at school)
- "Oh Judah, you're just too cute"
- "Mom look! Judah can write a real 'J'!"
- "Mom that wasn't funny, why did you chuckle?"
- "I'm Tow Truck Mater!"
- "Hey mom, what do 'almond jollys'" taste like?" (oh too cute to correct her to "almond joy")

Judah Jabbers:
- "Mom do ladybugs make diseases? My sister said"
- "Hey mom, does it take a long time to make friends?"
- "I want daddy" (calling me into his room in the middle of the night) - when I said he's not there . . . "I don't need anything"
- "I always do not miss you at school"
- "Mommy, oh mommy!" (calling me into his room after being tucked in) "I can see the moon!"
- "Will my eyes still be blue in the morning?"
- "I had a dream about big strawberries, they were chasing me and Mitchell" (indeed, after reading an Elsa Beskow book that featured big strawberry characters)
- "Which things are supposed to be red? Lava monsters?"
- "Dad, what do pranksters do?"
- "WHO is putting me to bed?"
- "Is tomorrow after this day?"
- "Is two minutes long?"
- "Real?" (asking if I'm serious or joking)
- "Karis, mom and dad are teaching me to be a gentleman!"

FanFair + Fortress vs. FOMO + First of 2nd

We love questions around here, and good thing - the kids as about a zillion a day (wonder where they learned that?). Two q's swirling in my mind lately:
"What are we saying 'yes' to?"
"What are we excited about?" 
(I'd love to hear your answers)

Fair Fun

Dan (you know, Dan in Real Life) has a song, "Prepare to be surprised". Well, my extreme enthusiasm about the fair is a big surprise. Let's be clear, I did not exactly love the fair itself - it's the bonding, memories in the making, decisions, meandering, delighting, glutton-ing together. Together! Getting a Monday "off" with my hub and watching him take the lead so wonderfully, the best. Here's what we did, for the record. 
Leave early, listen to Waylon Jennings on the way
Birthing barn

Big slide

Mini donuts/coffee

watched sheep dogs/sheep (ran into a friend from high school and his fam, watched with them. WILD!)

"Kidway" - dog rollercoaster, fun houses, bumper boats

Brats from "Cynthia's Sausage" (yum), corn dogs

Watched Dan Cole Common Man show (Trev's VERY favorite radio show). Karis did tug of war and got on the show. WILD! 

Dairy barn - soft serve cones and princess of the Milky Way butter carvings 

Gondola/ski lift ride to machinery hill (freaky)

Walked our way back - go into campers, sit on tractors . . . 

Sweet Martha's
4H Building 

Cheese curds/beer while watching end of Common Man show
Tattoos (of bugs. big nasty bugs, handed out by a woman in a bug suit).

HOME (listen to classical/opera on the way home)

taco salads and tattoo putting on

 We put them on after dinner.
(next year: matching family t-shirts, spend more time at the creative arts building, remember that momma loses steam and stops loving the cookie-to-kids-mouth-like-a-slot-machine around 1pm. Hmmm, maybe momma could go to creative arts building alone and leave the kids at the all you can drink milk)

Retreat

Mother/daughter book club annual event. So meaningful, simple, beautiful. Games (moms for sure the most competitive), ordered in Chipotle, singing, praying over each girl, playing.

Growing up, kind of
Oh Judah, we have kept him young and Karis has observed a few times: "Judah sure seems to get what he wants when he cries". In an effort to treat him like the age he is (almost 5, what?!) we're starting small. Like, not reheating his food because he's been playing while the rest of us eat. One Saturday he went to rest time without lunch (no, we're done re-heating your food). He called me into his room to say:

"Ah, I just want you to apologize to me . . . ". Laughter. And then, "Well, I'm sorry I raised my voice, and we will not be reheating your food anymore".

Judah in his "snuggle fort" (using every single blanket and pillow in the house)

Plum Picking/Creative Endeavors
Karis and Lucy are such buds, so dear. And I couldn't let the peck of plums go to waste, so we tried our hand at plum jelly. Satisfying project and beautiful in a jar, if a bit tart.

School Starts
2nd Grade
Preschool
Writing this in mid-October, it feels like . . . an afterthought, which means we're full on into routine (YAY!). Loving the routine. Karis's first day was sweet, the excitement in the building buoyed us all and I felt not sad this time. Judah started a couple weeks later, and he was just so ready that it was easy to let him go. Trev helped take him (with a stop at Bruegger's first).

Last minute scrubbing off tattoo

Fortress/FOMO
The end of summer had me feeling like saying no to lots and to build a little fortress around our family. Tired, ready/not ready to face the engagement that fall brings. And it made me ponder what it will mean when some of my family wants to say "yes" (for example, to the picnic/movie night at church) and half wants to say "no". Sometimes its as simple as the ones who want to go and the others stay back, but then there's FOMO! Such a real thing . . . around the corner was . . .

Minne-Revive/Ordination service
I went to a conference at our church, I'm also very excited about this. I wrote about it here.  Being there helped me to get back into fell-the-fortress mode, to remember to say "yes" when needed and find peace in the "no's", even when there's FOMO.

Bishop blessing the children

Well Check Wonders
We had to break up with our pediatric clinic, sniff sniff. While sad, I was still marveling at the fact that we can easily take for granted that whatever care we find will be very okay. I still was on the look out for some sweet comfort in the transition and sure enough at the new place was one of our old nurses. Such a wonder to me, when this metropolis seems small and also I remember that in my small concerns there's still attention and care. Grateful.

Sunset Catcher
Karis padded down after being tucked in one night to exclaim that I just had to look at the sunset. So we sat on the front step in our jammies and just chatted and I remembered the importance of being open to these moments. When I think the day is done, to keep my heart ready to connect and delight and make memories with this dear daughter.

Peek a Boo/Catty
We have a resident cat living under our deck. Judah named it Catty, Karis convinced him to consider "Peek a Boo", which seems about right because it peeks out now and then and we never really know when he's going to be here. Advice?

First Book Cry
Karis padded down another night and sobbed into my arms because someone died in one of her American Girl books. Oh, a good book cry.

Wedding/Montreal/Wedding
Within ten days we took two trips to Bismarck and Trev took one to Montreal. All so sweet and special and full and fulfilling. Connecting with family always the best, especially in the spaces of celebration, and I'll always remember feeling the nearness of heaven at A's wedding. We even got a late night hotel stay (in an effort to get Trev to the airport in time on Sunday). Memories already of watching kids make pillow forts and wake up with puffy eyes.

Truth Telling (bites)
Twice in one week I told the truth and wish I'd fibbed. Karis and I went to the mall when she had a random Tuesday morning off (Judah in preschool). Oh the fun we had, finding jammies and opening the Disney store and coffee talks - we decided we could tell the truth to Judah AND not gloat. Didn't go so well. Meltdown, and the one thing he thought would help, "I NEED MY HOME POOTSIE" was not to be found. We rode the wave with humor and the storm passed, but really, I wish we'd fibbed. And then a few days later went to mail a book media mail and when the gal asked if there was a personal note I fessed up, "yeah, one sentence". Sorry, can't send it that way. Fib. Should I have?

Other September fun . . . Minnetonka Orchards, Westwood Nature Center, Bellacour baby shower with littles in tow running around the courtyard, IKEA with dear friends (the only way), free Chick Fil A with lots of kids, Karis and Trev going to The Hobbit with friends  . . . grateful.

It's the overview here, folks. Plenty of not perfect moments, as always. Trying to be present, live into fullness, always growing and learning and making so many mistakes and receiving so much grace.

Karis-isms:
- "Oh, I bet you did" (when I said we missed her when she went back to school)
- "Oh yeah, I want my belly to process the food in my tummy nicely" (getting a probiotic after eating a baconator from Wendy's)
- "My mind is basically like a big piece of notebook paper" (when I told her I like to write down quotes from books)
- "Mommy, these aren't just dreams, these are wants" (when talking about her birthday next year)
- "Well, as I always say, 'some is better than none!'") (when we had a short play date)
- "To tell you the truth . . ."
- "I must say . . . "
- "Mom, it seems like the Julie books are in my time - they have cars and TV! Is 1970 like my time?"
- Really into knock knock jokes
- "Well, it appears Judah gets what he wants when he cries!"
- "But mom, Judah doesn't have closed shoes, what's he going to do?" (on his first day of Preschool, she was quite concerned)
- "Now Judah when you tell people your name, say 'Judah', not 'Judah Robert Ryan'"
- "I wish Lauren was my sister"
- "Pastors have such neat stories about what God has done. I wonder if I'll ever have stories like that?" (we had a good convo that a lot of those stories come from struggle . . . and then talked about the stories she already has - such a sweet moment)
- "Can we still do 'dear sweet baby?'" (a little bedtime prayer my parents used to say to us . .  .I had stopped for a while and she missed it. So dear)
- "That was a bit of an awkward silence, I must say"
- "I feel bad for the frog. Judah's not the best frog keeper, you know"
- "We killed the worm so we're gonna have a funeral! Should we say nice things about it?"
- "Oh I'll be sad when Judah can read and doesn't want me to read to him anymore!"
- "Well, sorry not sorry!"
- "Oh at last, my favorite clothes of the day! (pajamas)

Judah Jabbers:

- "So I changed my mind, I think I wanna go to the monster truck show with daddy instead" (on mother/daughter retreat day)
- "Mom, can we go to London? I want to go tomorrow. Daddy said I could drive my car there"
- "Mommy, was it my last day with you at church?" (asked this many times . . . he usually comes to work with me there Thursdays and now will be in preschool. Sniff sniff. I'll miss him there)
- "Can you take me to ma-Kohls for my birthday, to get a toy?" (not sure how it came to be 'ma-Kohls'?)
-  "Mom, Mater is on Netflix" (fave lately is "Cars" and especially "Mater's Tall Tales")
- "Mom! The birds are playing tag with the airplane!"
- "Ohhh, I smell something sweet. Are you baking something yummy?" (indeed, cookies)
- "Mom, where is my sister?"
- Can climb over our fence with ease
- "Oh well I prefer to play booger man"
- "I gave daddy the tomato. He ate it all. in. one. GULP"
- "Hey dad, I like your underwear!"
- "Hey mommy, where's my sister?"
- "Mom, how did I get really cool?"