The things they say...

It has been a few months since I did one of these....

Lydia "I have never been to a wedding before!"
Me "no, you haven't"
Lydia, "well except you and daddy's...I was in your belly."
Me, "no sweetie, you weren't born yet."
Lydia, "I know...I was still in your belly."
Me, knowing this was not going in a good direction."No, you weren't there yet."
Lydia "Then where was I?"
...and for one of the few times in my entire life...I had no answer for her. Luckily Joshua saved me and explained that he was "borned" first so she could not be there yet." She was satisfied.

Lydia, "mom, are cowboys for real?"
Me, "yes."
Lydia, "no, I mean are they alive, do they live really or are they pretend?"
Me, "yes, they are real people,why?"
Lydia, "they have farms right?"
Me, "yes...with pigs"
Lydia "I am going to marry one!"

In the dentist office...for the third hour (me and all three kids had a check up)...
Me, "Katherine, talk quietly...listen how quiet it is when you are not talking."
After listening for a moment she says, "quiet does not feel comfortable for me, I don't like it."

At lunch one day...
Me, "Katherine, what do you want to be when you grow up?"
Katherine, "nuffin"
Me, "Nothing? are you sure?"
Katherine, "nuffin."
Lydia, "oh, so you want to be a mommy!"

In Walmart, we were in an aisle with a very large woman, I see Katherine looking at her and she says, "Mommy, she has a big, big, big, biiiiiig, biiiiiig...."
I, knowing what was coming next, literally ran down the aisle.
Katherine, "big bottom!"
So instead of running out of the store, or just finishing the remainder of my shopping, I see this as a teaching opportunity, I very quietly stopped and taught Katherine that we should not say people have big bottoms, big bellys or for that matter anything big. I explained that it may make them feel sad or mad to hear her say that. Then feeling satisfied with myself and my ability to seize a good parenting moment, turned into the next aisle where there was another large woman. Right as we passed her, Katherine proudly exclaims while pointing, "See mommy, I didn't say she had a big bottom!"

Joshua, who has an incredible memory says to me, "I'm starting to lose my mind."
Me, "what are you talking about?"
Joshua, "Now that I am in school everyday, all the time, I have other things in my head and I am forgetting some things...like when Katherine first went to the beach."

Katherine looked out the car window and said, "look mommy, a cut moon!"

And one of the most precious. Back in May, at 6:30am Katherine ran into our room and exclaimed "Mommy, come see-there is a rainbow out my window!" She was so full of excitement, she grabbed my hand pulling me from the bathroom to the window. She swung the shudders open and said, "see blue, purple, and orange...but no lelo (yellow)" What she was perceiving for the first time was the beauty of the sunrise.