them's fightin' words

Emanuel: "This is not Kung Fu, this is Jumpy-Kicky Bad Guy Killing!"

how we eat

I do not like ripe bananas. If there isn't discernible green on the peel I won't eat it and would prefer to not smell it or touch it. It just gets too sweet and mushy and banana-y. Unfortunately the bananas that I bought on Saturday are past what I consider edible.
Betsy however had no such reservations and ate 2/3 of a banana! That's the most she's ever done, because usually we share and I'm faster than she. She was kind enough to share the remaining 1/3 with her big sister, who is the fastest banana eater in the whole wide world! (side note: my dear son loves exaggerate and say, "Whole Wide World!" about everything. I love it.) Betsy never really seemed that interested in eating (drinking?) until she started solid food and she has taken to that like a champ. She's never turned down anything!
Sophie is a little bit pickier, but not much. Dustin had some jalapeno pretzel crackers and the kids were begging for some. He doubted they would like them but shared anyway. Emanuel popped his in his mouth and then popped it right back out, whining that it was hot. Sophie kept asking for, and eating, more and more, until she was cut off.
Emanuel is very picky and opinionated. He puts on his apron and declares himself chef. If I switch up the recipe on any of our regulars, he gets very upset and informs me that, "These are not the right ingredients."
It seems like my children are constantly hungry so we eat five times a day usually. Breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner. If for whatever reason they do not finish their breakfast or lunch, that food is saved and must be eaten before they are allowed any snack food.
Snack foods are more fun foods, fresh or dried fruit, crackers, rice cakes, cheese cubes, etc. Lately we've been enjoying our snacks while sitting on the kitchen floor. This was Sophie's idea, and somehow it's really fun and cozy.
Dinner is the only meal we share with Dustin and usually we all sit at the table together. We do not always eat the same foods. Dustin and I love spicy and exotic foods, and our kids, well, don't. It's not at all unusual for them to have a sandwich while Dustin and I indulge in something a bit more grown up. Occasionally, if I'm late getting dinner started, we'll just feed the kids and put them down and really enjoy a nice dinner together.
If there is any dessert to be had we dish it up and eat it on the sofa after the kids are in bed. It's one of our favorite times of the day. Sweet food, Sweet company, Sweet life.

If I let them grow up..

Emanuel has decided that when he grows up to be a man like daddy he wants to be a doughnut hunter.(He did not take this stance until he figured out that grown-ups don't get spankings.) I'm not exactly sure what this career choice entails, the only way he has elaborated is that, "Then I'll take every one's doughnuts!", but I'm pretty sure there is a bit of fierceness involved. He'll need to be strong..

And Mighty

After having this discussion with him I turned to Sophie and asked her who she was going to be when she grew up. She yelled, "SOPHIE!" I know she'll need some strong and mighty for that.

Robot. Making. Pancakes.

So one morning Emanuel wakes up before anybody else in the house. Instead of letting us know that he was up and at 'em, he took his little self downstairs and proceeding to cook. Now his all time favorite food is pancakes. He has helping me make them many times, and I guess he felt like he had a pretty good grasp of the recipe. He climbed up onto the kitchen counter, opened the cabinet, started pulling out spices and dumping them in a bowl, and stirring them all together. Dustin told me later how he walked onto the scene and Emanuel started doing the robot walk and robotically chanting, " Robot making pancakes". Dustin found this so hilarious that Emanuel sort of got away with his transgressions. Since then every time he makes a big mess and senses that he might be about to get in trouble he pulls the "Robot making pancakes" out and charms us yet again. Why is this so funny to us? Who knows.

Soooo, the other day Emanuel and his sidekick went outside to draw with chalk, which lasted only as long as they were supervised , and then it was into the mud puddle they went. When I acted chagrined at this disaster Emanuel let me know that they just robots making pancakes out of mud.

but that house doesn't look mad

Here it is! Miss America! Our new home! Dustin loves it. I love it. And the kids love it. As you can see; the sky is always blue, the clover grass is always green, and the breeze keeps the flag waving gently.
Inside there is lots of love. And boxes, still. We've got a backyard, And behind that is the "forest". Kind neighbors. Quiet streets. It's better than we had imagined.
Well, the kids might have imagined something this wonderful, but they have great imaginations.

Prissy Missy

The girliest girly girl ever.

She only wants to wear dresses and be clean and pretty

(she usually falls WAY short of clean, as a toddler is wont to do).

 The other night she came downstairs draped in one of my nighties. She was so proud of her 'pretty dress'. There were lots of tears when we made her wear her own pajamas to bed.

She likes hearts, flowers, butterflies, and fishies (?).

 She does NOT like bugs.

 She always prefers a flower bow over a plain clippie.

 When she get food on herself at meals she calls for a "natkin, natkin!" until she gets a napkin,daintily wipes herself off, disposes of the napkin, because it's "dirty!" then she plunges her hands back into her food for another bite (spoons and forks are hard work and she's usually too hungry to be that patient).

 She only wears two pairs of shoes, a pair of pink cowgirl boots, and flower-y sandals.

She is very particular about what color bottle or binkie she uses.

 If I have hair in my face she pushes it over and says, "eyes?".

She's my little cuddle bug.

 She has a little toy drill she points at me and says "pow, pow".

She loves it when I die dramatically.                

Her daddy says, "nobody can be girlier than Sophie." But her little sister will have such a great role model.

We'll see. We'll see.

Darn it!

So yesterday Emanuel asked me if I know what Darn it! means. I was curious to hear his interpretation so I asked for the definition. He said, "It means, Stop making that mess right now!"
 I'd say that's pretty accurate.