Scene: The bathtub, tonight.
Lots of screaming was going on. I was frazzled.
I said, "Ya'll are about to get in some big trouble. Who wants to get in trouble first?"
You always ask the "who wants to get in trouble first" question, because you know that no one wants to get in trouble at all, and usually it will stop any further naughtiness. Not tonight.
Noodle and Banana both stopped and looked at me. No naughtiness for a couple of seconds.
Noodle: "I don't want to get in trouble."
She shook her head. All was silent for a couple more minutes.
Then she pointed to Banana and said, "Banana gets in trouble."
Banana, looking up at me with his wide, innocent eyes:"I get in trouble."
Noodle: "I don't get in trouble."
Banana:"I in trouble."
Noodle:"Banana is in trouble, I'm not. I'm not in trouble."
Banana:"I in trouble. I NOT in trouble!"
Noodle:"I'm not in trouble! Nobody is in trouble!"
Lots of giggling. I started laughing. What are you going to do?
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Due Date
July 4th, as far as we can tell. Next month, when we have an ultrasound, that may change. But as of now, we're looking for a baby to arrive on the Fourth of July!
Sunday, November 11, 2007
More Goals
Friday, November 09, 2007
"Miss" covers a multitutde of suffixes . . .
Is it Miss, Ms., or Mrs? Why, yes, it is!
Of our many lovely and traditional idiosyncrasies Down South, one of my favorites has to be our use of the English language. We're always "fixin' tuh" go somewhere; perhaps it's down to the branch (or perhaps crick) to do some fishin'. We can add syllables to words that have only one. We always wonder what "y'all" are doing. We love our Nee-Naws and Pee-Paws. We couldn't pronounce a short e sound to save our lives. And our drawl makes all those words sound as drippingly sweet as a buttermilk biscuit slathered in local honey.
But one "thang" I cannot figure out is how we got to calling all the Mrs.es in our lives, Miss! I grew up doing it. Mrs. Smith was called "Miss Smith." Never in my wildest pronuciation would I have called anyone "Missus." That would sound awkard, almost foolish! No one I knew did that. Not my mom or her mom, and I never, ever heard anyone call my mother "Missus." Nope, "Miss" was for everybody, despite the suffix. I never really thought it was strange.
Until I moved to other parts of the country. On the West Coast and in the Midwest, my Miss-calling was very out-of-place, and I got surprisingly used to calling every married woman "Missus;" at least, those with whom I was not on a first-name basis. I taught my children to say, "Missus." After all, that is how "Mrs." is pronounced!
Well, now I've been back Down South for three years, and I still say, "Missus" for all those Mrs.es that I know. And I'm bit taken aback when I am substitute teaching in a class for Mrs. Barnes, and I pronounce the "Mrs." in the correct manner, and I hear snickering. But I have to think back to a time when I found that pronunciation foreign as well. And there's not a Mrs. in the South that doesn't mind being called "Miss," so, I'll just have to get back into the groove of the Southern way of addressing all women.
So, Ms., Mrs., or Miss? Yes, you are! And so am I. As long as we're in the South, that is!
Of our many lovely and traditional idiosyncrasies Down South, one of my favorites has to be our use of the English language. We're always "fixin' tuh" go somewhere; perhaps it's down to the branch (or perhaps crick) to do some fishin'. We can add syllables to words that have only one. We always wonder what "y'all" are doing. We love our Nee-Naws and Pee-Paws. We couldn't pronounce a short e sound to save our lives. And our drawl makes all those words sound as drippingly sweet as a buttermilk biscuit slathered in local honey.
But one "thang" I cannot figure out is how we got to calling all the Mrs.es in our lives, Miss! I grew up doing it. Mrs. Smith was called "Miss Smith." Never in my wildest pronuciation would I have called anyone "Missus." That would sound awkard, almost foolish! No one I knew did that. Not my mom or her mom, and I never, ever heard anyone call my mother "Missus." Nope, "Miss" was for everybody, despite the suffix. I never really thought it was strange.
Until I moved to other parts of the country. On the West Coast and in the Midwest, my Miss-calling was very out-of-place, and I got surprisingly used to calling every married woman "Missus;" at least, those with whom I was not on a first-name basis. I taught my children to say, "Missus." After all, that is how "Mrs." is pronounced!
Well, now I've been back Down South for three years, and I still say, "Missus" for all those Mrs.es that I know. And I'm bit taken aback when I am substitute teaching in a class for Mrs. Barnes, and I pronounce the "Mrs." in the correct manner, and I hear snickering. But I have to think back to a time when I found that pronunciation foreign as well. And there's not a Mrs. in the South that doesn't mind being called "Miss," so, I'll just have to get back into the groove of the Southern way of addressing all women.
So, Ms., Mrs., or Miss? Yes, you are! And so am I. As long as we're in the South, that is!
Monday, November 05, 2007
Overheard
Noodle, to Chicken Nugget:
"Banana's my brother and you're my sister and I'm your sister!"
Chicken Nugget:
"Yeah, and we love each other!"
Noodle:
"Mmmm-hmmm!"
Chicken Nugget:
"Can we hug?"
"Banana's my brother and you're my sister and I'm your sister!"
Chicken Nugget:
"Yeah, and we love each other!"
Noodle:
"Mmmm-hmmm!"
Chicken Nugget:
"Can we hug?"
Saturday, November 03, 2007
The Cat Being Out of the Bag . . .
Yay! We're going to have another baby! I'm so, so, so excited! As I've been sharing the news here and there (OK, everywhere!), I've been getting that trepidatious look as people say,
"Are . . . you . . . happy about this?"
And I say, "Yes! We're ecstatic! We've always wanted more kids."
After taking the pregnancy tests, I told Buffalo Wings that I wanted to wait till Christmas to start really telling people. But that I needed to call my brother and tell him that we weren't telling Mamma and Daddy till Christmas, sort of as a Christmas surprise. And I had to call my friends E and K and tell them. But that was it. That was it.
Well, that lasted till the next day!
I could hardly get through the next few days. I was so thrilled, overwhelmed, and feeling blessed. I'm going to be a mom again! I'm going to have a sweet little brand-new baby! I can't help it. I'm overjoyed.
Some people, as I've told them, have chastised me:
"I understand about God taking care of things and all that, but it's just not economical to have that many children this day and age."
"Are you sure you can handle four children?"
And these are well-meaning responses from friends who feel they are watching out for me and my family. So I just respond positively and continue to feel happy for myself and for the rest of my family. And I know that God takes care of things, even if may not seem economical to have several children, and that we are also doing our best to take care of things and plan carefully.
Chicken Nugget didn't take the news as well as I'd hoped. I told her on the way home from school the other day. She kind of frowned and made a disappointed sound. I said, "How do you feel about this? Are you ok?"
She said, "I'm kinda sad and kinda not. You know, there will be the hair-pulling and the scratching and the biting . . ."
I said, "Well, you could hide from the baby."
She responeded, "Yeah . . . but it will find me."
Sweet girl. I felt bad for her, but then I watched her in the backseat today. She was sitting between her brother and her sister, and was entertaining them. This was without prompting. This was not they're-bothering-me-so-I'd-better-entertain-them. This was CN playing with her brother and sister just for the sheer joy of making them happy and seeing them laugh. She told them both how beautiful they were. It was such a great picture to see, and I was rest assured that she'd be just as happy over her new brother or sister.
My mother said it was hard for her not to buy baby things at the store the other day. She's already planning the colors for the new baby quilt - pastels. She's not made one of my babies a pastel quilt yet.
My brother, silly-head that he is, said, "Send it back! Send it back! Now I have to buy more presents at Christmas!"
By my best estimation, I'm about 4-5 weeks pregnant, and the baby should be here early to mid July. I'll correct my Lilypie baby ticker on the 12th, which is my first doctor's appointment. I'll of course know more on that day.
I was doing chores today, thinking about the baby, and I just felt so normal about it all. Happy, ecstatic, thrilled, overjoyed, but normal. Like this is the most natural thing that should be happening in our lives right now. No uncertainty. No fear. Just as if, well, why shouldn't this be happening?
Thanks so much to all of you - we have felt you rejoicing with us! Much love to all of you!
"Are . . . you . . . happy about this?"
And I say, "Yes! We're ecstatic! We've always wanted more kids."
After taking the pregnancy tests, I told Buffalo Wings that I wanted to wait till Christmas to start really telling people. But that I needed to call my brother and tell him that we weren't telling Mamma and Daddy till Christmas, sort of as a Christmas surprise. And I had to call my friends E and K and tell them. But that was it. That was it.
Well, that lasted till the next day!
I could hardly get through the next few days. I was so thrilled, overwhelmed, and feeling blessed. I'm going to be a mom again! I'm going to have a sweet little brand-new baby! I can't help it. I'm overjoyed.
Some people, as I've told them, have chastised me:
"I understand about God taking care of things and all that, but it's just not economical to have that many children this day and age."
"Are you sure you can handle four children?"
And these are well-meaning responses from friends who feel they are watching out for me and my family. So I just respond positively and continue to feel happy for myself and for the rest of my family. And I know that God takes care of things, even if may not seem economical to have several children, and that we are also doing our best to take care of things and plan carefully.
Chicken Nugget didn't take the news as well as I'd hoped. I told her on the way home from school the other day. She kind of frowned and made a disappointed sound. I said, "How do you feel about this? Are you ok?"
She said, "I'm kinda sad and kinda not. You know, there will be the hair-pulling and the scratching and the biting . . ."
I said, "Well, you could hide from the baby."
She responeded, "Yeah . . . but it will find me."
Sweet girl. I felt bad for her, but then I watched her in the backseat today. She was sitting between her brother and her sister, and was entertaining them. This was without prompting. This was not they're-bothering-me-so-I'd-better-entertain-them. This was CN playing with her brother and sister just for the sheer joy of making them happy and seeing them laugh. She told them both how beautiful they were. It was such a great picture to see, and I was rest assured that she'd be just as happy over her new brother or sister.
My mother said it was hard for her not to buy baby things at the store the other day. She's already planning the colors for the new baby quilt - pastels. She's not made one of my babies a pastel quilt yet.
My brother, silly-head that he is, said, "Send it back! Send it back! Now I have to buy more presents at Christmas!"
By my best estimation, I'm about 4-5 weeks pregnant, and the baby should be here early to mid July. I'll correct my Lilypie baby ticker on the 12th, which is my first doctor's appointment. I'll of course know more on that day.
I was doing chores today, thinking about the baby, and I just felt so normal about it all. Happy, ecstatic, thrilled, overjoyed, but normal. Like this is the most natural thing that should be happening in our lives right now. No uncertainty. No fear. Just as if, well, why shouldn't this be happening?
Thanks so much to all of you - we have felt you rejoicing with us! Much love to all of you!
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