Yesterday I had a wonderful day with a bunch of my sisters in St George. We went there to look at wedding dresses for Rachel (we found one by the way!). Then we went to lunch and to a place to buy some wedding decorations. It was such a fun day! Great talks, and lots of laughs.
Jay was amazing, and made it a really fun day for the kids. First, he took all four kids out all day shopping and to mcdonalds. They called it the quest for ratchet. (and batman too! Ethan would say). Then they came back and told each other scary stories by the light of Ethan's light saber. Whoever was telling the story got to hold the light saber. Here are the highlights dictated by Jay (what he can remember a day later :) Ethan started out: "Once upon a time...there was a little boy who didn't have a mom or dad...or a baby. And he lived with grandma and grandpa brown. And the zombies broke into their house and broke all their toys. Grandpa yelled at them, but they couldn't hear like grandpa. And they were throwing their heads at them. " Kayleigh's story went like this: "There was monsters and skeletons, and when I saw them I said "what the heck?" And they growled at me and I said "what the heck?" And they started running and I said "what the heck?" and her story pretty much followed this pattern throughout, eliciting laughter from the rest of the kids every time she would say the signature phrase. Jayden didn't tell much of a story because he was a little scared (he's not so fond of scary story time) not to mention he wanted to play video games. Clearly a fun day was had by all!
While I'm writing fun kids stuff, I'm going to add some random notes that I have jotted down over the last year, but not ever transferred into here. First is Kayleigh's Transformer name. It was given to her about a year ago, and is frequently still used when they play different transformer games that they dream up. Drum roll please...Baby diaper! Yes I was surprised too. I asked them why they kept saying baby diaper and Jayden informed me. I don't know how he came up with it, but it has definitely stuck. hehehehe :)
Next was from one night that Jayden was feeling reluctant to go to bed. He said "I wish I was nocturnal" He is such a funny, animal loving boy. We watched a "how it's made" show where they were processing beaver pelts to be used for clothing. I must admit I didn't like seeing it either, you could see their little faces on the pelt. :( But Jayden, though he tried to put on a brave face, got really emotional about it.) He is such a sensitive little cutie!
Another day, Jayden and Ethan were discussing what they wanted to be when they grow up. (Ethan: a fireman or policeman, Jayden: an astronaut and a farmer) Kayleigh said:"I grow up, I want to be the chicken." She also used to say disgusting in a cute way. She would say it like "isgusting" :)
Since I haven't taken much time to write about our baby girl, I will take a few minutes now. Courtney is getting pretty chatty these days and has always been such a good communicator. She is SUCH a fun baby. I don't know if its because she might be my last, or just because she is so amusing, but I have enjoyed her so much. (I have enjoyed ALL my little ones of course! They each have amazing fun personalities, and all do great things! But I digress...) She has a personality that is so vibrant, and is VERY expressive. This can be difficult when she is sad, because she doesn't do anything half way. But mostly she is a happy girl, so we usually enjoy the exuberant smiles, dancing, and laughter. Some cute courtneyisms: Up until last week when her food was gone she would say "gah gone", now she has changed it to "ahh gone". She also says "bah" for either her sippy, or a ball. Another favorite of mine is "gaaooo" (go). That is frequent these days :). In fact, she loves putting on clothes or shoes, in hopes that it means she can gao She can also say cookie almost perfectly, and a-ba-zas (applesauce). I hope this doesn't mean she is neglected, but she often brings us things when she is hungry, like a bottle of food or a cup. And she looks so cute! Yesterday, I left really early and Jay was woken up by someone hitting him repeatedly in the head. It turned out to be Courtney. She was carrying a jar of food in one arm and hitting him with the spoon in the other, whining and babbling to him. I'm sure she was pleading the case for her hungry tummy :). I wonder if she thinks we are really dim, because she is very careful to communicate clearly with us. No is a very decisive shaking of the head. Yes requires her whole body. She rocks when she is sitting and bends her knees up and down when she is standing, combined with a big smile and sounds of excitement. In fact, any time we give her what she wants she makes these cute little encouraging sounds. (I LOVE IT!) When she is trying to share a harder to understand word, she looks deeply into my eyes and seems to be carefully sounding it out. She is something else, I tell you. Of course, when I fail to understand her carefully constructed communication/or if I say no or take too long, things go south pretty quickly, she is good at communicating her feelings of frustration (see above ;). But mostly we get along pretty good since her words usually are communicating a kind of food or drink and a few guesses on my part are enough to get that cute little yes dance. When she wants something else, a book, toy or movie for instance, she also brings them to me or leads me to them and points. She loves being a big kid, sitting on a chair, etc...and repeatedly shares her excitement about it. Like every time she sits on a chair for instance, she makes a little noise and points down at the chair. I cheer her on about being such a big girl and she smiles in a satisfied way. This happens over and over again every few minutes :).
I hope that writing brings me back to these moments with my kids. I adore all of their little eccentricities. I'm thankful for their patience and kindness to me. I think they are smart, and sweet and in every way AMAZING. I thank the Lord for these experiences. Parenting is messy, and disorganized(in my case), full of unexpected turns, uncertainty, and a good dose of frustration sometimes. But what a BLESSING gettting to associate closely with these priceless treasures. I never feel able to put it into words. Even when days are bad, my heart swells with gratitude that the Lord trusts my incapable, impatient, unkind self with this opportunity. (Though I wish I were more capable, etc...) But the great moments: when they do funny things that make me smile, or times when they learn something new, or moments that I get to see their innocence and I feel overwhelmed with pride at their GOOD choices and desires. And of course all of the every day moments, holding them, watching them play, hugs, smiles... The feelings at those times are indescribable. SUCH joy. Life is amazing.
