the little things

We are lucky to have some amazing kids.  I don't have a big or funny story to tell you tonight just a few little stories.

This morning John got dressed in our room.  He told me "If I had a TV in my room, I would watch the news in the morning.  Or even the weather channel." 

I gave the kids each a mummy cookie for dessert.  Gillian held it in her hand and said "This cookie is amazing!"

We received our Magic Bands for our Disney trip today.  John was inspecting his band and said "Look!  He put our name on the inside."  I said "Who?"  He said "Mickey Mouse!"

After bath, I dressed Gillian in her Ariel pajamas.  She said "These are boring!  I can't wear these!"

The fire whistle went off tonight shortly after the kids were put to bed.  Gillian, who has come to terms with the whistle (see blog posts:  Whistle Not Nice and Whistles and Babies ), started to scream.  Daddy went to comfort her.  She kept saying "It scared me!"  Daddy calmed her down and once the whistle stopped, I heard John say "That whistle was killin me!" 

the reveal

We are going Disney World over Thanksgiving weekend this year with Mimi, Poppy, Uncle T and Aunt Missy.  A few weekends ago we revealed the news to the kids. 

After we went pumpkin picking, Mimi and Poppy had John in their car and we had Gillian in our car.  As Mimi & Poppy approached their house, Mimi pointed out some boxes on her front porch.  She asked John to bring them inside for her.  When he got to the front porch, he saw that the boxes had his name and Gillian's name on them.  We brought the boxes inside and after looking at them closer, the kids saw that one was addressed to John and Gillian from Mickey and Minnie Mouse! 

Below is a little video of the kids opening their box from Mickey and Minnie Mouse!

I love how each of them are excited in their own way.  And how perfect is it that John asks to write Mickey for a calendar or a countdown?

pumpkin carving

before carving

Tonight after dinner we decided to carve our pumpkins.  Before we even started, John said "Can I get some gloves?  Because I'm not getting my hands dirty."  We found some gloves for him to wear.  And we started with Gillian's little pumpkin.  I helped her with the big parts.  I thought she would be like John and not want to get her hands dirty.  I was wrong.  She wasn't afraid to stick her hands into the pumpkins. 

While Daddy was preparing the big pumpkins, we asked John what kind of face he wanted carved into his pumpkin.  He said "I want him to have three eyes and two noses.  And big shark teeth.  I want him to be really scary!"  We also asked Gillian what kind of face she wanted for her pumpkin.  She said "I want him to have two eyes.  And not pointy teeth.  I don't want the childrens to be scared!" 

By this point Daddy finished prepping John's big pumpkin and it was time for John to start pulling out the pumpkin guts.  He was hilarious.  He said "The insides of pumpkins are disgusting!  I'm glad I'm wearing gloves.  Cause I'm not touching that stuff."  Gillian mocked him and said "I touch it!" 

After awhile John got more comfortable and took off the gloves and helped to clean out his pumpkin.  Gillian and John both told Daddy exactly what they wanted their jack-o-lantern to look like and Daddy carved away.  I think they all came out really good.

weekend mornings

Daddy lets me sleep in on the weekends.  I truly enjoy the extra time sleeping, but sometimes it isn't that simple.  Daddy needs to remind John every night to "Not wake up Mommy.  Do not go in and snuggle her, do not check on her, just go downstairs and play." 

Saturday morning, John came downstairs and found Daddy in the living room.  He said "Don't worry.  I didn't go in and wake up Mommy.  But I did blow her a kiss as I walked by." 

This morning, I didn't hear John wake up.  But I did hear Gillian wake up.  She walked past our bedroom door and said "I awake now!"  She then went downstairs and found Daddy.  She told Daddy "I awake now!  Where Mommy?"  Daddy said "She is sleeping."  Gillian asked "In her bed?"  Daddy said "Of course!"  Meanwhile, Johnny was looking for something to eat.  Daddy told him, "There are pumpkin muffins in the kitchen."  I guess John didn't trust Daddy and he stood at the bottom of the stairs and yelled "MOM! Can we have pumpkin muffins?"  So much for sleeping in.   

tickets - part two

Last Friday, I wrote Tickets.  It was all about John and how he earns tickets at Time + (his aftercare program at school) for being quiet and well behaved during attendance.  Last Friday, he had 9 tickets but on Monday, he earned his 10th ticket.  He was so excited.  When the kids have ten tickets, they get to pick something out of the big prize box.  He picked out some sidewalk chalk.

Yesterday, I picked John up from school.  As he was getting his backpack, one of the teachers was saying "John!  Wait John."  We stopped and she handed him a green ticket.  She said "He picked up garbage on the playground without anyone asking him.  As a thank you, he deserves another ticket."  I thanked her and praised John.  "I'm so proud of you John!  That is very responsible of you to clean up after your friends."  He said "I was just trying to help."  So modest and responsible.  But on our way into the car he said "I can't believe I got TWO tickets in one day!  At this rate, I could have ten tickets in no time!"

The scientist

The other day, John said to Daddy "Don't worry Daddy! I don't want to be a firefighter anymore. I want to be a scientist!"  Daddy was very happy to hear this and asked John, "Why do you want to be a scientist?"  John said "Because I want to travel back in time to see how the dinosaurs got extinct." 

Tonight I picked him up from school and he was complaining to me about how we missed the book fair. "I didn't get any new books. You know I want to be a scientist now. And I need a lot of books so I can figure out why the dinosaurs went extinct. I might even have to sleep in a library!" 

the fireman

At dinner tonight, Gillian and I told John that tomorrow a fireman would be visiting Gillian's school.  This made John very happy.  If you remember a few weeks ago the fire department visited John's school and he really enjoyed it and learned a lot (check out Fire Safety).  Anyway, we had John's attention.  Gillian tells us "I like the fireman.  But I don't have a hat.  Maybe I can use Johnny's hat.  But it needs stickers.  I could decorate it."  John's face said it all.  He wasn't happy with his sister's idea.  He said "I hope she isn't talking about my hat.  I'm going to put it under maxima security!  And she better not put any stickers on it!"  I suggested that maybe the fireman would bring hats for everyone since John got his hat when the fire department visited his school.  Gillian was very happy to hear that, but then she said "I get a hat.  But what about Minnie?"  Gillian has a small Minnie Mouse doll that she carries around everywhere.  John took his hat and put it on Minnie and said "See Gill, it won't fit her!"