T-Rex

I bought John a new t-shirt and it came in the mail today. I showed it to him. He read it. 

He laughed and said "That's cause his arms are little! And you know what? His nose is too big!" And then he made his arms short like a T-Rex and walked out of the room. 

Daddy has a T-Rex shirt and was actually wearing it tonight. 

John read it to Daddy. He had to read it a couple of times, but then he finally understood it. He said "Oh! I get it!" Once again he made his arms short like a T-Rex, but this time he attempted to clap and couldn't. 

I got John to show me how T-Rex's clap. 

Never eat soggy waffles

John has a quiz tomorrow on maps, directions and state facts. I our way home tonight, I reminded him about his quiz. He said "Do I have to study? Cause I know it all. Remember I got all the questions right last night." I quizzed him anyway. I asked "What is the state animal?" He said "Horse. But I wish it was a lion. Actually I wish it was a cobra!" I asked "What's the state insect?" He said "Honey bee." I asked "What are the four directions?" He was very quiet. So I said "You know, on a map." He very slowly said "North, east, south and west." I laughed and said "Very good."  He said "Wanna know how I remember? Never Eat Soggy Waffles. What? It works. Never eat soggy waffles. North, east, south, west!" 

Baby blanket

Gillian has a little green blanket that Grandma crocheted for her baby dolls. Gillian uses the baby blanket all the time. A few weeks ago, she brought it too me and said "Can Grandma fix it?" And she held up the blanket. 

I asked "Gillian how did that happen?" She said with a straight face "It did it all by itself!" We asked Grandma and she said she could fix it. I was supposed to bring it with us to the trunk or treat, but I couldn't find it. 

Today I was doing laundry and I asked Gillian to bring me her Mankets and to look for baby green blanket. She said "Cause it's broken. Grandma needs to fix it." She told me "I can't find it. I look everywhere." I looked for it, but couldn't find it. 

Tucked the kids into bed and about 45 minutes later, Gillian came into our room holding baby green blanket. "I found it. It was under my bed." I questioned her "Why were you under your bed, when you are supposed to be in your bed sleeping?" She didn't miss a beat and said "I didn't know." 

Trunk or Treat

Tonight we took the kids to St. Denis for their Trunk or Treat. If you are not familiar, a Trunk or Treat is when a school or an organization has people park their cars and they give out candy from their trunks. It's a safe alternative to kids going door to door. We have never taken the kids to a Trunk or Treat, but they loved it. 

We picked up Justin (Uncle Bob followed in his truck) and headed over to St. Denis. The kids were very excited. Gillian chatted to Justin about her costume and her sword. When we arrived we put the final touches on their costumes and headed out to Trunk or Treat. The first couple of trunks we harmless and the kids started to get into the swing of things. 

But then we got to a trunk that had a fake spider in it. John refused to get close. Even when we told him it was fake. He said "You know, I don't like spiders." Then Gillian saw a skeleton and refused to go to the car. We kept telling them that it wasn't real and that it wouldn't hurt them. But it didn't matter. 

We took a break to get something to eat. While I fed Gillian some mac & cheese (it was less messy to help her), she danced. She showed Uncle Bob some of her moves. I think he was impressed.

We walked around one more time to look at all the trunks. Gillian's favorite was a Frozen inspired trunk (no surprise there). John's favorite was a truck that was made to look like a pirate ship! I liked the one that looked like a big mouth. 

The kids had an awesome time with their cousin. And Daddy and I also had a good time. I'm really looking forward to trick or treating next Friday!

Payment

Shortly after putting the kids to bed, Gillian walked down the hallway and said "I gotta go to the bathroom." She did her business and started to walk back to her room. She left the lights on in the bathroom, so I stopped her and said "Did you forget something?" She smiled and said "Payment?" So on occasion I "charge" the kids for things. Like if they want to watch another TV show or an extra cookie. I ask them for a payment and I get a bunch of kisses and hugs in return. Anyway, I laughed and said "No. You left the lights on." She went back in the bathroom and turned off the lights. Then she started to walk past our room and again I stopped her. But this time I asked for payment. She came running in our room and gave me kisses and squeezies. 

Pumpkin pickin

Today we took the kids pumpkin picking. We met Mimi, Uncle T, Aunt Missy and Kenzie for lunch and then headed to tbe pumpkin patch. John was determined this year to find the perfect pumpkin. I take that back. He is always determined. His rules for a perfect pumpkin are "1) it's orange, 2) it's not too big, 2) it has a handle, and 4) it has no holes." Gillian was not looking for a pumpkin. "I already got one. On my field trip. You know, I got a pumpkin." 

The kids searched the whole field to find the best pumpkin. John found his pumpkin and I asked "Is that the one you want?" He said "There's only one part I don't like." And he pointed and some dirt on the one side. "But Daddy says we can clean it off." We also found a pumpkin for Gillian. And then the kids found a pumpkin for Aunt Missy!

Then we went to check out the animals. Gillian did not like feeding them. But she liked to pet them. John fed all the animals and was very diplomatic with his food. "I want to make sure everyone gets some!"

John liked all the animals except the emus. Gillian was excited to see the llama. Eventhough John said "It's an alpaca!"

Overall we had a great time pumpkin pickin!

Observation

Today I got to spend the day at John's school volunteering. Since I wasn't at work, I was able to pick up Gillian early. I told her this morning that I would pick her up after nap time (around 3:00). I got to Gillian's school and they were all sitting at their tables. Gillian's back was to me, so I got to watch her. I know. This sounds creepy, but it is so wonderful to watch the kids interact with their friends and teachers when they don't know you are there. Anyway, the kids were tracing Halloween objects, then had to cut them out and then color them. Gillian was working on a witch's hat. She traced it. Then got up, put back her stencil and picked up a pair of scissors. She went back to her table and cut out her hat. She cut out the hat then laid the scraps on the table and said "It looks like a hat!" She picked up her scraps and started walking to the garbage can and said "Moooooommmmm!" I was caught. "Why are you here?" I laughed and said "I told you I was coming." Even Gillian's teacher said "And you told me that too." Then Gillian changed her focus, "Can I color my hat when we get home?" I giggled and said "Of course." I love these little moments. 

Here's a picture of Gillian and her little witch's hat.