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I have a little bit of a formula for when I pray for Alana.  I always start by thanking God for giving me a beautiful daughter, mentioning a few of her talents (whichever she's been exercising lately) and then ask for her to be blessed with pleasant dreams, good sleep, and a happy mood in the morning.

A few nights ago, once we've said amen, Alana's eyes light up.  She asked, "Did Jesus really make me?"

I replied, "of course!"

Alana responds, "Well, he did a good job!"

I could not possibly disagree.  :)

So this morning the boy I babysit arrives, and immediately poops.  The loud, noxious kind.  I go to put Josiah down and explain to him why.  He is angry at me and retorts, "No, you can't!  He didn't say SORRY!"

Josiah has, somehow, become convinced that one must always apologize for one's bodily functions.  At supper when the ketchup "farted", Josiah instructed my husband to say sorry.  It was hilarious!

Josiah also always says "Of course."  I ask him if he wants juice, "oh, of course!"  I ask him if he wants a bath, "oh, of course!"  I ask him if his diaper is wet, "no."  I ask him if he pooped, "no, Spidey did it."  Okay, so he doesn't always say of course.  But he says it often, and with the toddler lisp it's adorable.

Alana learned a magic trick, which she demonstrated at supper.  She said, "I'll make my whole burger go away."  She then through it over her head and said, "Surprise!"  Now she won't stop doing it.  I'm not sure where she learned it from, but I'm sure the cuteness aspect of it will wear off quickly.

Another meal time gem:  Josiah shoved a french fry down my bra.  So I would "have it later."

It was so hard not to start laughing.  Every time they think we're amused, they repeat themselves.  And I really don't want Josiah shoving food in my cleavage in a crowded restaurant, you know?

And, finally, Alana has decided she's a superhero.  Her super power?  I'm not sure what, but it involves squinting very hard and emitting a high pitched squealing noise.

It's that time of year again!  Time to post all of the pertinent present-purchasing information for our family.  So, here goes:

JOSIAH:

• Clothing size:  3T
• Sock size:       4T
• Shoe Size:      7.5/8
• Favorite Color:  Blue or Red
• Favorite Superhero:  Spiderman  (Followed closely by Batman, with Superman coming in third)
• Favorite thing to play with:  Anything that mildly resembles something that a Ninja, Ultimate Fighter, or Superhero would need.  (I.E, swords, guns, boxing gloves, throwing stars, costumes)
• He could also really use a bodysuit for playing outside, and boots.

• Clothing size:  4T
• Sock size:       5T
• Shoe size:       9/9.5
• Favorite color:  Pink!  (Other favorites are light blue and purple)
• Favorite Superhero:  Spiderman.  (I don't get it, but she always steals Josiah's Spidey Stuff)
  
• Favorite Princess:  She currently favors Belle.  Also- any of the Barbie Princesses.
  
• Favorite thing to play with:  Right now she is still really into Barbies, also My Little Pony and those crazy Littlest Pet Shops sets.
  
• She has a bodysuit for outside play, but no boots!

For the adults:

Ken wants Amazon certificates, or a cordless drill.
Lindsey wants Target gift cards, or more cooking accessories.  (Tart pans or baking dishes!)

Alana has a new favorite phrase.

Last week we were trying to get her into a bath.  It's traditional to strip her down and at the last possible minute ask her to use the toilet.  So she's sitting on the toilet, totally naked, and we ask if she's ready to get into the tub.

(Note: she has a horrible cold, so she makes that cute little "b" sound instead of "v".)

"Neber."

Me:  "Sweetie, aren't you cold?"

Alana:  *glares*

Me:  "The bath is nice and warm, won't you get into it?"

Alana:  "NEBER!  NEBER EBER!"  *clutching the toilet seat with all her might*

Ken:  "Alana, it really is time for you to take a bath"  *laughing*

Alana:  "Don't wanna, won't do it."

Me:  *also laughing*  "Come on, Laina Bee, why won't you take a bath?"

Alana:  "NEBER!"

Ken:  (aside, to me) "Well, what do we do?"

Me:  (quietly) "Ignore her and play with Josiah.  She'll get bored."

Alana:  "NEBER EBER EBER!"

(Five minutes later she was in the tub.)

Alana is obsessed with a four letter F word.  Only not the one that makes people blush- this one is a frog!  Recently a neighbor of mine decided to move away, and she borrowed our yard to sell off possessions she wouldn't have room for in her new home.  One of these was a baby albino frog, which Alana of course fell madly in love with.  She would put her head down on the table and talk to the frog, and sing it songs, and excitedly tell anyone who was interested that this frog was a special frog who liked to swim in the water.

Neighbor Girl was so charmed by Alana's frog-crush that she decided to leave the frog with us.  So yay!  Spanky-Pants has her first living breathing pet.  It will be her job to give it it's pellets every morning (really, it's my job, but Spanky will do the actual giving) and Spanky will have to supervise cleaning the bowl when necessary.  Alana is super excited about everything that has to do with the Frog.

She named it "Swimming Frog Who Lives In Water", Bogger for short.

So, World:  meet Bogger!

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The year in pictures:

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Excited!

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Empty fork, full mouth.

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^-^

Water Sprite

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The last year has, as always, been a rollercoaster of ups and downs, leaps forward and slips back.  But I wouldn't trade a day of the adventure, a single moment of the trials and triumphs of getting to know my daughter in all of her spirited glory.


Here's to you, Spanky pants.  You changed your
 mommy's world and made her a better person.  No matter who you grow up to be, you will always be my little pixie princess.  Don't you dare let me forget it!  (Not that you would!)

So April (our upstairs neighbor) and I are sharing gardening responsibilities as well as the fruit of our labors, and so far everything is going splendidly.  We've got a wonderful array of plants coming in, some that were already here and some that we've put in on our own.  There were already concord grapes, raspberries and rhubarb- to which we've added the following:  Green beans, onions, snow peas, sweet peas, two kinds of cucumber, four kinds of pepper, three kinds of tomatoes, three kinds of squash, cantaloupe, watermelon, eggplant, and several kinds of lettuces.

It's all chained in, because there are WABBITS!

Here are some pictures of Alana and the gardening tools she got so that she'd quit fighting with me over mine:

Water Sprite

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Little Gardener

Scrape away the excess

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Here's the grapes:

soon-to-be grapes

grape buds

It's hard to see from the pictures, but there are two racks of grapes about seven feet long, so we will definitely be making jam.  Yay!  :)
I have to commend April for the awesome work she did setting up the fencing around the garden and satellite garden.  That woman knows how to WORK!  So here's the garden.  Just click on the pictures to see an expanded description, because otherwise this post will take FOREVER!

No, not spring- time to actually give the kids hair cuts.  Until they are old enough to be reasoned with I only like to do it once a year, since haircutting in our house is a little like chasing a bucking bronco around the living room, sitting on it to trim it's mane, getting knocked back off and starting the whole process over again.  Yes, I sat on Josiah to cut his hair while he shook his head back and forth and said "nononononononononNOnoNOnoNOOOOOO..."- but he was laughing the entire time, so I don't think he'll be traumatized!  (Okay, maybe I'm exagerrating a *little*- most of the time I just chased him around with the scissors and trimmed whenever he happened to stand still to catch his breath.)

Alana was more amiable this year, because she could watch the process in the mirror and tell me when I was doing it wrong.

Yet, the night ended with both kids having more-or-less presentable haircuts, so score one for mommy!

wait, what?

The happy siblings

^-^

come on, hug each other!

not now, I'm playing with dinosaurs

Alana is also helping me with my gardening attempts.  I told her she could plant any seeds she wanted.  She picked two kinds of tomatoes and basil!  She truly is my daughter.

And, finally- a story:
This morning the kids ask to watch a video while I get ready for the day, and I consent.  About ten minutes in Alana comes running SCREAMING into the bathroom---
ALANA:  Mommy, mommy, come quick!
ME:  What is it?
ALANA:  Come HERE I said.
ME:  Alana, is there some reason I need to come?
ALANA:  It's brother, it's brother, something's wrong...
ME:  Okay.  *runs*
ALANA:  look at him, mommy, just LOOK!
ME:  He's watching a video and eating his breakfast...?
ALANA:  I think something's wrong with him.
ME: hnuh?
ALANA:  He's not moving.
ME:  He's eating.
ALANA:  He's being GOOD.  Is that okay?

That one is going to have me giggling forever.  She was sincerely worried!

So last time I had the boys here, they played with Josiah's Tonka truck and made a "garage" out of some chairs, a table and a quilt.  That was in the kid's room.  This morning Alana and Josiah are still asleep, (ha!  right after I wrote that, Josiah starts crying) so I told the boys that they could have the Tonka truck, but they'd have to stay in the living room.  So Timmy asks me, "can we have the coolest garage?"

I replied, "what were you thinking?"

He says, "I wanted you to think of something.  Something really cool."

Somewhere in the back of my brain two wires connected, and I remembered them, as they came in, remarking that there was the COOLEST box in our yard.  So I went out and got the box and sliced a few holes in it for light, and viola!  The coolest garage EVER.

the coolest garage

mmm...

And, just because...  In the course of writing this post I have:

1. fetched a cup of juice
2. read a book
3. changed a diaper
4. gotten a bottle of milk
5. started a video
6. served snacks.