Ellie-isms

For those of you who are my 'friends' on Facebook, you may have seen that my status (what's the plural of status? stati? statuses? ANYHOW...) lately have often been silly things the kids have said. I've also had a lot of comments strongly urging me to write a book...which I don't intend to do anytime in the near future. So I decided a blog post was in order to celebrate Ellie-isms...the unique, entertaining, and sometimes clever things that are uttered from the mouth of our eldest. Kick back and have a chuckle...we have plenty to spare!

Ellie occasionally "comes up" with fears...little things that she likes to pretend to be afraid of. Perhaps there's a nugget of worry deep down in her little brave heart, but if so, it's not a big nugget. Worry is not her weakness! A few weeks ago her 'fear' was of not having any noise around her at any given time. One morning I asked her to go upstairs and turn off her fan (white noise that she sleeps with). She hesitated, then said, "And don't worry. I won't be afraid. When I turn off my fan, I'll quickly RUN downstairs before the 'not noise' monster comes!"
(For the record - the "not noise" monster has not visited our house since Ellie was born!)

Ellie: "Chloe has an Anne of Green Gables doll."

Me: "How did you remember the name 'Anne of Green Gables'?" (I've never talked about it.)

Ellie: "I just put it in my brain and I remembered!"

Me: "Huh. I should try that. How do you put it in your brain?"

Ellie: "Well, I just run, and I catch it. Then I put it in my head and I mix it into my brain!"

It's just that easy, folks!

Me: "How are you feeling this morning, Ellie?" (she was just getting over a cold)

Ellie: "Mostly better. I just have wrestle boogers."

Me: "Whistle boogers?"

Ellie: "No, WRESTLE boogers."

Me: "Um, what are wrestle boogers?"

Ellie: "When I sniff, the boogers wrestle!"

Ellie, playing with a pretend CD player asks me, "Mommy, what kind of jazz do you like? Spin-top, reguole, or not-reguole?" ("Regular" is one of the only words on this planet that she cannot for the life of her pronounce! I'm a 'spin-top' sort of jazz lover myself, anyways...whatever that is. :)

Ellie looked contemplative one morning while making a funny sound with her mouth.

Me: "What's wrong, Ellie?"

Ellie: "Mmmmm...dream spit."

Me: "What's dream spit?"

Ellie: "It's the kind of spit that comes from my dreams...and goes down my dream tube...back into my head."

I think it's called "morning breath." :)

Other random quotes:

"Mommy, I just can't live my life without you!"

"Oh, forgettable me!"

"It's MY fault I can't be a butterfly and that makes me SAD."

"I cried so hard I couldn't talk because I had HOLES in my crying." (that's a pretty accurate description of breathing spasms if you ask me!)

And a few you've already seen on FB but added for the family's sake:

Ellie: "Micah had a really elegant nap. Elegant means 'really great' in England."

E:"Mommy, when you're a little baby, I'm going to dress you in a pink baseball sleeper."

Me: "Um, I'm never going to be a little baby, Ellie."

E: "No, like when your 100 and you shrink a little bit!"

Wouldn't YOU like to be dressed in a pink baseball sleeper when you're 100?

Rob: "Ellie, what happened to your lady-like table manners?

Ellie: "I think I lost them at MCC!

Ellie, after looking for me for about 6 seconds (and in one room) finds me standing in the kitchen: "Oh, there you are, Mommy. I thought you were DEAD!"

Ellie: "Mommy, can you get Josh's pillow for him?"

Me: "Why can't you get it?"

Ellie: "Because I've got a tummy ache AND a headache AND a face ache."

Me: "What's a face ache?"

Ellie: "Like, the blood and the germs from my head are going into my face!"

Sounds SERIOUS!!

And lastly:

"Mommy, I'm going to miss you when I grow up!"

No Ellie, it's ME that's going to miss YOU.

Ellie and Josh both started 'school' on Wednesday this week. It was INCREDIBLE!

For those of you who don't know, we've decided to try educating our kids with a homeschool co-op. Three other moms and myself (along with our 12 kids) are embarking on this adventure together and are VERY excited to see what God has in store! So for the last couple weeks we've all been working like crazy to set up the upstairs of our church like a 'real' school, with bulletin boards, classrooms and centres, etc.. Each of us has taken a few different 'classes' (according to what we're good at and enjoy) and teach each other's children! The best part? We can pray and use God's name whenever we want to. Here's a glimpse of our first two days as a group:

Arriving at school the first day, the kids had wonderful peace over them.

After all, none of them had to leave their moms!

I was immediately amazed at how the different ages blended together no problem!

Sitting in the teaching corner for the first time.

Josh was quite pumped to be part of the action.

Learning our new routines.

Even Micah got a taste of school life!

Singing praise to Jesus!

So excited to finally be a student!

Eryn and Abigail celebrated their birthdays with sparklers...

...and with cookies!...

...which made Josh very happy.

Recess time!

We played "What's the Time, Mr. Wolf?", and again I was amazed at how all

the age groups took care of each other. What a blessing!

Josh and his preschool buddies, Ezra and Abigail, watching a DVD.

Ellie in her class with her classmate and best friend, Chloe,

and her teacher, "Mrs. Friesen" (formerly known as Auntie Michelle :) Us parents have decided to use our last names (as well as having the kids all wear golf t-shirts) to distinguish between church and school. So far they love it! And I love it too when Ellie runs up to me and says, "I love you, Mrs. Balfour!" :)

So far we are ALL having a blast (parents too)!

All I can say is thank you, thank you Lord, for this beautiful

idea you've birthed and brought to pass! Be glorified!

Joshy is at that delightful 2 year old stage where his vocabulary is bigger than his understanding. The result? He keeps us quite entertained with his commentary on life. Here's a little sample:

Josh was poking at his bum after bath time.

Mommy: "Josh, is your bum okay?"

Josh: "Yeah, it's a little bit nauseous."

Mommy: "Nauseous?"

Josh: "Yeah, it's a little bit sword." (sore) 

Hehe. Time for some bum cream!

Josh is trying to get a sense of time, but it's not working out so well for him:

"Diego is SO BIGGER than a few MINUTES!"

"I LOVE a tinkle treat a WHOLE WEEK AGOs!"

"I LOVE Madge ALL NEXT WEEK!"

Mommy: "Josh, could you please go check the time for me?" (a diversion while I changed Micah's bum)

Josh runs to the kitchen and I hear him chanting, "One, two, two, four, four, polka-dot, three."

He runs back to the living room.

Mommy, "So? What time is it?"

Josh: "Time for Micah to go to BED!"

Ellie: "Josh, you're so funny."

Josh: "No, I'm handsome."

Ellie: "Josh, you're funny AND handsome."

Josh: "NO, I'm JUST HANDSOME!"

Ellie: "Joshy, Rice Krispies say, 'Snap Crackle Pop.'"

Josh: "NOOO. They say 'snack pack HONK', Ellie!"

(This boy will argue to the death about ANY THING.)

Getting dressed one morning, I put Josh's new Nike t-shirt on.

Josh: "THANK YOU, Mommy! You found my A-tar (guitar) shirt! Good job!"

(I guess the Nike logo looks a LITTLE bit like a guitar!?)

Same conversation every single night before bed:

Mommy: "Josh, would you like me to cover you with a blanket?"

Josh: "Ummm....no thank-you. I'm not cold. Or warm."

Mommy: "Joshy, what do you want to be when you grow up?"

Josh: "Ummm...I want to be a WORKER, like Daddy. I want to be a TRAIN DRIVER, and hop on a big BIG Thomas!!"

I'll bet you do. We love you, train-loving, smiling, goofy little arguing Joshua!

Micah vs. the Camera

"Oh, there's that shiny black thing pointing at me again.

Can't a guy have a little privacy? Can't it see I'm teething here?"

"Take THAT, black thing!"

"Anger management SHMANAGEMENT. That felt AMAZING!"

3 Months of Sweetness!

Well, today marks three months since little Micah came into the world during a wild and crazy thunderstorm. So far, the storm was not an indicator of what his personality would be like! This little guy is so pleasant and fun to be around, he makes me want to have more! Micah, we already can't imagine life without you! 

Micah has just figured out the whole toy-holding thing,

and finds it quite wonderful.

He's also been introduced to the wonderful world of ExerSaucer, and finds that equally amazing...

for about five minutes or so.

We love you, little guy!

At a Wedding, Part I

At a Wedding, Part II

At a Wedding, Part III

Ellie Ballerina

I just know one day 20 years from now I'm going to look at these and a tear (or maybe several) will roll down my cheek as I remember the little girl that was! I love you, Sweet Dancing Girl in Rubber Boots!