I Don't Want to Forget...

• Serena's ready answer when Jordan asked her, "What's so great about being a girl?"  "Oh, you get to wear clips and brush your hair."
  
• Driving down the interstate and hearing Bret say in a concerned voice, "My beetles are coming out, Mom."  "Your beetles?"  "Yeah, my beetles are coming out."  I had no idea what he meant!  The day before, we'd been stringing beads and he'd kept calling them "beetles;" so that was all I could think of, which really made no sense at all in this context.  Finally, Serena came to my rescue, "He means boogers!  His boogers are coming out!"
• Our happy-go-lucky little Bretster Boy.  Putting all the clothes in the hamper at the end of the day is his job, and as he was gathering them up the other night, I reminded him to put his socks in there too.  "Where are my socks?" he asked.  "On your feet, Bret!"  "Oh!"  ;)  Then, he was giving me a commentary as he did his job.  "The hamper is getting full, Mom!  You're going to have to do the laundry tomorrow, Mom!"  He became quiet for a bit as he worked, then, "I smashed it down, Mom!  So now you don't have to do laundry tomorrow, Mom!"  He came closer so he could look at my face as he reiterated, "You don't have to do laundry tomorrow because I smashed the clothes down, Mom!"  What a helper!!
  
  
• Serena's bedtime prayer after getting a bad scrape earlier that day:  "Dear God, Thank You for a gooood day.  And thank You for Cody and Bret and keep them safe and free from fear.  And please help me to get more skin.  I need more skin in my life, so please help me to get more skin.  And I love You.  In Jesus' name, Amen."
• This dinnertime conversation - 
• Jordan:  "...Olie is just a doll."
• Serena:  "No!  Olie is NOT just a doll!  She's REAL!!  She eats!"  (In reality, Serena gives Olie a couple O's in the morning while she's eating her breakfast, and then later in the day comes back and discreetly eats them for Olie.  I know!  And some of you thought Olie really DID eat!!)
• Jordan:  "Well, how about I spank Olie and if she cries then we'll know she's real."  It is not hard to imagine what Serena's reaction to that suggestion was!!  ;)

  

  Making pizzas

• Serena's quaint way of talking.  She will say, "The sun appeared" rather than "the sun came out;" or, "I returned" rather than "I came back."  She's also starting to pick up on little phrases that I say and trying them out herself.  It's funny to hear her say (in a deliberate manner) "Well!" or "Goodness!" or "Oh dear, Bret!"  She also narrates herself a lot.  For example, "'Okay Mommy!' Serena answered as she hurried to climb into her chair."  The narration is always in a quieter tone, but really could read like a book if it were put on paper!
• My birthday this year.  It was a bit of a bummer with the kids and Jordan being sick and the resulting lack of sleep I experienced, but it was still fun how excited the kids were about my birthday!  They made me a TON of pictures!  Bret wanted me to put up the "Happy Birthday" banner, which I wasn't going to do since no one was feeling up to a party, haha!  A few days later, when I made a Nestle Tollhouse Pie in celebration of my birthday, Serena declared she wanted the same for her next birthday.  Incidentally, on Cody's birthday, she wanted a watermelon cake like his.  And, just tonight she told me she wanted an apple pie.  It'll be interesting to see what she decides on by the time her birthday rolls around!  It's been almost two weeks since my birthday, but Bret still sings "Happy Birthday" to me.  If he feels that I need a little cheering up or if someone is in trouble (including himself), he'll break into song.  I mean, seriously, how can anyone not be happy with that little face and voice combination singing to them?!?!  What a stinker!  ;)
  
• Bret's sweet heart.  I broke my handheld mirror a few months ago, but Bret keeps reassuring me he's going to get me a new one.  If I wear something with sparkles or sequins on it, he tells me I'm pretty.  He is very considerate and tenderhearted.
  
• Whenever we see the big bin of large bouncy balls at WalMart, Bret shouts, "I'm going to get some money to buy those balls, Mom!"  We're still not clear on where he's going to get the money or when exactly that is going to happen, but the thought of it fills him with great excitement and satisfaction as we walk on by the balls while he smiles happily to himself.
  
• The stuff Cody gets excited about.  When we cross the river (which we do whenever we go anywhere), the kids point excitedly out the river and say, "There's the river!"  Cody now points and "says something" as well.  Whenever something gets him excited (such as watching the garage door go up or seeing the large red cement balls in front of Target), he flaps his arms up and down and looks at me with huge eyes!

  

  This little monster loves to empty drawers and cabinets!!