I Don't Want to Forget

I don't want to forget...

• How whenever we sing "Jingle Bells," Bret insists that we sing the part where they "get the girls tonight."  I'm sure he has visions of boys "getting" girls...as in catching, holding, and tickling against their will...like he enjoys doing to Serena.
• When Jordan was trying to teach them how to wink at breakfast one Saturday morning, the kids were having such a hard time shutting one eye and keeping the other open.  Finally, in an attempt to help them get the "feel" for it, he said, "What happens if you put your hand over your eye?"  Obviously pleased to know the answer, Bret quickly yelled out, "You get breakfast in your eye!"

  

  Making "button strings" like Mary & Laura did on "Little House on the Prairie."  I know it's cheesy, but it was cheap and it really kept them all entertained for several days!  Even the picking-up of the buttons kept them busy for about 10 minutes, hahaha!

• When Bret got his sled.  Jordan had run a few errands, and thought he'd pick up a sled for Bret at Walmart.  As it was already January, the sleds were pretty picked over, and he ended up getting a red saucer.  But Bret was so happy about it because it was HIS sled!  Jordan brought it into the house when he got home, and Bret played and played with it!  Among other things, it was an umbrella, "heliclockler" (hellicopter), a red balloon, a cookie, etc.  Jordan teased Bret that he probably couldn't take it sledding, "It's too pretty.  We just got it to look at."  Bret reassured him, "But it's not pink!  And it doesn't have any sparkles!"
  
• The kids have had so much fun sledding this winter!  There is a big hill behind the park just a block and a half from our house, and Jordan has taken the kids down there so many times.  The kids are so brave...the hill is pretty big and fast, but they go down all by themselves.  However, Jordan still ends up making lots of trips up and down the hill since they can't always get back up the hill without help.  ;)  We were wondering if Bret would be nervous when his saucer started turning on the way down the hill, but he loves that his sled does that!  They have learned to tip the sled at the bottom of the hill so they don't have so far to walk to get back.  They have wiped out and gone over jumps.  They have "made friends" with other kids, but their favorite is when our neighbor kids, Tyler, Kelsey, and Kason go with them.  They come back with so many stories and their cheeks are so flushed and they laugh and laugh and Bret makes the biggest gestures and the most expressive eyes.  It is absolutely awesome.
• What little Northerners our kids have become.  Mr. C was visiting for supper, and he was going to go out to feed dogs with Jordan and the kids (the kids always help Jordan feed the dogs in the evening).  The kids put on their boots, and stood by the door ready to go out.  As Mr. C put on his coat, Bret watched and finally asked, "Why are you wearing your coat?"  Mr. C was like, "Ummm, don't you feed them out in the garage?"  Of course, Jordan started laughing at him for not being as tough as a 2-yr-old and a 4-yr-old.  In Mr. C's defense, though, it was 9 degrees outside!

  

  It's not that great of a picture, but you can see how rosy Serena's cheeks are just after sledding!

• What little show-offs the kids are!  They are just blatant!  The same night Mr. C was here, Bret had to show off how he could "skin the cat" with Jordan.  As soon as he was back on his feet, Bret turned to Mr. C and asked, "Are you impressed?"

  

  Cody loves playing with Jordan's hats.  And it is adorable.  I mean, he really does have the most perfect round, chubby face!

• The innocent fascination the kids have with heaven, and the sometimes awkward situations it creates.  Like when we were grocery shopping at Aldi and Serena proclaimed as we stood in line to checkout,  "Oh!  I can't wait till I'm dead!  Then I can go to heaven!  I wonder what it will be like?" Or when Jordan asked Serena what she was thinking about one evening at supper, and she said, "Oh, just how wonderful it's going to be when I die and get to go to heaven!"
  
• Bret's commentary while watching fighting with Jordan on his tablet, "Oh!  He just hits everybody!"
• Bret's way of pronouncing words that have the sound "ore" in them.  It sounds like "urr-ah" or just plain "urr" if there is a suffix following it.  For example, he'll say, "Mom, can I have murr-ah ('more'), please?"  It cracks me up to hear him sing, "It's raining, it's purring, the old man is snurring.  He went to bed with a bump on his head and couldn't get up in the murrning."
  
• Serena & Bret's pledges of love for one another and plans for their future together.  In the cart at the thrift store (i.e., Mommy is very distracted, so kids are left to entertain themselves), Serena gives Bret a big tight hug (one of those where their cheeks are squished up against each other) and says, "Bret, I love you so much.  And when you are all growin' up and I am all growin' up, I am going to marry you."  "You're going to marry me?"  "Yes."  "At Grandma & Grandpa's house?"  "Yes."

  

  All dressed up for church
• When I pulled out a bunch of dress-up stuff for the kids to play with the other day, Bret came down and wanted me to put some suspenders on him.  Then he asked, "Am I important?"  "Oh yes."  Maybe a half hour later, he walked casually by as I was sitting at the table, and he announced, "Here comes the important boy."

  

  Cody dressed up for church as well.  And playing with Bret's cowboy boots.

• How Bret has started to identify with book characters and pretend more.  He likes to pick boy characters and pretend to be them.  He has been Dick (from "Dick and Jane"), Peter the goat-boy (from "Heidi"), David and Goliath, and Edwards (from "Little House on the Prairie").  
• What a sweet little guy Bret is!  I was reading "Heidi" to the kids and got to the part where Grandfather goes to Peter's mother's dilapidated old house and does a bunch of repairs for them.  Bret ruminated on that for a few paragraphs, and then started making all sorts of hypothetical situations where things would break and he would fix them for me.  With his hammer.  Always with his hammer.  He also loves telling me what a big strong boy he's getting to be and that he is going to carry all sorts of heavy things for me this summer.  I hope he won't be too disappointed when he's still a 30-pound 3-yr-old this summer, hahaha!  ;)

  

  Cody is proving to be yet another bookworm!  He loves sitting and "reading" books!  It's funny to listen to him because his stories are sometimes very animated, and sometimes they get really sad, too.  I'll come to check and see why he's all upset and find out he's just reading a book, haha!  I guess he's showing signs of having an imagination already, too!

• Bret is pretty sure that after he turns four he'll be able to jump off of something and flap his wings and fly.
• Bret wants to wear his fireman jammies when he goes firing in a firetruck someday.  Because, of course, hunters hunt, fishermen fish, and firemen fire.  :)
  
• The way Serena says, "I'm make-sureing" rather than "making sure."