Lizzy said

• "Do you have to go potty, Lizzy?" "No, I just have excitement bottom."


• You're pretty old, so you pop, pop, pop.


• You're the meanest mom I ever had!


• I don't know what you're saying, but I love you.


• (At a restaurant, after observing another table of customers): Those are all girls and just one boy. Silly man, don't you know you're just supposed to have one wife?


• Why can't I pick my tongue up?


• (When asked why she's not a duck fan - and I promise we did NOT teach her this!): Because Heavenly Father wants me to be a Beaver.


• That laughed my toots out!

Being Sneaky

Sometimes I think I am so clever. I often chuckle to myself about some little scheme or prank that I have come up, but they never pan out. The truth is, I am no good at being sneaky. The look on my face will tell you if I'm up to something, and if I try to tiptoe up behind you, I'm certain to trip over something along the way and dump that cold glass of water over my own head. I can't even play hide and seek. I might have the very best hiding place ever, but without fail I give myself away with a giggle when someone walks right past me.
I have to try extra hard at Christmases and birthdays. In my opinion, gifts at these times should be a surprise, so if you blurt out where you went shopping and exactly where the presents are hidden, you've ruined half the fun. Despite my deeply-held belief that honesty keeps you out of trouble, I have been known to lie right to someone's (mostly Isaac's) face during the holidays, just in an attempt to keep him guessing. I know, I need to repent.
Isaac's birthday is this Saturday, and he is going to be OLD. Because I think turning OLD is kind of a big deal, I accepted his request for a rather expensive birthday present. Unfortunately, this took some planning on both our parts, and left me with no surprise for his birthday. Now comes the scheming. To me, it appeared that the best way to mess with him (I mean surprise him ... sort of) was to make it seem as though I ordered his gift online, and it didn't come on time. Meanwhile, I'd have the present stashed in some clever hiding place, ready to miraculously appear just after he'd given up hope for it.
On Monday, the kids and I climbed into our new minivan and headed to BestBuy. Lizzy knew this was to be a secret trip, and she was not to tell Daddy anything about it. Unlike me, Lizzy's actually pretty good with secrets. We dashed in, made our purchase, and hurried back out with just enough time to beat Isaac home for lunch.
Which we would have done.
If the car had started.
Can I just remind you that we bought this car less than three weeks ago? The wagon was in the back and we were less than two miles from home, so for a moment I considered leaving the stupid thing, but retrieving it would have been too much of a hassle, so I did the only thing I could think of, which was to call Isaac and have him come bail us out. At least then we could keep the car seats with us. So that's where Isaac found us 15 minutes later, right in front of the store where I had bought his birthday present, and no way to hide that fact. So much for being sneaky.

Snow and OMSI

Lizzy, Barak, and I enjoyed the snow we had recently. It mostly stayed off the roads in town, it was pretty, and it melted that same day. Perfect, if you ask me. Also, I have never in my life encountered better snow for making snowmen.

I like the expression on Barak's face in the first picture. He seems to be saying, "You call this a snowman? I don't want my name associated with this plebeian art!" Or maybe he's thinking, "Mom! Why are you making me sit in the cold, wet grass?!" Here is snowman #2.

And in completely unrelated news, we went to OMSI a week or so ago. We left Isaac at my parents house so he could work on our taxes, and my sisters took the kids and I out to play. (I know. I still owe Isaac for that.) While there, Lizzy got to blast into outer space.

And Barak helped my sister build a pyramid. (They're pulling a big block in this picture.)
And just to keep this blog post completely random, I'd like to mention that we bought a minivan. She is gray, ugly and seats eight. Her name is Bessie the Fat Cow and I love her.