December 3, 2007
When you what Mia what she's doing and she tries to answer "nothing"- she usually answers "anything!"
***
We're working to fill in all eight slices of a pizza picture to earn a trip to Chuck E. Cheese. Slices are earned by staying in your OWN bed all night. Needless to say, Mia has earned 4 of the 5 potential pieces this far. One night Jackson came to our bed around midnight. David was explaining to him that had had to go sleep in his own bed if he wanted a slice of pizza. "
"I just wanna snugglebaby for 1 minute, Daddy!"
and he crawled over and clued himself to me. He did go back to his bed but was back with us before the sun came up. A couple nights later he came again. David went through the deal again, concluding, "so don't you want to go back to your bed so you can get a slice of pizza?"
In his sleeping stupor Jax answered,
"I need to fink about it."
The snuggles won out.
***
January 7, 2008
Eli makes the sweetest sing-songy breathy baby noises. I love it.
His favorite thing to look at is the couch and loveseat material.
His favorite thing to chew on is his toes.

Eli's nicknames:
Ewi
Ewee
WeeWee
Mr. Littleby
Wee Guy (Poppy calls him that)

from Jackson and Mia:
Geegee
Giddy, sometimes "Gid"
Mr. Giddy
Giddy Boy
Giddy Boo
***
January 20, 2008
David, Jackson and Mia are curled up together in the recliner watching a Hillsong United worship DVD. A few minutes in Jackson said "I like it, Daddy!" They kept watching- there were a lot of people on the stage. David said "Look at all the people worshipping God with their hands" (in the audience). When it panned back to a guy on stage Jackson asked,
"Is that God?"
"No, buddy, that's not God. We can't see God- He's not a person. He's our Creator. He's invisible. We just talk to Him even though we can't see Him and have faith that He's there."
"Faif? What is faif?"
David and I looked at each other like "how do we explain?"
Jax cont'd thinking aloud. "Faiful."
(Repeating it as he heard it in a song.)
David said "Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."
Jackson had no idea what that meant, but the answer seemed to satisfy him- for now.
***
January 22, 2008
Jax came down the steps this morning telling me he needed help because his button came untied.

Our toilet was out of order today so I told Jax he couldn't use it.
"I fink you need some new batteries, Mom."

Mia was downstairs in the living room with me while Jax was upstairs playing. She looked at me and said "I'm gonna go upstairs and check on Jackson. You stay here and watch da wedder." (weather)

Roofers came to fix a couple places on our roof. Jackson and Mia are always excited for anyone to come to our house. J said- "Those men are gonna like Giddy."

Mia's cusswords:
DUNGO
MINKY
JUKA
CHUCKO
GONGY
PASQUALE
BOO-PAH
NOOKAH
PEACE ON EARTH!
FLEA MARKET!
and Aunt Emmy's favorite- "SHADRACH!" as she walked out of the room after not gettting what she wanted.

November 2007

I thought it would be fun to see what Jackson and Mia thought we should buy some of our family members for Christmas. Here's what they came up with:

Jackson's List:

Eli: snowflake passy

Emmy: ballerina clothes

GG: stand for T-Bird's cage

Nanny: microphone

Poppy: a microphone, too

Pam: a bow

Drew: a rockstar guitar

Aaron: 2 rockstar guitars

Mia's List:

Eli: a bottle

Emmy: ballerina clothes

GG: tweezers

Nanny: for her tongue to feel better

Poppy: rockstar pants

Pam: a ballerina dance

Drew: rockstar pants

Aaron: purple pants

Nov. 27, 2007

Jackson walked into our bedroom in the morning, climbed into our bed, looked Eli in the face and said "Hello, my friend!" Then he turned to me and said "He is so sweet."

Nov. 28, 2007

Jax came into our room and patted his hand over the sheets. He was looking for Eli. When I asked what he was doing, he said, "I wanna see my sweet precious baby boy."

Nov. 30, 2007

I put Eli down for a nap. He was crying as he tried to go to sleep. David was sitting at the computer and heard Jax start up the stairs.

"Where are you going, Jax?"

"Upstairs."

"Why?"

"My buddy is sad."

November 11, 2007

Jackson, trying to open playdough can, said "I can open it 'cause I'm a STRONG BOY!"

***

Jax is always making up or substituting words in familiar tunes. This morning I suggested we all go back to bed (since The Wiggles concert was last night). Jackson said he'd go back to Mommy's bed and started to sing (to the tune of the Choo-Choo Soul theme song): "All aboard to Mommy's bed, All aboard to Mommy's bed, All aboard to Mommy's bed, All Aboard-All Aboard!!"

***

We've discovered it's hard to get the truth out of Jackson and Mia about who committed what offense when you ask yes or no questions. This morning they were upstairs when Jax called down to report that Mia was jumping on the bed.

"Mia, come here."

They both came scrambling downstairs.

"Who was jumping on the bed?"

In stereo, "Mia was."

Just to make sure Jax wasn't guilty, I said "What were you doing while Mia was jumping on the bed?"

"I was wooking in da mirror at my Wiggles shirt." (he was still dressed like Murray from the concert the night before.)

***

November 12, 2007

***

Jax came walking into our bedroom in a daze around 11:30 p.m. He grinned a sleepy face grin and said "Hello, Mommy! Hello, eddyone!" and then he snuggled up tight to me and said in his stupor, "I wuv Poppy. Poppy is my friend." Then this morning he came and climbed in again, snuggled up to me and said, "I'm mommy's wittle buddy."

***

Jax was in the bathroom, Mia and I were in there too. I looked at her and said "Mia, you're so beautiful- are you my little princess?"

"Yes, and this (extending her arm to Jax) is Joseph."

Me: "Hey, Joseph."

Mia: "This is baby Jesus (cradling an invisible baby in her arms). Would you like to pet Him?"

Me: "Sure."

(And I reached out to love on Baby Jesus.)

Mia then laid the invisible Baby on the floor and proceeded to bend over. She was facing the floor, shaking her head back and forth.

Me: "What are you doing, Mia?"

Mia: "I'm rubbing noses with Baby Jesus!"

***

November 13, 2007

***

Brooke was at our house this afternoon. We were at the table eating supper when Jax must've looked at the refrigerator and seen the picture with PawPaw in it.

"PawPaw's in heaven," he said, talking to Brooke. "He's with Jesus. I'm gonna go see Jesus, too. When I go see Jesus, PawPaw's gonna get on the microphone and he's gonna say 'Introducing-

JEEE-SUUUS!!!'"

***

Both say "Let my do it" for "Let me do it"

***

Mia says "cuge" for "huge".

***

Jax suddenly stripped off his pj's one morning and put on his Murray clothes. As he was changing, Mia said "You funny, Jackson!"

"No, I not funny. I'm Murray."

Oct.28, 2007

On the way to church:

Jackson: "Look, Mommy, the sunshine came out! This is our day."

Mia walked into the living room where Eli was laying on the floor. In a sing-songy voice she said "Well, bless his little heart."

At Fazoli's today, Mom brought some croutons to the table.

Jackson: "Well, wook-ey here. Wook-ey here! Wow! Thanks, Nanny."

Oct. 27, 2007

Mom, Jackson, Mia and I went to Target. Jackson must've said 35,000 words while we were in there. "Mommy, I see VACUUM CLEANERS!! Wook, Mommy, I see Dora! And Thomas! There's the Wiggles! Wook, Mommy, I see a PUMPKIN. Over there is a CHWISTMAS TWEE!"

He talked CONSTANTLY.

Other people were noticing. My ears were exhausted from overload. Whew.

Mia calls a smoothie a "smoodie" and a mermaid a "wermaid."

They're into drawing right now. Jackson draws a lot of little circles, side by side. He also likes to draw clowns. Mia likes drawing rainbows (rows of straight lines) and spiders (a circle with 15 lines around it). I love it.

Jackson sings:

"Shout unto God

Da boice ub twiumph.

Shout unto God

Da boice ub praise.

Shout unto God

Da boice ub twiumph.

We liftcha Name up

We liftcha Name uuuuuup."

Mia was in the bathroom poo-pooing today singing "Joy to the World."

Nov. 4, 2007

I put Mia in her bed for the night.

"Where's the sun, Mommy?"

"The sun is resting from shining on us all day."

"I wanna touch the sun."

"The sun is too hot. It would burn your finger if you touched it."

"I wanna touch the moon."

"Okay, Mimi, maybe someday we can touch the moon."

""I'll say, 'Hi, Moon!' and I'll tickle the moon!"

Jackson was pressing on the toes of his brown boots as we were getting ready for church, as if checking to see if they fit.

"How do they fit, Jax?" "They fit.....nicely."

Jax calls boxer briefs "boxer greasers" and Five Iron Frenzy "Fire Fire Ernzy".

October 2007

I was putting Mia's socks on her feet; I'd scrunched them up but not quite enough, as about an inch was hanging off the end of her toes. She looked at it and, genuinely concerned, said "Oh no! It's melting!"

---

Mia asked me a question- can't remember what it was- but she liked my answer. She pointed her finger at me and said "ABSO-WUTEWY,, Mommy!"

---

Oct.9, 2007

I took all 3 kids to the dr. today for Eli's appointment. Wow! I felt like I'd put in a full day's work when it was over. They took their MagnaDoodles and honestly, did pretty well. But the Dr. suggested that Mia go ahead and get her flu shot. I waited a while to tell her (didn't want to trick her) but not long enough- the nurse was taking FOREVER to come in! She was screaming and crying about not wanting the shot, Jackson was screaming and crying because he didn't want Mia to have to get a shot, and Eli was crying from exhaustion. What a morning!

---

TRIP TO NC WITH POP

We met Pop in London so he could take Jax and Mia to Winston-Salem for a week or so. Half would be with the Joneses, and half with the Wilsons. As Pop was driving he was suddenly aware of Mia's head right beside his. "Hi, Pop!" she said. She had unbuckled herself and hopped down from her seat for a friendly little interaction with Pop. They then stopped for re-buckling, also for pottying. As they were walking out of the bathrooms, Jax spotted a picture of ice-cream. "I think I want some ice-cream." So ice-cream it was.

---

Also, in Winston, Pop took the kids to see NorNor at school. They walked into the classroom and Mia said "Hi, NorNor. This is my friend Pop." Jackson announced, "My name is Jackson David Jones and I'm a rock star!" The class thought it was hilarious.

---

Oct. 26, 2007

Mom and I went to KMart and DQ around the kids' bedtime. Jax was so sad- he cried while we were gone, wanting the kiss Mommy promised when we'd return. When we got home, he was on the loveseat laying down and Mia was on the couch, also laying down. David said "Mia, tell Nanny and Mommy why Jackson was so sad."

"Jackson missed Nanny and Mommy."

Just then Jax put one arm around my neck and one arm around Mom's neck. He pulled us close to him and said, "You are my sweet girls."

---

Oct. 27, 2007

Jax and Mia went downstairs for breakfast with Nanny, then Jax came back up to our bed for snugglebaby-ing. He gave David a kiss and I said, "Jackson, are you just full of love?"

"No, I'm full of Pop Tart."

funny pronunciations:

Jackson: orchestra- "o-piskwa"

" I can't be-WIEVE it!!"

Mia: pay attention- play appention

---

...Mia never answers a question with a simple "yes" or "no". Every question that starts or ends with "do you...." is answered with "I do...." or "I don't..." So very proper.

---

Sept. 30, 2007

Mia drank the last sip of a McDonald's Sprite through the straw. David took the lid off for her to see if there was any more left. She looked down in the cup and said "Hmmmm, this is gonna be tricky."

---

Oct. 1, 2007

Me: "Hey Jax, you know what we need to do? We need to clean up these blocks. Can you help me?"

Jax: (picking up his guitar) "Uh, no. I think I'm going to worship."

---

Oct. 3, 2007

Mia asked me if she and Jackson could sleep in "the really same room" tonight. Since they did well at naptime, I said "Sure!" and she said "You're so wonderful, Mommy!"

---

Both kids, when we read The Very Hungry Caterpillar, think the caterpillar spins a raccoon.

---

Jax answers a lot of questions by starting with "Well...." or "See...."

---

They love to watch Yo! Gabba Gabba. The main guy on the show is DJ Lance Rock, but to Mia he's BJ Lint Rock.

---

Jackson's shoes were untied; he was freaking out like he does sometimes when something is broken, torn, incomplete, etc. I told him to sit down so I could tie his shoes. He put one of the up toward me so I could tie it, put is hands on his head and said "IT'S RUINED!!"

Sept. 2007

Jackson talks a lot about "our famawy". He thanks God for our famawy, and today he also thanked God for "Uncle Drew rocking Jackson baby".

---

Sept. 15, 2007

The Carmichaels, Doerrs and Chris all came to our house today. Within 2 minutes of their arrival Jax and Mia broke out in a concert- Jax on his new acoustic cowboy guitar and Mia on the blue electric guitar. It was quite a concert! Everybody watched in amazement- Ethan was grinning from ear to ear and the other kids were speechless. The other adults think they're a hoot. So do I.

---

Jax spotted a roofer on top of a house behind ours while we were all in the back yard eating. He waved his little arm and yelled "Hey! Hey!" to the roofer (who remained unaware of the greetings coming in his direction). What a friendly little guy.

---

Sept. 2007

Zacchaeus was the topic of our "Bible Words" book the last few nights. Last night David was reviewing and said that Jesus went to Zacchaeus' house. "What did they do there?" he asked. With no hesitation, Jackson said, "They played the GUITAR!"

---

Sept. 21, 2007

Jackson came and got in our bed this morning. He's had a runny nose and was a little stuffy. He said "My nose stinks. It smehws wike Buckwey's poo-poo. (Pause) Stop poo-pooing on my nose, Buckwey!"

---

Later..."Daddy, I want to go downstairs." I said, "I'll take you, Jax." "No. I want Daddy to take me. Daddy is a sweet boy."

---

Mia got a doctor kit for her birthday, along with a personalized doctor coat. She loves being the doctor or the patient. She told me that she was sick and needed to go to the hospital. "What's wrong?" I asked. "My fingernails hurt...my armpits hurt....my pajamas hurt." Poor Mimi.

---

The kids watch me give Buck an allergy pill in the mornings, and I've explained to them before that it's because his paws itch. Sitting at the table the other day she told me she needed some medicine. "How come? What's the matter?" I asked. "My paws are itchy!"

little loves and trip to Indy

Aug. 2007

Jax came into our bedroom- David and I were in bed. He climbed up on our bed and pulled our heads together for a group hug and said "Mommy and Daddy, I wub you forebber."

---

Mia looked at Eli and said "I lahv (love) your toes. I lahv your black hair and your red mouth."

Aug.31 - Sept. 3, 2007- trip to indy

Jackson and Mia LOVED swimming! I remembered to bring their suits with floaties in them and that made things a lot easier in the pool. They could doggie paddle with them on by themselves and keep their heads above water.

---

Saturday: Jackson was in the sunroom watching Aaron through the screen door as he threw horseshoes. He had been following Aaron around constantly, telling him how great he is, etc. He was yelling "AARON! That was great! You are da man, Aaron, you are da man!"

---

I peeked in at the two of them after I laid them down for a nap. Jax was sitting up on the edge of the mattress so I told him to lay down. I looked at Mia, who was laying down like she should've been, so I said "Mia, you're being such a good girl." She looked at me and said "Thanks, Mom."

---

They had to pee constantly because they drank so much pool water. Jackson would take his trunks completely off and stand on the brick ledge facing away from the pool and toward the rocks. He'd take the stance, spread his legs, tighten his cheeks, lean his pelvis in and pee away. One time he reached his little left hand up to the imaginary handle on the imaginary toilet and flushed. Good-bye, tee-tee.

They performed in the foyer of East 91st after church for people who were still hanging around a while after church let out- Rhett, Mandy, Joe, Dave and others. They hammed it up to the max.

---

There's a Mama cat and 2 kittens under Em and Aaron's deck. Jackson thanked God for the mama kitty in his supper prayer.

---

Gary, Nancy and Emily Pelsue kept Jax and Mia so Aaron, Em, David and I (and Eli) could go out. When we got back they said they'd watched a Barney video. When asked "How was it?" Mia said "It was pretty good." Could a 3-year-old really have seen enough material in her life to judge a Barney video as just "pretty good"?

---

Unfortunately, Aaron decided to wear his speedo to swim on Sunday. When he took off his shorts to reveal his regrettable choice of swimwear, Jackson took a good look and said, "You got your pull-up on, Uncle Aaron?"

Sept. 7, 2007

Mia's prayer at lunch:

Dear God,

Thank You for my potatoes.

Thank You for my snake (country style steak).

Thank You for my salad.

Thank You for my dress-up (dressing).

Thank You for my corn.

In Jesus' Name,

Amen

---

Jackson always misses Daddy when I punish him or vice-versa. Tonight he was in trouble with both of us at home so he said "I miss my famwy in K-Cawina! (North Carolina)"

---

One evening Jax was in bed with David when his thoughts drifted to thinking about people's eye colors (for some reason he's really into that right now).

"What color are your eyes, Daddy?"

"Brown."

What color are Mommy's eyes?"

"Green."

"What color are Eli's eyes?"

"Blue."

"What color are Mia's eyes?"

"Brown."

"What color are Tiger Woods' eyes?"

back to business

After a short breather of 7 months I think I'll get back to this blogging thing. A couple nights ago there was a journal-worthy incident that I had to write down, and after it was written I couldn't help but flip back through the polka-dotted book where I write down all the gems, or at least some of them, that come out of those unpredictable little mouths. But alas, you'll have to wait for the most current entry, as I decided I would just start at the beginning of that journal- July 2007- and make my way through it until I am current on this blog. So the kids you'll read about here are two-and-a-half years younger than they are now. Some of the entries will be funny, some sweet, some just written down so I never forget the mayhem of the first few years, but it will give me a great sense of relief to have this treasure chest of things they've said and done recorded somewhere else than a little journal that could be lost or destroyed. I hope you have as much fun as I do. July 2007: Jackson (age 2) kept getting out of bed one night, so finally David let him lay in our bed with him while he read. Jax laid his head on David's chest and said "Daddy, I love you SO much." A few minutes later I came up, David told me what Jax had just said to him, and then he looked at me and said "Mommy, I think you're so precious"- OH MY WORD. I thinked him and then crawled up beside him to snuggle for a minute. He continued, "Mommy, I think you're so cute." I was thinking he'd just landed himself a lifetime pass to Mommy and Daddy's bed whenever he wanted. August 2007: I was putting away clothes in our bedroom and Mia (age 2- almost 3) was watching me. Pretty soon she picked up a hanger of her own along with a pair of Jackson's Diego underwear and proceeded to thread the top of the hanger through one of the legholes. As she hung it on there she sang, "Won't you be? Won't you be? Please won't you be my neighbor?"