What?!

We were sitting around the dinner table chatting and Madie says, "You're a little, old lady!" out of no where. This causes her and Noah to start laughing hysterically. "A little, old lady?!!!" I said. "I'm not old!"(insert Monty Python accent here). They then began taunting me with "You're a little, old lady. You're a little, old lady! hahahaha". After a couple minutes of the taunting, Madie decides to explain herself and says, "Mommy, you're a little, old lady, because you're little, you're very, very old in your age, and you're a lady". Very, very old, huh? So, I look at Livie, hoping for some kindness from my youngest child, and say, "Livie, you don't think I'm a little, old lady do you?". She said, "Nope. Nice inchworm.". And, there you have it. :-)

I Am Short

I was at church yesterday getting inducted as a new elder. And I tell you this only because it reminded me of how short I really am. See I was standing up there with 4 other people. The person that stood next to me is super tall. I don't know exactly how tall she is, because when you're always looking up at people, you don't really have a way to gauge how tall they are. But, she's tall. Then, when the rest of the elders came up to pray with us, yet another very tall person stood beside me. I felt a little like I did in that picture above. That was taken at a friend's wedding a month after we got married, so nearly 10 yrs ago. Both Chad and Tracey are 6' tall and Pete's 6'2", so I looked a bit like an 8 yr old with boobies. Now for those of you who don't know, I'm 4'10". Yes, I am a 4'-er. And, I've always embraced me 4'edness. It's something that makes me unique and there have been many benefits to being short. First, I always got to be in the front for everything. You know "short people up front", well that meant if we were doing an art project at school or singing in the choir, I was right there by the teacher. Front and center, getting to see everything up close. When I graduated from high school, our high school was small enough that they didn't seat us alphabetically, they sat us in order of height. So, I was right in the front row, first in line after the class officers. Sweet!!! Plus, I already get an "in" with little kids. I'm short like they are and they seem to respond well to that. There are lots of things to be happy about when being short. Ya know, I don't really know what my true shortness is though. When you live it, you just get used to looking up at things. Very rarely I am reminded of it. Like when I see the picture above. Or when I say to Pete "put this candy up high so I can't reach it or I'll eat it all" and he puts it on the second shelf in the cupboard. Ya know, things like that. There are a couple things that frustrate me about being short. I HATE when a sock gets stuck at the bottom of the washing machine. I have to prop myself up and practically throw myself into the washer to reach it. I also hate that dancing with my husband is nearly impossible. I could pull off standing on a stool or a chair to dance with someone when I was in high school (my prom date was 6'4"), but I was silly and it was ok. Seeing a 34 yr old on a chair just isn't as cute anymore. But, those are really the only things that sometimes bother me. Oh, and trying to find shoes that are a size 3 and don't have velcro and Little Mermaid on the side is hard to do! But, I just go up a few sizes and get something cuter. :-) I guess the reason that my shortness has never bothered me is because it's part of me. It's who I am. I've been called every short name out there and been used as an arm rest more times than I can count, but all my life people have known that of me and it's fun! I fully enjoy and embrace it! I remember someone actually asking me once if I was considered a midget. Not just calling me that to be funny, but seriously curious if I was one. I said, "Um, no, I have like 2" on a little person thank you!". ;-) But, yesterday, as I was standing there between super tall people like I was at that wedding all those years ago, I wonder what it looks like to other people when they see me. I wonder if I really AM extremely short or just like average. I guess I probably already know the answer to that one. And, I know that the only changes coming in regards to my height at this point will be shrinking. So, maybe in 30 yrs or so, that guy can find me again, ask me about being a little person and I'll be able to answer, "Yes. Yes, I am".

Winter Fun

Yesterday we got a few inches of snow with another inch or so today. We took the kids out and played for about an hour and a half or so. It was a lot of fun! Typically if Pete takes them out, then I stay inside and get the hot cocoa ready, but we all decided to go out. Pete pulled Livie in her little sled. She loved it!!!



Noah got a snow painting set for Christmas, so he was excited to break those puppies out! They were really fun! Though the red paint looked like we had killed the skunk and he had bled all over the yard. I think that actually made Pete feel better. ;-) Noah decided to write his name. He did a WAY better job than I did trying to write mine. Guess they're best when used by kids.

Livie made a few snow angels. She had trouble getting up though, so after she'd make them, she'd call for us to come over and help her. Pete would just lift her completely up by her coat. It was really funny!

Madie and I posed for a quick pic together. She was so busy sledding, she didn't stop for many.

Along with the snow paint, Noah got a few snow molds. Unfortunately the snow is so powdery that it didn't make very good snow blocks. He was a bit disappointed that he wasn't able to build his fort. But, it wasn't for lack of trying! He got his snow shovel out and was scooping up the snow and pouring it in the mold to try and make the blocks.

Here's Pete pulling Livie on the sled. He actually pulled each of the kids on it like 3 or 4 times each. He was worn out! I took over and gave them each a turn, but he's WAY better at it than I. My legs aren't as long, so I can't run fast like he can.

Then they decided to have a snow feast and ate all the snow on top of the sandbox. I'm always telling them NOT to eat the snow, because they always seem to find snow that's been walked over 100 times and dirty and gross. This was clean, fresh snow, so they ate it up!!

Even Pete got in on the action. ;-)

After that they played for a while longer and our neighbor Rod came out to start his grill. Pete talked to him and he offered to let us use his hill to sled down. Oh my gosh was that fun for them!!!!! They kept trying to slide down our poor excuse for a hill, which is basically just a bump at the edge of our yard. They have a full-fledged hill in their yard. So, I stood at the bottom and Pete stood at the top and we helped them slide on down. I was the tree blocker. That way no one actually went straight into a tree. I did that once as a kid and nearly broke my leg! We had a couple close calls, but no one hit it. It was really fun for them, because it's really the first time they've ever truly been sledding. They did that for a long time. I told Rod how much we appreciated him letting us do that. His nice yard will freshly fallen snow is now covered in boots prints and sledding trails. :-)

Flashback Friday

One of the blogs I check out is done by friends of ours that we met when we all lived in NY. She has had a little thing called "Flashback Friday" and I think it's such a fun idea! Nearly every friday, she posts a picture from the past and tells us about it. Kristen, I hope you don't mind me stealing your idea. But, they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right? :-)

Today I thought about posting this picture of me when we were in Haiti. I got to see my Aunt Phyl and Uncle David over Christmas vacation and we talked about our time there all those years ago. I was 3, I think, same age as Livie is now, when I went. The picture above is of my brother Micah, me, my cousin Karen, and my cousin Amy. Mom and my grandma took us and I don't really remember a whole about my time there. I was just a little kid afterall. :-) But, I do have very distinct memories of (1) sleeping under the mosquito netting when we slept and (2) catching a starfish in the ocean. The net, I thought, was the coolest thing ever! Like a big giant tent. I didn't at the time know it was used to keep tarantulas and other scary, nasty things from creeping into our beds. I just thought it was really cool! Aunt Phyl told me that Micah didn't enjoy it quite as much. He apparently screamed and cried when they tried putting him it in. Guess he didn't enjoy the adventure quite as much as I did. ;-) The starfish I remember finding and putting in a little pail that I brought with me to the beach. I remember Uncle David helping me with it. I also remember that it ended up dying and stinking to high heaven! Guess that was a lesson I should have learned, because as I got older, I also caught frogs and crawdads and tried keeping them in buckets of water, but they also died and stunk up the place. So many had to die in my quest to perserve sea creatures. Or, at the very least creek creatures. So, it might not be much of flashback, since I can't really remember a bunch of my time there, but those few memories I have are fun ones. Oh, and notice my curls in that picture? Guess some of my girls' curls came from me afterall. :-)

My Funny Boy

Madie was talking to us in the van on the way home from school about the basketball she bought in the Pride Store today. She said she bought it because it had blue stripes and grey stripes and black stripes. This was our conversation....

I said - "That's great! It has Livie's favorite color blue, Noah's favorite color black, and Olive's (our cat) favorite color grey".

Madie said - "Grey is Olive's favorite color? How do you know that?"

I said - "Noah told me."

Madie said to Noah - "Noah, how do you know that grey is Olive's favorite color?"

to which Noah replied - "Um, because I'm a genius."

Hilarious! :-)

We Must Keep Up The Fight!

Tonight at dinner Livie decided she didn't want to eat her roast beef out of the beef and noodles I made. We were telling her how yummy it was. How it was just like Nana roast beef that she had eaten a hundred times before. But, she still wasn't persuaded. Then I thought, why not ask her if she would rather eat the delicious beef or the worst possible food ever created in the universe (do you even have to ask what it is?) instead. Surely THEN she would concede and eat my wonderfully made roast. So, I asked her. Which would she choose? As she answered, it was like the world was spinning in slow motion. I could hear the word come out "bbbbbrrrrooooccccoooollllliiii", but it just wasn't registering in my brain. Was my daughter REALLY saying what I think she was saying? That she would rather eat a detestable growth from the underworld instead of my lovingly cooked roast? I couldn't believe what I was hearing. After many weeks of pounding into the kids' heads that broccoli is vile, I thought I was making progress. Noah has recounted his earlier claim of liking the stuff. And, Madie was on the fence about it. Saying she would rather eat it that the dreaded mushrooms, but that it isn't her favorite. The dark skies above our house were starting to clear. I could finally see that small light at the end of the tunnel. Pete and I began to feel whole again, that our family might survive this. Then, that one simple statement from Olivia threw us back into oblivion. I wasn't going to settle for that answer. No! I wasn't going to let all our progress go to waste! I started throwing every sweet, savory food name I could think of at her, just to see if she would continue to chose the broccoli over things like donuts and ravioli. As the questions were asked, she kept spewing the word "brcc-e" at me as if she was possessed by the awful weed. It's like the sweet, innocent little girl was no longer able to think on her own. She was this deranged, possessed crazy person who laughed maniacly as she answered my questions. Olivia had ceased to be and now she was this person consumed with the drug that science has referred to as "Brassica Aleracea". Doesn't that sound like a flesh-eating virus or something? And, this is what my child wants to eat ABOVE SNOW CONES!!!! This is Olivia just a few days ago, before she had fully given herself over to the dark side..





This was her tonight....




I seriously thought her head was going to spin around and she was going to spit pea soup out all over the table. I didn't know what to do. How to handle this sudden turn of events. Pete was no help. At the first sign of her broccoli possesion, he ran from the room. Madie and Noah were beginning to laugh along with her. She was pulling them in! I yelled to Pete to look online for some broccoli interventionists. Maybe a priest. "GRAB THE YELLOW PAGES!" I shouted!!! I didn't know what else to do. I was pulling at straws. I had to stop this from continuing before it destroyed her and my other two children. They're so small and can't resist the pull that this tripe has on them. Finally, thinking all was lost, I lunged for the beef and shoved it in her mouth. As the juices flowed and the tenderness of the meat sunk in, her demeanor changed. She calmed and the shaking began to stop. The meat was winning! It was pushing the thoughts and impulses of the broccoli away. It was ridding her system of the organism that had so quickly taken hold. She was saved!! We cheered and hugged. We hadn't lost our daughter to the broccoli after all. She was going to be ok.

Now, I know the struggle isn't over. I know that something as hideous as broccoli won't give up that easily. We must keep up the fight. I mean, we almost lost her tonight. We came close. But, now we know what to look for. So, again, parents, I want to remind you to keep up the good fight. We will one day overcome. I tell you this story tonight, not to scare you, but to prepare you for what might happen in your home. We can succeed. But, it's going to take hard work. Broccoli WILL be destroyed in our lifetime. Dollars and quarters from all over a small part of Rhode Island are being donated right now to research that will bring about the end to this volitile vegetable. We CAN do it!