As heard...

Before bed tonight, Hannah asked if she could look at pictures in bed on her IPhone (and by "her IPhone" I mean my old one that houses her music, a few non-internet dependent games of hers, and some pictures she has taken). She excitedly goes to lay in bed and I am sitting on the couch hanging out and taking pictures of Zach while he is deliriously sleepy and giggly.

After about 30 minutes I check on Hannah and she is almost asleep in her dark room while Little Einstein's Bedtime Lullabies is playing on her IPhone. I went in to give her a kiss goodnight and she looks up and me and this happens...

Hannah: Are there King Cobra's here?

Me: Um, What?

H: Are there King Cobra's here? (at this point I can tell she had heard something at school that clearly sent her mind on a tail spin)

Me: I am not sure

H: Are they only in San Diego?

Instantly I started laughing

Me: Sweetie, that is the most random thing you could have ever said to me. San Diego? Why would you say that? What did you hear about King Cobra's?

H: Why? Have you been to San Diego?

Me: Yes. Many times. I don't think there are King Cobra's there. At least I never saw one.

At this point Chris walks in to give her a goodnight kiss... so I tell him about her concerns and he assures us that they are in India. And Hannah drifts off to sleep.

As heard...

Every night at dinner we discuss the best parts of our days and the worst parts of our day. The other night we got to Hannah... she had a couple good parts of her day.. no bad parts and we'd moved on to someone else... then....

Hannah: "Oh! Mom! I have another best part of my day!"

Me: "Oh yeah? What is that?"

H: "For snack today... we had salad. With SARDINES!"

Me: "Oh yeah? Did you like them?"

H: "Yes! They were SOOOOO good"

Me: "Really? Can you tell me about them?'

H: "Yeah. They were like... these square crackers"

Me: "Ooooooh... you mean saltines"

As heard...

Driving along with Zach the other day and he says to me...

"Mom. My mouth wants to sing and my body wants to dance so when I say 'Hit It' you put on 'Call Me Maybe'... OK?!"

As heard...

Zach was in showering the other night and Chris went in to check on him. Zach told him "I used your soap daddy! I smell like you! I getting big!"

As heard...

Last night as I was tucking Zach in bed he tells me:

"When Daddy gets home from soccer he will come in and kiss me and then I will go 'whoa' while I am sleeping. Capiche?"

Me: "OK Zach, good night" ... Pause ... "Did you just say capiche?"

Zach: giggling "yeah"

3 little birds

About a week ago after dinner Hannah started singing "Cause every little thing... is gonna be alright". I was so proud to hear her singing such amazing song and knowing the words and the melody as if she'd known it for years. This has always been a favorite of mine and it is Bob Marley after all.

After singing it a couple times with her and still kind of beaming that me and Chris' great taste in music had worn off on her and she wouldn't fall victim to the Justin Bieber Fan club ... Chris says "they play it on Nickelodeon commercials".

My bubble totally burst. I hadn't exposed her to inspirational music of the generations but some damn Cartoon Network had. I felt like the biggest asshole of a parent.

Another seemingly unrelated story:

So a few weeks ago my mom went to Arizona with a friend and while shopping she found a squirrel proof bird feeder.

Sidenote: I have not been able to successfully plant anything on our back deck or back of our property because these huge bastard squirrels dig up everything. So my mom was very excited to try this somewhere in our yard.

So I finally get the feeder up about a week ago and I put it outside my kitchen window. I didn't want it somewhere that they could crap all over the deck and because I didn't know what kind or size of birds would use this feeder I didn't want it somewhere that if it was empty and the birds get mad they would dive bomb the kids where they played so I put it off to the side not over the deck. It is about 7 feet out from my kitchen window. We were home this whole weekend and in between the rain and hail storms these cute little birds would come and eat the food. We don't often see this small of birds in our area but I think since the bigger birds and too big to fit in the cage these ones have free reign.

So all weekend we got to look at all these cute little birds take turns eating the seeds. The kids loved looking out the windows at them and they were just such a bright part of our weekend. It made me sing "3 little birds" often with the kids.

It made me think of my teenage years and listening to the Legend album in my first car. It reminded me that Mandy posted this video to my Facebook wall the morning Chris was going in for heart surgery and that I posted it to her wall when she was going through the early stages of divorce. It made me think of palm trees. To me it is just one of the most soothing songs.

It also made me realize I really need to stop singing Katy Perry with my kids and put on the classics!

Happenings on a preschool playground....

Last night over dinner Hannah was telling us about her day.

She informed us that H (a boy at her school) "is the best boy ever because he likes girl stuff. Like clothes and lip gloss and necklaces".

A bit later Hannah says "H and C (girl at her school) are married because they kissed"

I asked "Do you think you guys are a little young to be kissing?"

"Well C is 5 so she is older. But H is only 4"

I am SO not ready for this.

As heard...

The other night while we were eating dinner... this was heard at our dinner table.

Hannah: "What is this meat we are eating?"

Me: "It is turkey kielbasa"

Hannah: "Turkey what??"

Me: "Kielbasa"

Hannah: "That's a fancy word"

As heard...

The other day Hannah and I disagreed on something and she got upset and stormed into her room, threw herself on her bed, and sobbed. (seriously... she's only 4?!?!)

I went in and we talked about it and I left her room. She continued to lay there. Chris went in and lay down next to her.

Hannah turned to Chris and said "Daddy. You are the only one who understands me".

Seriously?

As heard...

We joined some of my family at Gilroy Gardens to experience the Holiday Lights that they put up during the season. Walking in we were overwhelmed with the beauty of the light displayed. Hannah had fallen asleep in the car so was quietly in the stroller under a blanket. As we were walking in Hannah says to me

"Mama... My eyes are watering because it is so beautiful, I have tears."

As heard....

Tonight the kids were getting ready for bed. They had their jammies on, Zach was going potty and Hannah walks by the piles of their dirty clothes on the floor.

Hannah: Ew! Zach has a birth mark..... Ew! So do I.

Me: Skid mark Hannah. The word you are looking for is skid mark.

As heard....

This morning we were discussing sleeping arrangements for the night. Chris' mom is coming for an overnight visit and we are going to have her sleep in Zach's bed. We asked Hannah if she was ok with Zach sleeping in her room with her. Her response...

"No... it will smell like boy"

.........

"But Hannah... Daddy sleeps in our room and he is a boy... does my room smell like boy?"

.........

"True"

As heard...

 The other day Hannah was eating an apple and had some interesting things to say

Hannah: "Mom... an apple tree is going to grow in my stomach"

Me: "Why, did you swallow an apple seed?"

Hannah: "No"

A few moments later....

Hannah: "Mom... a booger tree is going to grow in my stomach"

Me: holding back the laughter "Why, did you eat a booger?"

Hannah: "Yes, the other day at Miss Cindy's house"

Me: "Hannah... please don't eat your boogers"

As heard...

The other night I was tucking Zach in bed for the night. For the record, it had been 113 that day so it was pretty warm in our house. This is how the conversation went...

Zach: Mama... lay with me

Me: No Zach, it is way too hot

Zach: No mama. It is not hot. The sun went down. I show you. (gesturing towards the window)

Love this kid!

As heard...

Hannah: "Mooooom"

Me: "Yes Hannah"

Hannah: "I want a kitty and a doggy and a baby brother"

Zachary: "No baby brother! I not a baby! I'm a big boy!"

As heard...

The other night while Hannah was taking a bath, she pointed to a birthmark on her tummy and asked me what it was... this is how the conversation went...

Hannah: Mommy, what's this?
Me: That's your birthmark
H: Birthmark?
Me: Yes, something you were born with. See, I have one on my neck
H: YOU have one?
Me: Yes, see (pointing to it)
H: Mommy, you have sparkles on your back??
Me: No, I don't have sparkles on my back
H: Mommy... you have sparkles on your privates?
Me: No, Hannah, no sparkles on my privates

I walk out of the bathroom and tell Chris "Guess what Hannah just asked me?" and told him the conversation.

Chris says.... "Freckles. She is asking you if you have freckles"

Yes... that makes much more sense.

Siblings fighting

Yesterday at daycare Hannah was being a little bully to her brother. On a couple occasions she threw toys at him because he wouldn't do, or give her, what she wanted. (yes, we are at that stage) Towards the end of the day Zach was playing with a toy tool bench and she came up being mean again and Zach said "Hannah, I'm about tired of this!" Takes a lot to get Zach to that level, and I am SO glad to see him standing up for himself!

As heard....

Hannah: I have a problem...

Me: Yeah, what's that?

Hannah: I have poops

The Lists

Last night I was going over with the kids "The Lists". You know, the naughty and nice lists. I asked the kids if they thought they would be on the naughty list or the nice list. Zach responded "The Happy List!". Love that kid!

As heard....

Today we took Hannah to the ER. (not the point of the blog, but I will explain). She has had croup this week. It seemed to clear up as she slept great last night and sounded great this morning. I had to go back to work and Chris was working a half day so we took her to daycare in the morning. Cindy called around 1:30 saying she woke up screaming from nap and was short of breath. I called her pediatrician and they closed early today because of the holiday. One of the parents whose child also goes to daycare with the kids is a nurse so she came by and listened to Hannah's chest and said it sounded crackly and if it were her, she would take her kid in. So our only choice was the ER. Her lungs were clear and she did have a slight fever. They gave her a shot of steroids and sent us on our way.

Anyway, not the point of the blog. The point was, Hannah said something that cracked me up. Just a little history, before our Disneyland trip this year (yes I know, I haven't blogged about that yet... soon... promise) Hannah would ask about all her favorite characters and ask if they lived at Disneyland. She would ask about Dora and if she would see Dora at Disneyland....

So at the ER, she came back to the reception area after they checked her weight and the lady at the desk asked Hannah "who is that on your shirt?" and Hannah says "Dora. She doesn't live at Disneyland. She lives in Mexico."