Not Ready For This Yet

This is, as accurately as I can remember it, a conversation Jordan & Karlye had on the way home in the car tonight (some names have been omitted to protect the innocent).

Background: The kids were talking about what they wanted to name their future potential children. I couldn't hear the names they were saying at first, although I believe Jordan's current favorite girl's name is Brazil.

Karlye: Well, you have to decide with your wife. You have to pick it together.
Jordan: If I ever have a boy I'm going to name it Michael Jordan. No, Jordan Michael.
Karlye: Then he would have the same name as you. You should name him Michael Jordan.
Jordan: Then his name would be Michael Jordan Disch. Michael Jordan's last name is Jordan, and he spells it the same way I spell my name!

Some discussion followed about the fact that Karlye's last name will change when she gets married but Jordan's won't. Then...

Karlye: If I marry Boy#1 my name will be Karlye So-and-so, but if I marry Boy#2 my last name will be Karlye Something-else.
Jordan: If I marry Girl #1, her name will be Girl #1 Disch, but right now it's Girl #1 Whoever, and if I marry Girl #2 her name will be Girl #2 Disch, but right now it's Girl #2 Blah-blah-blah.
Karlye: Who would you pick to marry first?
Jordan: I like Girl #1 best, then Girl #2, then Girl #3, then Girl #4. I thought you liked Boy #3?
Karlye: I do but I don't know his last name. I'm only saying people that I know their last name. Jordan loves Girl #1.
Jordan: I think she knows that. She's my best friend.
Karlye: I'm talking to Mom. Mom, Jordan loves Girl #1.
Me: That's nice. She's a nice girl.
Jordan: Yeah.

Then discussion followed about the relative merits of Boy#1 and Boy#2. Karlye told Jordan not to tell one of them that she liked him, if Jordan ever saw him, because "you don't want to make him mad" or "he'll take you down to the ground." Jordan wanted to know what would happen if he made the other boy mad and Karlye said he's probably go off and cry.

Karlye: So I have to pick either really tough or really fast. Boy #1 is really tough and Boy #2 is really fast.
Jordan: I'm really fast. Do you think I could beat (one of the boys).
Karlye: Yeah, but you couldn't beat (the other boy).
Jordan: Maybe you should pick someone who's really tough AND really fast.
Karlye: Yeah. When I get married, me and my husband are going to work out together. Because you know when you have babies you get really...(pause, then a whisper)...big. I'm going to stay skinny so I'm going to go and work out right away after I have the baby. Jordan, why are you laughing?
Jordan: You're going to stay skinny???
Karlye: Well, me and my husband are going to work out a lot. Sometimes I'll go work out, and sometimes we'll get a babysitter and then we'll go work out together.
Jordan: You know, this might not work out just the way you have it planned.
Karlye: I know.

I thought I might seriously die from trying so hard not to laugh out loud. I kept turning the music down lower and lower so I could hear them, hoping they wouldn't notice and stop talking. I love kids!

Being Four Changes Everything

The big day is finally here! Sasha has been talking about her golden birthday for months on end. She planned her guest list for her party about four months ago - Mae & Violet, of course, and all the little neighbor girls. She planned the color of her gifts around the same time - some gold (for her golden birthday) and some "not gold". And she's been counting down the days until her birthday for at least a week (and making sure to tell everyone she saw how many days were left). When she got up this morning I was on the computer and she came and stood right by me, stood up as straight and tall as she could, and said, "Mom, Mom, look how big I am now!"

Since the only time we could all be together today was before Jordan went to school, I made cinnamon rolls for breakfast, which has never happened before. Sasha freaked out because the frosting was dripping, so I had to cut hers into pieces and give her a fork. Then we took all the cards and presents in by Justin and woke him up so he could watch her open them. She'd been begging me for a pink tutu so I made one with an elastic hair band and tulle which ended up being really cute. We also got her some little suede and fake fur boots to wear with dresses and leggings, but her favorite present was free. I got a few bags of hand me down clothes and toys from my boss's girlfriend's nieces this week, and lo and behold there were two My Little Pony's, one with wings. I have a feeling that pony is going everywhere with her for the foreseeable future.

After breakfast, little miss sticky had a bath. She kept asking me all these questions about 4 persons, like "can 4 persons take a bath" and "can 4 persons use big washcloths". I couldn't figure out what she was talking about when I suddenly realized that she meant people who are 4 years old! Apparently she thinks that being a year older means not only do you grow much bigger overnight, but most aspects of your life will change. I'm afraid she's in for a bit of a let down. When she told me she's old enough now to eat in a big girl chair (instead of the high chair we put her back in because she's so short and has turned into such an antsy messy eater this year) I did tell her that we would give it a try, so that's something. Justin told me that while I was at work, before she went off for her birthday sleepover with Great-Grandma Louise and Great-Grandpa Glen, she told him that she hadn't got any gold presents yet. She also told Great-Grandma Louise when she came to pick Sasha up, so I imagine that problem will soon be remedied!

I can't believe my little baby girl is 4 years old already!

Jordan's parent teacher conference was last week. He's doing great, as usual. Not surprising considering how much he loves school. Apparently he's always nice and cheerful and well-behaved, which makes me wonder why I don't always get the Jordan at home. I guess if he's got to misbehave somewhere, I'd rather have it be at home than in public. I got a bit of surprise when his teacher told me that he'd been tested to see if he should move into Gifted and Talented math. It looks like he'll be fine in regular math for now, but they're going to keep an eye on him and he might move later this year. Reading's going really well too. They want the kids to be reading at a level 22 by the end of the year, and he's been at a level 23 since the end of first grade. I guess all the hours and hours we've spent reading to him are really paying off. I'm so very happy that he loves to read. I read a chapter from a book to him every night at bedtime (we're doing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory right now) and he's reading chapter books on his own as well. He still really loves art and also writing. This is a story he wrote for school; I especially love the begining and the end:

N or M

Some of my favorite "Sasha-isms" - "naybe" instead of "maybe"and "grow-mup" instead of "grown-up". These are often used together in sentences that start out, "Naybe, when I'm a grow-mup..." The poor little girl tries so hard to keep up with her big brother and sister. When they're here she follows them around trying to play with them, talking and talking at them and trying to get their attention. When they're not here she spends a lot of time talking about what she'll do when she's as old as they are and imitating all the annoying things they do that I'd like a break from while they're gone. Especially the way Jordan spends all day asking me if anyone is coming over and if we're going anywhere and then freaking out when I say "No" and "No". Give her a few decades and she'll start talking about the good old days when she was little and didn't have any responsibilities. Although, to be fair, she has taken on rather a lot of responsibilities for a girl who's not yet four.

She's very busy bossing her father and I around and panicking about things not being done properly. She's also been taking care of her "dollies" since she was about 8 months old. We now have Tiny Baby, Big Baby, Other Big Baby, the Raggedys (tiny Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls), Alpha-Betty (a doll given to my by my Grandma Betty when I was little) and a few other ones. Tiny Baby is the most important and usually goes everywhere with Sasha, along with Heart Blankie. Sasha spends a lot of time feeding, dressing and caring for her dollies, especially at night when she's supposed to be sleeping. She also has an imaginary dog named Jumper who was a gift from Grandma Tamar. She has such a realistic plan of care for Jumper and such a clear idea of what Jumper does that after she spent 10 minutes telling my boss about Jumper he turned to me and said, "You guys got a dog???" There are only two ways you can tell Jumper is imaginary - he goes to school with Jordan because he's 5 and he frequently changes colors (rather unrealistic colors at that).

"When I Grow Up"

About a week ago Jordan brought this picture home from school. It's a picture of him working in our basement (which we are currently finishing). I love how he even drew the step stool and the fan that Justin's been using down there. His goal for quite a while has been to be an artist when he grows up, so when I saw this I asked him about it. He said he guesses he'll be two things - an artist and a handyman. I thought that sounded like a pretty complementary combination. Then Sasha piped up and said when she grows up she wants to be a computer player and a baseball player. I said, "a baseball player, huh?". She said, "Yeah, and something important." "More important that a baseball player?" I asked. "Yes," she said. "I want to be a computer player, and a baseball player, and I want to play at Mae's house too." I had to laugh. Of course, to her nothing could be more important than playing at her best friend's house!

Mother's Day

Jordan made this card for me at school. He also gave me a cool rock with some shiny spots. It's smooth and fits nicely in my hand. For some reason holding it is very relaxing. I love my Jo-Jo!

Wheelin' and Dealin'

Jordan had yesterday and today off of school. Earlier this week he asked me if he could have his friend Nicholas sleep over some time over his long weekend. Then he asked, if Nicholas could sleep over, would I make macaroni and cheese from a box for supper. It's so funny how the kid is not that interested in my fabulous homemade mac and cheese but he loves any kind that comes in a box. (Oh wait, he's not a big fan of the Annie's organic mac & cheese either.) Not sure how this all fits into his New Year's resolution to eat healthier, but anyway...I said "we'll see" about the generic box mac and cheese and he immediately started bargaining.

Jordan: "I'll give you some of my money if you make macaroni and cheese."
Me: "I'm not going to take your money Jordan."
Jordan: "I'll make you something special in art class this week."
Me: "I love when you make me things in art class. We'll see about the macaroni and cheese."
Jordan: "But Mom I'll give you something or make you something."
Me: "Jordan, you don't need to give me anything. I understand that you really really want macaroni and cheese. We'll see. Probably."

Needless to say, he got his box mac & cheese for supper tonight. Kind of reminds me of sophomore year of high school when I spent two days trying to convince my parents to let me go to the Bush concert. I finally won the argument by telling them I would never take hot lunch at school again unless I paid for it myself.

Side Note: Sasha's teeth are "very sparkly and shiny" because she just had her first "dentist be-pointment".

Easter Weekend

We had a wonderful Easter weekend. Fairly relaxing, everyone was pretty healthy, the kids were happy, the weather was decent, and we made it to church with time to spare. On Good Friday we went to church in the evening. Saturday afternoon we spent at Justin's grandparents house in Albany, had lunch and the kids did an Easter egg hunt. This morning we went to church with Lydia, Brandon and the boys in Janesville. Then we went to their house for lunch with some of my family. Here's some of my favorite pictures from the weekend. (I know there's more pictures of Sasha than the other two, but I just can't help it.)

Here Goes Nothing

Christmas is over, the new year has begun, and I'm still waiting for life to slow down. Here's a little tid-bit for you while I try to get back into the swing of things. A few days after Christmas, we were at Justin's dad's place, getting ready to go sledding. I wanted Sasha to go to the bathroom before I put her snowpants on, for obvious reasons, but she was having none of it. I finally convinced her to go and followed her into the bathroom. She hopped up onto the toilet and said, "Here goes nothing...because nothing's coming out!" Followed immediately by a tell-tale tinkle sound. Being a generally nice girl, she graciously admitted that I had been right while I wiped her. What I want to know is, where the heck does she come up with this stuff?