One BIG happy family

As we usually do, I was asking Reese about her day at school on our ride home. She started telling me how she went to the library and picked out the best book. Our conversation went something like this: Reese: I love the book that I picked out because it reminds me of our family. Me: Oh yeah, what is it about? Reese: A family of hippos! Yep, that's us! One BIG happy family!

Change of character

Generally, Reese's personality and character traits are more similiar to Randy's. She is very outgoing and athletic and hands on. Aidan on the other hand tends to be more like me, he is very tender hearted and caring and definitely a clutz. So I was thrown for a loop when the following took place: This morning while Randy and I were working on the house, I overheard the kids playing. Aidan had built a fort in the couch we moved to the center of the room and was playing in it. Reese came and asked if she could play, to which Aidan replied, "Yes, for five dollars!" Now Aidan usually takes after me, so this showed a little of his entrepreneurial spirit, which would definitely come from his father! Reese upon hearing Aidan's request, made her way to the dining room table and immediately began cutting out and creating her own money with which to pay Aidan. This definitely showed off her more crafty side, and therefore a little bit of my personality. When Reese had finished making a few dollars she returned to the basement and "paid" Aidan her entrance fee and asked to play. Without missing a beat, Aidan immediately asked for more money, specifically he said, "Reesey, make me money all the way to the stars!"

Better than a blanket!

My mom came to visit us for a few days while she was off work after surgery. When she came she brought Reese's quilt with her. She had given Reese a quilt for her birthday about a month ago, but had to take it with her to finish up the binding. Reese was absolutely ecstatic to have her quilt and couldn't wait to put it on her bed.

Today as my mom was preparing to leave and the kids were extremely upset at seeing her go, my mom told Reese that sleeping with her quilt would be like having grandma Potter laying next to her and that each of the hearts on the quilt was like a kiss from grandma. Reese calmed down at that and settled down for her nap with the quilt.
A few hours later when the kids woke up from their naps, Reese told me, "Grandma Potter is a lot more fun than a blanket!"

Drivers Ed

After attending the fair last night, I drove home. While driving I may have gotten wrapped up in a conversation and noticed at the last minute that the car in front of me was stopping. I slammed on the brakes and stopped in plenty of time. Unfortunately, Reese noticed the jerkiness and piped up from the backseat with, "Mommy's just learning to drive."

Wedding Planning Already

Reese and I have been talking a lot lately about growing older. She is all about growing older and is constantly talking about all of the things that she will do when she is 7, 10,15 and beyond. I, on the other hand, constantly tease her that I am going to put a brick on her head so that she can not grow any more. Today we were talking about Randy and I's wedding and she said, "Someday I will get married and wear a white dress." I was taken aback by this statement and wanted to answer that she will not be getting married for a very long time, but insteas answered with a simple,"Yes, you will." Then she got really quiet and asked in a choked up voice: "But will that mean that I will have to leave you?" Though I wanted to answer, "No, your husband will definitely want to move into our house and we can all live together like one big, happy family." Reese is smart and I knew that she had already made the connection that her father and I had left our parents homes to get married and start our family. So I answered with the truth. Me: "Yes, you will, but you will be with your husband and you will still be able to see me."

Future Olympic Gymnast

We were watching the Olympic Trials the other night and one of the gymnasts was up for the balanace beam. As she walked across the beam, Reese announced, "Some day I am going to be a professional walker like that!" and she started walking around the room like she was on a balance beam.

Mother Hen

We finally got to go home from the hospital today with baby Gretchen, and Reese immediately showed that she is ready for her role as big sister. As soon as daddy pulled up to the doors of the hospital, Reese grabbed up the carseat and started to carry her little sister to the car. Though she seemed to have a hold of the carseat pretty well, I broke it to her gently that she could not carry the carseat. We got Gretchen into her seat and then quickly loaded all of our bags and belongings into the trunk. When I returned to the car to buckle the kids into their seats, I found Reese situated in the middle of the backseat, so that she could keep an eye on her baby sister. As we drove away, Reese kept me informed of everything that Gretchen was doing. At one point Gretchen started crying and Reese began to sing a song that she made up as she went. I was so proud listening to her singing about her sister being a beautiful girl and telling her to go to sleep. When we got home, she wanted to immediately get Gretchen out of her seat and into her bed. I convinced her to leave her be since she was already sleeping and asked her to help me get some things organized around the house. She gladly helped me to go through all of her old baby clothes and sort them by type (onesies, dresses, pajamas, outfits). When we were finished with that, she also helped me to get out and clean all of the bottles and feeding items. We finally left the house the other day to get a few groceries. All three kids were sitting in the backseat and again Reese was more than happy to help out. She started again by giving me a report of every move that Gretchen made. Then she decided that Gretchen was too warm with her blanket covering her. Two minutes later, she was cold and needed the blanket back. Then she started to cry, so I gave Reese the bottle and asked her if she could feed her. Aidan was devastated that he did not get to help, but was satisfied that he could give her the binky when she finished her bottle. Gretchen did not eat the bottle very well, so Reese gave it back. Then she started to cry again and Reese wanted to try the bottle again. She just had to be doing something with Gretchen the entire ride into town. Randy and I have been wondering what to expect of the car trip we have planned to Indiana (6 hours away) to see family in a few weeks. I'm almost thinking that we could go without any of our usual road trip paraphernalia (video games, movies, crayons, books and toys) because the kids will be so busy watching, playing with and helping with taking care of Gretchen.

Sister's Day

With Mother's Day already past and Father's Day coming up quickly, Reese had a valid question, "Mommy, when will it be Sister's Day and everybody can buy me presents?" My answer, "There is no such thing as Sister's Day, but your birthday is coming and I bet that you will get lots of nice things for your birthday."

Awkward Conversations

During lunch Reese asked if the fruit salad we were eating would make her big and strong? I immediately answered, "Yes!" but was not prepared for her response! She said, "When I am big and strong, I can finally lift daddy's boners!" I about chocked on my fruit salad and then calmly asked her what she meant by "daddy's boners". It turns out that she was referencing a few dumbbells or hand weights that we have in the basement. I clarified what they were actually called, as speaking of the alternative (especially in public) could be a bit awkward! While discussing a magic show that Reese was planning, I overheard Aidan ask, "Are you going to make my balls disappear?" Though I knew that he was not referring to any part of his anatomy, that was all I could think of! I guess working with junior high aged kids is rubbing off on me and making me a bit immature!

Ghost poop

Last night Reese called me into the bathroom to wipe her bottom. "Mommy, I'm pretty sure I pooped. I think it stinks in here but I don't see the poop. It's like camouflage, magic poopy!" It did indeed stink and all the poop had settled down into the bottom of the toilet and was not immediately visible, so I guess that it was kind of like a ghost poop!

Fancy Dinner`

Last night as we were playing outside, Reese asked if she could set the table for a "fancy dinner?" Me: "What is a fancy dinner?" Reese: "Well, we would need a knife, fork and spoon." Me: "Oh really. And you know how to set the table for a fancy dinner?" Reese: "Yep! What are we going to have for dinner? It needs to be something that we can use a knife." Me: "I was planning to have leftovers. We have lasagna and tacos and sandwiches." Reese: "Well we could use the knife to cut the tacos." Me: "Alright, maybe I will put out some candles too." We went inside awhile later and Reese set our fancy table while I reheated the leftovers. When she was finished setting the table, she helped Aidan get dressed in his fancy dinner attire (one of her dress up dresses). He obliged for awhile and then took it off, telling me that, "I can be fancy in my pants and shirt, mommy!" Reese also assigned us all roles during dinner: Randy was the beast, Aidan was "Chip" and I was to be the teapot. Of course, Reese was Belle. Though she tried to find her Belle costume for dinner, she couldn't find it, so she settled for a few accessories. After she assigned us all our part, I could only guess that her idea for the fancy dinner came from watching Beauty and the Beast today. The kids were very impressed when we sat down to our fancy dinner of leftovers with candles! I have to say that it did make our Monday night dinner just a little bit more special!

Incognito

We recently chopped Reese's hair off in preparation for summer. Since cutting her hair, she is convinced that her friends from preschool no longer recognize her. Today when I picked her up she told me, "I told Cassie that I am still Reese."

Reverse bikini

It was warm enough this weekend, that we decided to put on our swimsuits and head to grammy's pool to play. I was helping Reese get dressed by tieing her swimsuit top. As I pulled the top up to cover her chest, Reese protested, "This top needs to cover my belly not my boobs!" and proceeded to pull the top down to cover her belly and expose her chest. I pulled the top back up and quickly responded that since it is a two piece, the top is to cover her chest and some of her belly would be exposed.

Sympathy Weight

While swimming at our hotel the other day, the kids asked to get in the hot tub. I responded that I couldn't get in because it would be too hot for the baby in my belly. The kids thought this over and Reese responded: "What about the baby in daddy's belly?"

Reesisms-Spring Break Edition

As we drive over the state line into Florida for our family vacation we announce that we are finally in Florida. Reese immediately responds, "Mommy, it's just like in my dreams!"

After checking into our hotel we spend some time wandering around. While wandering around the pool, Reese happened to see her great aunt Linda and cousin Lindsay. She came running up to me and said, "Mommy, there is something new here!" Thinking that it is something new by the pool, I am suprised when she announces, "It's Lindsay!"

Cowgirl

The other night we were playing Country Dance on the Wii. As is usual the second we walk in the door, Reese was dressed in nothing but her underwear. After dancing to a song or two, she said, "Hold on a minute, I gotta go get something." She ran off to the basement and mudroom and returned a few minutes later with her pink cowgirl hat and black cowgirl boots. Now appropriately dressed she announced that we could resume the game!

Little Houdini

I happened to catch Reese doing a "magic trick" as I was passing the toy room the other day. She had stuffed several rabbits into a cabinet and had her magic wand. She waved the wand around and said, "Abra cadabra, disappear rabbits!" Then she hit the door with the wand. The door didn't close to hide the rabbits, so she said, "Didn't work! I gotta try that again." She repeated the process about 4 more times before finally closing the door with her hand. Once it was closed she said, "There, disappeared!" She finally turned around because I broke out into laughter and she laughed with me!

I told Randy the story later that night and he relayed the following story to me: Reese had a stuffed animal laying on the floor next to her and she waved her wand in the air and said, "Abra cadabra, disappear!" The animal did not disappear so she slyly kicked it out of the way and said, "It's gone!"

I don't know where this sudden interest in magic came from, but it is hillarious to see how she thinks it works!

Just call him Fido!

We went to Burger King for a quick dinner tonight. The kids played in the play place while Randy got our food. There were a couple of other kids playing as well and Reese was quick to start up a conversation. "I got my brother with me. He is kind of like a pet!" The other kids didn't say anything back, but I about busted a gut! I guess you could say from this comment that Reese is pretty fond of her little brother!

Slippers

While shopping this weekend we happened to find some Lightning McQueen slippers perfect for Aidan. I had planned to buy them some for Christmas, but they did not make the cut as the kids usually run around the house in just their underwear. I did not see them actually using the slippers and could not justify spending $10 or more for slippers. The Lightning McQueen slippers were clearanced for less than $5 for the pair, so in the cart they went. Though we tried to find something similar for Reese, the store did not have anything in her size. She was absolutely devastated, but we promised that we would keep looking while we finished our shopping.
As luck would have it, while browsing the Target dollar section, I noticed a little pink pair of slippers with hearts on them. I grabbed up a pair and immediately checked them against Reese's foot to see if they would fit. She was ecstatic and would not allow me to put them in the cart, she had to hold them. We continued on browsing the store until we found my husband. Reese immediately held up her slippers and shouted, "Daddy, look what we found! They fit me and they were cheap!" An older gentleman that was walking up behind Randy about snorted trying to hold back his laughter, and he doesn't even know my husband and how his whole family accuses him of being a total cheapskate! I guess like father, like daughter!

Citrus Family

Tonight I peeled a grapefruit for the kids to eat before bed. While I was peeling it, the kids were commenting on how big the grapefruit was, especially compared to their favorite, the "cutie" clementines. Reese said it best:

"That grapefruit could be the mommy or daddy of the cutie!"