#91 Our Own Tom Sawyer

Me: Alright, Brecken. Time to clean your bedroom.
Brecken: (in a complaining moan) Oh, man! (shoulders slump)
          (enter Taylor and Hallie)
Brecken: (happily now) Guess what, Taylor?! I get to clean our room!
Taylor: (suspiciously eyeing Brecken) Oh.
Brecken: (still enthusiastic) Hey, Hallie! Guess what I get to do? I get to clean our room!
          (Hallie and Taylor look at each other and scurry off... as do I)

Five minutes later...

Brecken: Nope, just one of you.
Taylor: Please, please me?
Hallie: I want to!!!
Brecken: Hmmmm.... let me think...
Taylor: I can do it the bestest ever!
Hallie: I want to!!!!
Brecken: Okay, I'll make a deal. You both can help me clean my room.
          (squeals of elation. From all three)

I've gotta give it to her, she's good. She is really good.

#90 Rollie-Pollies

All three girls love spring time, the blossoms, inviting weather, catching butterflies, and discovering lady bugs and rollie-pollies. The first of the season are especially exciting. I love their enthusiasm for it all. It's almost... magical. On such a spring day I watched and heard Hallie exclaim:

"Brecken! Tay! Look!!! A rollie-pollie!!!! Awe..."

(pause--crouch to admire)

*stomp* (Yes. On the rollie-pollie)

It's almost magical. If that would have been two-year old Brecken, or Little Tay-Rae, I would have been shocked--dumb-founded--in disbelief. But for some reason, watching Hallie obliterate the little rollie-pollie seemed... natural.

#89 The Phone Call

I called someone recently. I typically call her cell. Perhaps that is why the conversation went as it did when I dialed her landline.

small child: Hello?
Me: Hi, this is Serenity. Is your mom there?
small child: Yes.
Me: (after a small pause) Can I talk to her?
small child: No. She's upstairs.
Me: (after a myriad of thoughts and conjectures) Oh, can she not talk on the phone when she's upstairs?
small child: No, she can.
Me: Okay... Could you go get her?
small child: No. I can't.
Me: Oh, how come?
small child: The phone is stuck to the wall.
Me: (immediately enlightened) Oh! Okay. Well can you set the phone down and go and tell her I'm on the phone?
small child: Set the phone down?
Me: (encouragingly)  Uh-huh.
small child: (silence)  
Me: (silence)
*hang-up-click*

Landlines. Kids these days. The two don't mix well. I laughed. And then called her cell phone.

#88 Potato--Tomato

When Taylor was three she could not say, "Tomato." It came out every time, without fail, "Potato."

It was occasionally funny to hear her ask to get the "potato" out of her salad. And it brought a smile as she talked about dipping her grilled cheese in her red "potato" soup.

 But cutest of all was when she would quote MegaMind (which she did often):

"Oh, potato--potato--potato--potato!"

I still think of it. And it still brings a smile to my face :)

#87 Lip Gloss

Me: (walking into bedroom--Hallie on my dresser, admiring puckered lips in mirror) Hallie, what are you doing?
Hallie: (freezes) Nothing.
Me: What's on your lips?
Hallie: (examines mirror) Oh. Um... pff (chuckle) nothing.
Me: Hallie, I can see the lip gloss on your lips.
Hallie: (reexamines mirror and realizes it's obvious) Oh. Yeah. I got lip gloss because... my lips were cold. So... yeah. (in a serious tone) My lips were cold.

Despite the fact that she's gotten quite good at applying it (enlarging her lips by no more than a quarter inch) it's still a no-no. But if her lips are cold... I make exceptions. And then I laugh.