Some kid quotes from 2011

I'm scanning through my old facebook posts and have come across some quotes from the kids over the past year. Since this is my scrapbook, I must record some of these!
(Emma 3 and Caleb 6 for most of this year)

From Emma on St. Patrick's Day: I tell Emma "you're gonna wear all green today because it's St. Patrick's Day, to which she replied "St. Pa-twicks? Oh, Like Sponge Bob?" (Sponge Bob's friend's name is Patrick)

From Caleb around Easter time: when I got out a pair of bright yellow dress shoes that Auntie Kelly got for Emma. Caleb being so impressed with the brightness of the color says "WOW! That's like God's glory!"
(from then on they were known as "the glory shoes")

From Emma in Aug: I'm in the kitchen cleaning up from dinner and Emma asks all in one breath "Mommy, are you making dessert? Cause I'm not making dessert today, I'm making it tomorrow." (reminder: she's 3!)

Emma in the summer: Emma was told about our annual church picnic days ahead of time and everyday would wake up and ask "When are we going to 'The Picnic Church'?"

Early 2011, Emma (who LOVES salad) says to me "I want salad with racoons." took me a while to figure out she meant "I want salad with croutons."!

Early 2011, Emma says to me before bed "I don't want me hair like this" (in a ponytail) "I want it flat and scwurly" (meaning down and curly)

March 2011, Caleb heard a car pass by with music playing that was .... well... not exactly the type he's used to hearing and says "Mommy, he must not know about God."

Oct 2011, Caleb says "If God was dead, who would we sing to? Who would we worship? Who would we pray to? Who would answer our prayers?"

Walking to the park in April, Caleb says "Perfect weather, perfect smell"\

February 2011, Kids playing with the "little people" manger and I overhear Emma saying "Ok Mary, it's your turn... Ok Joe-fish, it's your turn!"

Dec 2010: Overhear Emma singing a song she made up "we love the story of God.."

Thanksgiving 2010: Starts to snow, and Caleb says "That's weird... it's not Christmas"

Oct 2010:
‎5 year old Caleb asks Auntie Kelly (who is eating a cookie): "can I have one of those?"
Auntie Kelly: "You have to ask Mommy."
Caleb to Mommy: "I'm still HUNGRY. Can I have what Auntie Kelly is having?"
Mommy: "What is she having?"
Caleb: (knowing Mommy would say "no" to a cookie before dinner): "One of those circle things."
Nice try Buddy!

Told Emma while Daddy and Caleb are at the baseball game we're gonna do girl things like go and get our nails painted, to which she replied very enthusiastically "Wow Mommy! That's a "gate" idea!"

From Sept 2011: My sweet Caleb keeps asking me "what can I do to make you feel better Mommy?" and then said "You take care of me when I'm sick, so I take care of you when you're sick. That's what you do!"

Duct tape bandaids?

Yes, that's right, duct tape bandaids! 

Growing up with a Dad who is a mason (tough, dirty, covered in cement dust) I learned quickly that duct tape is good for many things, including first aid. Bang your thumb with a hammer? Wrap it in duct tape! Cut your finger with a sheet rock knife? Wrap it in duct tape! Trip over some bricks and break a leg? Wrap it in duct tape! 

Okay fine, not really that last one, but the other 2 scenarios are very plausible! 

I have taken this knowledge of duct tape bandaids into motherhood with me. I have save mucho deniro with this knowledge, fixed tens, no! hundreds of boo-boos and non-boo-boos alike, stopped countless tears with this very valuable knowledge of duct tape bandaids.

Now don't worry, if there is a big enough injury, I do cave in and breakout the dusty bandaid box. But for the most part for, hang nails, paper cuts and of course for the non-boo-boos - a little neosporin covered by a piece of tissue and then a strip of duct tape does the job. Actually does the job well! Stays on way better than anything Johnson and Johnson puts out and you can fashion any size or shape.

Now I'm pretty sure you need this knowledge from day one of Moommyhood, since I'd assume if your kids are used to Hello Kitty and Sponge Bob adorning their boo-boos the duct tape may not be accepted. Although you could try drawing smiley faces with a sharpie!

Here are my kids, (happily) showing off their Duct Tape Bandaids

Thanks Dad!

Emma is 4!

I cannot believe 4 years have past since I first met my precious little Emma! It has been such fun to watch her grow into the spunky 4 year old she is today!
Emma was totally different from her brother even before she was born. I often tell of when I was pregnant with Caleb: he would very seldomly stick his foot out to where I could see and feel his heel on the right side of my belly. I soon learned that I better not touch it or he would quickly retract and the cool experience of "seeing" his heel would vanish. Now when I was pregnant with Emma, she would do the same thing, but when I would go to touch it she would just gladly leave it there to get rubbed!
Anyway, I say all that to say: Even before she was born, she had her little personality.
Emma is: sweet, happy, courageous, bright, dramatic, LOVES to sing! (especially while playing by herself!)  shy, but when she gets comfortable - very bold. I am just recently starting to get reports of her "coming out of her shell" and talking when she's in her various classes. She loves playing with her "little people" and her and her bother have named them all - including 2 Sallys of which they had a birthday party for this morning, with a hand written sign and all! (I'm am currently writing this on Nov. 3 even though I will post this as the date of her birthday) She still loves Dora and Little Eisensteins. Emma has a great laugh! She loves to change her clothes! I have to put the reigns on that very often because laundry just becomes too much! She enjoys when I put braids in her hair (not while it's getting done, but once the torture of brushing is over) but at times asks for her hair to be left "flat and squrrily" (down and curly). She loves watching "Little House on the Prairie" and loves Laura.

On Emma's actual birthday, Mommy was at a Women's retreat in the morning :( but Daddy planned a great day that started at IHOP for pancakes where Emma got her usual smiley face pancakes,

 then they drove across the street to Jersey Gardens mall where Caleb and Emma got big balloons from Prato, but Emma's balloon flew away :( Daddy said she didn't cry.Next stop IKEA where they got to play in the ballroom and then ate frozen yogurt.

Soon after everyone was home and Mommy cooked up Emma's requested Birthday dinner: a gourmet meal of hot dogs, chips and salad. (yes, she requested salad :) Pop pop, Grammy Z and Auntie Kel came for the good eats and brought some presents and balloons!

Emma with her presents. She got 2 families from the Lil Woodzeez toys at Target (love these! So does Emma!) And she got some chocolate from Gertrude Hawk. (I gave her the little people sitting next to her on the chair in the morning via a present I left)

 Mommy brought home a chocolate cake for Dessert!

For Emma's birthday party, we had a pajama party!  We had it at Grammy Z's house as usual. 

 We had just family, and that alone gave us a party with 14 kids!

 Fun "Emma" flashlight and bowl from Oma.

The bed cake....

Happy Birthday to you.....

Make a wish...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMMA!

We love you!

Lancaster, PA.... again!

My first time to Aunt Lynn's....
For years, my sis and a few friends have frequently stayed in Lancaster with our friend Jana's Great-Aunt Lynn. Always making sure they are there for Friday when the Green Dragon flea market is open.
So Thursday night my sis and I picked up Jan (along with some mosquitos that ate me alive!) and we were off to Lancaster! Arrived at Aunt Lynn's after stopping at McDonalds around 9pm. We were greeted by Aunt Lynn at the door of her big, old and beautiful house. I was shown the living room where all seasons/holidays are represented on tables and by a big all-year Christmas tree covered in snowflakes she collects. Aunt Lynn seems to have little (some bigger) collections everywhere, wether it be the dinning room with various sunflower things, or a shelf with all things butterflies, or a small section of shelf devoted to her yellow volkswagen bug. And of course the collection I've heard most about... her owl collection. I was given a tour of the rest of the house where I saw the 2 apartments that are attached to the house, a music room with (as much as I saw) 2 pianos and a harp, the purple bathroom (which in thinking back, I don't remember seeing any purple :) Aunt Lynn's dressing room and the infamous "penthouse" on the 3rd floor where we all had the privilege of staying. After my tour we ate our (soggy :) McDonalds and then waited up for Danielle who was meeting us there after spending the day at Longwood Gardens for a concert featuring one of her favorite pianists. She arrived as we were watching her Yankees lose their last game of their season :( We all then retired to the penthouse.

Green Dragon Flea Market

Friday morn, after some english muffins and OJ, we were off to Ephrata where we find Green Dragon flea market! I have heard about this place and seen the treasures brought home for years, but now I finally got to experience it myself. AWESOME flea market to say the least! Great deals, fun/tasty food finds and of course - whoopee pies! :) After hours of shopping and emptying our wallets we were on our way back to Aunt Lynn's with a trunk full of goodies!

Once we got back and freshened up in the penthouse, we all took a walk to The Horse Inn. A cute little restaurant a few blocks away, where we were seated in a horse stall surrounded by lanterns and chandeliers made from wagon wheels. The girls each went with some sort of crab cake dish, while I followed Aunt Lynn's cue and got their beef tenderloin tips (which apparently is their signature dish) and boy was in glad I did! Scrumptious! We enjoyed our dinner while listening to some stories from Aunt Lynn.
I was so tickled that when asked a question, she would start off by telling you a story that seemed to have nothing to do with what I asked, but sure enough, it all made complete sense in the end. I very much enjoyed all of her stories!
After the Horse Inn, we made a quick stop at Giant (supermarket) where I got something to ease my million mosquito bites and Jan bought her mom sweet potato chips which apparently cannot be found in Jerz. Oh, Kelly bought pumpernickel pretzels and pickles. I know, strange! :)
Up to the penthouse one more time and then up in the morn for more english muffins before leaving Lancaster and Aunt Lynn. :(
Had a great time with the single gals, but was glad to get back to my Hubby and kids. Who, by the way, had a trip of their own: sleepover at "Little Grammy's" (what they call my mother-in-law) They spent the weekend with her and apparently went shopping for my birthday presents!
Trip well spent for all of us! ;)

Scribe Hat...

Caleb's quote of the day:

"If God was dead then who would we sing to? Who would we worship? Who would we pray to? Who would answer our prayers?"

(age: 6 almost 7)

Eye doctor hat?

One afternoon, a couple years a ago, I noticed Caleb would occasionally mistake the color purple for blue or blue for purple. Growing up with a dad who is color blind I knew pretty quickly what this means.... MY BABY IS BLIND!
:o) Not really, but I did find out that day that Caleb is in fact colorblind. Looked up colorblind tests on the web and found some that both he and my dad ?failed? miserably.
Here's an example of one...

In this image if you see normally you will see a yellow square and a faint brown circle.
If you are colorblind you will only see a yellow square.

In this one, normal vision sees a 5
Colorblind individuals will see a 2 or extreme cases will see no number

In this one, normal vision won't find anything
Colorblind folks see... Well the website didn't say, I'll have to ask Caleb in the morn :)

The way normal folk see color

The way colorblinds see color :(
I'm not totally convinced this is how Caleb sees red, because he will identify red in some cases, though at times it does look brown. It's very interesting that some shades of color are no problem but a slight change in shade and it totally changes things.





We have come across some little hiccups in our homeschooling adventure where color is a bit of an issue. Like for example, at times his phonics book asks for him to color certain sounds in various colors to color in a picture...

On such pages I do not require neatness :)

Another subject affected by this is math. We do a curriculum called "Math U See" which uses manipulatives that are of course color coded :o/

So in this bunch there is the 7 manipulative that is a cream color, Caleb cannot see the difference between 7 and 9 -which is the mint green color. Also 5 -light blue and 6 -lilac. But this has not be as big of an issue as expected, he's just learned to look at the length not the color (which I see as kinda good anyway, since that's what maniplulatives are all about - seeing the numbers)















So these are just some examples of how life is affected by being colorblind... Nothing to inconvenient, yet...not looking forward to when he learns to drive! Just hoping he can tell the difference between stop and go lights!

Caleb quote: (reminding me after he got a color wrong) "Mom, I have colorblind." :)

Amish Hat...

Took a trip over to Amish country for a day of family, farms, food, friends and lots of fun! Followed the Stecky family out to Lancaster....
First stop was Rocky Acre Farm Bed and Breakfast located on a dairy farm. With cats, kittens, chickens and roosters roaming freely, the kids had a ball following them around while the 2 moms toured the beatiful, well kept/updated rooms. A small playground area and basketball hoop also kept the kiddies entertained. Before we left we took a peek in the big barn where the dairy cows were kept and our noses didn't mind that we only had a minute or so to peek!
Next stop was Diener's Country Resturant where we filled our bellies buffet style! (so yummy I didn't think to take many photo's here)
Last stop Sight and Sound Theater to see "Joseph". We had tickets for the first row of the balcony, which seemed to work out nice for the kids and was neat to see the flying scenes from there. So it turns out, I once knew the guy who played Joseph! During the first scene, I remembered I had heard Justin DeMartino (one of the sons of the missionaries we visited in Mexico on a missions trip 12? years ago) was involved in this show. So as all the brothers came down the center aisle after the first scene, I looked at each one them and realized it was Joseph I recognized! So besides telling my Hubby and getting teased about it the whole time, it was a really great show! When you start with a story of a life that God Himself wrote, success is eminent... but Sight and Sound knows how to put on a show!!  Grammy Z gave the kids each $5 to spend (of which daddy had to add a bit to ;) so the kids had fun shopping! Emma quickly picked out a little Joseph doll and Caleb chose a tie-dyed shirt (of many colors) that said Joseph on it. After taking some pictures outside with the sunset behind us, then Caleb taking some pictures and then Emma taking some pictures :) As the sunset, we took one last look at the farm fields of Lancaster and we were on our way back to good ole Jerz with peanut butter & jelly sandwiches and sleepy kids!

The Sister Hat...

Proud to say I successfully surprised my sister Kelly for her 30th birthday! (tired to for her 25th - not so successful)  After month of planning and stressing over what seemed like every little detail, it all went off without a hitch!

Took this while I sat and pondered what to do

With the chance of thundershowers in the forecast, I arrived at the picnic sight in Watchung Reservation a little before 11am (party to start at 2pm) and set out two tablecloths. I then started to feel some light sprinkling on my head, looked up to the heavens and said "real funny". As I stood there, the rain got a little heavier and then it began to fully rain. I grabbed the tablecloths and went to sit in the car for about 20 minutes. I sat and watched my picnic tables get drenched and began trying to figure out how I was going to dry these tables. Of course in the plethora of things I had stuffed in my car I had not thought of towels. Just as I began to start being discouraged, I receive a text message from a dear friend Lisa (who happens to live the closest to the park) that reads "So how u doing? going crazy? do u need anything last minute I can run out and get 4 u?" I then began singing the hallelujah chorus, the rain began to stop and I had towels delivered right to me! At this point I knew it was God telling me "It's gonna be okay."
JP met me at the park (with breakfast!) to help me set up and most importantly for moral support since I was a bit out of my head after staying up til 5am making a cake for the picnic and editing a video that would be viewed at the "After Party". It was a bit slow going since it was just two of us setting up, but then a little before 2pm a bunch of the youth kids from church showed up and things really started to come together. This was so encouraging to see! Setting up a tent, croquet course, volleyball net, hanging Ks from trees, opening coke bottles with keys, etc...  (Thank you: Marcus, Dan, Rachel, Steve, Marc, Sean, Luke and Justin!)
So what I counted to be at least 70 people showed up and most were there to surprise Kelly at around 2:50.
The way we got her there: Kelly and her 2 good friends, Jana and Danielle, normally plan a day together for each of their birthdays. Jana has a birthday a week before Kelly. So I had Danielle plan "Jana's day" with Kelly for the day of the party. Danielle even had Kelly make hummus and Kelly bought balloons (see pics of her carrying balloons as she was led in) for this "day for Jana". Danielle and Kelly went to Jana's work to "surprise" Jana, once Jana was in the backseat of the car, she then blindfolded Kelly who then realized the joke was on her! At this point she was told things so she would still think it was just the 3 of them hanging out. When they arrived at the park Kelly was still blindfolded with the addition of ear-buds and music blasting so she couldn't hear where she was either.


They led her to be standing if front of everyone who was standing under the "Happy Birthday Kelly" banner ready to yell "SURPRISE"

We served hot dogs, grilled up by Andy, with fixin's out of mason jars, served on a stand (which I forgot to bring chalk to draw on, grrrr!)





<--love him!








We also had a stand for Strawberry Lemonade, which the bees loved!

This is the cake. Kelly and I at one time saw a similar cake on a website and Kelly loved the idea so of course I couldn't resist making something like it for her. The picture in the back was made to resemble a picture Kelly took recently and the cake itself was to resemble the colors and flowers in her camera strap. (seen in the picture below)

Tried to give the picnic an old-fashioned type feel with mixed matched cloth tablecloths, games, the mason jars, etc. Above are the flowers used for the tables...





Misplaced the "0" candle (which we later learned was hid as a joke :) but in the absence of the "0" I improvised and couldn't have planned it better!

Some of the games we had out to play. Was happy to see them being used and enjoyed!

 After all the fun had at the park, we invited some of the young folk back to the Zaps backyard to view a homemade video we put together for Kelly. A primetime type news show entitled "15,786,084 minutes" in which we showcased Kelly as a children's church worker and, well, a few other things! (15,786,084 minutes is equivalent to 30 years)

Viewed on this makeshift screen, we continued to enjoy a rain-free day with popcorn out of pockets made from old magazines.

Pick one and fill with popcorn! 

Me as "Norma Leigh Borring" a reporter for "15,786,084 Minutes" and Kelly filling up on popcorn.

With lots of stress from weather, video editing and many other little things, 

the day was a complete success full of fun, laughs and surprises! :)

SLIDESHOW

First time putting on the Blogger Hat...

Welcome...
I decided to start this blog mainly to use it for the purpose of a virtual scrapbook of sorts. I have not scrapbooked past my 1st born's birth (even in that book, he has not left the hospital :) and hope to keep tract of memories and experiences here.

You are welcome to read along as I jot down silly things the kids say or write about experiences I go through wearing endless hats :)

Read more about the idea behind this blog in "About Me"