Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy

Though I can’t really put my finger on it – High Pressure in the atmosphere?  Crisp, Autumn air and changing leaves?  Full nights’ sleep?  Kick butt job interview?  Shiny, new laptop?

Whatever the cause, I’ve been in a very good mood lately. 

I know.  Knock on wood.  Cross myself.  Whatever I need to do to not jinx all this goodness. 

So, in the spirit of keeping up this good mood, I thought I’d post all the things that have been happening in my life to make me smile. 

Of course, my two monster spawn daughters are always good for a laugh with their quirks and hilarious verbal diarrhea.

Point in case: Kae came into my bathroom yesterday morning as I was brushing my teeth.  She said, “I’ll be RIGHT back.”  Seconds later, she came in carrying her step stool, her toothbrush, and toothpaste to join in all the tooth cleaning fun.  I asked her to set up camp at her father’s sink, since mine was occupado at the moment.  She complied, but not before pausing first to scope out her work area.  (Not a bad idea, since as is the norm, my sink is usually much more user-friendly – free from toothpaste splatters and/or whiskers.) 

After sweeping the area with her eyes, she leaned in and sniffed.  I asked her what she was doing.  “Well, Mommy.  I checked, and there is no yucky hair, but otherwise it SMELLS just like Daddy.” 

As for where she picked up the word “otherwise”, I have no clue. 

 

Noelle has been learning all sorts of things in 2nd grade (most of which have nothing to do with school).

One thing that she has consistently brought home is little girlie games.  You know the ones we used to do in school – *M*A*S*H*, hand jives with cutesy things about boys, jump rope rhymes with the same theme…

The most recent one – and one I must admit I’d never heard of prior to this – is PUSH.  It looks an awful lot like the above mentioned *M*A*S*H*, only with different objects written on the inside of all the folds of notebook paper.  The funny thing is, Noelle has NO idea how it really works.  She has the gist of it, I think.  But each time she asks me to play, there is a lot of “Wait.  Oh hold on!” *paper folding/refolding involved. 

Basically, on the outside of the folded-several-times piece of paper, the word “Push” is written usually accompanied by several smiley faces, stars, and hearts.  Not sure the point of this, other than the fact that once the “button” is pushed, the paper opens to the next fold of “choices”.  The choices here are tough.   Boy or Girl.  Hmmmm.  (And apparently the choice does not matter, for whatever is chosen, the same set of next choices appear.  See?  Again, with the not getting it.)  Ok.  So, say “Boy” is chosen, the next set of options appear from the folds.  These consist of Marriage, Date, Call, and the ever elusive Kiss.  Oooooooh!!!!  *giggle, giggle*  What do I CHOOSE?!  They all sound so appealing!  Ok.  Let’s go with Date.  “Mom!  *gasp!*  You get to date DADDY!  ha ha ha ha ha!” *fall on the ground in tears of laughter. 

Ok.  So first of all, my daughter is 7.  7!!!  Why oh why is she already talking about boys and kissing and marriage?!?  I’m shakin’ in mah boots on that issue.  But mostly, I reassure myself that since the other choices on the folded paper are girls from our cul-de-sac, we’re probably in the clear as far as scary dating stuff goes.  For now.

 

Speaking of lovey dovey things, Kae has been doing something for quite some time now, but I have just failed to mention it here.  Mostly because it has become such an expected, and therefore taken advantage of thing around here, that I forget about it. 

About two and a half months ago, we went to Vegas. While we were there, the girls stayed with both sets of grandparents.  In preparation of being away from Mommy, Kae decided that she needed a picture of me to take with her wherever she went.  I found a wallet sized picture from my teaching days.  It was just what she wanted.  She clung to it immediately, and hasn’t let go of it since.  ha ha!  Just kidding.

However, she does still take it to bed with her every night.  (Which is what I was told she did for the duration of our trip.)

Here comes the funny part.  Every night, when I go in to check on her after getting myself ready for bed (usually about 10 minutes after I put her down), I find her laying on her stomach, feet up in the air, gazing down at my picture on her pillow.  And she is singing to it!  She sings to me every night!  Sweet, sweet High School Musical Soundtrack songs. (What is in her CD player.)  How sweet is that?!  I absolutely love the new ritual we have of me getting to witness that every night.  Not sure how long this will last, but I am LOVING it while it does. 

That, and her new word for her jump rope.  She calls it her “Whoop-AH!”  You know.  Like it’s her whip.  And she says it like Chandler.  Gotta love it.

So, what’s made you happy lately?