Each Other

Lilly does not say "each other". If she is talking about herself and someone else, it is "our chother". If she is talking someone about them self and another person, it is "your chother," as in "is it you like your chother?" If she is talking about other people, it is "their chother". It reminds me of when Rachel would say "today, tomorrow, and to-later."

Carson said no for the first time yesterday. He said it like this "No! No! No! No! No!" His version of "please" sounds like urgent French yeses: "Wee! We, we, we! Wee!"

Grandma is coming to visit today and she is the talk of the town. Rachel says she can't wait to see Grandma's face. Ever since I told them she is coming to visit, it has been a constant "how many sleeps till Grandma comes?"

Yesterday all the little cousins came over to play. There were nine children here under the age of seven, and I am telling you I did not hear one single fight or disagreement. They played so well together! Of course Rachel was thrilled because Brady was here, and he is Rachel's hero. Brady told Sarah that our slide is "as big as your bed, or bigger" and that it is "as tall as Chris or taller." That is big to a 7-year-old!

The Sleepovers

Shelby and I had to go to Idaho Falls for a funeral on pretty short notice. We decided it would be much easier on everyone if we did not have to take all the kids with us. In the end we took Carson with us, Rachel stayed with her cousin Sam at the Larson's house, and Lilly had a sleepover at my parents' house. Let's start with Carson. In all of his two years he has rarely had one whole hour of two-on-one with Shelby and I, let alone two whole days. Not only did he get our undivided attention, but he got the undivided attention of Grandma, John, Grandma Eileen, and Nathan. He ate it up! I have never seen him so full of personality, and so well-behaved. He did not cry or whine once the whole drive there. In fact I think the only time he complained in the whole two days was just before we left to drive home. We were walking back to the car, which was the last place he wanted to be. He had used up all of his good behavior, but I told him that was fine. He had earned the right to have a little fit.

Lilly had her own undivided attention with my parents. She spent the first evening playing with Papa, and she didn't even have to share him. Apparently before bed he told her he would wake her up early in the morning so they could play before he went to work. Nonna said "don't you dare!" The next day Nonna took her to get her hair done and bought her a new fancy outfit. In the evening she got to spend more time playing with Papa. When we came to collect her she was wearing a jean jumper, pink shirt and pink cowboy boots, and a string of fake pearls Nonna had given her. She looked so cute! She was so excited to see us. She jumped up and down and gave her trademark giggle/squeal.

Rachel was another story altogether. She got nobody's undivided attention, but she did get to spend two days playing with her five Larson cousins. I let the girls pack their own backpacks. I listed the things they needed and went on good faith that they packed it all. Why I did not double check, I am not sure. Summer tells me Rachel's bag was quite toy-heavy, and lacking some clothing items such as pants. You can see where her priorities are. When we came to pick her up, we went to hug and kiss her. She stepped back and said "I need a minute." It was all we could do to pull her away from her cousins. When we asked her if she missed us, she said "I just missed my sister." I suppose I should have been slightly hurt, but mostly I was glad she had been thinking about her sister.

Lilly got to go to a birthday party on Saturday. It was her first solo birthday party, where she wasn't just a tag-a-long with her sister. The party was for her friend Allison Millward. Allison has a sister Rachel's age named Rachel. The girls call her "Rachel Millward". Every time she would tell someone about the birthday party she would say it was a party for "Rachel Millward's sister." Rachel and I walked over to pick her up after the party. We all walked back and Lilly told us all about it. She was delighted with the whole affair. It is good for her to do these things without being in the shadow of her older sister. I am sure there are times she thinks of herself as "Rachel Rayl's sister".

My Noggin

Shelby taught the girls the "Don't step on the crack or you'll break your mamma's back" song. They think it is hilarious. Rachel uses it to tease me, and is always saying, "mo-om, I am stepping on the li-ine." Lilly is a different story. She has her own version of the song that goes "Don't step on the line or you'll break your mamma's noggin." When I am making dinner or doing the dishes I often hear a little gasp, followed by Lilly's admonishment, "Mom! You're stepping on the line!" She takes it a little more seriously than Rachel.

Rachel told me in the car yesterday that when she grows up she wants to marry a police man. Lilly isn't one to be left behind in these conversations, so she quickly decided she would marry a store man. I asked her why she picked a store man, and she said, "because they are good at doing store stuff." She isn't wrong. If she still wants to marry a store man when she is 25, it is OK by me.

A lady in our ward was telling me how much her little boy loves Carson. She said he calls him "the one with the eyebrows". It reminded me of when he was born. That was a comment we got a lot. People would say something like "I have never seen a newborn with eyebrows before!" I can confidently say those eyebrows are the doing of the Rayl genes. Eyebrows and all, he is so cute!

Rachel poked herself in the ear with a Q-tip yesterday. I didn't see it happen, but later that day she complained a lot about her ear hurting. Finally in the evening on the way home from karate, I told her I would give her some Tylenol as soon as we got home. She was having none of it. She insisted on having Shelby "use the special oil" on her head and say a blessing. Apparently she had a primary lesson about it on Sunday.The ear problem was minor, but it seemed like a good opportunity to increase her testimony of Priesthood blessings. Shelby asked Brother Millward to come over and help. I think it was a good experience for Rachel and for Shelby.

Rachel's First Baby-Sitting Gig

Shelby and I wanted to go for a walk around the block on Sunday, and we decided it would be OK if Rachel baby-sat Lilly and Carson. We were only going to be gone for five minutes, and Rachel has been in charge for longer than that before while I shower or Shelby works outside. This was her first home-alone baby-sitting gig, but we thought she was up for it. We were almost home from our walk, and contemplating another lap when in the distance I saw a little girl walking away from our house. "Is that Lilly?" Shelby asked. "I don't know. I think so...what is she doing?" Then a moment later, I noticed Carson was tagging close behind. They were both bare-foot. We caught up to them and asked what was going on. "We was looking for you" Was the only explanation Lilly could give. When we got home, we searched for Rachel to get an answer to why the little ones were outside. We found her in the back yard praying. When we brought her tearful self inside and asked what was going on she explained it. The timer I had set for something had gone off and she thought it was the fire alarm. She did the exact right thing by getting all the kids out of the house, but didn't know where to look for us so she decided to say a prayer. We were so proud of her. Simultaneously, I have never felt so guilty!

Lilly is hilarious. A word that for example's sake I have tried to give up is "suck". You don't realize how crude it is until you hear it come out of your sweet 3-year-old's little mouth. I have discussed with the kids how inappropriate this word is. Alas, I am not perfect and I let the word slip during dinner the other day. Lilly gave us a personal little commentary that I am sure came straight from stream of conscious. "You shouldn't say suck. It's a bad word. You should apologize, but you don't have to. Only if you want to."

My new favorite thing in the whole world is watching my kids play outside together. They get along so well when they are out there. They sometimes spend hours out there digging in the dirt, climbing on things, or just sunning themselves. I don't even mind that they come inside covered from head to toe in dirt. It will be good memories for them.